At Last, a Game Against Real Opponents : After 12-Day Layoff, Sockers Head to Dallas for Match Against Sidekicks

SAN DIEGO —  Surprise. The Sockers will play a game tonight against players who aren’t wearing San Diego jerseys. After a 12-day layoff filled with intrasquad games at the Sweetwater Roller Rink, the Sockers will face a Major Indoor Soccer League team in Dallas tonight. San Diego is 3-1, but has only played one game in the past 20 days.

“You get tired trying to fill up time,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said.

“Dallas is a much improved team and Tatu is absolutely brilliant,” Newman said.

Dallas? The guys who went 12-36 and lost their first 10 games last season? San Diego has a career mark of 4-0 against the Sidekicks going into tonight’s game at Reunion Arena (5:35 p.m. PST, delayed broadcast on KLZZ-600 at 7:35).

“I think Wichita is the team in our division that we have to fear most,” Newman said.

Wait a second. The Sockers are 8-0 against the Wings. Wichita went 21-26 last season, but that was before the Las Vegas connection headed to the Midwest. With former Americans Mike Fox, defender Jorge Espinoza and Chico Borja, the Wings have won two of three games this season.

San Diego faces Wichita at 5:35 p.m. PST Saturday.

“Wichita always was a good side with a nice system,” Newman said. “They just missed a couple of key players. The addition of Borja and Fox was enough to move them into a more competitive position. I think they’ll go a long way.”

An indoor soccer summit between the Sockers and Dynamo Kiev of the Soviet Union will be held at 8 p.m. Dec. 11 at the San Diego Sports Arena.

“This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Socker vice-president Francis J. Reilly at a press conference held Thursday. “Dynamo Kiev is the best team in Russia, bar none. They have seven National Team players on the roster, they’ve won the Russian championship 12 times, including 1985, and they’re a very experienced indoor team. Nevertheless, we’re looking forward to the opportunity to strengthen our claim as the best indoor soccer team in the world.”

The game will be carried live nationally by ESPN, but will be blacked out in the San Diego area unless it is sold out 48 hours in advance of game time. Dynamo Kiev was to play two other exhibition games in New York, but those have been canceled. As of now, the game against the Sockers will be Dynamo Kiev’s only appearance in the U.S.

Reilly said it took a considerable amount of negotiating to bring the Soviet team to San Diego.

“The fee we are paying them is well over 50% of our average gate and that fee doesn’t include their hotel,” he said. “The league is giving us help in all ways other than economic.”

The Sockers announced they will contribute $10,000 from the gate receipts to the Children’s Hospital general fund.

This isn’t the first time a Soviet indoor soccer team toured the U.S. In 1978, Dynamo Minsk went 7-1 against MISL teams. That included a 9-7 win over the New York Arrows and Steve Zungul.

Said Socker forward Juli Veee, who played against the Soviet junior national team when he was in Hungary: “They play a little slower style of game than we do, but they are very good players skillwise. If they would play in this league, they might even win the MISL.”