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For U.S., draw could mean everything
NEW YORK (AP) -- Four years ago, the U.S. team was sitting in the Las Vegas Convention Center for the World Cup draw. When Colombia was picked as a first-round opponent, color drained from the players' faces."That was an enormous shock to us," said Steve Sampson, then an assistant coach. "Colombia was one of the favorites to win. They were playing so well at the time."
The United States will find out its three first-round opponents for next summer's World Cup in France when FIFA splits the 32 qualifiers into eight four-team groups during a ceremony at Marseille Thursday.
"I would like to play against England, Scotland or France," U.S. captain John Harkes said jokingly. "We'll upset England, we'll upset Scotland and we'll upset France."
Harkes, who spent several seasons playing in England, would love a chance to go up against his former teammates and opponents in the World Cup. That's the competitor in him.
The realist in him knows drawing weaker opponents would help the U.S. team get past the first round. With the expansion of the field from 24 to 32, only the top two teams in each group advance. In the past, four of the six third-place teams also advanced.
So when present and past soccer stars determine the first-round matchups by pulling balls out of bowls, the U.S. team's chances of advancement will either be helped or hurt.
"That has an enormous part to play in whether we get to the second round and third round," said Sampson, who took over as coach from Bora Milutinovic after the 1994 tournament.
While U.S. Soccer Federation president Alan Rothenberg wouldn't address Sampson's status during qualifying, Rothenberg appears set to give him an extension. Sampson already is thinking ahead to the tournament, to be played in 10 French cities from June 10-July 12.
"I think you have to get five or six points, preferably six, or a win and two ties to get forward," he said. "Even though there are more teams in the World Cup, there is so much parity in the sport right now there will be no easy matches."
Seven of the eight groups will have two European teams and the eighth will have one. Other continents can have only one team in a group, which means the United States can't play Mexico or Jamaica in the first round.
FIFA will decide Tuesday how to seed the teams for the draw. The United States, based on its performances in 1990 and 1994 and recent FIFA rankings, probably will be in the third pool of eight teams, but there is a chance the Americans will be in the second pool.
Defending champion Brazil and host France are automatically in the first pool, and Germany and Italy appear to be locks.
Last time, the Americans were a No. 1 seed because they were the host nation. That's why drawing Colombia from the second pool was a surprise. And their victory over the Colombians turned out to be one of the major upsets of the tournament.
For the 1990 World Cup, the Americans knew they were in big trouble once they drew host Italy.
After the draw, U.S. officials will scamper around France to line up training sites and hotels. The Americans' last home exhibition game before the tournament will be May 30 against Scotland, probably at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Depending on when the first U.S. game is scheduled (anywhere from June 10-June 15), the Americans may play an exhibition game at Wales June 3.
Also planned in tournament preparations are games against the Netherlands (Feb. 21 at Miami) and Feb. 25 (Belgium at Brussels). After the draw, the Americans will try to schedule another European opponent for Feb. 28 or March 1.
Sampson plans to gather the team for good May 12, depending on his negotiations with Major League Soccer, whose clubs will play through the World Cup. That's about the time most European and South American teams will get their players after European clubs complete their seasons.
Going into the draw, Sampson appeared to be relaxed.
"I think it's a waste of time," he said. "I have absolutely no control over it. You can spend hours upon hours thinking about all the possibilities."
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan