Subject: USA v. Costa Rica - I was THERE! Date: 11 Sep 1997 06:37:06 GMT From: howardh@seanet.com (Howard H. Hamilton) I arrived in Portland on Saturday afternoon and spent the night talking soccer and other things with the local and out-of-town Sammers who were there for the night. It was great to see old friends from a few years ago, and people who I had only known in email and pictures on a webpage. On Sunday, I arrived early and joined up with Sam's Army, decked out in my red Sam's Army shirt, Sam's Army scarf and a big Uncle Sam top hat. We had a spontaneous pep rally outside Civic Stadium, replete with drums, noisemakers and chants, and then marched around the stadium to our entrance. Civic Stadium looks like a classic baseball field, with the overhang over what would be the main and baseline stands. It looks awesome for a soccer match, almost like the roofed stadia that you might see in Europe. Sam's Army was one the opposite side of the main stands, in some wood/steel bleachers surrounded by large signage and a mural of six US players. What really caught my attention was that Alexi Lalas, the sport's most recognizable and marketable player in the USA, wasn't in the mural! Both teams came out to a crescendo of those plastic sticks (courtesy Nike) and some confetti machines, the anthems were sung, and Costa Rica kicked off. A lot has been said about American soccer fans and their understanding of what goes on in World Cup qualification, but it seemed that everyone knew the importance of the match. There was a roar that filled the air before kick-off, but it was also tinged with tension, uncertain of what the next 90 minutes would reveal. I had read some previews to the match that said that the US would try to get an early goal to rally the fans, but could expect problems if they couldn't crack Costa Rica's zone defense in the first thirty minutes. That is what happened - the US had a few chances, but they were snuffed out by either a tight Costa Rican defense or a lack of finishing. (Or in Roy Lassiter's case, offside.) The first good chance I can remember was Ramos' freekick outside the box, which squeezed through the wall and required a save by Lonnis. Costa Rica looked threatening at some stages, but their possessions didn't result in much, and the balls which threatened the small box were scooped up by Kasey Keller. Pope, Balboa and Dooley did a great job in winning the ball away - perhaps the best I have seen the central defense play in all of qualifiers. The final 15 minutes produced a few scares but no real chances, and the tension in the stadium increased until halftime. 0-0. I spent halftime chatting to some Costa Rican fans who managed to get into the Sam's Army section. They were very nice folks, especially the two really cute Costa Rican women I talked with (and took pictures of). I think I need to reconsider my vacation plans for next summer. :) The second half started, and the US started to step up the attack. The closest we came to a goal was when Pope flicked on a Ramos(could have been Sorber) corner, and the ball trickled across the goalmouth and over the endline. OOhhhhhhh!!! Will we get another chance?? I start to get nervous, my stomach is tying into knots and I'm bending over from emotional exhaustion. 60 minutes. Costa Rica continues to do a good job defending, but the US seems to be doing a better job cracking their shell. If only they can convert!! Wegs is running out of steam, Lassiter is becoming more and more ineffective. To our credit, Costa Rica isn't causing too many problems for Keller. I start thinking that this might end 0-0. I pray for a goal. 65 minutes. Sampson is about to make a substitution. I plead with the football gods that it is not Burns. The Sammers behind me say, "Anyone but Burns". The referee's assistant holds up his flag for a sub- stitution. It is Burns for Reyna. I did not understand that at all. Replace a midfielder for a crap defender? [I would find out later that Reyna was hurt, which you sometimes can't tell from the stands...] A few minutes later, Sampson subs Preki for Lassiter, Cobi for Wegerle. I pray that Burns does not hurt us. 70 minutes. Preki is starting to make some good moves, but they aren't resulting in much of anything. I am too nervous to sing with the rest of the Army. I bounce only to relax my fraying nerves. I'm starting to bite my fingernails. 75 minutes. Pleeeeeease, pleeeeease give us a goal!! The atmosphere is growing more tense with every passing minute. Maybe Costa Rica will get out of here with a point. My Gawd, we're so close to breaking through. Please let it happen before the referee blows his whistle. Then, it happened. I don't really recall the buildup, but Preki has the ball on the right wing. He shows some skill and dribbles past the Costa Rican defender. He then plays it to Balboa. For some reason, I sense a goal. Then, as soon as he receives it, Balboa taps it out to an onrushing player who strikes at the ball. I don't know who it is, but his strike is low and pure, and the ball glides inches on the grass and into the back of the net. Goal. OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH YYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! Immediately, my hands go straight up, and I jump at least a foot in the air. It is pure bedlam in the Sam's Army section, as the rest of Civic Stadium fills with a loud roar. I'm hugging people I know, I'm hugging people I don't know, I'm jumping and screaming and crying. There were so many emotions I was going through at the moment - tension, relief, joy, ecstacy. All the while, I have not focused on the field, and I still do not know who has scored. At the same time, I do not care who scored; what mattered was that WE scored. After the goal, the final ten minutes went pretty fast. Costa Rica, realizing that they needed a goal to achieve their mission, finally attacked. But the central defense was still solid, and Keller's hands were still secure. Now the US has possession and is looking for the final fatal strike. Preki again shakes off a defender and tries a curling shot with his left foot...Oooooooooohhh!!! Just over the far post. We play some more, and after one minute of injury time [I had expected four, but I'm not complaining], the Uruguayan referee blew for time. The stadium burst into total separation, and the Sam's Army section was going beszerk. Our drums start playing, Sammers are dancing to the beat of victory, and Sammers are hugging fellow Sammers, realizing the importance of this win. Steve Sampson, Hank Steinbrecher and the rest of the national team come over to greet us, and they are met with an even louder ovation. It was not the best game in terms of technical technical merit, but for pure drama and suspense it was perhaps the best match of the qualifiers. This match had "The Moment" which I had not yet seen in a US qualifying match - a critical goal scored at a critical time. After the game, I drove back to Seattle, and found out that Tab Ramos indeed scored that goal. Here are some of my other memories from the trip: - Some of the Sammers (Okay, Big Dog) taking over a city block to play soccer under the street lights. That was awesome. - Juan in the big cartoon Martian hat banging away at a bass drum. - The Sammers who flew from the east coast for this game (including Atlanta, South Carolina, DC and Boston) - Meeting my Real Madrid (yeah!) and Real Betis pals from the Spanish soccer mailing list. - Big Dog's patriotic hair coloring. - Commandeering a Tri-Met rail car and singing Sam's Army songs (with other Sammers and our fellow Portlanders) at 9am. - Forgetting my match tickets and having to wait 30 min for a return train to my hotel. - The speeding ticket I got on the drive to Portland. - Blacks, whites, Asians and Hispanics united as one to support our national team. What I will take with me from this game is the talk I had with a Costa Rican gentleman at halftime (he was a gentleman in every sense). I asked him what he thought about the game and he said, "This isn't about the game. This is about people coming together. About being a family." Indeed. --------------------------- And with that, I'm relocating to Stanford University to begin graduate school. I hope to be back when/if I find housing in the Bay Area. Probably not as much as before - grad school can be a drain on free time - but I should be back for the Jamaica game. Cheers! Howard Hamilton -- Howard H. Hamilton -- howardh@seanet.com -- Renton, WA (ex-S. Fla.) Georgia Tech BS '97, Stanford MS '98, PhD? "There are some ideas that are so preposterous that only an intellectual could believe them." - George Orwell