European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 15, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                America Sla As sets Italy rocking by Victor Simpson Padua Italy apr Alexi Lalas signs autographs at a non Stop Pace cuts Bruce Springsteen songs for an italian Label Ana is lined up to sing the american National Anthem at an Aba exhibition game. A a Ltd a a. He has t achieved the on Field Fame of a Roberto Baggio and he s certainly not playing on the Best team. But the first american to reach the lofty regions of Italy a serie a soccer league has gained a wide following after Only two months in the country. It could be the Novelty of an american playing the game in the toughest league in the world or the standout Reddish Blond hair and Goatee that Lead italians to Call him Buffalo Bill because of his resemblance to the wild West legend or the availability and Candor rare for a player in Italy. Or More Likely a combination of the three. A they ask you everything on these to shows a said the 24-year-old de Fehneman still absorbing the suffocating attention the sport gets Here. A they ask Abou your politics your religion your sex life. When i Tell them in Man atheist living with my girl Friend it blows their  says Stefano Edel a soccer columnist for the Padua newspaper ii Mattino a Lalas is a personality and that a new for italian soccer. He s not Only the first american but he a entertaining.�?�. The Detroit native who took his College soccer team Rutgers to the semifinals of the . Championship twice Drew International attention with his play in last Summers world cup helping Lead the traditionally weak . Team to the second round. It was eliminated by Brazil the eventual Winner but by then . Soccer was making headlines around the world and showing sighs of making inroads in the sports consciousness of americans. A this brought offers from the first divisions in England and Germany and Italy a serie a considered the most competitive league in the world. A i tried to picture myself in 20 years and would i regret giving up the Chance of being the first american to play in Italy a a Lalas explained Between bites of a Ham Sandwich and interruptions by autograph seekers at a downtown cafe after a practice session. So on loan from the . Soccer federation he signed on for a year with pa-. Stars skip saudi Chicago apr most top american players wont make the trip when the United states plays saudi Arabia in an exhibition game at Dhahran on wednesday. Missing will be forwards Roy Wegerle Coventry City England Eric Wynalda vol bochum Germany and Ernie Stewart Willem ii Tilburg Netherlands midfielders John Harkes Derby England and Tab Ramos real Betis Spain and defenders Thomas Dooley Bayer Leve Kusen Germany and Alexi Lalas Padova Italy. The top players with the team will be Claudio Reyna Bayer Leve Kusen Cobi Jones Coventry City ,. Frank Klopacs Paul Caligiuri and Marcelo Balboa. The 16-Man roster includes eight players who weren to on the 22-Man world cup roster. Among them Are two defenders with no International experience Gregg Berhalter pc Zwolle nether. Lands and 17-year-old Maurice Ligeon pc Brugge youth team Belgium. Dova a newcomer to scene a after 32 years in the minor leagues it has not been a great beginning for Padova which allowed 15 goals in its first five games and suffered four defeats managing a draw against Napoli behind two goals in the last five minutes a you would have thought we won the world cup the Way we celebrated that draw a recalled Lalas. A a it a like jumping Back in time to play ing with the american team again. No one has any respect for  when he rejoined the . Team for a match against England at Wembley in Early september the crowd booed Lalas every time he got near a  United states and Lalas were outclassed in the 2-0 defeat. Still there have been some personal successes on the Field. Lalas scored Padova a first goal of the year when the team shocked traditional powerhouse International a of Milan in a 1-0 Victory in a cup of Italy match. And in the a report cards a italian newspapers publish to rate the players performances after every game the american has usually gotten a 6 for an above average performance. Sports columnist excl says Lalas has Ood fundamentals but needs major eague experience and can be beaten by the quicker forwards in the league. A but All those goals weren tall his fault. As far As Padova is concerned he a  living in a Padua suburb with his Girlfriend Jill Mcneal of los Angeles Lalas is quickly spotted by fans when he ventures downtown jumping out of his Black Fiat station Wagon and getting cheers of encouragement from supporters. It a group of fans watching the players race up the stadium stairs in a conditioning Drill grew excited when it was Lalasz turn. A a there a the american he a the Only one with a Grinta a a said one Man using the italian word for Gritty. Lalasz plans after the season ends Are unclear. He son loan and said he might be lured by the . Professional league that is supposed to Start play next Spring. In the meantime Lalas who sings and plays guitar is thinking of bringing Over his Rock group for performances in Italy. And. He a preparing to show the Flag by singing the . National Anthem before an exhibition Between the Charlotte hornets of the Aba and an italian team in Bologna on Friday. V Alixi Lalas celebrating a world cup win Over Colombia now shows the colors in Italy. . Accepts invitation to 1995 America cup new York a the United states on thursday accepted an invitation to return to the America cup South americans soccer championship and play in the 1995 tournament in Uruguay. Alan Rothenberg the president of the . Soccer federation said he reached an agreement with conme Bol the confederation of South american  a \ \ Mexico will be the other representative of conc Acaf the confederation of North and Central american and Caribbean football. The United states and Mexico represented conc Acaf in the 1993 America cup which was played in Ecuador. The United states was missing Many of its top players in a summer in which the americans played in three tournaments. The . Team lost to Uruguay 1-0 and Ecuador 2-0 before tying Venezuela 3-3. Mexico advanced to the championship game but lost to Argentina. The 1995 tournament will also feature Argentina Bolivia Brazil Colombia Chile Ecuador Peru Paraguay Uruguay and Venezuela. The draw to Divide the teams for first round play will be held dec. 9 in Punta Del Este Uruguay. Originally conme Bol wanted Mexico and Spain for the 1995 event but the Spanish declined citing a Busy schedule. In another matter Rothenberg said the Usuf was getting closer to compleat ing a contract Extension with coach Bora Milutinovic whose Deal is to expire at the end of the year but who wants to stay through the 1998 world cup in France unlike the 1994 cup where the . As Host had an automatic berth in the finals the team must qualify for tile 1998 event. By the associated press Atlanta a former heavyweight Champion evander Holyfield says he has been diagnosed with Sarco Dosis a disease that can attack the lungs and heart but said an Atlanta doctor has declared him fit to resume his career. Holyfield said he intends to fight once in Atlanta this year before taking another shot at the title. He said he underwent tests this week under the supervision of his internist or. Christopher Vaughns. A they said i passed All my tests and i could get Back in there without a health problem a Holyfield said thursday. A i m cleared to fight and in a applying for a  Holyfield  answer specific questions about his medical condition a including ones about the heart problem that forced his retirement in april. He and adviser Ron Bell referred All boxing medical questions to Vaughns who declined comment. \ Sarco Dosis is a disease that causes the growth of Small fibrous tutors in the tissues it attacks. The american lung association said it often goes untreated because the disease spontaneously disappears. Or. Edw n Homansky of the Nevada state athletic commission which would License any title fight in Las vegas said he did no to think Holyfield could be cleared to fight if the Sarco Dosis diagnosis is accurate. A a there a been nothing to change my mind As to whether evander can withstand the Rigours to go 12  in other boxing news thursday Vasquez retains Aba Crown Paris a Wilfredo Vasquez of puerto Rico retained his world boxing association super bantamweight title with a unanimous decision Over challenger Juan Polo Percz of Colombia. The. Three j Udics scored it for Vasquez 115-113, 116-111 and 116-112. Vasquez 33, landed a Good right in the second round but Polo Perez 30, got in a Good series of uppercuts at the end Vasquez who has held the title since March 1992, is 41-6-3. With 32 knockouts. Polo Perez is 35-10-2, Bowe to fight unbeaten Las vegas a former heavyweight Champion Riddick Bowe whose last fight ended in a controversial no contest decision will return to the ring dec. 3 against unbeaten Larry Donald. Bowe was supposed to have fought Donald 16-0 with 12 knockouts in August but withdrew due to injury