Lessons from the last World Cup guide U.S. plans for its trip to next year’s finals.
Frustrated in its failure to win a World Cup despite an abundance of talent, the Brazilian federation took tournament preparation to a new level in 1958.
It sent the head of its medical team, Dr. Hilton Gosling, to Sweden a year before the tournament to scout 25 towns in search of an ideal training base. He settled on the Hilda forest outside of Gothenburg.
Players were allowed to send
mail but weren’t permitted to receive it. They were overseen by doctors, dentists, masseurs and a psychologist. And they won the World Cup.
Still, the benefit of sequestering a team during the tournament is debatable.
The Argentines believe in isolation. The French want their players to get plenty of family time and stay connected to the outside world.
“They must have laptops and Internet access,” says Coach Roger Lemerre, “because the modern player has personal business to keep up with.”
As a player, Franz Beckenbauer found World Cup camps unbearable – wives weren’t even invited to Germany’s 1974 victory banquet. As a coach, he set up his players’ families in a nearby hotel during their winning 1990 World Cup campaign.
Brazil’s 1974 players spent a month away from their families before the tournament. “This is supposed to make us world champions. World champions of what, masturbation?” asked defender Luis Pereira.
ISOLATED IN 1998. The U.S. players weren’t kept from their families four years ago in France, but they complained bitterly about their setup.
“I thought there would be parades and a big spectacle,” Jeff Agoos said when he arrived at the Chateau de Pizay, a 17th-century castle 45 minutes from Lyons. “When we get here, there are 10 geese waiting for us, and you can’t see a house for about five miles.”
In the 10 days before they traveled to Paris for their opening game, the Americans moaned about their boredom. They named the geese for amusement. One player took to reading the phone book to kill time.
Coach Bruce Arena and Tom King, the managing director of the national teams, are making sure that next summer’s experience is better.
“It’s important that the players are not isolated like they were in 1998,” says Arena, who took over for Steve Sampson after France ’98. “I doubt that was the main problem. But that contributed to the problems. I want the players to be part of the World Cup. Take it in. It’s the greatest experience of their career, and we want them to have a great time. And if their families are there, then even better.”
At 6 a.m. the day after the United States clinched its World Cup spot with a win over Jamaica, King was on a flight to Asia. Like Dr. Gosling, he went from city to city. But because the Americans could land in Japan or South Korea, he covered even more ground.
GOLF IN 2002. There are 81 potential sites in Japan alone. Before leaving, King got information on 56. After perusing the sites with Arena, he narrowed the list to 13 and visited them.
King checked field quality, locker rooms and hotels but also kept close track of the options players would have during their free time. He isn’t ruling out a downtown site.
“Shopping, golf, attractions, sightseeing,” King said. “The school of thought of isolating the players from the pressures of the World Cup was not productive in 1998. The philosophy of having a serene, somewhat exclusive environment for them to train was probably not the way to go.”
The Americans will play their first three games at different venues in one country. One option is to have a base camp, then travel to each game and return immediately after it. Another would be to set up a pre-tournament base, then move from venue to venue. A third option would be to set up a base at the first venue.
They’ll decide after the Dec. 1 draw, then pounce. Sites are taken on a first-come, first-serve situation.
Before the draw, the Americans play the meaningless qualifier in Trinidad Nov. 11. They meet South Korea Dec. 9 in Seogwipo and start the new year with the Gold Cup (Jan. 18-Feb. 3)
Away games against Italy (Feb. 13) and Germany (March 27) follow. A mid-April game is likely, and the U.S. Cup will take place shortly before the U.S. departure for Asia.
“We have an understanding all the way through 2002,” Arena says. “The play, the rhythm of the games. It’s just an issue of getting opponents based on what we learn from the draw.”
Because of security fears, U.S. field hockey, ice hockey, gymnastic and tennis teams have pulled out of recent competitions in Europe. King says U.S. Soccer looks forward to its games abroad.
“It’s full steam ahead,” he says.
by Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla