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Defender Agoos exemplifies U.S. Confed Cup performance

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Posted: Sunday August 01, 1999 09:06 PM

Giving his all: Jeff Agoos gave until there was nothing else to give in the Confed Cup. AP

By Grant Wahl, Sports Illustrated

MEXICO CITY -- American defender Jeff Agoos trudged into the Estadio Azteca interview room this afternoon after his team's 1-0 sudden-death loss to Mexico.

He wasn't limping, really, but you could tell he was fighting an overwhelming sense of fatigue. His shoulders slumped at diagonals from his neck, and his voice was slower than usual, subtle evidence that the mere task of forming words was draining his already depleted fuel tank. When I asked him how his legs felt, he laughed.

"What legs?" he said. "They're two stumps now; that's what it feels like."

If the U.S. had a symbol in this game -- and in the entire tournament -- it was Agoos, the 31-year-old left wingback who is playing his best soccer in years despite the comical schedule arranged by FIFA this week. Faced with three games in five days (and four in eight), coach Bruce Arena smartly used all 20 of his players, but Agoos was the only one who stayed on the field for all 367 minutes against New Zealand, Brazil, Germany and Mexico. Now he looked like it.

"There's just too many games in too few days," he said. "It's really too bad for the fans, because they don't get to see the best athletes and their peak performances."

Agoos will never be confused as one of the Americans' best athletes, and there have been times that I've wondered if, like so many 42-year-old southpaw pitchers in baseball, he had stuck with the national team simply because he's left-footed. The answer, of course, is no. The most telling part of Agoos' game is that he's always on the field, and you don't do that unless the coach has faith in you.

"I'm not a player who's going to dazzle you with skill or speed," he said today, "but I'm going to be there from the first minute to the last and give you everything I have."

That was no more apparent than midway through the second half, when Mexico's Miguel Zapeda streaked down the right sideline without a single American defender in front of him. Showing no signs of heavy legs, Agoos took off after Zapeda, caught up with him and -- just as they came even with the U.S. penalty box -- surgically separated him from the ball. Then, as if he wanted to make Agoos look even better, Zapeda fouled his pursuer in frustration.

By the time the sudden-death extra period had started, however, Agoos's legs were sending him the dull signals of burnout.

"I was starting to feel it," he said, "but I still felt I could defend well and contribute."

As a result, he was still on the field in the 97th minute when a Mexican centering pass pinballed to Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who scored the golden goal on a mad scramble in front of the U.S. goalmouth. ("Typical Mexican goal," Agoos muttered afterward.) Agoos walked alone off the Azteca turf, still searching for the U.S.'s first win against Mexico south of the border after 20 losses and a single draw.

Asked what he was thinking at the time, he had a perfectly understandable response.

"I was tired," he shrugged. "There wasn't a whole lot of thinking going on."

Sports Illustrated staff writer Grant Wahl is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com.

 

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