Group F and the USA’s Chances of Advancing

TOM (galpy@mindspring.com) Honestly, I do not know whether to cheer or cry over the draw. Iran, on paper, is a somewhat easy task; however, we all know that they will be gunning for us with all their might. The Germany game does not scare me, simply due to the fact that we all knew we would face one impossible task. That leaves Yugoslavia. This, obviously is the “must” game. Should we win this one, I think our chances of reaching the second round are fair. ROBERT (ombak@prodigy.net) Well, barring any upsets that would be comparable to [the] USA 1-0 [win] over England in 1950, the U.S. is out. Germany is too strong to do anything but beat the U.S., even though I think they are over the hill and will not do as well as most think in France. The U.S. has to beat Iran to have a chance — period. The key, unfortunately for the U.S., is Germany-Yugoslavia. If Yugoslavia wins, the U.S. is out on inferior goal difference. If Yugoslavia loses, the U.S. has to beat Yugoslavia, which I do not think will happen. Yugoslavia is loaded with talent, and will not disappoint in the first round. TONY PHILLIPS (Tony.PHILLIPS@bsh.com) I am probably one of the few people who like this draw for the USA. For one thing, it gives us a chance to show the world if we made any progress since ’94, and if we advance to the next round, nobody can say its because we had a weak draw… I think this is a great opportunity for [Steve Sampson] and the boys to show were not pushovers. I believe the most important time for us is the next five months, so I hope the federation gives the team all the advantages it needs (sorry MLS) to prepare… ERic (netminder@jump.net) Simple: THREE AND OUT The rest of the world will say that our performance in France ’98 proves that we can only win at home. So the only way we’ll ever win a World Cup is the next time it’s played in the U.S. The U.S. will say that we got one of the toughest draws… but I don’t know if that’s necessarily the case. I’d call it the toughest draw for the U.S. in that it’s probably the ONLY group where there are two teams that are clearly expected in Round Two (Germany and Yugoslavia). But there are other groups that are tougher groups because there are three serious contenders to make the second round. I’m sorry for Sampson because he’ll get some blame for our failure, but I think realistically not even Bora and his tactics could get us through this wall… It will be fun to see if the national team has the will to give it a good fight. DAN LONEY (dloney@earthlink.net) It could happen. Not an easy group at all, but there are far worse out there. A big problem might be Iran, incredibly motivated against us, less so against the other two. A blowout loss by Iran against Yugoslavia might end up inconveniencing us. Of course, we might get blown out by Team Yugo as well. COLIN (grabowcp@aol.com) I know most of you will think I am crazy, but Germany is the team that scares me the least. My prediction is that we go 0-2-1, tying Germany. I think that they will overcondfident playing in front of a ton of their fans against an overmatched USA side. Iran will beat us just on sheer emotion. After their win in Australia in the last 15 minutes, they think that they are literally on a mission from God. God has now delivered the Great Satan to them and they are going to be on adrenaline for the whole 90 minutes. Yugoslavia will then be there to pick up the pieces. Our current defense doesn’t have much of a chance of stopping their strikers. They [will] beat us by two goals. Yugoslavia and Germany advance, but Iran won’t care, they will have beaten us and that will make up for a lot. The U.S. trudges back home, Sampson gets fired, and a new generation will pick up the torch. CHEFAI (griffin.118@osu.edu) The Germany game is very winnable. Why? After seeing the Germans many times over the last few years — Euro 96 and qualifying, e.g. — they never blow anybody out. All of their games are usually 2-1 or 1-0 and they let their opponents stay in the match. Also what kills the U.S. in general is teams with great speed at forward and the wings and, for all Germany’s strengths, these are not two of them. In fact the U.S. is actually faster. This is not to take anything away from Klinsmann and Bierhoff, but they tend to try to overpower defenders as opposed to going around them. Our defense is perfect for this as Balboa, Pope and even Lalas are great in the air and in physical battles. This being said, I cannot see our forwards breaking the marking of Reuter and Sammer and Co.. However this should be a great match if, and this is a giant if, we show up for it emotionally. Also, we’ll beat Iran, and get killed by Yugoslavia. As Mijatovic is the type of player who will shred our D. My prediction: we go 1-1-1 and earn respect with a draw against Germany, but don’t make the second round. BOONE (mboone@fplc.edu) After thinking about our group a little more. I’m not as disappointed. The U.S. tends to play up and down to its competition. I don’t think the U.S. team will roll over at this point… I think that if the U.S. had gotten an easier draw, you might have seen the team coast a bit thinking that they should win because they are the U.S. Remember the Jamaica game a few months ago? That’s the kind of play you get out of the U.S. team when they think they should win. DAVID WATTERSON (diw@webtv.net) Without a doubt, Group F has the most dramatic matchups: Germany vs. Yugoslavia, USA vs. Iran, USA vs. Yugoslavia. Can the mainstream news even think about ignoring soccer now? CHICAGO (rjwilson@ameritech.net) In ’94 we were all singing this same song. We’re going to get demolished by Colombia a favorite to win the tournament, even picked by Pele himself. Yugoslavia does have two Italian league superstars, but the U.S. has a couple guys excelling in the Bundesliga — six months is still far away; the form of either team could change tremendously from [what it is] now! KEN BARR (kbarr@rocketmail.com) I think it is obvious that while a loss to Germany may not be fatal, we must aim for at least a draw, followed by a must win against Iran that may be difficult to achieve. Iran will be spurred by its supporters and media to humiliate “The Great Satan” on the pitch. Therefore, it will be difficult for Steve Sampson to plan a strategy to counter a highly emotional opponent. The third match, against Yugoslavia, will be a stern test as the opponent is looking to re-establish its standing in the sport. Since I believe five points (a win and two draws) will be needed to advance, the U.S. needs draws against Germany and Yugoslavia and a win against Iran. Otherwise, qualification for the second round, where the likely opponents would be either the Netherlands or Belgium, with Mexico an outside possibility, would be hopeless. DRUMMER (kbrauns@mindspring.com) As a very wise poster once wrote: “The ball is round, and anything can happen.” Germany has a lot of older players. The Serbs are not the same team as 1990 and have lost a lot of talent to Croatia. Iran is well, Iran. I’d say we have a decent chance.

USA vs. Iran

HOWARD HAMILTON (howardh@leland.stanford.edu) I am still in amazement over this draw. If there was ever a match that could ignite the same nationalistic fervor as somewhere else, it would be this one. The next six months are going to be interesting. But hey, the World Cup has survived East Germany-West Germany in 1974, and it’s survived England-Ireland in 1990 and Argentina-Brazil a number of times. It will certainly survive USA-Iran in 1998. GOLDEN BOY (Barry.Goldsmith@noaa.gov) The media will indeed pay attention to this Cup, based on the political ramifications as much as anything else. They seem drawn by conflict or potential conflict. Why else would Latrell Sprewell dominate the sports news these days? It’s too bad they (the media) can’t focus on soccer. I foresee a peaceful and somewhat friendly exchange among fans, as long as it remains in the context of soccer and not national politically-driven pride. ALAN DOUGLAS (aland@lightspeed.bc.ca) A Canadian perspective… Having had the chance to see both the USA and Iran play against Canada recently, I would slightly favor the U.S. I would expect Iran to carry the balance of play, maybe 60%, but have trouble breaking down the U.S. defense. I think it will be close, but that the Americans’ edge in international experience should be the difference. BOB [THE METROSTARS’ 12TH MAN] (rljc@mail.ptdprolog.net) We will beat Iran without a problem because we won’t have the tremendous pressure that Iran will have to try to beat us. That will be their downfall… As for Germany & Yugoslavia, God help us.

Thoughts On Other Groups

TOM SHENK (ActMine@aol.com) Obviously there are tougher groups. Both D and E have 3-4 quality teams without any clear dominant team. But I would have to give Group D the edge because of overall strength in qualifying, and performance in recent tournaments. Spain won its group and advanced to the quarterfinals in ’94. Nigeria won the gold medal and also was a quarterfinalist. Paraguay was a dominant team in South American Qualifying. Bulgaria hasn’t played that well of late, struggling in the European Championships; but was a semifinalist in ’94. Personally I think the USA will be lucky to advance in ’98; but should they do so there is no reason to think they won’t continue to play well and possibly make the quarters. NIC (n.@csuohio.edu) The most entertaining match of the first round could be between newcomers Japan and Jamaica. CHASE GIPSON (crgipson@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu) Group D is easily the group of death, although Group G (minus Tunisia) is a close second. I would imagine that the English are a bit perturbed at this moment. They finish first in their qualifying group ahead of Italy and now they have to defeat either Colombia or Romania in the first round to advance, while the Italians are left with a much easier road to the second round. The French aren’t afraid to “pull a few strings” to make sure that the host country has an extremely easy trip to the second round. It is a shame that Greece didn’t qualify this time or maybe they could have stuck them in their group as well. RICHARD (mepi@zoomnet.net) I find it incredible that everybody takes Chile lightly. After Batigol and Ronaldinho, Chile has the most proven forwards, [Marcelo] Salas, [Ivan] Ban Ban Zamorano and [Sebastian] Rosenthal. They will drive any defense nuts, and Italy is having problems scoring goals… JAHMAN (jah@jol.com) USA has a tough draw while Jamaica has a great chance of going on to the second round! Note: This is just a sampling of the many opinions our visitors shared. To read more, visit the Graffiti section of SA Online.