Tie Helps U.S. Achieve Its Objective : Soccer: Sampson, players do what it takes against Colombia to wrap up U.S. Cup title.
With every game he coaches, Steve Sampson strengthens his case for dropping the word interim that precedes his title as coach of the U.S. national soccer team.
Knowing the United States needed only a tie against Colombia Sunday to win the U.S. Cup championship--and factoring in the oppressive humidity that blanketed Rutgers Stadium--Sampson choreographed a conservative style that left his team with only two attackers in the final 20 minutes. The many Colombian fans in the crowd of 36,126 didn’t appreciate the Americans’ second-half defensive posture, but the smiles of the U.S. players after the scoreless game expressed their satisfaction with the outcome.
Goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who made seven saves and was rescued when defender Mike Burns headed away a dangerous shot by Jorge Bermudez during extra time, called the tie a victory for the United States, which was 2-0-1 in the tournament. Colombia, which played with only three of its World Cup starters, was second in the four-team tournament at 1-0-2.
“I think everyone’s very, very happy with the way things have been handled here [by Sampson],” Friedel said. “He’s been here in the easiest situation, and he’s been here in the toughest. We beat Nigeria, and we didn’t hear any backing for him. We beat Mexico, and we still didn’t hear any. Now that we’ve won this tournament, I hope there’s some backing for him.”
Said defender Alexi Lalas, who signed a multi-year contract to join MLS next spring after he finishes his season with Padova of the Italian League: “Today was an intelligent soccer game. What we did was play to win a tournament.
A lot of times you have to play for a greater goal.”
Sunday’s game was the teams’ first meeting since their first-round World Cup match last June 23 at the Rose Bowl, when the United States upset Colombia, 2-1. The lasting, tragic memory of that encounter is the death July 2 of Colombian defender Andres Escobar, who was shot by a fan in retaliation for Escobar having accidentally deflected a cross from John Harkes into his own net in the 35th minute of the game.
Colombian Coach Hernan Dario Gomez said his team didn’t think of Escobar Sunday. “The World Cup is history,” he said through a translator. “We live in the present tense. . . . We are not at an ideal level now. We are lacking a little bit of order and seriousness.”
By contrast, the U.S. team’s recent performances were its best since the World Cup, improving Sampson’s record to 2-2-1 since he replaced Bora Milutinovic on April 14.
Despite those encouraging results, Alan Rothenberg, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, said U.S. officials may continue to pursue coaches who have more international experience than Sampson, who coached Santa Clara for five seasons and was a national team assistant coach for two years. Carlos Alberto Parreira, coach of Brazil in last year’s World Cup, and Carlos Queiroz, coach of the Portuguese team Sporting Lisbon, have declined the job.
“The likelihood that Steve will be the national team coach is in some ways inevitable. I just don’t know how imminent it will be,” Rothenberg said. “We need coaches with international experience, and Steve is learning under fire. We have to figure out how well he’s handling it.”
Sampson handled Sunday’s game as coolly as he handled questions about his team and his coaching future.
“This group can attack. This group can play a complete game,” he said. “We’ve got players who can compete with anyone. I had no trouble motivating the players for this game. A lot of people thought last year’s [victory over Colombia] was a fluke. We wanted to prove that it wasn’t.”
If the USSF chooses another coach, he’s not sure he would stay “because I don’t want to be imposed upon anyone.”
