The thunderstorm that rolled across the city Wednesday provided a suitable backdrop for the crackling drama unfolding around the United States World Cup team.
The U.S. (1-0-1) is only one point away from securing a place in the second round. All it needs is a tie Friday against Poland (6:25 CDT, ESPN), a team that has lost its first two games.
But there are nagging worries in the back of the American players’ and coaches’ minds.
What if the Poles come out to play as they did during qualifying, when they swept all before them in becoming the first European team after automatic qualifier France to reach Korea/Japan ’02?
What if the U.S., which generally does better against teams it should not defeat than against teams it should, suddenly can’t find a goal when it needs one?
What if the unthinkable happens and the U.S. loses?
Winger Earnie Stewart is certain that the Poles will not be mailing it in.
“They don’t want to lose three games and they’re going to come out and play as hard as they can to get a [positive] result,” he said Wednesday. “You never want to go out with three losses.
“They don’t have any pressure, so that makes it easy on them too. They can maybe attack a little bit more than they might have thought about before. It’s going to be a tough match. With two losses and no pressure, it makes them a very dangerous opponent.”
Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek has a laudable reason for wanting to stop the Americans.
“We have to make a gift to the Korean people who looked after us very well,” he told Agence-France Presse.
If South Korea doesn’t advance, it would be the first World Cup host team not to reach the second round.
The U.S. could lose Friday and still advance if South Korea beats Portugal, or if Portugal beats South Korea by two more goals than Poland beats the U.S.
U.S. coach Bruce Arena claims not to be paying attention to any of the scenarios.
“I’m not planning on getting any updates [from the Portugal-South Korea game in Incheon],” he said. “I’m sure I will get them … but it’s not important. What is important is that we focus on Poland and we try to win the game.”
Poland holds a 6-4-1 edge over the U.S. in a series that dates to 1924, but the countries have not played each other since 1990.
