Jeff Agoos remembers his first two appearances for the United States as a unit primarily because they came during the same trip to Guatemala in 1988, but also because he scored his first international goal in the second match.
“It wasn’t a pretty goal, I can tell you that,” said Agoos, who was 20 at the time. “The ball was crossed from the right side into a big flurry of people and I was in the box. The goalkeeper comes out to punch it, but it hits him in the hand and goes underneath him right to me. I just kind of toed it in.”
Agoos, who debuted under Coach Lothar Osiander, did not return to the team until early 1991, when Bob Gansler was coach. Later that year he saw regular action under Bora Milutinovic, and soon began adding to his national team memory chest.
“Beating England at Foxboro was huge … playing at Wembley was big,” Agoos said. “Beating Germany … there are a lot of good ones.”
The FIFA World All-Star game last year in South Africa was one of the highlights of his international career. Knowing that two other left backs, Brazil’s Branco and Stig Inge Bjornebye of Norway, were on the roster, Agoos wasn’t sure how much he would play.
“I’m hoping to play a little bit in the second half and I come in for the meeting and see my name is up on the board as a starter,” Agoos said. “But it’s at right back.”
There wasn’t time for Agoos to tell Coach Roy Hodgson that he was quite left-footed. Besides, he didn’t want to talk his way out of the starting lineup, so he played 90 minutes on his off side behind Germany’s Thomas Haessler.
“Basically all I did was get the ball and give it to Thomas,” Agoos said. “Everything was first class and it was just an incredible couple of days.”
Perhaps more than the individual games and moments, Agoos savors the continual progress the U.S. program has made during his 12 years with it.
“How things are perceived has gone from a somewhat semi-pro environment to really professional,” Agoos said. “When I first began, we were lucky to get T-shirts and shorts. One of the chief complaints was that we didn’t get enough gear. Now you hear guys saying we’re getting too much gear – but they’re problems that are good to have.”
‘SO TUNED IN.’ For the week leading up to the June 3 game against South Africa, Agoos believed he would not play in U.S. Cup until the team traveled to Foxboro June 6 to play Ireland.
Agoos found out the day before the South Africa game that he would, almost a full year after earning his 96th cap, become the fifth man to play at least 100 matches for the United States and it would happen at his club’s home venue – RFK Stadium.
“I was actually pretty nervous because I wanted the 100th cap to be memorable,” Agoos said. “I didn’t want to lose or make a mistake or do anything like that.”
Agoos did more than avoid mistakes. He said afterward that his best games are the ones where he goes unnoticed, but during the 4-0 victory, every clearance, tackle and intercepted pass he made was lauded with a low chorus of “Goooose,” his nickname.
Coach Bruce Arena had changed his mind about when and where to play Agoos after Robin Fraser’s ankle injury forced him out of the lineup. Arena put Agoos in the center of a four-man defense alongside his D.C. United teammate, Carlos Llamosa, rather than at his more common spot on the left. Agoos made Arena’s decision look sharp.
“I’ve known Jeff since he was 16 and I know when he’s tuned in and sharp on the ball and off the ball,” U.S. assistant coach Dave Sarachan said. “Today he was so tuned in. … It was one of the most complete games he’s had. The occasion, I’m sure, narrowed his focus. Whether you play him as a left back or a center back, he’s a great pro and today he didn’t put a foot wrong.”
U.S. Soccer President Bob Contiguglia and former Secretary General Hank Steinbrecher presented Agoos with flowers and a watch in a pregame ceremony.
“When the national anthem was going, I was just thinking how special this was and trying to take everything in,” Agoos said. “I couldn’t have asked for it any better way.”
A PINNACLE UNREACHED. As special as the 100th cap was, it and the FIFA All-Star game would both be easily eclipsed in Agoos’ heart by a single appearance in a World Cup. Unlike the other four U.S. players who have reached triple digits – Marcelo Balboa, Cobi Jones, Paul Caligiuri and Eric Wynalda – none of Agoos’ caps have come on the highest stage.
He was the last player cut by Milutinovic before the 1994 World Cup and he watched all three U.S. matches of France ’98 from the bench.
“Every player who starts playing soccer dreams to play in a World Cup,” Agoos said. “That’s the biggest pinnacle of any player’s career.”
Agoos cannot say which snubbing hurt more at the time, but the bitterness of the 1998 experience lingers more strongly because he had been an integral member of qualifying and Coach Steve Sampson knew what he had gone through in 1994.
Milutinovic informed Agoos of his release immediately after he had completed a four-mile run on the beach with the team. The timing and manner infuriated the former Virginia star so much that he burned his practice uniform in the fireplace.
“Obviously, at the time, it was pretty devastating to get cut from the ’94 team, but I look back and I think that was when I really grew as a player more than any other time,” Agoos said. “I would never criticize [Sampson] for making coaching selections, but that really wasn’t what the majority of my disappointment was about. I was handled in a very unprofessional way. … I lost a lot of respect for him during that time and now I really don’t have it back.”
Agoos clearly respects Arena, his former coach at Virginia and United. He realizes that if the United States qualifies, he’ll be 34 for the World Cup finals this time.
“With Bruce, I have a good relationship,” Agoos said. “I generally know where I stand with him and I’ve got all the confidence in the world that he’ll put out the best team. … I’m definitely shooting for 2002. I want to contribute. If I can play – great, if it’s off the field – great.”
Regardless, Agoos hopes he has left a positive impression on American soccer.
“It’s actually an outstanding career that he’s often not given credit for,” Arena said.
Agoos accepted that he was a supporting cast member a long time ago.
“Will Rogers had a pretty good quote, and I’m not sure if I’m getting it exactly right, but he said, ‘Not everybody can be a hero, some people have to sit on the curb and applaud for the people going by,’ and I’m sort of one of those people,” Agoos said. “I’m not the guy who’s going to go out and score three goals, but I’ll make sure that I do my job and do it well.”
by Soccer America associate editor Will Kuhns