Here Come the Americans

Home-grown soccer stars are at last making it in the pros

"This is a soccer ball."

-- Spokesman announcing to the press the formation of a professional soccer league in the United States, 1966

Now no introductions are necessary. In the land of baseball, football and basketball, the once funny-looking, 32-faceted, black-and-white soccer ball is a familiar sight, booted about schoolyards, dribbled across suburban greensward. And, finally, the international accents of professional soccer have taken on a definite American lilt as native-born players break into lineups long the preserve of the visa brigade.

When the North American Soccer League began in 1967-68, just nine Americans were signed on. This year the number is up to 234 Americans on 24 teams, a jump of almost 30% over last season. American players now make up 48% of the league's rosters--an astonishing spurt of growth and a solid indication of how firmly the world's most popular sport has caught on in America.

League rules require two U.S. citizens on each eleven-man starting team, a figure that will rise to five by 1984. But the Americans are not being signed on as token gestures to geography; they have learned to play the game. The Dallas Tornado and the Colorado Caribous have five American starters. Says Dallas Coach Al Miller, one of two U.S. head coaches in the N.A.S.L.: "I have faith in the Americans. I think you can win with them. We have Americans sitting on the bench who could play on most clubs."

U.S. soccer players still clearly exhibit their grounding in other sports, and the result is a distinctly American style that has both advantages and disadvantages. With superior hand-eye coordination and leaping ability learned in childhood baseball and basketball games, Americans make fine goaltenders, agile and sure-handed around the net. Giorgio Chinaglia, the New York Cosmos high-scoring striker, has an adversary's appreciation of the U.S. talent: "There is a nucleus of goalkeepers that are not good--they're exceptional. They could play in Europe now." And Americans have translated the physical aggressiveness of football into near world-class skill on defense.

But as the game moves upfield into the offensive positions, the drawbacks of a limited soccer background become obvious. Americans still cannot make the long, skittering run to the goal, delicately guiding the ball, that distinguishes players from Europe and South America. Those quicksilver skills come only after a lifetime's experience in the game, and American players, until recently, have simply taken up soccer too late. Notes Caribous veteran Forward Brian Tinnion: "In England, we learn to walk, we learn to run, and then we learn to play soccer."

American high school and college soccer teams generally schedule fewer than two dozen games each season, while aspiring young stars in Europe may play 50 or more. Inexperienced coaches are also a problem. Says Cosmos Captain Werner Roth: "When I was young, a coach was someone with a station wagon and spare time, not someone with knowledge of the game." Too often, that is still true.

The Americans make up ground on their foreign counterparts with eagerness for a newly found game. Oakland Stompers Assistant Coach Jack Hyde, an Englishman, admires the enthusiasm of Americans and their willingness to learn. "They go out and give you a 100% effort for the full 90 minutes."

Soccer experts point to Dallas' Kyle Rote Jr., 27, the most celebrated product of American soccer, as the archetypal home-grown player. Son of a legendary football running back and pass catcher, Rote did not take up soccer until he was 16, and then only as an off-season conditioning program for football. Although he still lacks the finesse of foreign-born players, Rote has diligently taught himself to play the difficult striker position. Says N.A.S.L. Commissioner Phil Woosnam, a Welshman who used to be a pro in England and was among the first--and most durable--soccer missionaries in the U.S.: "Rote is really a phenomenon. He's developed skills with his head that are as good as players' anywhere in Europe. And he's developed adequate skills with his feet."

This year's crop of American rookies is the finest in the league's history. Greg Makowski, 21, is a rugged fullback for the Caribous, and Billy Gazonas is a fleet, slick and tiny (5 ft. 5 in., 135 lbs.) playmaker at midfield for the Tulsa Roughnecks. The new American kids do not stand in awe of most of the Europeans. Says 20-year-old Gary Etherington, a Cosmos forward: "I don't see that much difference between us and them, except for the big stars." And Big Star Chinaglia is a fan of the young Americans: "They improve every year by 100%."

Chinaglia believes that pro soccer must go through an evolution if it is truly to command fan loyalty. Says he: "For the sport to grow, it has to have American superstars." If the new young soccer pros are any indication, the American superstars are surely on their way.

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