FRANCE 98 – Match Summary n°44

Yugoslavia rarely moved out of second gear as they cruised to a 1-0 victory over the United States on Thursday night and secured their place in the second round of the World Cup finals. The Yugoslavs’ victory in the Group F match at the La Beaujoire stadium gave them second spot in the group behind Germany and means they will face Group E winners Holland in Toulouse next Monday.

The Yugoslavs scored in the fourth minute when goalkeeper Brad Friedel, playing in his first World Cup finals match, could only block a fierce left-footed free-kick from Sinisa Mihajlovic and defender Slobodan Komljenovic, lurking near the far post, was free to bend low and steer the ball home with his head.

From then on Yugoslavia seemed content to settle for a one-goal margin-despite coach Slobodan Santrac’s boast before the match that they would go flat out for goals. Yugoslavia went into the game needing one point to be certain of advancing but needed goals to have any chance of heading Germany on goal difference.

Germany, who beat Iran 2-0, now have an easier-looking second-round match against Mexico. ” We’ve achieved our aim of making the second round but it will be hard to play against Holland, “ said Komljenovic. ” We’d have preferred to have played someone else. “

The United States, who lost their opening two matches, were already eliminated from second-round contention. They went into the match with their players split on whether coach Steve Sampson should be sacked or retained following the team’s failure here.

Yugoslav-born midfielder Predrag Radosavljevik, desperately disappointed not to start against the country of his birth, was among Sampson’s more vocal critics but he did get to play the final 33 minutes as a replacement for Joe-Max Moore. The Americans started the game brightly and a cross from Frankie Hejduk floated onto the post with Yugoslav goalkeeper Ivica Kralj helpless after just 22 seconds.

The underdogs played some positive attacking soccer, creating several other half-chances in the opening 45 minutes, although they were let down by poor finishing. Yugoslavia managed to create the more direct scoring chances and in the 17th minute Friedel had to get down smartly to stop an angled shot from Dejan Stankovic. The American goalkeeper also did well to block a fierce shot from Savo Milosevic after 30 minutes.

Vladimir Jugovic blasted the ball over the bar after a clever 56th minute move but chances were few and far between after the break. Despite winning the match, the Yugoslavs suffered a blow when striker Predrag Mijatovic limped off the field after aggravating an injury to his left knee he suffered in training and risks missing the Holland showdown.

” Obviously an injury like that upsets anybody’s strategy and we found it hard to replace him, “ said Santrac. ” We hope he’ll be ready for the next match because it will obviously be a very challenging game and we want him to play if he can. “

Mijatovic’s absence was compensated by the return of star forward Dejan Savicevic, who missed Yugoslavia’s opening two games through injury. The Yugoslavs did have one uncomfortable moment five minutes from the end. Jugovic climbed all over Cobi Jones to concede a free-kick on the edge of the area but Preki’s shot was off target.

The American coach was disappointed with the result, but not with his team’s performance.” Everyone gave their best tonight, “ he said. ” We started off well, but unfortunately we conceded an early goal. We improved with every match we played but we need to do better in front of goal. We created some opportunities tonight but we didn’t take them. We must improve on our lack of precision in front of goal. “

Sampson said Yugoslavia were an exceptional team, forecasting they would go far in the tournament. While the match was played in a sporting spirit despite the political differences between the two sides, a large group of Yugoslav supporters booed the American national anthem.