The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 207

LOS ANGELES TIMES SUNDAY, JULY 10, 1994 COO 1 mm MIKE PENNER Dutch Wait, but Whistle 0WiJMM jx III l.fikt A at Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ. LJ Bulgaria vs. '4 Ml Germany TV: ESPN. Univision Isu KaavMii.mn i nci mMiwnurs: uermany 8 precise some isay boring offense will have to work 'fa against th( tournament's hottest defense jThe Bulgarians have not given up a goal ithat wasn a penalty kick since the first unim game of the tournament. Only one team in' me nnai eigru nomama nas given up iAg fewer shots.

Bulgaria has given up only 15 Iper game. And no team can boast of a goalkeeper who saved consecutive penal ty h) kicks in a shootout. That distinction belongs tn Rorialav Mihavlnv whn turner! the trlrlr' in the Bulgarians stunning second-round shootout victory over Mexico. The 'M Bulgarians also aren't afraid to throw a few A elbows. They have received an average of four yellow cards per game, far more than-nd any other team in the final eight, and three I defensive starters were suspended for game against Mexico.

Those players will return today, but another star defender, Emu Kremenliev, will sit because he received a second yellow card against Mexico. How will the Germans handle Probably by kicking the ball to Juergen wro Kiinsmann and getting out of the way. Klinsmann, who has connected on five of his 10 shots on goal, is one of the tournament'ST 1 most dangerous remaining players. He has taken more shots in the goal area (11) than any three Bulgarians combined. Klinsmann will be assisted on the front line by veteran Rudi Voeller, who scored twice in the u-nX Germans' 3-2 second-round victory over Belgium.

Only one other player, Karlheinn.w Riedle, has scored for Germany. Hristo Stoitchkov, Bulgaria's star forward, has -f taken 17 shots, more than any two teammates combined. His four goals are more man me resi oi me learn commnea. Stoitchkov has both skill and toughness, a all i two eviaencea oy me way ne Duiiea inrougn Mexican defenders to score early in that second -round game. Germany probably will- cover btoitchkov with Juergen Kohler, a defender who knows his priorities-.

He has i rtstst piayea jou mmuies ana not lateen a snoi. OUTLOOK: The Bulgarians shouldn't be in this round. They really shouldn't even be in the United States for this tournament They qualified only after a collapse by France. The French needed only a tie in one of thejf 'ij final two home games against Israel and Bulgaria but lost both in the final Then Bulgaria survived the first round onfy after a collapse by Argentina, which lost the Bulgarians after Diego Maradona was suspended. Finally, they won their jiioD second-round game only after a collapse byi Mexico, whose coach, Miguel Mejia Baron," 03 couldn't pull the trigger on important substitutions.

After not winning a World Cup game in 16 tries before this year, j. suddenly, they are play ing defending champion Germany for the right to advance i to the semifinals? This absurdity will not besO lost on the Germans, who have yet to combine two good halves and still feel the have much to prove. OUTCOME: A Bulgarian victory would represent one of the biggest upsets in Wor 14 Cup history. A Bulgarian victory would turaos this tournament on its head, infusing new excitement in the wake of departures by the United States and Mexico. Alas, not in lifetime.

Germany by a couple. BILL PLASCHKE Aron Winter (20) of the Netherlands collides with Branco in first half. Branco was Branco Is Mr. Destiny CHHISTIMECOTTEH Loe Angeles Times shaken up but scored the winning goal. for Brazil "Destiny wanted it to be like this," a humbled Branco said.

Often, the best coaching decisions are ones thrust upon you. Carlos Alberto Parreira, scrutinized in Brazil for everything down to his toothpaste choices, was under pressure in Brazil to not play Branco, a two-time World Cup veteran with a bad back. The 30-year-old Branco, critics suggested, would be a monkey wrench in the Brazilian offense. The vertebrae in Bran-co's back, in fact, have eroded to the point that his left leg is slightly shorter than his right. While the rest of his team prepared for the World Cup, Branco soaked his sacroiliac in the whirlpool under the care of Dr.

Lidio Toledo. Since participating in club championship matches in Rio de Janeiro more than 40 days ago, Branco had played one half of soccer in a June 12 friendly against El Salvador in Fresno. Leonardo's suspension made Parreira's decision to insert Branco an easy one. True, there were a lot of miles on this Branco, but experience counts in big games and the defender was a veteran of nine World Cup games, in 1986 and 1990. Branco has always possessed a lively free kick.

His bio sheet notes that he is "exceptionally threatening in free-kick situations, having scored from seemingly safe distances outside the box." It perfectly described Saturday's game-winner. Branco set himself up for the kick by' baiting Wim Jonk into a foul, a subtlety teammate Leonardo has not quite mas Soccer: Replacement for suspended Leonardo gets winning goal after spending first four games on bench. By CHRIS DUFRESNE ITIMES STAFF WRITER I DALLAS So this is punishment? On July 4, at Palo Alto, a Brazilian named Leonardo jarred Tab Ramos of the United States with an elbow to the head. Americans will remember the call for a stretcher. In Brazil, however, it might now be remembered as a call to destiny.

In a World Cup chain reaction that set off sirens and sambas, Ramos went down with a concussion, Leonardo went to the bench after FIFA handed him a four-game suspension and Branco, his replacement, went on to make history. Branco, almost forgotten in Brazilian soccer lore, scored the decisive goal Saturday on a booming, 30-yard free kick in the 81st minute to lift Brazil to a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over the Netherlands at the Cotton Bowl. Branco, who had not played in nearly a month, almost scored twice, deprived earlier by goalkeeper Ed De Goey, who leaped to deflect another free kick. On defense, Branco marked Marc Over-mars out of the game, sticking to the forward like Dutch Boy paint on plywood. All because Leonardo whacked Tab Ramos.

Stays Silent DALLAS Dutch midfielder Rob Witschge was shirtless by the time he hit the tunnel, the "Clockwork Orange" turned "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Except for the face. The face was tri-colore crimson, scarlet' and red and it seemed to send off steam as Witschge was asked by a FIFA interpreter to assess this just-completed World Cup quarterfinal. Roughly translated, Witschge charged the officials with stealing the shirts off the Netherlands' backs. "He says it is terrible," the interpreter said. says the linesman is 'blind, absolutely blind.

"He says the Brazilian player was three yards offside a terrible way to get a second goal. "He says, 'We got into it pretty good after that, but it is something you never get "He says it is one of the saddest things in his career." Witschge was talking about the second mute whistle to silence a Benelux country in this tournament 1 First, it was a non-call on the foul in the penalty area in the game against Germany that eliminated Belgium. Saturday at the Cotton Bowl, it was a non-call on an apparent offside before a goal by Brazil that halted Holland, 3-2, in a wild quarterfinal that Dutch Coach Dick Advocaat said had "all the elements football should contain. Strange calls, tension this game had it all." Strange non-calls, too. Brazil held a 1-0 lead when Brazilian defender Branco won a head ball at midfield and lofted a pass over the heads of two Dutch players trying to work an offside trap on Romario.

Stan Valckx and Ronald Koeman appeared to pull it off splendidly, too. Up went the ball, up stepped Valckx and Koemari and there was Romario several yards back, all by his lonesome. Had this been the kind of football normally seen inside the Cotton Bowl, Romario would have signaled for a fair catch. But Romario knows his futbol and he also knew that trusty sidekick Bebeto was angling into the clear on the right flank. As the pass began to slice toward Bebeto, Romario, camped in center field, started to walk away from the ball.

It was a leisurely stroll, and Romario will tell you with a wink that he had it planned all along. Assuming Romario was hopelessly trapped offside, Valckx and Koeman froze and waited for the whistle. 1 As they fly back to Amsterdam, Valckx and Koeman are still waiting. "The ball landed just beyond the two Dutchmen with a plop, accompanied by no other sound than Bebeto's feet He swooped in, pounced on the loose and took it home drawing Dutch goalkeeper Ed De Goey out of his box and tapping into an open net. The play sent Bebeto into a double-fisted jockey ride around the Dutch half of the field, in jubilant celebration of a 2-0 Brazil lead.

But elsewhere, the reaction was delayed. In the press area, two Brazilian journalists leaped to their feet, then began to grimace. goal," one of them told an American writer with glum shake of his head. "Romario was offside." Yet the scoreboard showed Brazil 2, Netherlands 0 and it wasn't going away. had been no linesman's flag thrust into the air.

There had been no referee's whistle, The goal stood. On the sideline, Advocaat was aghast On the field, Dutch players stood with hands on their hips in disbelief Offside is often a judgment call and referee Rodrigo Badilla Sequeira went to brink on this one. Because he was walking away from the play, Sequeira ruled, Romario was not involved in the play, and consequently, irrelevant to the play. Conclusion: No offside. -'Terrible," Witschge said again and again.

"All of a sudden, there's a different rule for offsides? If you're walking, you can go off?" From behind the podium, Advocaat bit his tongue so hard that it should drawn blood. "I haven't said anything about the referees so far in the World Cup," Advocaat said when asked about the play. won't start ncfw." vA few minutes later, Advocaat was asked again. "I don't want to talk about the referee," he repeated. it It was a call that would have crushed most teams in this tournament.

With 28 minutes to play, the Netherlands down, 2-0, to the consensus World Cup favorite, a team that had yielded but one goal in its first four games. But the Netherlands came back to tie, pairing goals by Dennis Bergkamp and Aron Winter in a span of 12 minutes. Six minutes later, Branco busted through the Dutch wall with a blistering free kick, Brazil had regained the lead and the non-whistle was ringing louder than eve in Dutch ears. teams played evenly' well," Advocaat said, straddling the diplomatic tightrope. "But, the most lucky team won the game." Brazil would, no doubt argue the point, but Advocaat will stick with that story.

Call it a judgment call. tered. Then, from well beyond the penalty arc, Branco let go with a left-footed blast that found a hole in the Dutch wall and the upper-right corner of the net. "I struck the ball with a lot of confidence," Branco said. "Before I hit the ball, I looked up at the scoreboard and saw there were 10 minutes to go.

I got it in my head, it was the right moment." With the shot, Branco said, he silenced most of his critics. "It was a game in which everyone was worried if I was ready to play," he said. Overmars could attest to his opponent's fitness. Branco was not shy in saying he "annihilated" the Dutch forward. Branco said he was not nervous before the game: "To the contrary, I was very much at peace." Of his defensive performance, he said.

"I had to mark perhaps Holland's best player. I don't think he had anything to do with the game. I thank God I had a great role in the game. Admittedly tired, Branco left the game in the 89th minute to a hero's welcome on the Brazilian bench. Had he been wearing a cap, Branco would have tipped it.

The game over, as the impact of the goal began to set in, Branco allowed himself to cry. "It was for everything that I had to go through," he said. "To go from 2-0, to 2-2 and then 3-2, it was a thing of destiny. If one did not cry, one would not have emotions." AN ACLETO RAPPING Los Angeles Times Jorginho gesture in disbelief Saturday -iA at Stanford Stadium Palo Alto ub i Li Y.V.S yjj Romania vs. foin E3 Sweden iWo Dutch Are Down and Out of Touch 7 for a foul against Peter van vossen.

rhythm. team a round deeper into the tournament years ago in Italy, but Brazil proved too for Advocaat to take one more step into TIME: 1230 p.m. PDT i.oia TV: ABC, Univision KEY MATCHUPS: Suspended Romanian forward Florin Raducioiu will return to thr lineup and hook up with the tournament's most effective player, Gheorghe Hagi. ,0 Assisting will be Hie Dumitrescu, who in Raducioiu's absence has developed a rapport with Hagi. Overlooked is Sweden's front line of Martin Dahlin and Kennet Andersson, assisted by Thomas Brolin.

Sweden loves to attack; Romania lives to '03 counterattack. OUTLOOK: The Romanians have shown unexpected patience in this tournament and -they must hang on to it today. Sweden's jj steady, methodical game will offer Romanian little pace to key off, and Hagi must carefully select the right moment for a irisci counterattack. Sweden, which is always nofl pressing forward, must find a way to control''' the ball in the midfield, minus the services'' i3 of injured captain Jonas Them. Both teamu" have suspect defenses, but at this stage of the World Cup, everyone plays defense, so whatever weakness each team has in the CfiH back can be masked by packing the defensive zone.

Potential problem for nM Sweden: Hagi will shoot from anywhere on-A the field and is accurate from 40 yards. OUTCOME: Of the weekend's four games, this one is causing the most problems for prognosticators. Both teams are playing exceptionally well, if a bit quietly. EveryoneA noticed as Romania knocked out Argentina but Sweden has been deadly efficient in doing the things necessary to advance. ItrfIm 1-1 tie against Brazil is the tactical standard, against which future Brazilian opponents will measure themselves.

With Them in midfield, Sweden would win. Without himiA Romania will squeak by. JULIE CART. 403 TimesLlnk 808-8463 1 For the latest in World Cup call TimesLink and press and one 6 the four-digit codes. Current Scores 360O World Cup News 3090 Call TimesLink from area codes 213, 310, 818 or 909.

From other regions, use the area coded' nearest you. For current scores in Spanish, catjf, 549-9898 and press 7600. Soccer: As lone Netherlands player to comment, Witschge laments blown offside call; Advocaat prefers to praise both teams. By HELENE ELLIOTT TIMES STAFF WRITER DALLAS They went down fighting and for once, they weren't fighting each other. For the Netherlands World Cup team, that was a considerable achievement.

Not as great a feat as getting to the final would have been, but exiting on a sad yet harmonious note will have to stand as Holland's crowning achievement in the 1994 tournament after its 372 quarterfinal loss to Brazil on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. So distraught were the Dutch players afterward, only one player, left midfielder Rob Witschge, was composed enough to talk with reporters. The rest, according to Coach Dick Advocaat were "down and out." Witschge was certainly down. And he lamented that the Dutch were out of the tournament because of a missed offside call. 1 Witschge contended that Bebeto's goal, scored in the 62nd minute to give Brazil a 2-0 lead, should have been nullified because another Brazilian forward, Romario, was offside.

Despite the players' vehement arguments and Advocaat's stony stare from the sideline, the goal stood. "We are crushed," Witschge said. "It's terrible to lose like this. It is one of the saddest moments of my soccer career." Advocaat politely and repeatedly refused to comment on the goal. "It's on my tongue to say it was offside, but I'm not saying that," he said.

"I haven't said anything about the refereeing in the World Cup and I wouldn't like to start now." He preferred instead to praise his opponent and his team. The Netherlands' two goals were the most scored against Brazil in this tournament so far and it marked the first time any team had scored twice against the Brazilians in a World Cup game since the 1982 tournament in Italy. "Brazil is world class," Advocaat said, "and if you consider the way Holland played Brazil, I think that is a compliment to my team." Perhaps a compliment to Advocaat's coaching too. Advocaat, who was a steady but average midfielder in his playing days in Holland and the North American Soccer League, had to fight to win his players' respect. Some wanted former star Johan Cruyff to coach them, and midfielder Ruud Gullit had so little respect for Advocaat that Gullit refused to play for the team, returned, and then left again.

Losing Gullit's playmaking was a blow, but Advocaat didn't concede. He tinkered with various lineups until he found a mix of energetic attacking and judicious defense, waiting patiently while striker Dennis Bergkamp found his stride and winger Peter Cup with good feelings," said Advocaat, through 1998. "The Dutch team played very America with our heads high. I am very to be proud Saturday, as they did in Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Ireland and their Brazilian defense neutralized the speed of Brazil's Aldair 13) the semifinals. well.

We can proud of my boys. 1-0 loss to Belgium. Although the didn have too many Overmars into the net. "We showed that around, like when Witschge said. "We possibilities to score free kick, that killed and after they were called van Vossen found his Advocaat got his than it advanced four formidable an obstacle "I leave the World whose contract runs leave They gave him reason their victories over winger Marc Overmars uncontested inch of Brazilian lead in the 15 minutes to play.

Two minutes after defender Marcio Santos his third goal of the kept pressing and tied Winter outjumped a The only goal scored through the Dutch us, and rarely allowed Bergkamp an grass, the Dutch clawed back to erase a 2-0 second half and pulled even with less than "Brazil was handling the ball too much. We chances, Advocaat said. Bebeto's goal, Bergkamp dodged Brazilian to score the Netherlands' first goal and tournament. Their hope rekindled, the Dutch the score in the 76th minute when Aron crowd of defenders to head a corner kick by if we have to, we can change the game we came from 2-nil to make it 2-2, just wanted to go on and create more goals. after that, though, was Branco's blast defensive wall.

"Giving up that goal on the Witschge said..