Brad Friedel got the start in goal for the first game of the post-Bora era.
In the run-up to the 1994 World Cup, goalkeeper Brad Friedel had several good games, but never put on the dazzling performance that might have earned him the starting job over Tony Meola.
The 23-year-old product of UCLA earned the first U.S. goalkeeper start in the post-Bora era April 22 against Belgium, and Friedel produced another solid job — yet couldn’t come up with the big save when his team needed it.
Gunther Schepens drilled a low shot past Friedel from a sharp angle in the last moments of the first half, and Belgium — its reputation tarnished in a post-World Cup loss at home to Spain and a home draw with Macedonia — held that 1-0 advantage to the final whistle.
“They’ve been under a lot of pressure lately,” said Friedel of Belgium, “and if they would have lost or tied that game, I think a few of the players — and maybe the coach [Paul Van Himst] — would have been in big trouble.
“To be honest, I thought for the most part we did what we set out to do: Contain them, and counterattack. We were well-organized in the second half, but in the first half there were times we didn’t know what was going on. Luc Nilis started to roam.”
Belgium broke through the U.S. defense several times in the last 15 minutes of the first half, after Friedel had saved a header from Georges Grun. That header was Friedel’s only test until Schepens traded passes with Gilles De Bilde and raced away from Zak Ibsen and Paul Caligiuri down the left. Schepens carried the ball deep into the U.S. box, and had plenty of time to line up the low shot he struck just inside the far post past Friedel, who had tucked close to the near post.
“If you come out, he can cut it across,” said Friedel. “He hit the ball well, and let’s face it, he had a lot of time to do what he wanted with it.”
Until he found a spot with Danish club Broendby, Friedel had been spending most of his time waiting and hoping for the English work permit he never received. He’s been with Broendby the past two months, living in the house once occupied by national team goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and playing behind starter Mogens Krogh.
In the second phase of the Danish Super League, which began in March after a long winter break, the top eight teams from the first phase play each other home and away. After six matches in the second phase, Broendby held first place with a one-point lead, but the eight teams were bunched within five points of each other.
Friedel has played only one Super League match, a 0-0 draw with 1994 champion Silkeborg, but has played twice in a curious league offshoot: U-23 matches among Super League clubs, with four overage players permitted per team. Broendby won both of Friedel’s matches in that competition, outscoring opponents, 6-1.
Soccer’s lessons are learned early
He is under contract to the end of the Danish season, and is planning to play in both U.S. Cup ’95 and Copa America. “That will depend on whether or not I stay with Broendby, and of course what the [U.S.] coach — whoever that might be — decides to do for those tournaments,” he said.
The firing of Bora Milutinovic surprised Friedel somewhat, although during a visit to Los Angeles in March he met with the former U.S. coach and sensed something wasn’t right. “He didn’t say one way or the other, but I could tell he thought something might happen,” said Friedel.
“With him as the coach, people were talking about the U.S. team. No other coach of an American team has had that kind of success. We beat some big, big teams, we got to the second round of the World Cup, and he helped out American soccer a lot.
“But that’s one thing you learn early in soccer; things change, and you just move on.”
Friedel is also expected to be evaluated by U.S. Olympic team coach Timo Liekoski, although he would count as an overage player if selected to play in the 1996 Olympic Games. The Danish season ends June 18, by which time Friedel may have already joined the U.S. national team at U.S. Cup and begun examining his options.
“I’m free to talk to any club,” he said. “Right now, I want to play in Europe, and if that works out, great.”
by Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney