Sampson, U.S. in Experimental Mood
SAN DIEGO — Four coaches from four countries with four widely different agendas.
That’s what is featured in U.S. Cup ‘97, the four-team, six-game international soccer tournament that begins tonight with a doubleheader at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium and then moves to the Rose Bowl.
For Bora Milutinovic, it’s a matter of win or face intense criticism in Mexico, and because of that he has brought a full-strength team whose only missing starter is Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Jorge Campos.
For Bo Johansson, the tournament is almost a vacation, with nothing more at stake than a chance to give some of Denmark’s new players a taste of non-European competition.
For Juan Carlos Oblitas, U.S. Cup ’97 is a reward of sorts. Under Oblitas, Peru on Sunday defeated Chile, 2-1, in Lima to revive its hopes of qualifying for the France ’98 World Cup.
And then there is Steve Sampson, the U.S. coach.
“The priority for 1997, as I’ve explained on numerous occasions, is obviously to qualify for France,” Sampson said. “So we’re using U.S. Cup ’97 and also our trip to China [in February] to look at a few different players and to experiment a little bit.”
That was the theory, at least. With starters Eric Wynalda, John Harkes, Tab Ramos and Eddie Pope all recovering from assorted knee, ankle and foot operations and with other starters such as Paul Caligiuri, Thomas Dooley, Alexi Lalas and Cobi Jones given a breather, the U.S. lineup was expected to be very experimental.
But an injury to Mike Sorber during training at Chula Vista this week gave Sampson an excuse to beef up his roster for what should be three difficult games, and he used the opportunity to recall Lalas and Jones.
If they play, it could defeat one of Sampson’s stated purposes.
“One of the reasons I picked this team,” he said of the original roster, “was to establish greater depth within the national team because you cannot play well and win in qualifying without 20 to 25 solid players in your pool. As the first phase of qualifying showed, injuries and yellow cards have a big part to play.”
Among the newcomers hoping to impress Sampson and force their way into the starting lineup in this tournament are two Galaxy defenders, Dan Calichman and Greg Vanney, as well as former UCLA stars Frankie Hejduk and Chris Snitko.
Other new faces on the squad include midfielders Miles Joseph and Steve Ralston. The most intriguing returnee is defender Marcelo Balboa of Cerritos. A starter on the 1990 and 1994 World Cup teams, Balboa has not played a competitive game in almost six months while recovering from foot surgery.
With a record 113 national team appearances in the last nine years, Balboa, 29, is the U.S. team’s most experienced player and its most effective sweeper. Sampson is eager to have him regain his match fitness before World Cup qualifying play resumes March 2, but Balboa is unlikely to play in this tournament.
The United States, which won the event in 1992 and 1995, opens the tournament tonight at 7 against Denmark. It then plays defending champion Mexico on Sunday and Peru on Wednesday, both in the Rose Bowl.
All of the games are part of doubleheaders. A sellout crowd of 32,000 is expected tonight at scaled-down Jack Murphy Stadium, which is undergoing renovation. Sunday’s attendance is expected to top 60,000 and could approach the 92,216 that saw the U.S. and Mexico tie, 2-2, at the Rose Bowl last June 16 in U.S. Cup ’96.
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U.S. Cup ’97
* WHAT: A four-nation, six-game international soccer tournament.
* WHO: The national teams of Denmark, Mexico, Peru and the United States.
* WHERE: San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium and the Rose Bowl.
* SCHEDULE: Today--U.S. vs. Peru (7 p.m.) and Mexico vs. Denmark (9:15 p.m.) at Jack Murphy Stadium; Sunday--Peru vs. Denmark (1 p.m.) and U.S. vs. Mexico (3:30 p.m.) at Rose Bowl; Wednesday--U.S. vs. Denmark (6:30 p.m.) and Mexico vs. Peru (8:45 p.m.) at Rose Bowl.
* PREVIOUS WINNERS: 1992, United States; 1993, Germany; 1994: no tournament; 1995, United States; 1996, Mexico.
* TV: Telemundo, ESPN2 (today’s U.S. game).
