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Soccer clash is grande no matter the language

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Tod Leonard
STAFF WRITER
13-Mar-1999 Saturday

The lads who play for Sod Celtic in the San Diego County men's soccer
league will settle into their seats today at Qualcomm Stadium, just as they
would at the Old Sod pub on Adams Avenue to watch a leg of the European
Champions League on ESPN.

Nineteen of them and their friends -- Irish, American, English -- have
forked over $30 apiece to sit in Field Level, Section 34, for the match
between Team USA and Mexico to decide the champion of the Nike U.S. Cup.

Conor Smith, a computer technician five years removed from his native
Dublin, will be among them. He'll be the guy with the heavy Irish brogue
wearing the American soccer jersey.

Admittedly, Smith has ulterior motives. It was Mexico that beat his beloved
Ireland during the opening round of the 1994 World Cup. He was there for
the match in New Jersey. He wants revenge.

Such is the nature of international soccer. Everybody has a rooting
interest. But more than that, Smith is a soccer fanatic. And when it comes
to the sport in this country, today's "Battle at the Border" is as good as
it gets.

More than 56,000 fans -- the largest soccer crowd in San Diego history --
are expected to witness the latest installment in this ever-smoldering
clash of countries and cultures.

"I think it's going to be electric," Smith said. "This is a big rivalry. In
pure soccer terms, because there's always a rivalry when countries share a
border. And in the last five years, America has been able to compete with
Mexico."

Actually, the embers of this rivalry were fanned into flames early in this
decade, when the U.S. beat Mexico 2-0 in the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup at the
Los Angeles Coliseum.

It was only the second time in 57 years the Americans had bested Mexico,
and the shock waves were felt from Tijuana to Cancun.

Seven years later, in the final of last winter's Gold Cup at the Coliseum,
mere flames became a bonfire when Mexico beat the United States 1-0 for
only the second time in nine games.

Before the match, the pro-Mexican crowd of more than 91,000 whistled in
derision during "The Star-Spangled Banner," and afterward the American
players were pelted with food and drinks as they left the field.

"We got more respect playing in Mexico City than playing in Los Angeles,"
U.S. defender Jeff Agoos said of the experience.

"I'm still sad about it," said Rigoberto Cervantes, a longtime soccer
writer for the Spanish-language daily La Opinion in L.A. "It was just a
small number of fans, but it makes a bad image for Mexican fans as a
whole."

Cervantes said he believes the animosity in Los Angeles goes well beyond
the confines of a soccer field.

"Certain Mexicans living here, they resent some other things, some recent
events in their life . . . like Proposition 187. So they see the American
flag and say, `Let's make (the players) the object of our frustration.' "

Which, in part, is why U.S. Soccer arranged for this U.S.-Mexico game --
their first meeting since the Gold Cup -- to be played in San Diego.

Strange, yes, because San Diego is Mexico's neighbor, and thousands from
Tijuana and Mexicali are expected to descend on the stadium. But it isn't
fans from Mexico organizers worry about; it's the L.A. influence.

"It should be a very different crowd," said Paul Mendes, the local liaison
with U.S. Soccer to promote the game. "The relationship between San Diego
and Tijuana is generally good. We have respect for each other. It's a lot
different than what happens in L.A."

Mendes said he expects an atmosphere of "celebration" today because "the
Mexican fans in this area will be, for the first time, welcoming back their
national team after their strong showing in the World Cup."

It has been an impressive run for Mexico, the darlings of the early days of
the World Cup '98, where they advanced to the second round and nearly
pulled off a win against Germany.

Since then, Manuel Lapuente's squad has lost just one game -- 1-0 to
Argentina in a "friendly" -- and won the Carlsberg Cup in Hong Kong with a
3-0 rout of Egypt.

Team USA is on a roll, too, having gone 3-0-2 since Bruce Arena took over
as coach in October and revamped much of the lineup.

And it is the coaches of these teams who continue to crystallize this
rivalry. Both are natives to their country, not some gun-for-hire like Bora
Milutinovic, who has coached both teams.

Lapuente, in this second stint coaching the Mexican team after being fired
after that 1991 loss to the United States, says: "I know the Mexican
people. I was born with the Mexican people. I understand them."

And Arena, born and bred in New York, does not have the relationship with
the Hispanic community that his predecessor, Steve Sampson, had. Sampson
speaks Spanish fluently and made it a priority to court Hispanic fans.

Arena admitted at his first press conference that he doesn't speak Spanish,
but "I am fortunate that I'm the coach of the U.S. national team and right
now the language in the United States is English."

Then yesterday, Arena said: "I understand why Mexico gets so excited about
playing us in soccer. It's one of the few sports they can even compete with
us."

Battle at the Border? You bet.

Nike U.S. Cup

An annual tournament with the United States and three other national teams.

TODAY'S GAMES

Site Qualcomm Stadium

Who USA vs. Mexico, 12:30 p.m.; Guatemala vs. Bolivia, 3 p.m.

TV Channel 10

Expected attendance 56,000.

At stake Both the USA and Mexico are 1-0, meaning today's winner wins the
tournament. If they tie, the USA wins based on a better goal differential.

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Copyright Union-Tribune Publishing Co.