European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 31, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday March 31, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 23commentaryhopes to Hove last laugh it Rob Staggenborg did a hear the one about the . National soccer players they think they can actually Advance past the first round of the world cup. Canned laughter but seriously folks the . Soccer team has itself thinking it can Advance to the second round. In its first cup appearance in 40 years the americans were drawn into one of the toughest pools playing against Czechoslovakia Austria and get this Italy. Yes Italy the team favored to win it All. British bookies have made the . A 1,500-to-l underdog to win it All. I think Rocky was 1,000 to 1 to win the movie ending fight. Four movies four Odds maker lines four victories. But the world cup is not Hollywood. The . Team is not Rocky. In exhibition play in its buildup to the world cup the . Fell to 2-5, losing to the East germans 3-2 wednesday night in East Berlin. Previously the team lost to Hungary 2-0 March 20 in a game that could have been As bad As 5-0 or 6-0. The hungarians saved the american Pride by blowing a few shots. Wednesday night the . Showed signs of life. The offence which scored Only 11 goals in world cup qualifying play last year finally ignited for a pair of goals. This . Team has scored two or More goals Only four times in International play. East German coach Eduard Geyer eased the sting of the loss by lauding the americans for the Effort though Ulf Kirsten a hat trick was the sting that left the . Burning. Geyer who took the reins of the East German team in july 1989 and failed to Lead his team to the world cup said the americans were a better team than he had expected. Certainly they were no worse than Austria which the Cdr played six times. Austria beat out East Germany for a world cup berth. A what we came for a said . Coach Bob Gans Ler a was to learn to adjust. I think we made some defensively the . Was no match for Kirsten who starred for so Dynamo Dresden. Kirsten moved across the Field at will. Geyer said Kirsten is a player a with a lot of potential to become one of the better players in the country. The americans realized that potential Early when Hendrik Herzog broke through the right Side of the defense and lofted a Cross into the goal Mouth. Kirsten left unmarked nailed a header past . Keeper Tony Meola in the 16th minute. The goal a solid play All around caught the . Defense off guard. The . Defense has allowed Only four goals in qualifying play. Headed by sweeper Back midfielder John Harkes and fullback Mike Windischmann opposing teams have had v a 1 a vex a a a a it East Germany a Stefan Minkwitz left struggles with the United states Tab Ramos in wednesdays exhibition. Trouble ruffling the Back of the net. Enter Meola the 1989 Hermann trophy Winner a collegiate soccer a answer to footballs Heisman trophy a and the americans no. 1 Newman. Meola led the nation with a goals against average of 0.31, allowing a Mere five goals and chalking up 11 shutouts to Lead Virginia to the Mcaa division i co championship. Meola played admirably against East Germany stonewalling the Cdr offence with acrobatic saves. Kirsten a second goal would have beaten any keeper. A Well placed shot into the lower left Corner from just inside the penalty Box. Boom. Before the yanks could Doodle the Cdr led 2-0. The echoes from the National anthems have yet to die Down. The american gis waving the stars and stripes from Section f of Jahn stadium yawned justifiably. Peter Vermes who plays for pc Volanda of the Netherlands answered the to hums emanating from the Section by taking Tab Ramos Cross from the right Corner. John Doyle knocked the Ball Down and Vermes capitalized on a haphazard Cdr defensive formation by nailing the shot through the Wall of Cdr defenders and past keeper Dirk Heyne. A tie would have been considered an upset and the americans pushed hard. Kirsten said no slipping a Ball past a Rushing Meola into an open net. The goal certainly dampened the americans Hopes of leaving the soviet sector with a tie much less a win. Gansler denied that the loss was demoralizing. Ramos said a a we re coming Here to learn and 1 think we have. When we lost to Hungary we lost to a very Good team and it Wasny to a Blowout or in the world cup the . Wants to Avert the blowouts but staying on the same Field with a team like Italy is no Small task. The . Must be in the top two in the four team Pool to Advance to the second round. The americans will play Czechoslovakia june 10 in Florence Italy june 14 in Rome and Austria june 19 in Florence. Put simply the . Can expect to lose to Italy but must overtake Austria and Czechoslovakia to Advance. Can it be done Meola a a anything a Ramos a a we re not going to Italy on vacation. We know we re going to be going against some better teams but we set our goals and that a to make it to the second canned laughter geez everybody a a comedian. The stars and stripes Packer the been very critical of Valvanos by Larry Stewart los Angeles times a Billy Packer one time assistant Bas a netball coach at Wake Forest has taken neat recently for being too Quick to de Lina those in his former profession. Luso Hare pick Vitale it a1 Mcguire and a others who Long ago decided its easier to i Alk about College basketball than coach it. In a week s sports illustrated there is a a piece by William Reed that is critical of this Al up network commentators for among Iother things siding with Jim Valvano. A a. Eed is an excellent writer and la knowledgeable basketball Man a pack e j urls Home in Advance n.c., Inear Winston Salem. A but he Hasni to Ideen paying attention. Limni Efreen critical of Valvano i whirl a Noj. .bein8 focused on his Job basketball0030 North Carolina state a the thing i have trouble with is Vano being tied to an alleged Point shaving scandal. History shows the coach is the last to know. A and besides Charles Shackleford has denied the charge and nobody has been Able to prove otherwise. Last time i checked Charles Shackleford was still playing in the Aba and the Aba would suspend him for life if it was known he was involved in Point in the Magazine article Packer is quoted As saying that when he was at Wake Forest he altered a High school transcript so a player would be eligible. A a that a one thing i did no to appreciate a Packer said. A that was a rehash of an old Story. A years ago i made a speech at Williamsburg va., and the player Dick Walker was in the audience. It was All a joke. I was just setting up a punch line. But some writer from Greensboro took it seriously and wrote it that a Barry Tompkins is another announcer who was not pleased about a recent article. This one appeared in the Atlanta journal and had Tompkins saying of Nevada Las vegas a they play like thugs. They have a lot of Guys you want to bring Home unless everything is bolted Tompkins reached in Hawaii where he was on vacation said a i remember doing the interview a few weeks ago but i done to remember saying that. And if i said something like that i was just kidding around. But it Wasny to written that Way. A a it a not my style to be malicious. Sure in a not nuts about their program a there a not a lot of Rhodes scholars on that team a but i do Admire Jerry Tarkanian. A the really takes care of his kids after they re done with school helping them find jobs and stuff like that. A there a a million former univ players working in vegas casinos jobs arranged by Tarkanian. A anyway i sent a note of apology to Tarkanian. I Felt pretty bad about it. A a Packer working the final four alongside lbs colleague Brent Musburger is like most experts picking univ to win it All. A a univ is the Best team Quot he said before leaving for Denver. A but if their perimeter shooting goes on the blink they could be in Packer sees weaknesses in the other three teams As Well. A Georgia tech has a Short Bench a he said which May be understating it. Three players scoring 89 of 93 Points which was the Case against Minnesota sunday Isnit exactly depth. A Duke has played sporadically and i think Arkansas is too Young a Packer said. A i figured Arkansas was a year away from the final
