U.S. Squad Will Have to Look Alive

El Dia de los Muertos,” they call it: “The Day of the Dead.”

And if ever there was a time the United States’ national soccer team does not want to be playing its Mexican counterpart, this is it.

Today, more than 120,000 face-painted, flag-waving fanaticos will pack Guillermo Canedo Stadium in Mexico City, celebrating not only one of the most colorful and popular of national holidays but also fully expecting to celebrate Mexico’s qualification for the 1998 World Cup.

All Coach Bora Milutinovic’s team needs to secure a berth in France ’98 is one point. A tie will do it.

But don’t expect Mexico to be looking for a tie. Not against the United States. Mexico’s all-time record in the series that dates from 1934 is 29-7-10. But in Mexico City, it is 17-0 against the United States since 1937.

In 60 years, no U.S. national team has won a game there.

Day of the Dead, indeed.

“We know that this is going to be a very difficult game, obviously,” injured U.S. midfielder Tab Ramos said. “But I think that sometimes when everybody writes you off, that’s the easiest time to play.

“I’m pretty sure that Mexico has never lost a World Cup qualifier in their stadium, but we also realize that they know we’re the only team that can break that streak.”

The United States has won three of its last seven games against Mexico and earned a 2-2 tie in the teams’ most recent encounter, at Foxboro Stadium near Boston on April 20. But two of the U.S. starters that afternoon will be missing for today’s game (10 a.m., Channel 34), along with Ramos.

Goalkeeper Kasey Keller suffered a multiple dislocation of his thumb while training with his English team, Leicester City, two weeks ago and is sidelined. And midfielder Claudio Reyna picked up another yellow card in the U.S. team’s 1-1 tie with Jamaica on Oct. 3 and is suspended.

Otherwise, Coach Steve Sampson has his full squad. The players underwent two weeks of altitude training at Big Bear Lake before leaving for Mexico City on Friday. They tried to get used to the smog too, but Los Angeles is a health resort compared to Mexico City.

Ramos has played many times at what used to be called Azteca Stadium, both for various U.S. teams and while playing in the Mexican League. He knows first-hand how tough conditions are.

“My experiences haven’t been good,” he said. “And don’t think that it’s only teams from other countries that don’t like to play there. Even the club teams that play in the rest of Mexico don’t like going into Mexico City and playing in that stadium because of the smog.

“It’s very difficult. It’s hard to breathe. It catches up to you in the second half, and especially that night, after you’ve played. It’s very hard to breathe and your chest is hurting. . . .

“But when you’re in World Cup qualifying and you realize how important this is for the whole country, I think that, hopefully, all the players will forget about that.”

What will be more difficult to forget, however, is that to qualify for the World Cup, the U.S. has to get at least a victory and a tie in its final three games--against Mexico today, Canada in Vancouver on Nov. 9 and El Salvador at Foxboro Stadium on Nov. 16.

If it loses to Mexico, as is expected, the U.S. cannot afford another defeat. Compounding the problem is that 14 Americans, including about half of the probable starting lineup, already have one yellow card. Those who get another in this game will miss the crucial one against Canada.

“It’s very important for players who have the cautions to realize the importance of qualifying for France and to be as focused as possible on not getting another yellow,” said forward Joe-Max Moore, who is one of the 14. “But it’s also important to go out and play hard and tackle hard. But you never know what’s going to happen. . . . It’s difficult to play with a yellow.”

Especially so when Mexico will be attacking for the full 90 minutes, spurred on by roaring fans perched in row after vertical row inside the bullring-like stadium that was the site of the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals.

Milutinovic has put together a team that is so offense-minded--it blew away El Salvador, 5-0, in its most recent home game--that the attacks can come from almost any direction, even from deep within the Mexican defense.

“They’re a very well balanced team,” Sampson said. “I don’t think there’s one individual who deserves more [defensive] emphasis than another. I think we have to play a very intelligent match.

“We have to match people up with [strikers Carlos] Hermosillo, Zague and [Luis] Hernandez. We always have to have [defensive] cover behind them, in case they do beat one of our defenders. We have to have players in the midfield who work back and put pressure from behind the ball. And our concentration defensively has to be very tight.”

In short, the U.S. is likely to be spending the afternoon back on its heels, fighting a rear-guard action and hoping to somehow gain a tie or at least keep the damage to a minimum.

“I feel confident that with the amount of experience this team has, we can play an intelligent match and get a respectable result,” Sampson said, adding that he does not expect Mexico to take it easy because it already is virtually assured of qualifying for France.

“If this was any other opponent than the United States, I’d say yes,” he said. “But this is the United States. This is a rivalry that in the last four or five years has become extremely intense. It is what they refer to as a classico. It is equivalent to the Chivas [of Guadalajara]-[Club] America match in their own professional league.

“The last thing that Bora wants, or his players want, is to give the United States the result that it wants, especially in front of 120,000 people and in a country that takes its soccer very seriously. Coaches have lost their jobs because they’ve lost to the United States. We know that they’re going to come at us with everything they have, regardless of what their position is in qualifying.”

As for the U.S. team, which was severely criticized for failing to defeat Jamaica, Sampson said he believes it has learned from that game and knows very well what is now at stake.

“Even if the Mexico match doesn’t work out perfectly, we have two matches remaining that are equally, if not more, important,” he said. “There’s an urgency from the standpoint that we feel as if our backs are up against the wall, and this team has always performed better when its back is up against the wall. Unfortunately.

“I hope one day that we can perform consistently well, game in and game out, respecting every opponent and giving a great effort every single time we step on the field. We’re not there yet and we have work to do.

“Hopefully, in these next three matches you will see a team that will work much harder and much more intelligently than what you saw against Jamaica. That’s our hope and that’s my expectation.”

The players’ expectations are somewhat lower. They simply want to survive.

“It will take everything we have,” goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who will start in place of the injured Keller, told Soccer America magazine before the team left Big Bear Lake. “[But] by no means are we going to go down there and fold.”

And what about “El Dia de los Muertos”?

“ ‘The Day of the Dead’ means nothing in the United States,” Sampson snapped, “and it will mean nothing to us come [today].”

Monday, however, might be another matter.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

CONCACAF World Cup ’98 Qualifying Standings

The top three finishers from the final qualifying group of six will qualify for France ’98. Qualifying ends Nov. 16.

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Team Played W L T GF GA Pts Mexico 7 4 0 3 20 4 15 Jamaica 8 3 2 3 5 10 12 USA 7 2 1 4 10 7 10 El Salvador 8 2 3 3 7 10 9 Costa Rica 8 2 4 2 7 8 8 Canada 8 1 4 3 4 14 6

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Remaining games, with home team listed first: Today--Mexico-USA; Nov. 9--Canada-USA, El Salvador-Jamaica; Nov. 16--Jamaica-Mexico, Costa Rica-Canada, USA-El Salvador.