Daniel Goshin
East Amherst, N.Y.
Soccer America is a huge publication with many readers. I feel that you should take a larger role in encouraging U.S. Soccer fans to go to matches and support their team much like Sam’s Army and other supporters clubs do. Maybe you could consider running some articles on supporters clubs (i.e. NYC Firm, DC Screaming Eagles, NE Midnight Riders, Wrecking Crew, Galaxians, Mystics). Write about how they support their team, and how you can join. I feel that it is your duty as the main soccer publication in the United States to do this.
As you know U.S. supporters are often outnumbered at matches. You should run ads for U.S. matches in your publication, encouraging U.S. fans to bring flags, wear jerseys, and sing their hearts out for the U.S.! I’d really appreciate it if you would consider both of my suggestions.
Keep up the great work!
Paul Kennedy: Thanks for your suggestions, Dan. A great help would be if you have a directory of these fan clubs you mention. We’d need phone numbers of organizers to contact for more information. If you have this info, please let us know.
We have talked about doing, in early spring, an article on these fan groups.
Nick Prodanovich
Sterling, Va.
What are the odds on the CONCACAF final-round teams making it to France 98? I would have to say Mexico and the U.S. are almost a sure thing, but the third spot is really up for grabs between Costa Rica and Canada. Both El Salvador and Jamaica look like darkhorses.
Mike Woitalla: Costa Rica’s greatest enemy is its federation’s disorganization. It just fired the highly successful coach “Badu” Vieira. Otherwise, I would put them in the top three.
Mexico is the strongest team. The U.S. should be up there, but I just watched them expose their lack of depth with three straight U.S. Cup loses.
Jamaica is a contender. A very exciting, and now effective team. El Salvador will struggle — it doesn’t have a good enough supporting cast for Cienfuegos and Diaz Arce — but it will be tough to beat at home.
Canada is dismal. Predictable and with little skill, their chances hinge on whether opponents will be intimidated by their rock-em sock-em British style.
Bill Hamm
Austin, Texas
I heard that the U.S. women’s national team, the winners of the Gold Medal at the Atlanta Olympics, will not be traveling to Australia for a tournament this winter because U.S. Soccer forgot to order their tickets in time, and when they discovered the error, the price of the tickets became prohibitive. Do they care about our gold medalists?
Dean Caparaz: While it’s true some sort of plane ticket snafu scrapped the U.S. women’s plans to go to Australia earlier this year, the U.S. women are still headed to Australia. They should be there Feb. 24-March 6.
Besides a training camp, the U.S. women have not done anything as a group since the Olympic final in August. But they appear to have a lot on the slate for the spring and summer.
Before the Australia trip there may be another training camp. Also, many of the U.S. Olympians — Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Briana Scurry, Julie Foudy, Tiffeny Milbrett, Tisha Venturini, Brandi Chastain and others — will play an exhibition game against the Midwest College All-Stars Feb. 16 at the Wisconsin Center Arena in Milwaukee, Wis., at 1:30 p.m. (CT). The proceeds will benefit the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and Hamm’s brother’s bone marrow fund.
For ticket information call TicketMaster at (414) 276-4545.
The all-star team will include players from Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Northwestern, Marquette, Butler and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The U.S. women also have a Victory Tour sponsored by Nike during the spring and the U.S. Women’s Cup May 31-June 8, with other teams to be determined. Australia and Italy are possible opponents.
You should call U.S. Soccer — at (312) 808-1300 — to double check all the dates and times and get information on other U.S. women’s events.
Leah Nicole
Columbus, Ohio
Last year the Columbus Crew started out the season rough. But, when Tom Fitzgerald moved into the head coaching position, the Crew dramatically improved, making the last playoff spot. What do you think it was that Fitzgerald did or the former coach didn’t do that improved the Crew’s play so greatly and do you think their success will last into the new season?
Ridge Mahoney: I don’t think Timo Liekoski sufficiently prepared his players tactically nor properly motivated them. But, I also believe the arrival of Brad Friedel pulled Columbus into the playoffs. Even under Fitzgerald, the Crew’s defense allowed opponents’ too many good scoring opportunities; luckily, Friedel played a string of sensational performances and thus Columbus won some games it really should have lost.
If Friedel comes back and they sort out a few defensive problems, the Crew will make the playoffs again.
Mark Davis
Albany, N.Y.
1) Will MLS ever use goals like ones used in Europe, where the backs are held up by strings and posts?
2) I’ve heard of stars such as George Weah, Juergen Klinsmann, and Roberto Baggio (among others) being interested in joining the new league. When their contracts run out with their clubs, MLS won’t have to pay transfer fees, right? I guess I’m asking if and when they will ever come over?
Ridge Mahoney: 1) I like them, too, but all goals made in the U.S. have back supports, because they’re much easier to remove, which is important since MLS must share stadiums with NFL teams. The European-style posts might come into use when teams play in their own facilities — perhaps D.C. United will buy a set for RFK.
2) Not this year or next, but perhaps after the 1998 World Cup for Klinsmann, probably a year or two after that for Baggio and Weah. But even if they are out of contract, these players are terribly expensive. The complication is that a player might buy or otherwise obtain his own rights and in that case, he usually demands a signing bonus or other payment, which for an international player, can be quite high.
Ben Newton
Portland, Ore.
I know that when English players are make an appearance for the national team, they still receive a small hat in recognition of their being chosen to this select group. That is, when they “earn a cap”, as the phrase goes, they actually receive a real one as part of the process. My question is, is this tradition universally adhered to in all countries, or is it uniquely British? Do the players of other countries, Americans in particular, literally receive a hat when they play for the national team? If so, what do the American “caps” look like, and how come I’ve never seen one?
Ridge Mahoney: The tradition was begun in Britain; to my knowledge, other countries adapted the terminology, as they did with so many other terms, but did not actually arrange for thousands of caps to be manufactured so they could be distributed to national team players. You’ve never seen a U.S. cap because they don’t exist, although I think it would have been a nice gesture of a player reaching 100 caps — Marcelo Balboa, Paul Caligiuri — had received a commemorative cap of some sort.
Nick Sabloff
London, England
I am an American living in England. I am a huge fan of soccer and the USA team. After the Copa America I thought we really looked like a top 20 team with some skill. But after seeing the Costa Rica qualifying game, my view has changed. I think the USA team has a lot of heart and has the right idea, but it doesn’t have the tradition and individual flair it takes to be a great team and be a reasonable challenger in the World Cup. Right now, we simply don’t have any players with particularly great skills. How would you respond to that?
Mike Woitalla: Yes, the United States shares a problem with many countries (especially Northern European) in that there is a shortage of skillful players, especially those who can handle the international level. Consider that the U.S. went a decade without a bona fide professional league, and you can see that even if we had good, young skillful players, the chances were great that they’d never emerge on the national scene.
For hope, look to Tab Ramos, Claudio Reyna, Eric Wynalda and Jovan Kirovski, all of whom have a skill level and a creativity in play that rates internationally.
Other promising young American players, who are skillful, haven’t had enough good pro experience to be able to cope with the speed of the international game.
So you are correct in citing a lack of tradition as a problem. The problem has been addressed to some extent by MLS, which not only provides a professional stage, but places an emphasis on skillful players, i.e. its signing of Latin American stars.
To further nurture the U.S. talent, there should be a mandate throughout the U.S. game that directs coaches to de-emphasize the physical aspect of the game and create environments for young players conducive to the development of ball-playing — dribbling, passing, shooting. You can always coach a player into prime fitness, but a 20-year-old thug defender has little chance of becoming a Maldini.
The one huge advantage the U.S. has its size: The country has millions of players from diverse backgrounds. (As does Brazil.) This mandate I mention should instill in coaches the importance of defenders who are as skillful as attackers. It should state that dribblers should be encouraged, not stifled. (The ball-hog can learn from opponents and teammates, not from a screaming coach.)
As far as the short-term goes: The U.S. coach Steve Sampson should line up a team so that players like Kirovski, Wynalda, Joe-Max Moore and Reyna can concentrate on attacking. I’m tired of hearing “that at this level everybody has to defend.” There are 11 players on the field. They do not all have to defend. Make the other team’s coach worry about defending. Look what happened to the U.S. in Costa Rica when the Costa Ricans had three forwards flying at them.
Remember Nigeria at the Olympics? Defense was for the other team. Nigeria had three forwards plus attackers from the back. They kicked butt.
John F. Kiser, Jr.
Atlanta, Ga.
How can I get a video tape of the Women’s NCAA Finals — North Carolina over Notre Dame?
Dean Caparaz: Your best bet is to contact Integrity Sports (the production company that put together the TV broadcast of the final four) at (704) 896-8181. The NCAA does not have any tapes of the final four available.
Joseph Lessin
Siloam Springs, Ark.
About the MLS Cup 1.4 rating: do you think the bungled playoff schedule could have contributed to the poor showing? It seems that if MLS had stuck with their original playoff schedule, and if more playoff games were televised, more people would have become interested in the developing drama. I know there were some soccer new-comers who caught the final and were impressed. If more such people had been reached during the semifinals, maybe that rating would have been around 2.0…
Ridge Mahoney: The playoff schedule didn’t affect the Oct. 20 date, so everyone knew when and where it would be played. I can’t honestly believe the rating would have been much higher, though, because virtually every playoff game was televised either locally or nationally, regardless of how the schedule changed. And that “original” playoff schedule didn’t really exist! Those were tentative dates, subject to change. However, I don’t think ESPN/ESPN2 did a very good job of promoting the final, and for this reason, the ratings might have suffered a bit, maybe one-tenth or two-tenths of a point.