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Controversial loss puts pressure on U.S. men

By Peter Brewington

and Jose Alfredo Flores
USA TODAY

The U.S. men's soccer team is in major trouble in its bid to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.

The Americans, following a controversial 2-1 loss to Costa Rica on the road Sunday, are last in their four-team qualifying group. They probably need to win three, maybe all, of their final four games to qualify for the deciding round next year.

''We need to win all four games,'' U.S. coach Bruce Arena says.

Sunday, Jamaican referee Peter Prendergast called a hand ball in the penalty area on U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter, which Costa Rican forward Hernan Medford turned into a game-winning penalty kick in the 93rd minute. TV replays appear to show the ball did not hit Berhalter's hand.

The North and Central American and Caribbean Football Confederation (CONCACAF) said Monday that it had not heard from the U.S. team regarding Sunday's game.

The game was a FIFA-sanctioned event and not under the authority of CONCACAF, but CONCACAF would know of any appeals or protest coming from the USA to FIFA, the world soccer governing body.

FIFA also hasn't heard from the USA.

''It was a disappointing loss, but the game is over. There is nothing we can do about it,'' U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman Jim Moorhouse says.

''U.S. Soccer has no plans to protest that I know of, and I don't see anything happening. Things happen in soccer games. It's just part of the game. No need for sour grapes.''

Neither FIFA nor CONCACAF can overturn the result of the game.

''There are hundreds of FIFA World Cup qualifying games,'' says CONCACAF deputy general secretary Ted Howard. ''There wouldn't be any reason (for FIFA) to review the tape. It has to be something that has been brought to their attention.''

At 0-1-1, the USA has one point and trails Guatemala (1-0-1, four points), Costa Rica (1-1-0, three points), and Barbados (1-1-0, three points). The top two advance to the six-team final round for North/Central America and the Caribbean, with three making the 2002 Cup in Japan and South Korea.

The good news for Team USA is that all four remaining games are winnable.

The next three are at home, starting with Barbados on Aug. 16 in Foxboro, Mass., followed by Guatemala on Sept. 3 in Washington, D.C., and Costa Rica on Oct. 11 in Columbus, Ohio. Still, advancement might come down to the final game Nov. 15 at Barbados.

The USA has made the last three World Cups, in 1990, '94 and '98.

If they miss out, the Americans can point to late setbacks the last two weeks.

On July 16, the Americans allowed an 88th-minute goal by host Guatemala in a 1-1 tie. Then came Sunday's loss in stoppage time.

''The whole team is disappointed. We need to regroup,'' Arena says.

There were some successes. Arena started two new central defenders, Berhalter and Greg Vanney, for injured Eddie Pope and Robin Fraser, and they played well.

The Americans have returned to their club teams in the USA and Europe and will reconvene in mid-August for the game against Barbados.

They will come back motivated, team captain Claudio Reyna says: ''There is a lot of emotion. We feel we've been robbed of points.''

In other news, Guatemala's appeal to have its 1-1 tie in the qualifier against the USA. overturned has been turned down by FIFA. Guatemala requested three points for a win instead of one point for the tie, claiming that U.S. midfielder Chris Armas was ineligible.

Armas, 27, played for Puerto Rican national teams on youth levels before joining the U.S. team on the senior level. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory.