WORLD CUP / USA 1994 : Wilting at the World Cup : For Sunstruck Fans, Keeping Cool Outweighs U.S. Team’s Fortunes
All things considered--the heat was awful and their team wasn’t much better--the U.S. soccer fans at the Rose Bowl took it pretty much in stride Sunday.
They cheered as much as a sun-battered World Cup crowd could when it’s 106 degrees in the shade, cold drinks are hard to find and the American team, after an initial flurry of activity, was a goal down for most of the game and ended up losing to Romania, 1-0.
The few Romanians in the sellout crowd gave a lusty cheer when it was over, but at least they had the decency not to rub it in.
“It was a pretty even game,” said Virid Igna, a San Diego businessman who recently emigrated from Romania. “The difference is, our team scored a goal.”
Sunday was a study in how people--especially those suddenly touting the U.S. team as a contender for the World Cup--bear up under trying circumstances.
The traffic heading into Pasadena two hours before the game was heavy, but it kept struggling along--even the small Toyota bearing the personalized plate BOTEVA, ringed by a frame identifying her as “Famous actress from Bulgaria.”
Famous, maybe, but Boteva still had to use one of the public parking lots, far from the grassy, shaded area beside the stadium that the stretch limousines use.
The heat was relentless, and early arrivers sought refuge beneath the few trees dotting the acres of simmering asphalt where the hoi polloi park.
There were about 20 people from Mission Viejo--”the official home of the U.S. soccer team”--huddled beneath a spreading oak, munching bagels and blueberry muffins and waiting for the kids to return with a fresh supply of soda pop.
About 300 yards away, a four-piece band blasted out rock music from a canopied pavilion. The half-acre of blacktop surrounding the pavilion was deserted, but under every bit of available shade within earshot, an appreciative crowd kept time to the music with snapping fingers and tapping toes.
One daring couple finally ventured out onto the blistering pavement, gyrating blissfully as the crowd applauded.
“We feel the music and the passion, it runs in the blood,” a leotarded Mydia Susi panted.
Under a nearby umbrella, Lillian Montoya was painting fans’ faces for about $7.50 a pop. American flags were the big favorite, but a few opted for the Romanian flag
Rodica Gudta, a Romanian who married an American and now lives in Torrance, chose a diplomatic course: stripes of red, white and blue on one cheek and the Romanian colors of blue, orange and red on the other.
“I’m rooting for both teams,” she said. “That way, I can’t lose.”
The stadium was jammed with more than 93,000 perspiring spectators when the teams ran out of a tunnel and onto the immaculately tended Rose Bowl grass. Moments before kickoff, the U.S. team trotted to each side of the field and bowed to the crowd, a gesture that brought cheers of delight.
Among the most ardent spectators were some of the players’ parents, seated in the old press box above the stadium’s west rim. “It is a tremendous honor to have Marcelo play on the U.S. team,” said Luis Balboa, father of U.S. defensive star Marcelo Balboa, 26.
“For a long time it was his dream (to play in the World Cup),” said Marcelo’s mother, Alicia Balboa.
In last Wednesday’s 2-1 upset over Colombia--this nation’s first World Cup win since 1950--Balboa electrified the crowd when he nearly scored with a bicycle kick in which he faced away from the goal, leaned back and kicked the ball back over his head toward the net. The shot missed by inches.
Luis Balboa, a professional soccer player in Argentina and the United States, said the Balboas have “soccer in our blood.” A family goal was achieved with the arrival of Marcelo’s grandfather, Baldomero Balboa, 84, to watch the World Cup.
But for the Balboas--and most of those in attendance--Sunday’s game was a letdown.
To be sure, the United States started off OK, taking several shots that narrowly missed the Romanian goal.
Then, about 16 minutes into the game, Romania scored.
As the game progressed, things got worse for most of the fans.
The American team was going nowhere and the sun was beating down like a sledgehammer. Dozens of spectators needed medical attention and hundreds flocked to the restrooms, drenching their hats and clothing with water in a largely futile effort to cool off.
“Come on, you’re sitting here like Dodger fans!” one young man shouted. “Show them you care!”
But judging by the response, victory was not the primary issue anymore.
“Thank God!” one woman said as she headed for her car. “For a time there, I wasn’t that sure I was going to make it.”
