I was watching a tape of the U.S. vs. Czechoslovakia game from Italia '90 (first half only) and was wondering if the level of the Czechs and Slovaks at the time was such that today's U.S. nats could have beaten Skurhavy, Kubik, etc. Today's nats could definitely have beaten that Austria team that they faced in the third game! In 1990, the nats had good athleticism, though they lacked a speedster. And it seemed that the little things were killing them. Tactical awareness on the part of coaches and players was lacking as was skill. They weren't stringing passes together. I'm not sure at what point it all fell apart. Meola had a good game from what I saw. But overall, the lack of professional fitness probably killed them. That and their youth and also not having had the advantage of growing up in a soccer culture did them in. Do you agree? Post your thoughts here! Write away!
intriguing question. Are they better than the current Czech squad? If so then the answer is a resounding no
no, they couldn't have beat the czech's in 1990. I mean Landon was, what, eight? most of our lineup was still in middle school.
Could they have beaten them or would they have been favored to beat them? If it's the latter, I don't know enough about the 1990 Czech team to really say. If it's the former, then most definitely--IMO this team is good enough that if you got a time machine and took them back into time, they'd be capable of beating any national or club team ever assembled. Now, would they be heavy underdogs against a good number of them? Certainly, but just as the US is capable of beating Brazil, France, Holland, and the Czechs on a good day today, the current team would stand a chance (albeit a very small one) even against such teams as 1982 Brazil, 1950's Real Madrid, 1950's Hungary, etc.
Italia 90 I always wonder how that World Cup might have turned out for us had Dooley, Stewart and Wegerle not waited so long to play for the US. They were more or less in their prime as players then. Who knows?
FWIW... When CS beat the US in 1990, their ELO ranking was 11 and ours was 64. As of today the Czechs are #1 per ELO (#5 going into Euro 04) and we are #14. That should at least give a general idea of where the teams were/are. It would probably be a good match. I would like to think that Pope and Co. could have held Skhuravy in (ahem) czech. Jason
Re: Italia 90 I understand that the USSF tried to get Wegerle U.S. citizenship in time for Italia '90, but no go. I don't know what Dooley's circumstances were. Stewart was around 21 years old at the time. I don't know if he had yet established himself at Willem II in Holland. He did play for the U.S. when Gansler was coach, though.
Wait a second. Today's nats have come a long way since 1990 (and 1950 FWIW). But I'm not sure that they are yet good enough to be able to come out and beat 1970 Brazil, 1974 West Germany or Holland, 1982 Italy, etc. Our WC 2002 performance notwithstanding, I'm not sure we have arrived yet to the point where we are able to say "if we play Holland or Brazil, we have a 50-50 chance of winning". We're just not that good yet. Our league is not up to snuff, though one recent article I read says that the level of play is "improving at a breakneck pace". I'm not so sure about that. But anyway, I'll save that for another thread.
Certainly today's nats would have performed better in that match (and indeed, in the tournament) than their 1990 counterparts. The 1990 guys did not have the advantage of MLS, the Bradenton U-17 program, or teams from overseas signing them. Could they not have held Skurhavy in Slovak? Is the Czech Republic so named because they use negotiable instruments and not currency to pay for things there? No, I'm not quitting my day job! I know you all will say "good!". You all can stop groaning now!
I never said we'd have a 50-50 chance of winning. I said we'd have a realistic chance. If we played the current Brazil or Holland or Czech team 5 times, I think we'd lose 3 times, draw once, win once. For one of the classic great teams that you or I mentioned, the odds would be longer but they'd still be there. Maybe one win and one draw out of 10 games.
I think this is a bit optimistic. The current squad would have been much more competitive, and, of course, could have won, but it would have been an unlikely event. If I recall that game, and I think that I do (not well though), it was the one in which our college players looked the most inexperienced, the most like boys playing men. Now, our current team wouldn't look like that. But I don't see winning without a lot of breaks. Remember, you're combining the talent pool of two good euro teams to make czechoslov. At the same time, oddly enough, I don't think the current team would have gotten a better result against italy. Was the third team austria? A good result for this US cup in that group would have 1-0-2 for two points and out.
Re: Italia 90 If I have my information correct, Ernie Stewart played while Bob Gansler was still US coach in one game only, December 19, 1990 vs. Portugal in Oporto. This was after the '90 WC. Portugal won the game, 1-0.
I recall watching the game live in 90 and remember it being fairly close until Wynalda got a red card. Note as well that in the other two matches US lost to Italy 0-1 and to Austria 1-2. The guys were thrilled to get that far MF
FWIW, a couple of points about that game: 1. Czech was leading 3-0 when Wynalda was sent off at the 50-something minute. (Czech had scored its third goal in the 49th minute). 2. The Swiss referee, Rothglisberger, did not even make the initial call (didn't see it, perhaps?) on Wynalda's foul. It was brought to his attention by the linesman as the foul occured right in front of him. Wynalda was sent off on a straight red card on a push to the back of the Czech player which sent him sprawling face first to the ground. Wynalda claimed that the Czech player had backed into him and stomped on his foot. 3. Playing a man down, the US cut the lead to 3-1 on Caligiuri's goal. 4. Rothglisberger awarded two penalty kicks to the Czechs in the game. They converted one (in the first half making it 2-0 at the time) and missed one (in the second half when the score at the time was 4-1). 5. The Czechs scored two goals, in the second half, off corner kick opportunities. 6. The last, fifth, goal came 2 1/2 minutes into injury time at the end of the game.
I was at the match in Florence. The wynalda red carding was a classic...czechs were so physically dominating, winning everything in the air, moving the ball around at leisure, just playing with college kids... wynalda got muscles off a ball, just retaliates with a shove, totally immature move.... after the match we went to a local pizzeria where all the kids kept taunting us with 10-0........anticipating what Italia would do in the enxt match.... they were off by a zero...ended up 1-0... as to 2004 USA versus 1990 CZECH....would be interesting... tab ramos was clearly the best player in the tourney..his performance agaisnt austria confirming it.