It was just three years ago that our men’s national soccer team skulked out of France in what, in a more devout soccer nation, would have produced a frenzy of national mortification. Three games, three losses (including a July 4th boot in the stars-and-stripes at the feet of Iran and-au revoir-a 32nd-place finish in a 32-team competition). It appeared a grievous blow to America’s aspirations to join the ranks of the major soccer powers. Which makes it so remarkable that today the United States has not only rebounded, but is in the process of establishing itself as the premier soccer power in the region.
That status and stature in the Central and North America and Caribbean region, known by the ridiculous acronym CONCACAF, has belonged to Mexico, where the U.S. was always regarded as little more than a pesky pretender-Costa Rica, but without the fans. But now, halfway through the six-team, 10-game qualification round robin that will determine the region’s three teams in the 2001 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, there has been a sea change. The United States is undefeated with a 4-0-1 record and sits comfortably atop the group with 13 points (three for each win, one for the tie). In the five games, it has allowed just a single goal. Mexico, by contrast, has won just one game over the same stretch, allowing eight goals. The Mexican team, which was ranked fourth in the world just three years ago, is mired in fifth place, behind not only the United States, but Costa Rica, Honduras and Jamaica.
American coach Bruce Arena, who took over the team after the debacle in France, and his players are understandably cautious, given the country’s meager soccer traditions. But with five games left to go the U.S. team can almost taste the sushi (or depending on their draw, perhaps the kimchi). “Thirteen out of a possible 15 points is a pretty outstanding accomplishment,” said Arena after this week’s 2-0 spanking of Trinidad and Tobago in Foxboro, Mass. “We’re pretty close to being in the ‘Big Dance.’ I can feel the excitement building around the national team.”
With United States confidence at new heights, the team will venture next weekend to Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, where altitude, polluted air, more than 100,000 fans and superior talent has always been too much for the Americans to overcome. The U.S. team has never won a game there. But now they are on a roll and in a unique position to deal a near-fatal blow to the struggling El Tricolor squad, reeling after a 3-1 thumping by Honduras the same night as the American triumph. “Mexico is still Mexico, and I don’t think beating them down there will be any easier than it’s ever been,” said Chris Armas, a defensive standout in the midfield all year for the U.S.
Mexico may still be Mexico, but there will surely be new faces in the lineup after its sixth straight loss in international play. The changes will start behind the bench, with Enrique Meza having resigned even before the team returned home after the Honduras loss. While the match has already taken on a life-or-death aspect in Mexico, Arena has the extraordinary luxury of approaching the Mexico City challenge with a comic touch. “You can’t train for 7,000 feet in a week,” he said. “Best thing to do is to show up late, hope you’re fit and pretend you’re not at altitude. And some of our guys still couldn’t figure it out. We’re not going to bring in [for the Mexico game] our brightest guys.”
One guy who won’t be brought in is Claudio Reyna, the U.S. team captain and the centerpiece of its offense. Reyna is suspended for the Mexico game after receiving his second yellow card of the round robin in the Trinidad game. Reyna’s absence, along with that of injured forwards Clint Mathis and Josh Wolff who provided an explosive scoring tandem in the first three contests, would seem to cripple the American attack. But Coach Arena, brimming with confidence, bristled when asked if playing without Reyna would require a major adjustment. “Major adjustment?” he repeated, then emphatically pronounced, “No! Just one adjustment. And that’s the story of our team. We’ve had these minor adjustments every step of the way.”
The team’s resiliency is attributable to unprecedented depth at almost every position. “Last World Cup we really only had 13 or 14 players who could play at this level,” says Earnie Stewart, a veteran of three World Cup campaigns and, with his goal Wednesday night, America’s all-time leading scorer in World Cup qualifiers. “When we lost a player we would really struggle. But now we have a pool almost twice as large. And when someone goes down, some new player is stepping up.” And the depth is largely due to the fact that America’s soccer elite now have, in Major League Soccer, a homegrown stomping ground. While the U.S. lineup is still dominated by players from the European leagues (Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Scotland and Holland), MLS has dramatically boosted the player pool. (And not just for the U.S. team: In America’s scoreless tie at Jamaica last weekend, both the U.S. and Jamaica started four MLS stars.)
For the first time, the American soccer establishment seems to be showing the savvy, some soccer sophistication, to navigate the treacherous terrain of international soccer. That was revealed in the very first game of this qualifying round against Mexico. A Mexico game was always viewed as a major opportunity-not for victory, but for a financial killing coveted by our cash-strapped national federation. The most important thing was assuring a big gate. So the games would be staged in L.A., where it would turn into an extra home game for Mexico: 100 Mexicans for every Yank face-painted red, white and blue. This time we stuck them in Columbus, Ohio, in February and emerged from the snow, ice and freezing winds with a 2-0 victory.
The U.S. team under Arena has grasped a concept that, like soccer, is a bit foreign to American fans. “We’re going in with the right attitude now,” explains Reyna. “We’re going to get results.” “Getting results” doesn’t translate into winning. It means getting the result out of a game that is necessary for the long-range goal, which in this case is an excursion next year to Japan. It usually means winning at home, as the team did Wednesday when it threw an early knockout punch, stunning Trinidad with a goal after just 74 seconds of play. And it usually means not losing on the road. Or as Stewart put it: “If we come out with a win, that’s just fantastic. But if we come out with a tie, that’s a great result.”
The U.S. team took its shots at winning against Jamaica last Saturday. It hoped to steal a victory with a quick counterattack after the more aggressive Jamaican squad punched itself out in the early going in the oppressive island heat. But its basic approach in Kingston was contained and cautious. After all, they were playing in “The Office,” where Jamaica has always taken care of business. Jamaica was unbeaten there since 1994-50 straight games-so a 0-0 tie was cause for celebration. Indeed so has every game to date. The team, though, is leaving the celebrating to its fans. But it is taking obvious satisfaction in shedding the painful legacy of France ‘98. “It’s a whole new start-new coach, new everything,” says Stewart. “We go from there.”
