U.S. squads take aim at Champions Cup final

Steve Carp

Friday, Oct. 1, 1999 | 10:55 a.m.

Tournament schedule

All games at Sam Boyd Stadium

Today

Semifinals

Chicago Fire vs. Alajuela, 6 p.m.

D.C. United vs. Necaxa, 8 p.m.

Sunday

Consolation final

Semifinal losers, 2 p.m.

Championship

Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

Maybe the Americans will be the "home" side in this Football Confederaton Champions Cup after all.

While the Chicago Fire and D.C. United do not enjoy the widespread popularity in Las Vegas that they do in their respective hometowns, the two Major League Soccer franchises could be playing for the right to go to Brazil in January for the inaugural FIFA World Club Championship.

But first things first. Before anyone can talk about samba lessons, there's the not-so-small matter of locking up a spot in this tournament's 4 p.m. Sunday title game at Sam Boyd Stadium.

And tonight's semifinals will not be an easy assignment for either MLS team. Chicago faces a very fast Alajuela side from Costa Rica that can cause the Fire defense a lot of trouble.

D.C. United must deal with Necaxa of Mexico, which dominated Saprissa of Costa Rica despite the narrow 3-2 final result.

Wednesday, United escaped a potential disaster in extra time as goalkeeper Tom Presthus took down Olimpia's Wilmer Velasquez in the penalty area. The Hondurans were awarded a penalty kick, which, if converted, would have sent Wednesday's quarterfinal match to a full round of penalties.

But Presthus redeemed himself by saving Arnold Cruz's shot to preserve the victory and keep his team alive.

"It's not going to get any easier," United coach Thomas Rongen said of the 8 p.m. semifinal matchup with Necaxa. "The pressure continues to build. It's still one loss and you're out."

The Fire looks at its 6 p.m. semi with Alajuela the same way.

"Tuesday was a match we were glad to put behind us," coach Bob Bradley said after the team's brief training session outside Sam Boyd Stadium. "I think the players understand the importance of this tournament and we have a lot of respect for Alajuela."

Goalkeeper Zach Thornton said, "To get to this stage, you've got to be a pretty good team. So we're not going to underestimate them by any means."

Chicago would be wise not to look past tonight. The Costa Ricans upset Toluca 1-0 Tuesday, knocking one of the pre-tournament favorites out of the competition.

"They're a very good counter-attacking team with lots of speed," Bradley said. "For us, we need to be quicker through the center of the field. I don't think we were as sharp with the ball against Joe Public (in a 2-0 Tuesday win) as we'd like to be.

"Other than that, we're not going to change too much."

Rongen believes D.C. United will play improved soccer tonight as well.

"I think there's always a case of nerves when you play the first game of a tournament, especially one like this that's single elimination," Rongen said. "We had to make some adjustments but I think we can build on what we did."

Jaime Moreno, who scored United's goal in the 68th minute to help the MLS team advance, said it's just a matter of maintaining concentration.

"It's easy to get frustrated when things don't go your way," he said. "But you have to fight the temptation. The important thing is to keep trying and keep working.

"I thought we did a good job of that. For us to win when we didn't play our best is an encouraging sign."

The sparse crowds in the two nights of quarterfinal play have been mostly supportive of the other six teams. Perhaps the MLS sides can convert a few of the fans to root for them if they can stay alive.