Milutinovic’s Team Has Answer for All the Alarm

Before playing at the Rose Bowl on Sunday, U.S. soccer players spent a quiet night in Pasadena. For the first time in three years prior to their game against Mexico in the U.S. Cup, they were not startled out of their beds by a 3 a.m. fire alarm.

The only alarm this year was in the Mexicans’ approach to the game. Once the undisputed power in the region, Mexico had not defeated the Americans in the United States since 1974 and had defeated them only once anywhere in their last eight games before Sunday.

The man hired to reverse that distressing trend was Coach Bora Milutinovic, the Serbian citizen of the world who did little to inspire confidence last year when his team finished second to Jamaica in a semifinal qualifying round for the 1998 World Cup. Jamaica, mon!

If critics in Mexico are correct, including the Azteca television network leading the crusade against him, Milutinovic needed a convincing victory Sunday to remain coach.

Perhaps for that reason, the Mexicans played with an intensity in their 2-0 victory that in past U.S. Cups was exhibited only by the emerging Americans.

Indicating that they have now emerged, U.S. Coach Steve Sampson used Sunday’s game to experiment with players who might be useful in this year’s final round of World Cup qualifying. One he identified against Mexico was Galaxy defender Dan Calichman, who earned a start Wednesday night in the Rose Bowl against Denmark.

Ironically, the man who had as much to do with the Americans’ rise as anyone is Milutinovic, who coached them in their 1994 World Cup campaign. They lost to Mexico only once in five games during his tenure.

Placing no special importance on Sunday’s victory, Milutinovic said: “I learned in the States that every game is important. If you don’t believe me, remember Vince Lombardi.”

But his record reminds me of another football coach. As Bum Phillips once said of Don Shula, “He’ll take his’n and beat your’n, then he’ll take your’n and beat his’n.”

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Peru vs. Denmark. There’s nothing like the traditional rivalries. . . .

Observing the games was Galaxy Coach Lothar Osiander, who remains unsigned for this season. . . .

The Galaxy opens training camp Feb. 15 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Missing will be goalkeeper Jorge Campos, who is committed to his Mexican team, Atlante, until at least mid-April. . . .

Campos, who chose not to have the knee surgery recommended for him, was back in uniform last week. Unfortunately, it was only for a commercial. He continues to limp and might have to limit his time at forward. . . .

Soccer wouldn’t be a good sport for Dennis Rodman. His victims would get to kick back. . . .

Basketball junkies will be at Pauley Pavilion today for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Challenge. Or at UC Irvine’s Bren Center for the Pacifica Premier Invitational. Seven high school games will be played at each. . . .

Two of Southern California’s best prep big men, Woodbridge’s 6-foot-11 Chris Burgess and Villa Park’s 7-1 Eric Chenowith, match up at 7:55 p.m. at the Bren Center. . . .

Top preps at Pauley Pavilion include Baron Davis for Santa Monica Crossroads against Inglewood at 5 p.m., Kenny Brunner and Jason Thomas for Dominguez against Crenshaw at 6:30 p.m. and the Collins twins, Jason and Jarron, for Harvard Westlake against Fairfax at 8 p.m.

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Impressed with soccer’s system of meting out justice, I am following the example.

Red card: Of the five vacant NFL head coaching jobs that have been filled, none has gone to a minority. Of the five remaining to be filled, none is expected to go to a minority.

Yellow card: Phil Jackson, who is not obligated to defend Rodman, was irresponsible when he did, particularly when he implied the photographer faked his injury. It’s time for the Zen master to undergo sensitivity retraining.

Yellow card: As long as they have trouble defending their home court, the Lakers are title pretenders. In the loss to Detroit, the Lakers’ second straight against teams they should have beaten at the Forum, they didn’t look like a contented team.

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While wondering when the last time that USC vs. UCLA basketball excited me more than the Super Bowl, I was thinking: Pete Dalis should remove the interim from Steve Lavin’s title now, USC’s Stais Boseman and UCLA’s Charles O’Bannon are finally providing the leadership their teams need to make the tournament, there’s nothing wrong with the Lakers that UCLA’s timekeeper couldn’t cure.