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reprint of COLORADO RAPIDS NEWS RELEASE -- byline Ben Grossman
NEWS RELEASE
DENVER (Tuesday, May 5, 1998) - Colorado Rapids 1997 Most Valuable Player and long-time National Team star Marcelo Balboa was today named to the final 22-man roster to represent the United States this summer in the 1998 World Cup in France. Balboa, currently the USA's all-time leader in appearances with 126, will be a member of his third World Cup squad.
Balboa's 126 caps (appearances) ranks third in the world all-time. Majed Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (147) and Tampa Bay Mutiny and Sweden goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli (143) are the only players to ever have played more games for their country than Balboa.
The World Cup is the most-watched single-sport event in the world, as the cumulative world-wide audience for the 1994 World Cup held in the USA was over 32 billion people. The U.S. was no exception in '94, as the U.S.-Brazil July 4 match drew a 9.3 TV rating (8.7 million homes, 40 million viewers), while the World Cup final, which did not even feature the USA (Brazil-Italy), earned a 9.5 rating (8.9 million homes). In addition, over 3.5 million fans attended games at nine venues in the U.S.
STARRED IN 1990 AND 1994: Balboa played in every game the USA played during both the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. At the 1990 tournament in France, Balboa joined a young team that surprised the world by even qualifying for soccer's biggest event. The USA lost all three first round matches, with Balboa coming off the bench in the first match, and then starting the following two.
By 1994 Balboa was an established superstar, and played like it in leading the upstart Americans into the tournament's second round. In a shocking first-round upset of Colombia, Balboa had what was called the greatest non-goal in World Cup history, when his spectacular, acrobatic, bicycle kick sailed just wide of the net, nearly missing what would have been among the greatest goals ever scored in the World Cup. The Americans would lose a hard-fought 1-0 decision to eventual champions Brazil in the second round, but Balboa and the USA had established themselves as legitimate forces in the soccer world.
With his performance, in which he anchored the USA defense, Balboa was named U.S. Soccer's Male Athlete of the Year for 1994.
SATURDAY IS BALBOA'S FAREWELL: Marcelo Balboa will play his last match with the Rapids before leaving to join the World Cup squad when the Rapids host the San Jose Clash on Saturday, May 9, at 7:00 p.m. at Mile High Stadium. Balboa will join the U.S. team in San Diego on Monday, and will not return to the Rapids until the conclusion of the USA's participation in the tournament.
HELPED THE USA GET TO FRANCE: Balboa was an integral part of the USA advancing through the qualifying round to reach the tournament this summer. Balboa started seven games in the qualifying stages, and the USA did not lose a single game he played in (3-0-4). Balboa, playing at a central defensive position, recorded one assist over the seven games.
BALBOA AND USA FACE TOUGH TEST: The World Cup is played every four years, and this year's tournament features 32 teams from around the world, broken into eight four-team divisions. The first-round is a round-robin format, with the top two teams in each division advancing to the round of sixteen, at which point the tournament becomes a one-off, knock-out competition.
The USA has draw a very tough group for the first round, beginning with a June 15 match-up against perennial soccer power and 1990 World Cup champions, Germany. Next up is a game on June 21 against Iran in what should be a heated affair. The USA closes out the first round with a June 25 tilt against a very technically-advanced Yugoslavia.
YEAR STARTS APPEARANCES MIN G A 1988 8 9 765 0 0 1989 4 4 360 0 0 1990 10 15 1040 1 0 1991 16 16 1440 2 1 1992 21 21 1879 3 1 1993 9 10 707 0 0 1994 22 24 1833 4 0 1995 6 6 466 1 0 1996 8 8 720 1 1 1997 10 10 900 0 1 1998 3 3 249 1 0 TOTAL 117 126 10,359 13 4
YEAR STARTS APPEARANCES G A 1996 16 18 7 2 1997 28 28 2 2 1998 7 7 1 1 TOTAL 51 53 10 5