Olympic Soccer Thrills Harvard Stadium Fans

Almost nothing could take away from the success of the first round of Olympic soccer held at Harvard Stadium last week, although from the way ABC covered it, the American public could well be unaware that the Olympic torch ever graced campus turf.

There were more people--132,938 to be exact--than had ever seen six games of soccer played in New England. There was a superb caliber of play--the best ever in Olympic competition and nearly World Cup level, according to one informed soccer expert.

And even for those unschooled in the mores of the sport, there was much to be excited about, including potential gold medalist France's 2-1 thriller over Norway, and Canada's rugged 3-1 victory over Cameroon Friday night to make it through to the quarter finals on the West Coast.

But for those who were unlucky enough to miss out, the most they saw of the Olympic competition--both here and on the West Coast--was a two-minute spot early last week, a fact which irritated Olympic officials here no end.

One official, Peter Vellappan, a Malaysian member of FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, used a press conference after the last game Friday to launch a broadside at ABC Sports for its soccer coverage--or lack thereof--a weird trend given that soccer on the West Coast has been pulling in crowds of 70 and 80,000.

"I don't know what can be done to see that soccer receives as much publicity as the rest of the games," he said. "Soccer is not a loser, and the spectators have shown it is a winner. Television must play a positive role in the development of the game."

Very Cool

Another knowledgeable soccer commentator, Seamus P. Malin, said that ABC has in general been "tremendously cool" towards soccer all along--especially in light of the poor showing it got out of a television package it signed with the North American Soccer League (NASL.).

"They seem to have a compunction to ask consistently if the sport is making it," added Malin. Malin, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard, provided play-by-play commentary for the videotape that ABC kept of the soccer competition at Harvard. He is also the color commentator for television coverage of the New York Cosmos of the NASL.

An ABC spokesman said that decisions as to what sports will be covered are made by the day's producer based on his judgement as to where viewer interest lies. Thomas G. Osenton added that it is still impossible to say whether the semifinals and finals of ther competition in California will be seen on American television.

But even if the rest of the America did not share the excitement, the thousands who packed Harvard Stadium last week were treated to some sterling performances--especially on the part of France, now in the semifinals. Norway, and Canada.

Harvard's soccer coach, Jape Shattuck, who worked with the Olympic soccer officials, said that the crowd at the games "saw a pretty fair representation of the best soccer being played in the world."

Referring to a team like France, which has several First Division professionals, Shattuck said. "You get to see a group of people that really don't have any outstanding weakness... The reason they lose is that another team has an outstanding strength."

Slug Fest

In a tough, slug-it-out match Friday night. Canada bested by a 3-1 margin the only team that can safely be called a real disappointment during the preliminaries here.

Before another sell-out crowd of 27,000, Cameroon, the reigning winners of the African Nations Cup, came out eschewing its normal precision offensive play, apparently preferring to wait back and play for a tie, which, as the standings of their division were shaping up, would have earned them a plane ticket to California.

But Canada, sporting several players from the NASL, went ahead by one in the first half, when Dale Mitchell scored on a penalty kick after he was tackled hard in the goalie's box.

And then, when Cameroon made a comeback attempt, they were burned when the officials appeared to miss an offsides call and let stand a breakaway by Canadian Igor Vrbalic 28 minutes into the second half.

Soon after, Cameroon's star, Theophile Abega Mbida, known as "The Doctor," was bounced from the game for arguing with the umpire. Down one man, Cameroon seemed to finally find its form, attacking the Canadian goal mouth with 15 shots.

One found its way through--on forward Louis Paul Mfede's sizzling leftie boot into the corner of the goal mouth from 20 yards--but it was not enough, as the Canadians were to score again to provide the final two-goal margin.

Racism Charge

After the game, Cameroon team members were burning with rage over the officiating, and suggested that racism may lie at the root of the calls against them.

Referring to the play which caused the Canadian's first goal, one of Cameroon's coaches, Jean Michele Njele-Zek, said, "My players continued to play correctly up to the point of the penalty, which I thought was correct. But when the penalty happened to us, the referee closed his eyes."

Discussing the outcome in the courtyard of Quincy House--the players' home for the week--the Cameroon players were even more bitter.

"The result of the game was an extension of the world's political and economic situation and the position of the Third World countries," said Eugene Ekeke. "The referee was obligated to call infractions against the Canadians after what he called against the Cameroon team." Apparently in Ekeke's eyes, he did not.