Mexico. Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum. Ninety thousand screaming fans, all but a paltry few cheering the red, white and green. The U.S. anthem booed, the U.S. players targets. “That,” says Chris Armas, “would be perfect. … What would be better than that?” It has become a rite that each cycle of the U.S. national team must endure, and this latest group of Yanks wants its turn before the toughest crowd in North America. Should it take care of business in Miami and then San Diego, a date with the Mexicans could await in The Football Confederation’s Gold Cup final Feb. 27 at the Coliseum. That’s the goal – one of them, anyway – the Americans carry into the fifth confederation championship for North and Central America and the Caribbean. The primary aim has nothing to do with winning. It might be, as Cobi Jones points out, “the Euro 2000 for North America,” but the Gold Cup’s position on a complicated world calendar has diminished its importance, certainly to the Americans. “It’s not do or die,” says U.S. coach Bruce Arena. “We place a lot of emphasis on winning every time we step onto the field, but I don’t think you can measure how important the Gold Cup is against World Cup qualifying. The most important games in 2000 start in the fall.” Arena has plenty of work to complete before qualifying for the 2002 World Cup begins in September, and the Gold Cup, ultimately, is nothing more than preparation. He’s still looking to set his lineup, to determine which players work best together. He’s working on sharpening the attack, eliminating lapses on defense. It’s a work in progress, and five games in 16 days – if everything goes as planned – should help move things along. Arena, on the challenges the Gold Cup presents the U.S. team and what he thinks it will acquire from the competition: “Our challenges are to get out of our group – that’s the first challenge – move across the country after three games and put ourselves in position to win the thing. That’s easier said than done. What we’ll get out [of the tournament] we’ll find out as we go along. If things go right, what we’ll get out is we’ll move the team forward and gain the confidence we need in a year that is certainly very important. Everything we do builds toward qualifying.”
A difficult road
The Americans, who won the inaugural Gold Cup in 1991 and lost to Mexico in the 1993 and ’98 finals, face a difficult road to the Coliseum. They have Haiti (Feb. 12), which will receive great support from South Florida, and Peru (Feb. 16), one of three “guests” in the competition, in Group B play at the Orange Bowl. Their group crosses over for the quarterfinals (Feb. 19 in Miami) and semifinals (Feb. 23 in San Diego) with Group A, the tournament’s toughest with 1998 World Cup competitors Colombia and Jamaica, plus Honduras. Mexico’s primary challenge for a chance at a fourth successive title is guest South Korea, a 2002 co-host. A semifinal pairing Feb. 24 at the Coliseum could draw a large, diverse audience. It won’t be so diverse if the Americans and Mexicans meet up. Their last meeting at the Coliseum, a 1-0 Mexico victory in the ’98 final, left the Yanks incensed at their treatment by the crowd. The anthem was drowned out by jeers, and objects rained down on the Americans when they neared the seats. Then-coach Steve Sampson, a Californian who sought a close relationship with Latino communities, questioned whether the U.S. team should play Mexico again in Los Angeles. Arena isn’t concerned. “No, I don’t really care,” he says. “I want to remain in the position I’m in, and that’s part of the job description: Mexico once a year in Los Angeles and take it or leave it.” The experience can be positive, for the less internationally experienced among his players in particular, in readying for what the Americans will face in, especially, Central America during qualifying. “If you experience some positive results, it does a lot of good for you,” Arena says. “If you’re never successful, if you lose all the time, that’s not good.” The Americans have started 2000 with two somewhat impressive showings. They played well most of a 1-1 tie with Iran on Jan. 16 and pulled out a 2-1 victory over Chile 13 days later on an 88th-minute Cobi Jones volley. “If I take away the first 15-20 minutes against Iran,” Arena says, “I think we’ve performed pretty well. We’ve been pretty solid. We’ve played pretty good defense and have started to create some good chances as well. Maybe the forwards should be a little more dangerous, do a better job of holding the ball. But given where we’ve come from, in hibernation for a couple months, we’re moving forward all right. … “I think our accomplishment to date [in 2000] is getting fitness and some experience together. Now we’re ready to play for keeps.” Arena won’t have a full squad for the tournament. He’s left most of his foreign-based players with their clubs, calling in only Claudio Reyna from Rangers, Brad Friedel from Liverpool and Jovan Kirovski, a man without a team but still Borussia Dortmund’s property. Frankie Hejduk and Ernie Stewart were listed among seven alternates. The Americans used a 4-4-2 formation against Iran and a 3-5-2 against Chile. Their depth in central defense – Arena calls it his team’s “strength” – and lack thereof at right back, and the freedom to use a third central midfielder with Reyna and Armas, seems to favor a 3-5-2. Not all of the roles have been handed out. Only Reyna, Armas, left winger Eddie Lewis and goalkeeper Kasey Keller, it would seem, are relatively secure. Elsewhere, Arena has options: In the back, Eddie Pope and Greg Vanney made strong impressions against Chile, and Robin Fraser has returned from a broken clavicle suffered in MLS Cup ’99. Up front, Eric Wynalda wants a fourth World Cup, Brian McBride wants to keep his spot and Ante Razov wants a chance. On the right, there’s Stewart, Hejduk and Ben Olsen. Cobi Jones can play in several places, and so can Joe-Max Moore. What about John Harkes or Jovan Kirovski? “We’re still solidifying the lineup, obviously,” Arena says. “That will come as we keep competing and playing together.” That’s the aim of this Gold Cup. A title would be nice. A chance to go up against Mexico again would be great. But Arena will trade it all for a bigger reward down the road. “I think every game is a learning experience for everybody,” he says. “We’re moving in the right direction. Are we there yet? No. Will we get there? Hopefully, yes. “The only way to determine that in the end is if we qualify for the next World Cup. That’s the objective. Period. If we lose the next 10 games and qualify for the World Cup, then we’ve accomplished our goal.”
by Soccer America senior editor Scott French
