Fitter U.S. shows encouraging signs, but fails to score against South American power Paraguay Once upon a time, the St. Louis Soccer Park was home to the U.S. national team. In the late 1980s, it was the one place where the home team could guarantee a good gate and an enthusiastic home crowd to cheer the players on. “For about three or four years, this was pretty much home to us,” recalled U.S. captain-for-life John Harkes. “In fact, I haven’t played here since 1989. I always remember a good atmosphere and a great crowd. It hasn’t changed รน we got the same thing tonight.” Other things intervened. though. For one thing, the U.S. last played here in 1990 in a 4-1 win over Iceland as part of Bob Gansler’s three-games-in-a-week World Cup prep. Then Italia ’90 came and went, the suits and sponsors arrived in numbers, and the U.S. moved its base to the sunnier climes of Southern California. Loftier opponents and larger venues followed. The Soccer Park received the new, verbose title of the Anheuser-Busch Conference and Sports Centre. And St. Louis, which provided the nucleus of the 1950 World Cup team and once served as a major collegiate power, saw its influence wane. The area’s attention turned toward the St. Louis Blues, the long-beloved Cardinals, and its most recent addition, the Rams. But on June 4, the U.S. came home to the little stadium on the banks of the Meramec River. A capacity crowd of 7,016 soccer moms, pops, and kids clattered up and down the aluminum bleachers, and got up close and personal with their favorite players. Harry Keough, star of the 1950 World Cup team, mingled with the fans. So did his son Ty, while ESPN colleague Bill McDermott handled the PA. Welcome back to soccer, St. Louis-style. They also got World Cup dead-cert Paraguay, making a quick pit-stop en route to the Copa America in Bolivia, and a 0-0 tie that fell neatly into the cachet of a game of two halves: The first inspired and competitive, the second insipid and shoddy, heavy with substitutions. In other words, standard fare for an international friendly these days. Whoever said that there’s no such thing as a “friendly” hasn’t been watching many internationals lately. Preparing for San Salvador U.S. coach Steve Sampson, unhappy about a two-month gap between World Cup qualifiers, had requested a couple of friendlies to ensure that what momentum the team had built in the first phase of Hexagonal qualifying was not entirely lost before the team played in San Salvador June 29. The idea was to bring in a couple of new faces to see how they fared in the company of the seniors. U.S. Soccer complied and scheduled the Paraguay match and an upcoming friendly against Israel, even though the games present a financial bust. It costs around $125,000 to fly the U.S. team and its burgeoning entourage in for games, and that figure doesn’t include the stadium fee and the opponent’s fee. At a small venue, such as St. Louis, even with a full house, the federation was $35,000 down on the deal just by bringing the squad there. However, it made sense of a kind. A small game, far away from the glare of TV cameras, unlike U.S. Cup ’97, which not only failed to swell the federation’s coffers but also saw Sampson’s three lineups publicly dismantled in desultory performances. If the U.S. lost heavily against Paraguay, who’d be there to notice it? A partisan crowd that was delighted to have the game there in the first place? A handful of journalists? Plus, playing the game in St. Louis would generate some good PR with team sponsor Anheuser-Busch. That’s soccer business logic for you. A short-term financial loss here and in Florida, with the prospect of a payoff down the line in the form of a $1 million payoff per game in France, should the U.S. qualify. But a debacle a la Denmark was never on the cards. Paraguay left behind a handful of starters, but did bring national hero and bad-boy goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert with it. Surrounded by tales of baseball bats in car trunks, assaults on players and officials, and most recently a crowd riot after a red card, the free-scoring keeper was on his best behavior against the U.S. There were no fireworks with the resident U.S. hothead, Eric Wynalda, but no thundering free kicks, either. The U.S. had worries of its own: Tom Dooley, bound for MLS, turned up with a stress fracture. Eddie Pope, Claudio Reyna and Chad Deering were all unavailable, and Roy Lassiter was a late injury scratch. Unlike U.S. Cup, however, the Americans looked sharp and fit, thanks to regular MLS play. Starts for Brose, Mason and Kirovski This time around, the Europe-based players were the weary ones. Dario Brose took over the Reyna’s playmaking role; Michael Mason earned his first U.S. start, and Jovan Kirovski, raking in the cash but not the minutes at European Cup champion Borussia Dortmund, was paired with Wynalda in attack. Kirovski was far and away the most promising of the three, holding the ball well, distributing it intelligently, and displaying a vastly improved first touch. Mason combined electrifying runs down the right flank with a series of woeful crosses. Brose, swamped by the Paraguayan midfield, moved to the left flank, where he toiled equally fruitlessly and was then subbed for Brian Maisonneuve at halftime. “I think Dario would admit that he didn’t play his best game tonight,” said Sampson. “He was playing into pressure and when we moved Harksie inside and got him outside, it gave him more time and space to work with the ball. “But he was very nervous and he can do a lot better than that.” In the eighth minute, Brose fell prey to the Paraguayan strength of counterattacking, when he was caught dithering in midfield and cleanly stripped by Roberto Acuna, who played a short ball to Derlis Soto on the wing. Soto left the U.S. defense trailing before whipping in a ferocious cross that was just inches away from the boot of the onrushing Jose Cardozo. Eight minutes later, Harkes played the ball wide to Wynalda at the other end. Wynalda hit a fine ball that Mason squared back to Harkes at the edge of the box. The U.S. captain shot tamely at Chilavert. Equally tame was Cardozo’s 25-yarder at Friedel at the other end, but in the 26th minute, the Columbus Crew keeper produced a fine save that kept the U.S. in the match. Richart Gomez played a fine ball to Acuna on the Paraguayan right flank. Acuna’s excellent run culminated with a fine cross that defender Juan Carlos Villamayor, racing in from afar, met with a perfectly-timed and powerful point-blank header just outside the left post. Friedel got down in time and palmed the ball wide of the post. “He made an exceptional save,” said Sampson. “That was another solid performance on the part of Friedel.” Two minutes later, Harkes played a marvelous ball to Wynalda, whose shot shaved the post with Chilavert well beaten. In the 31st minute, a lazy ball by Pedro Sarabia was picked up by Wynalda and lofted over the bar. Five minutes later, a Kirovski effort was just wide and seconds before Esse Baharmast blew the halftime whistle Brose fed Kirovski, who made a good run and launched a fine shot that Chilavert belted clear. “Jovan played the best game he has played for us,” said Sampson. “He had a fine shot in the first half that was in the back of the net, but Chilavert made a great save.” Solid games by Sorber and Harkes In the second half, Maisonneuve physically yet effectively shored up the left flank. Hometown hero Mike Sorber had a fine game, combining well-timed tackles with intelligent holding and distribution. That effectiveness gave greater freedom to Harkes, who enjoyed his best game in some time. The U.S. captain produced the best chance of the second half, neatly orchestrating a give-and-go with Wynalda that split the Paraguayan in the 80th minute. But the finishing was another matter, as the ball skied over the bar and into an adjacent soccer field. Harkes promptly pulled his jersey over his head. “I had to hide from that one,” he said. “And it’s so small here, I didn’t want the crowd to hear what I was saying.” “On paper this result was very good for us,” said Sampson. “We could have won the game and we had some good opportunities and accomplished what we needed to do … But the players weren’t satisfied with our performance. I think that’s a really positive sign, that they weren’t happy with a tie.” Paraguay coach Paulo Cesar Carpegiani was less convinced, saying: “It’s hard to analyze the [U.S.] on a field so small. I think they had difficulty taking the ball away from us. “They’re a team with some very, very good individual players, but they have difficulty when they play South American teams.” But Paraguay, with its 3-5-2 lineup, took a decidedly European approach to the game. True, there was some nice work in midfield from Acuna in the first half, but as the game wore on, they were overly reliant on Chilavert punts. Sampson, on the other hand, fielded a more aggressive 4-4-2 lineup that reaped everything but a goal, although whether he will use the same formation against El Salvador where the stakes are much, much higher is open to question. by Soccer America Senior Editor Duncan Irving in Fenton, Mo.