A young Belgian team lacking motivation was primed to be beaten, but it held on for a 1-0 win over the United States.
Only eight days after the ouster of Bora Milutinovic, the U.S. national team played its first game without its former boss, traveling to the Brussels suburbs April 22 for an international friendly against Belgium.
The United States held Belgium even for most of the game, but a defensive lapse late in the first half gave Belgium the lead and it held on through a listless second half for a 1-0 win before a capacity crowd of 14,000 fans at the tiny Molenbeek Stadium.
Playing its first game under interim coach Steve Sampson, the United States rarely tested Gilbert Bodart, Belgium’s new No. 1 goalie after the retirement of Michel Preud’homme, but neither did it have to face a Belgian onslaught. Indeed, the Red Devils, for whom the match served as a tuneup before its Euro ’96 qualifier against Cyprus four days later, appeared unmotivated and were on the whole very disappointing.
With Paul Caligiuri, who hopes to find a club in Belgium for next season, organizing the defense from his new sweeper position, the U.S. was only beaten in the 44th minute on a goal by Standard Liege striker Gunther Schepens, playing in his second international match.
Belgium strung together six passes — including four headers — following a punt by U.S. goalie Brad Friedel before Schepens was sprung free down the left side by Gilles De Bilde. Schepens’ backpass to De Bilde froze Zak Ibsen, allowing Schepens to break free when De Bilde laid the return ball through to him. Schepens eluded Caligiuri and beat Friedel on the ground with a shot against the grain.
It was the only time Friedel looked shaky all evening. In the 25th minute, he stopped a header from Georges Grun, racing up from his defensive position during a well-executed attack. And just before Schepens’ goal, he gave De Bilde no angle on a breakaway, forcing the young Belgian star to shoot wide.
Belgium’s goal was one of few moments of coordinated play. The field was in terrible shape, forcing the Americans to rely heavily on quick counterattacks. The irony is, the game had been moved from Anderlecht’s stadium because of overuse there this spring.
Caligiuri anchors U.S. defense
For his first game as U.S. coach, Sampson used only six of the players Milutinovic started in his last game against Uruguay March 25 in Dallas.
The defense saw three changes with Friedel taking over for Juergen Sommer, Ibsen replacing Lawrence Lozzano on the right side and Mike Lapper joining Caligiuri in the middle. Jeff Agoos, playing in the German Third Division, returned at left back. Alexi Lalas was unavailable for the game because his Italian club, Padova, had a crucial game against Juventus.
Cobi Jones and John Kerr returned on the flanks in midfield, while Mike Burns played behind Frank Klopas, who started in place of Jovan Kirovski but was replaced by the 19-year-old late in the first half after limping off with an injury.
Eric Wynalda was a last-minute replacement for John Harkes, and he started up front with Ernie Stewart. Wynalda had played the night before in the Bundesliga with Bochum and clearly looked fatigued.
Jones attacked the Belgian defense with vigor, but he was unable to duplicate the success he had against Uruguay. Stewart helped Jones when he could, but he often became frustrated by the Belgian defenders, waving at the referee and linesmen each time a foul wasn’t called.
The game was refereed by Swiss official Michel Zen Ruffinen — better known now as Sepp Blatter’s heir apparent as the head of FIFA operations in Zurich.
Despite playing at home, Belgium rarely forced the issue, never allowing the compact U.S. defense to lose its shape. The U.S. employed the same defense that was so effective during the World Cup under Milutinovic, forming a double curtain behind the ball when possession was lost. They surprised the Belgian crowd with their ability to move the ball around but did not take advantage of their speed against the relatively heavy-footed Belgian defenders.
The best U.S. chance came in the 35th minute when Jones fed Wynalda, who broke in on Bodart after Grun hesitated. Unfortunately, Wynalda was trigger-happy, and his shot went over the crossbar.
It would prove to be the only clear chance the Americans got. After the break, both coaches took advantage of the liberal substitute rules used in friendlies to empty their benches. The game suffered from the coaches’ excessive use of their subs. There was little rhythm or pace. Lacking fitness, the Americans played into the hands of the Red Devils, for whom the second half served as little more than a scrimmage for their Cyprus game.
Belgium has been experimenting with young players in recent games. Of its stars from the 1990 and 1994 World Cup, only Grun, back in the lineup after a long absence due to injuries, played against the U.S.
The only serious chance came in the 63rd minute when the attentive Friedel came off his line to stop Michael Goossens.
The capacity crowd — which had observed a moment of silence before the game for the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing — had little to cheer about in the second half.
Still, Belgian coach Paul Van Himst was surprised by the performance of the U.S. team.
“They demonstrated that they have technical skills and tactical abilities I never believed that they had,” he said. “In the game, they frankly were often our equals.”
Caligiuri acknowledged the Belgians’ domination.
“They created more chances than we did,” he said. “I’m not unhappy about our performance, however. We did not appear much worse than one of Europe’s best teams. “Unfortunately, the field did not lend itself to playing attractive soccer. It was difficult to control the ball, and there were numerous bad bounces. We lacked homogeneity because our players are now spread all over.”
Schepens revealed what was on his teammates’ minds when he said they were concentrating on the Cyprus game.
“I think,” he said, “that Cyprus, our next opponent in the Euro ’96 qualifying, will pose more problems for us than this American team. On the whole, it was good, but it was certainly limited.”
The next U.S. opponent is Costa Rica, which travels to Tampa for a friendly May 28.
It remains to be seen who will play — but most importantly, who will be charge.
by Soccer America correspondent Michel Dubois