Brazil Good as Gold--or Better

At last, some real soccer.

The shambles that is the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was rescued, at least partially, Friday night by Brazil, which provided four sparkling goals in a 4-1 victory over Canada.

But as glorious as the Brazilians’ performance was at the Coliseum, the shame was that virtually no one was there to see it.

The crowd was announced at 8,234. It looked like half that amount.

Not even the most inept promoter would schedule a game in Los Angeles at 5 p.m. on a Friday evening. The idea is ludicrous.

But 5 p.m. in L.A. is 11 p.m. in Rio de Janeiro, and CONCACAF made a deal with the television devil. The game was shown live in Brazil. Los Angeles fans paid the price.

It was but the latest in a series of faux pas in a North and Central American and Caribbean championship that has been as disorganized, poorly promoted and shabbily run as any major tournament in recent memory.

Chuck Blazer, the CONCACAF general secretary, admitted that there have been some “logistical problems” and said they are being addressed. Friday’s kickoff time, he said, was dictated by Brazilian television.

“We recognized there would be certain deficiencies with regard to the public locally,” he said, “but it was the only way we could get Brazil [to take part].”

Well and good, but this is the third Gold Cup, not the first, and it is the second to be held in Southern California.

There is no excuse, therefore, for the promoters to have virtually written off non-Hispanic fans.

There is no excuse for every Tom, Dick and Jorge who walked in off the sidewalk to have been granted media credentials.

There is no excuse for beauty queens and children to be cluttering the postgame interview room while microphones and translators are nowhere to be found, as was the case Thursday night in San Diego.

There is no excuse for bypassing local officials who, as they rightfully pointed out Friday night, helped put on the most successful World Cup in history but were not even consulted in the Gold Cup planning.

And there is no excuse for the U.S. Soccer Federation, which has failed miserably to exert some authority as the host federation. Alan Rothenberg, Hank Steinbrecher and others have been noticeable by their absence at the tournament so far.

Perhaps they’ll be there today when the United States plays Trinidad and Tobago at 4 p.m. at Anaheim Stadium. They won’t see the game any other way. There’s no English-language television, even for the American team.

The one bright spot in all this gloom was the 15 minutes of brilliance by the team in yellow and blue. The Brazilians, the 1996 Olympic gold medalists in-waiting, were superb in the game’s opening half-hour. For example:

--Midfielder Andre Luis scored in the third minute, dribbling past three defenders before beating Canadian goalkeeper Craig Forrest with a shot to the far post.

--Forward Caio made it 2-0 in the sixth minute, eluding Canadian defender Ian Frasier and slotting the ball past Forrest.

--Midfielder Amaral curled a perfect cross from the right in the 15th minute and striker Savio’s powerful header flashed into the back of the net for a 3-0 advantage.

The stunned Canadians never recovered. They cut the lead to 3-1 on a goal by forward Tomasz Radzinski in the 66th minute, but Brazil again stepped up the tempo near the end. Ze Maria’s run down the right ended with a pass across the box that substitute forward Leandro sprinted in to blast into the net.