Just For Kicks

By Al Chase

Thursday, August 5, 1999

U.S. makes good
showing in Mexico

THE third-place finish by the United States Men's National Team in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup has to be encouraging for coach Bruce Arena.

The Americans beat New Zealand, Germany - the defending European champion - and Saudi Arabia.

New Zealand and Saudi Arabia aren't among the world's elite national teams, but Germany and Brazil (1-0 loss) are.

Mexico (1-0 OT loss) is still the team to beat in the region. The U.S. is 0-16-1 at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, but even that record has to be kept in perspective.

Playing at an altitude of 7,350 feet has been a blessing for Mexico, which defeated Brazil, 4-3, for the Confederations Cup title yesterday.

That victory continued Mexico's streak of not losing at Azteca Stadium to another national team for 18 years.

When Arena took the men's coaching job late last year, he made it known he wanted to increase the pool of talent available for the team.

He also realized those players had to get as much international experience as possible. In the 2-0 win over Germany, Arena started nine players who had not started the previous two matches. The U.S. dominated the match.

Even in the Brazil loss, Arena was pleased his troops outshot the Brazilians and held them to zero corner kicks.

On defense, the Americans were tough. However, five goals in five matches shows a long-standing need - a more consistent and productive offense.

Arena was not happy with the scheduling and felt his players did not have enough time (one day) to adjust to Mexico City's altitude.

"Not to be disrespectful to FIFA, but the tournament is very unfair to the players," Arena said. "It has been a great stay for us in Mexico. The competition has been great to help build our team."

SHUT OUT:

To underscore its domination of the region, Mexico beat the U.S., 4-0, in a men's semifinal at the Pan American Games yesterday.

Mexico had almost its entire Under-23 team in Winnipeg. The U.S. countered with a team of Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 players.

"We have to beat Mexico in April. We are here to prepare for Olympic qualifying. We must never lose site of that," said U.S. coach Clive Charles.

The U.S. plays Canada for the bronze medal.

GOOD LUCK:

The U.S. Women's Team meets Mexico today in the gold medal game at the Pan Am Games.

The Americans are 4-0-1 and have outscored their opponents, 21-2. The U.S. is represented by its Under-18 team led by top scorers Marcia Wallis and Kim Patrick.

In the semifinal win, the U.S. outshot Costa Rica, 22-0, in the second half, but didn't score, hitting the crossbar five times.

KELLER TO SPAIN:

Kasey Keller, the No. 1 goalkeeper for the United States National Men's team has finalized details of a two-year contract with Rayo Vallecano of Spain's first division.

Keller, 29, has played the past eight seasons in England, the last three with Leicester in England's Premier League.

BIG BUCKS:

Nicolas Anelka, a French striker, is about to join Spanish power Real Madrid from Arsenal (England).

The transfer fee of $33 million would make Anelka, 20, the third most expensive player in soccer history.

Inter Milan paid a record $48.6 million for Italian striker Christian Vieri in June, surpassing the $34.8 million Spanish club Real Betis paid Sao Paolo for Brazilian forward Denilson in 1997.

Anelka led Arsenal with 18 goals last season.