Crestfallen star

Friday, June 23, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

Former U.S. national soccer team defender and Hall of Famer Paul Caligiuri raced into the ESPN Zone in New York-New York early Thursday like a kid on Christmas morning zipping to his tree.

He was the second person in as a steel door was raised at 7 a.m., and he bounded into a leather booth with a prime view of the U.S.-Ghana World Cup game on a 12-foot-wide big screen.

Caligiuri smiled as he ordered a breakfast burrito. Gloom arrived before the burrito when Ghana scored.

"Put Caligiuri in!" yelled his friend, Ian.

"He's old school!" yelled back someone, not knowing who occupied the booth in the front row.

"He is old school," whispered the 42-year-old Caligiuri a moment later.

Had the U.S. won and Italy defeated the Czech Republic, the Americans would have advanced to the second round. The Italians beat the Czechs, 2-0, but the U.S. was flat, again, in a 2-1 loss.

Upon leaving the restaurant, Caligiuri stared incredulously at a plasma screen. Brian McBride was being interviewed, but the sound was off. Chelsea, a waitress not to be confused with a Premiership squad in England, consoled Caligiuri.

"Cheer up," she said to him. "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how hard you play. Look at the positives."

She had no idea that Caligiuri (pronounced cal-a-JURY) scored what is widely considered to be the most important goal in U.S. history, a 35-yard looper in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1989. That qualified the Americans for Italy in 1990, their first World Cup appearance since 1950.

Caligiuri played 110 games for his country, and he spent six seasons in Germany before coming home to Major League Soccer. He now coaches Division II Cal Poly Pomona.

"Who do you like now?" he asked Chelsea.

"Someone from our division," she said.

He mustered a smile. In the middle of the casino, he expressed disappointment about another World Cup gone awry for the U.S. It left the tournament 0-2-1, only tying the Italians when they tallied an own goal.

"There was a lot of emphasis on this World Cup, a lot of investment - in time and money - into this team and the programs," Caligiuri said. "And we clearly came up short. Now, we face a transition.

"Clearly, there are some players who we'll have to say goodbye to. There will be a lot of rebuilding. The emphasis should be on the Olympic team, and the Under-23 and Under-20 national teams."

Caligiuri expected much more out of the red, white and blue. The team lacked balance, chemistry, continuity and structure, he said, and it had no style.

Argentina, England and Holland have juggled their lineups in Germany, but they didn't change their basic systems. All three advanced to the second round.

"The U.S. had no style of play. That's what's really lacking," Caligiuri said. "I'm not saying, 'This is the magic recipe.' I'm just saying there must be a way to see some sort of chemistry or rhythm of play established."

Way too much space in the midfield, he said, because of a loose transition game and even looser marking, provided foes with too much time to think and too much land to create.

"Every (opponent's) midfielders ran circles around our midfielders, because the gap between the forwards and defenders was too big in the midfield," he said. "And we didn't have the personnel to shut them down."

What might be worse, a national program that prides itself on its physical condition was exposed.

"I don't know if it was the heat, or whatever, but we looked sluggish in all three games," Caligiuri said. "Fitness is normally our key to success. Look at 2002; we were quicker, faster and had more endurance.

"This time, we were slow in the first game. It was astonishing to see how we came out so flat (against the Czech Republic). We'll find out more, in interviews from staff and others, after the World Cup."

Caligiuri didn't specifically say that U.S. coach Bruce Arena should be replaced, but the U.S. Soccer Federation must explore how to improve every aspect of the national team.

"If that means finding a coach, or coaching staff, that can take us to the next level, then that's what must be done," he said. "Maybe we should look internationally. I don't really see a lot of (capable) young American coaches in the pipeline."

Juergen Klinsmann, the legendary German player who coaches his national team, lives in Southern California and has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the U.S. post after this World Cup.

"You'd have a guy who played at the highest level," Caligiuri said. "He's a world legend. He's young and ambitious, and he's willing to take risks. If U.S. soccer could land somebody like that, it's ideal."

With that, Paul Caligiuri left New York-New York at a much slower pace than he had entered.