clarinews@clarinet.com (JEFF SHAIN, UPI Sports Writer) (02/04/90)
MIAMI (UPI) -- Hugo Perez believes that if the United States is to make any progress as it prepares for this summer's World Cup, its players must stop being satisfied with simply reaching the final field. Perez, a standout at striker and perhaps the most talented player on the U.S. team, was distraught with his team's effort in Friday night's 2-0 loss to Costa Rica in the opening round of the Marlboro Cup of Miami. ``We've got to play more as a team,'' Perez said. ``We're losing our heads. We think that just because we've qualified, it'll be easy. We've got to play harder.'' The U.S. was a team in disarray Friday night, repeatedly turning the ball over in midfield and falling prey to Costa Rican efforts to isolate one player away from the play for a breakaway. Those tactics worked to perfection on Costa Rica's second goal, in which Carlos Garro attracted four defenders to the right side of the penalty area, then sent a long pass to Enrique Diaz, who outran defender Paul Krumpe to the ball and scored with a shot over the head of goalkeeper Tony Meola. The U.S. also allowed Costa Rica to take target practice at Meola in the late stages of the first half, forcing him to make six saves by halftime. Defender Brian Bliss gave the ball away himself four times in a five-minute span during that time. Perez said it appeared his teammates had become complacent since becoming the final team to qualify for the World Cup with a 1-0 victory Nov. 19 at Trinidad & Tobago. ``We think we're superstars now,'' Perez said. ``We really haven't done anything. We've got to keep our heads. We've done nothing by the world's standards.'' Coach Bob Gansler admitted his team wasn't as fit as he would have liked, saying that after beating Trinidad & Tobago he told his players to ``do little or nothing at all -- and they took me at my word.'' Perez said it's that attitude that will mean a quick and ugly exit from the World Cup field in June. ``We've got to keep our feet on the ground. Now starts the tough part. If we can change our mental attitude, we can do better,'' Perez said. ``None of us has done anything to become a superstar. We're just qualifiers from CONCACAF.'' Perez' feelings weren't shared by his teammates, who noted that the talented striker had not been practiced with the team until Monday because of a commitment to his professional team, Red Star 93 in France. ``We've talked about it on a number of occasions when Hugo hasn't been around,'' Meola said. ``We know we haven't accomplished anything yet. We have a goal to get past the first round. We've got a way to go, and we need to start improving.'' Sweeper Mike Windischmann said the U.S. simply ``came out flat,'' adding that judgements shouldn't be made after one game. ``We played Schalke of West Germany in a scrimmage game earlier this week and beat them 1-0,'' Windischmann said. ``It's not that we didn't come prepared, we just didn't play as a team.'' However, all those concerned agreed the U.S needs a victory over Colombia in Sunday's consolation match to stifle further criticism. ``We realize exactly what we've got to do. We've got to feel like we can win whenever we go out there,'' Meola said. ``(Against Costa Rica) we didn't play with a lot of intensity. We're going to correct that. Coach Gansler said we've got to go out Sunday and play like it's the championship game.''