Sampson needs his Samsonite
by Jon Worley

Our first (men's) World Cup is still out there.

The United States's men's soccer team finished in a tie for 31st this year. The U.S. and Japan were the only two teams who failed to earn a single point. We lost all three matches. We even lost to Iran. It was a bad two weeks for our boys.

And for once, the United States is acting like a soccer nation. In most sports pages across the country, commentators railed against coach Steve Sampson, calling for his dismissal, if not his head on a silver platter. The irony here is that the team's success under Sampson the past three years (while he served as both interim and official head coach) is what is causing the vicious backlash.

Since the 1994 World Cup, the U.S. team has beaten Brazil, England, Mexico and many other solid teams. We played our best soccer in the final games of qualifying, including an amazing 0-0 tie with Mexico in Azteca Stadium in Mexico City (a place where even Brazil hasn't fared well). In short, this was the best team the United States has sent to any World Cup. Period.

So why did we fail so badly? First, we were in a tough group. Germany is acknowledged to be one of the three best teams in the world, and Yugoslavia is in the top 10. The U.S., on the other hand, is generally considered to be somewhere between #30 and #40. Good, but not in the same league as the top two teams. The second reason for our failure is that we didn't finish goals. We couldn't score. Claudio Reyna had a horrible tournament and didn't serve the ball as well as he could have, but the simple fact is that our designated goal scorers didn't.

Perhaps most importantly, the veterans on the team (including some of those griping about Sampson after we exited the tourney) generally played badly. Captain Tom Dooley's mistakes directly led to three of the five goals scored on the U.S., the aforementioned Reyna was inconsistent throughout and Eric Wynalda and Tab Ramos were unimpressive when they played. The only veteran who had a good tournament was Ernie Stewart, whose tireless work was an example few others followed. Frankie Heyduk and Eddie Pope, two guys who aren't yet 25, proved themselves beyond a doubt and are almost certain fixtures on the 2002 team. Newcomer David Regis played much better than Jeff Agoos has ever performed, which made Agoos's whining perhaps the most galling voice of the classless player revolt which surfaced after the final match. Our goalies, two of the world's best, were good, but not spectacular. But even if every player had played well individually, the U.S. did not play as a team.

And is that the fault of the coach? Maybe. Sampson did create a tense atmosphere when he sacked then-Captain John Harkes a month before the team headed to France. In retrospect, the team's cohesion suffered after that decision. Sampson wanted to create a "blue-collar" team without egos, but instead his action exposed a team rife with prima donnas and grandstanders. Lots of me-first ball and very little teamwork.

But is it Sampson's fault the team didn't score? Many folks have complained about the 3-6-1 alignment he set up for the tournament, saying it didn't provide for enough offense. But we had two excellent chances against Germany, at least 10 great chances against Iran and three or four (one in the first 30 seconds) against Yugoslavia. With a little luck and better finishing, the U.S. could have finished 2-0-1 or even gone unbeaten. The system created chances. The team didn't finish.

No, the only thing that we can blame Sampson for is the heightened expectations of the team. His teams have been the most exciting sides our country has put forth in years. I mean, there are people who actually expected us to advance to the second round this time out. I didn't, but I did think we had a chance to move on if we tied Germany in the first match. That didn't happen and so the loss to Iran, while annoying, didn't crush me.

You probably figure I'm in favor of retaining Sampson. Well, I'm not. Just like after 1994, I was in favor of giving then-coach Bora Milutinovich a nice bonus for bringing us to a higher level and wishing him well (which he has done; he coached Nigeria to the second round, where they got pummeled 4-1 by Denmark). We should do the same for Sampson, letting him move on to a higher paying gig with some other national side (he's already gotten plenty of offers, and this before he's even officially available). Three years is an eternity in soccer coaching, and Sampson has proven his worth. Now it's time to let someone else come in and take us to even higher heights (and a better showing in Japan and South Korea in 2002).

But if it were my decision, I would buy the man a beer before showing him the door.

Jon Worley hasn't watched nearly as much World Cup this year as he would have liked, but he's pretty excited all the same.

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