St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 26

http: www.stlnet.com ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH SPORTS SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 1998 II Expansion, World Cup descend upon Major League Soccer FT If Lj iff I tt 4 The Associated Press NEW YORK Expansion and the World Cup. They were two things Major League Soccer didn't want to collide this season. I The World Cup was out of the league's control and will take many marquee players for at least six weeks. MLS commissioner Doug Logan therefore had tried to delay adding two new teams that will further dilute the talent pool, but investors disagreed.

Now, heading into the league's third season on Sunday, when the defending champion Washington D.C. United face the expansion Fusion in Miami, Logan says he isn't so worried. He also hopes his league will get a much-needed boost from more TV exposure and interest in the World Cup, especially if the U.S. team does well. "This year the crop is outstanding, if you believe the fervor of our coaches trying to get their hands on them.

And it assisted us enormously in our broadcast TV deal," Logan said. Logan and many others believe the talent is deep enough to withstand the loss of about 25 players to the World Cup without a significant loss in the level of play. Unlike other leagues around the world, MLS plays a summer schedule and it won't shut down during the June 10-July 12 World Cup, although it will slow its schedule during the first two weeks of the tournament to minimize its impact. Moreover, instead of getting overwhelmed by the shadow of the World Cup, MLS will try to shine. It will have two "doubleheaders" with World Cup games, showing a match from France on a large-screen television in the stadium before an MLS game.

"This (World Cup) should be a catapult and we should get a bounce from it," Logan says. "And if the United States sticks around and gets to the second round, we'll get a heck of a bounce." Bouncing back is probably the biggest objective of MLS, which began in 1996 to an average crowd of 17,416 and then watched that drop to 14,616 last season. "The league has improved tremendously in terms of the quality of soccer," said Bruce Arena, coach and assistant general manager of D.C. United. "The business side hasn't made the same strides.

Profit-loss, TV ratings, attendance. It's how we operate that has to get better." MLS is trying to get better with some significant changes this season. Instead of cramming 90 percent of its games on Friday-Saturday-Sunday, MLS has returned to more midweek games and taken advantage of its biggest draw day, placing 92 of its 192 games, or nearly half, on Saturday. It also has a new TV contract with ABC and ESPN. Twelve games will be shown on ABC, including the opener, All-Star Game and championship, while ESPN will broadcast 10 game and ESPN2 another 25.

JThe Spanish-language network Univision also will show 25 games. It's the second time in two years the league has tinkered with the schedule. Last year the league said weekends were its biggest draw and it made several teams play on Fridays and Sundays. Players got tired and the quality of games dropped. "At times we show what we're capable of, but at times we still show our immaturity," San Jose Clash forward Eric Wynalda said.

"The league has done a lot more things right than wrong, but weaknesses are always a lot more recognizable than strengths at least to the untrained eye." Some of the tinkering is working. Season ticket sales are up by an average of about 5 percent from last year at the 10 original teams, although it is still about 10 percent behind 1996. In the notorious weak spots, however, Tampa's season-ticket sales are up 200 percent, Colorado's increased 135 percent, and Dallas' are up 140 percent. Besides the adjustments to the business side, MLS teams also have made a few but very noticeable changes in personnel. Flamboyant Mexican goalkeeper Jorge Campos was traded from the Los Angeles Galaxy to the expansion Chicago Fire, which was loaded up with Eastern European talent most notably Pole Peter Nowak in its league allocations.

Carlos Valderrama was traded to Miami, giving it a major South American drawing card and allowing Tampa Bay to get Swedish keeper Thomas Ravelli. New England sent America's most recognizable soccer face, Alexi Lalas, to the biggest market in New York and received MLS' all-time leading scorer Raul Diaz Arce in return. Diaz Arce was purged from D.C. United's roster to get it back under the $1.6 million salary cap, breaking up Washington's "Magic Triangle" that also included Marco Et-cheverry and Jaime Moreno. Washington was the clear loser, even getting passed over for the allocation of Jamaican forward Andrew Williams to replace Diaz Arce.

"There's no question about we're being penalized" for winning two titles, Arena said. "Simply, the league hopes to have competitive balance. They'd be happy if everybody was .500. It's a general philosophy: If your team successful, your team is penalized." I I I jila )-- i A ASSOCIATED PRESS MLS commissioner Doug Logan says expansion will be a good thing for his league this year. D.C.

United wants three-peat 1 kGfl Buy a digital Sprint PCS Phone" by Samsung starting as low as 1 $9999 PLUS, for just $1699-a month you'll receive Clear, secure and private calls Minutes good anytime 30-day money back guarantee No activation fees after $50 mail-in rebate. Plus a free $50 pre-paid wireless phone cardt The Associated Press HERNDON, Va. The Magic Triangle is no more. The salary cap and expansion draft took their toll. World Cup duty will deal another blow this summer.

Never mind. The dynasty lives on. Despite the setbacks, D.C. United, the only champions in the two-year history of Major League Soccer, may be even better this season. "I certainly feel we have the ability to three-peat," forward Roy Wegerle said as the team prepared for Sunday's opener against the expansion Fusion in Miami.

"I think we're more talented. We've picked up a couple of new faces. In general terms, we have a stronger squad this year." United returns nine starters from the team that beat Colorado 2-1 in last year's MLS Cup. The roster includes the league's top scorer, Jaime Moreno, and U.S. national team players Wegerle, John Harkes, Jeff Agoos and Eddie Pope.

But salary cap restraints forced the team to deal Raul Diaz Arce, the league's all-time leading scorer, to New England. The Salvador-an had teamed with Bolivians Moreno and Marco Etcheverry to form the league's most potent offense, the so-called Magic Triangle. Now, Diaz Acre's 15 goals must come from somewhere else. Much of the responsibility will fall to Wegerle, who was acquired in a mid-season trade with Colorado last season and will move into Diaz Arce's starting spot. "I don't feel any pressure," said Wegerle, who came to the MLS last year after nine years in the prestigious English leagues.

"I'm a completely different player to Raul. Raul was an out-and-out goal-poacher, and that was all he did. If he didn't score goals, he didn't contribute in any other way on the field, as far as I was concerned. "I'll score my share of goals, and I'll set other people up, and we'll go from there," he said. Other, losses include starting defender David Vaudreuil and role players Kris Kelderman, John Maessner and Ben Iroha.

The newcomers include Canadian national Jeff Aunger, former Virginia star A.J. Wood and Ben Olsen, another Virginia product and the latest in a series of exciting young American prospects. "It's going to take some time to get in sync," said Aunger, who moves to Vaudreuil's right back position after spending most of his career as a midfielder. "But because of the quality of the players, it'll be a quicker transition than if I were at another team." United already has a series of hurdles to overcome before it can reach its third title, although it helps that most of them also had to be leapfrogged on the way to their second title last year. Its best Americans have already missed most of training camp playing with the U.S.

national team, and they'll be away for a month or more during the World Cup. Plus, the team will once again have an exhausting schedule that includes games in the U.S. Open Cup and the CONCACAF Cup all part of the workload of being a champion. And, for the second straight year, United will be a marked team as defending champions. "The team to beat is D.C," Wegerle said.

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