U.S. Cup Is Empty for National Team

It is just as well the U.S. national soccer team is leaving for China on Friday.

The way the team is playing, it was about to be run out of town.

By its coach.

The dismal display continued Wednesday night before 17,342 at the Rose Bowl, where the United States was thrashed, 4-1, by Denmark in the next-to-last game of U.S. Cup ’97.

And it took only one Dane to do the damage. Per Pedersen, a 28-year-old striker from Odense, scored all four Danish goals, a Cup record.

It was the sorriest performance in some time for the American team, which has a long history of ineptitude. Joe-Max Moore scored the only U.S. goal.

Mexico played a scoreless tie with Peru in the nightcap, defending the Cup title it won a year ago.

After selecting what was supposedly a “B” team for the event while trying to give new players some international experience, U.S. Coach Steve Sampson learned a crucial lesson: The pool of soccer talent in the United States is nowhere near deep enough to allow such experiments.

It was an angry Sampson who stormed off the Rose Bowl field at halftime, his team already trailing, 3-1.

After the game, he minced no words about his players’ showing.

“The performance in the first half was absolutely inexcusable,” he said. “Our commitment defensively was the worst I have ever seen in two years [as coach]. I have no excuses whatsoever. Our effort today showed a complete lack of respect for our fans. I promise the people that next time in the U.S. Cup I will not call in so many inexperienced players.

“But having said that, I hold true to my conviction of experimenting with new players . . . and I have accomplished that goal. I have much more information now than I had previously. But I am committed to never allowing a performance like this to happen again.”

Pedersen’s goals, in the 16th, 26th, 45th and 54th minutes, marked the first time he has scored four in a game since his school days, he said. They also greatly improve his chances of being promoted to the Danish “A” team.

The U.S. claimed to be fielding a reserve team, but seven of its starters are usual first-team players, while the Danes featured only one player with more than 10 international appearances.

Pedersen, for example, had represented his country only three times and scored one goal before U.S. Cup ’97.

Asked what he had told the U.S. players at halftime, Sampson replied:

“I said that I was absolutely disappointed in their ability to represent what’s over their chest [the U.S. national team emblem] and I felt that their effort to close down spaces, to win tackles [was lacking]. There was no fighting spirit.”

Asked what the three tournament losses--1-0 to Peru, 2-0 to Mexico and 4-1 to Denmark--had taught him, Sampson smiled.

“I learned that the second tier of players in this country needs an enormous amount of exposure to the international game,” he said. “I learned that the relationship between players is very difficult to achieve in a short period of time.

“I learned that leadership is a very important element, and the lack of it in this tournament was apparent.”

No matter how much of a disaster the Cup was for U.S. Soccer--three losses on the field, sparse crowds made even poorer by live local television and bad weather--for at least one American player it was a memorable event.

Los Angeles Galaxy defender Dan Calichman made his national team debut against Mexico, coming off the bench for the last 20 minutes, and then earned his first start against the Danes.

At 28, Calichman is beginning his international career a little late, but he played confidently enough in both games to be invited on the U.S. team’s trip to China on Friday.

Whether he can parlay that into a spot on the World Cup qualifying roster remains to be seen, but at the moment he has as good a chance as anyone in what has become a porous U.S. defense.

Soccer Notes

The U.S. Soccer Federation has chosen Foxboro Stadium as site of the U.S.-Mexico World Cup qualifying match on April 20.