A Lot of Soccer Fans to Get Twice the Fun
An anticipated sellout crowd of more than 90,000 will see two things decided at the Rose Bowl this afternoon, but which is more important depends on your point of view.
In the opening game of a soccer doubleheader, the United States and Mexico square off at 12:30 p.m. to see which nation will win U.S. Cup ’96. A victory or a tie gives the trophy to Coach Bora Milutinovic’s young Mexican team. The Americans must win to claim their third Cup in four years.
The second game, at 3:30, pits the unbeaten Galaxy, leader of Major League Soccer’s Western Conference with a 10-0 record, against the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Mutiny, which is 8-3.
The Galaxy’s Cobi Jones and Jorge Campos will play in the first game, although Campos is trying to appear in both, while L.A. defender Robin Fraser and Tampa Bay forward Roy Lassiter could play in either.
The huge crowd will not daunt at least one Tampa Bay player, midfielder Carlos Valderrama. Colombia’s national team captain was at the Rose Bowl two summers ago, when the United States upset Colombia in World Cup ’94 in front of 93,869.
But crowd counts and past triumphs are not on the minds of Milutinovic and Steve Sampson, the U.S. national team coach.
Ireland’s 3-0 victory over Bolivia at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday ended the South Americans’ chance of winning the four-nation tournament. The Irish already had been eliminated. Now it is simply between the United States and Mexico.
But Milutinovic’s sights are set a month or so ahead, which is why this Mexican team contains a good sprinkling of players who will be taking part in the Atlanta Games. If Mexico wins U.S. Cup ‘96, well and good, but the Olympics are the real goal at the moment.
For Sampson, the focus is even farther down the road. U.S. Cup ’96 offers him a rare chance to assess all of his top players before the start of World Cup ’98 qualifying in September. What he saw in Wednesday’s loss to Bolivia at RFK Stadium in Washington did not sit well with him.
“The way that we lost was disappointing,” he said. “We totally dominated the game, and to lose, 2-0, is hard to swallow.
“I wasn’t pleased with our defensive effort in closing down Bolivia, especially in midfield. We have to sort that out very quickly. We have to get into our defensive rhythm in the game much quicker than we have in the past. Having said that, we created a number of opportunities.”
Sampson’s main task at the moment is to find a second striker to play alongside Eric Wynalda. The United States’ all-time leading scorer set up the goal that earned the U.S. team a 1-0 victory over Mexico at the Rose Bowl on June 4, 1994. There were 91,123 present that day.
Against Bolivia, Jovan Kirovski of San Diego was paired with Wynalda, but Wynalda seemed happier when partnered by Claudio Reyna, playing as a purely offensive midfielder.
“A loss always forces you to focus on what you really need to work on,” Sampson said. “Sometimes you get a little bit of a false impression when you win because you’re jubilant about the victory.
“I’ve learned a lot from this game, and that’s what this tournament is all about. We still have a chance to win if we beat Mexico, and that’s what we intend to do.”
