Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 18, 1990 TAG: 9006180274
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TIRRENIA, ITALY LENGTH: Medium
"I've said all along that our players need a top competitive league in which to play," he said Sunday. "So our players, in order to improve, must find one."
That means finding teams in Europe and leaving the national team program. The last game for some of them could be Tuesday night, when the United States plays Austria.
The Americans have only a slim chance of advancing to the second round, even if they win. That's because the third-place team in every other group will have at least two points. Only the four best third-place teams go through, and the tiebreaker is goal differential; the Americans are minus-5.
"It's going to be very difficult," midfielder Tab Ramos said. "We're going to need some weird results in order to qualify."
Austria is in almost the same situation as the Americans. It's 0-2, but its differential is minus-2.
"The U.S. team is going to be psyched up," Austria coach Josef Hickersberger said. "The United States is probably going to be very inspired after its excellent showing against Italy."
If the U.S. doesn't manage to get a big win and get some lucky scores in other games, it may be the last time this group of players is together. While most hope to play in Europe, forward Bruce Murray says he's not sure what the U.S. Soccer Federation is planning.
"The federation wants to keep us in the dark," he said. "I don't think it's lack of organization. I think it's a master plan."
USSF president Werner Fricker said players had been told the team will continue to play about 20 full international games a year.
Some players still are angry about the way contract negotiations were handled last winter, when the federation gave them take-it-or-leave offers.
"I will not cave in to outrageous pressure - things like, `Sign this in five minutes or you're gone,' " Murray said.
Fricker said the players were not pressured.
"They weren't forced to do anything," he said. "They were given an opportunity, not an ultimatum."
Murray had a different viewpoint.
"I had a feeling that if we didn't sign the contracts, they would have brought in the Under-14 team," he said.
Fricker hinted that changes may be coming. He said the national team would play exhibitions next year even if the best players are not available.
"It may be with players who don't have as high an opinion of themselves as our players have," he said.
Fricker also said the USSF had a lot to do with the players now being able to market their talents abroad.
"I would hope that our players realize that without having the opportunity to play for the national team, there wouldn't be any offers," he said.
A group of 39 Romanians in Italy for the World Cup might find out today if they will be granted political asylum.
The Romanians traveled to Rome on Saturday from Telese, 120 miles away, to formally request asylum in Italy. The Interior Ministry said it would decide today whether to consider the request.
"I am afraid to go back to Romania," said Marian Baciu, 27, a metallurgist. But my parents are old and I worry that the Securitate [secret police force] will arrest them if I do not go back."
Many Romanians who took part in the revolution last December angrily have watched on television as chaos hit the streets of Bucharest. Those seeking to stay in Italy blame President-elect Ion Iliescu.
"I was in the front lines of the revolution. I was beaten by the Securitate and arrested, then beaten by the police," said Nicolae Bucataru. "But now I see the system has not changed. I am very angry because many Bucharest people died for nothing."
Some of the Romanians earned free trips to see Romania play in the World Cup because of their roles in the revolution. Now, they said they fear reprisals if they return.
Fans staying in the mountain village of Telese said as many as 100 people would try to defect.
Bucataru, 25, was working in a factory that makes eyeglasses when he heard on Dec. 21 about the protests against Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. He said he left his job and led a group of protesters to the Bucharest headquarters of Securitate.
Bucataru said he was hospitalized for two months with injuries to his head, face and ribs. After taking a job at a small Bucharest newspaper, "Libertate," he heard that Iliescu's government was offering to send 1,000 people involved in leading the revolution to the World Cup as a reward.
Iliescu, a one-time Ceausescu protege who turned against his boss, took power after Ceausescu was overthrown. Iliescu was elected president by a huge majority in nationwide elections last month.
But Bucataru and other would-be defectors contend the government planted 200 former Securitate and army officers among the 1,000-person delegation to the World Cup.
by CNB