Columnist Steve Carp: One giant step backward for USA soccer

GREAT SATAN? You mean not-so-Great Satan. At least on the soccer pitch.

Too bad this wasn't basketball. Or even badminton. Perhaps Iran wouldn't have had a national holiday to celebrate late Sunday and into Monday.

Maybe you can pick and choose your friends, but not your enemies. And apparently, not your field of battle. And so it was in Lyon, France. A battle that had been in the works for months and the good ol' USA decides to come to a gunfight with a Swiss Army knife.

So it comes as no surprise the result -- Iran 2, U.S. 1 -- materialized the way it did.

The biggest obstacle for the Yanks going into this tournament -- an inability to score goals -- never was more apparent. Hitting each post and the crossbar doesn't count. And had two Iranian defenders not collided on the goal line, it might have been 2-0, which would only have added to the shame.

The nation will get over this. Many will say, "Heck, it was only soccer. It wasn't like they beat us in something important, like baseball. Or war."

But for those who care (and there are some of you who do), this was a huge step in the wrong direction. True, the U.S. was in tough in its group with Germany and Yugoslavia. But Iran barely qualified. And even with the emotional zeal it brought to the field, the Iranians were not the superior team.

This was a game the Americans were supposed to win and needed to win. But if you can't find the back of the net, you're not going to be victorious. And dominate as they did, Steve Sampson's team was not the best team Sunday in Lyon.

You can spin it any way you want. But with the World Cup ending for the U.S. Thursday against Yugoslavia, it's time to think long and hard about where the national team is and where it's going.

There will be some obvious turnover. Sampson, who has not done that bad a job but has struggled through this tournament, likely is to be replaced. Several of the veterans such as Roy Wegerle and Thomas Dooley, and perhaps Marcelo Balboa and Alexi Lalas, may have earned their last caps.

Those who remain are facing a real dilemma. Do they return to the States and continue to play Major League Soccer, which is basically Second Division class in the world's eyes? Or do they stay in Europe, hook up with some quality competition and hone their skills so four years from now there's no repeat of the France debacle?

Eric Wynalda seriously is considering the latter option, even though he is a member of Major League Soccer's San Jose Clash. Yes, American soccer needs him to sell tickets. But the national team needs him to score goals. He may have a better chance at producing playing at a higher level than MLS.

The Las Vegas resident had to be smarting from the benching he received Sunday. The national team's career scoring leader never made it to the field against Iran, staying put in the final minutes while Sampson inserted defensive midfielder Brian Maisonneuve.

For Waldo, it's a tough call either way. But come Friday, when our national team comes home, probably winless, it will be time to start back up the hill and move forward.

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