player the Netherlands has pro-
duced, has some ideas. Kissinger
watched a Brazil-Costa Rica game
with Cruyff in Spain, where the
43-year-old former star is coach of
PC Barcelona, the highest-scoring
team in the Spanish league. Cruyff
played in Los Angeles for the
Aztecs in the 1970s in the now-de-
tunct North American Soccer
League.

He pointed out that when Costa
Rica got the ball, the now-defen-
sively inclined Brazilians would
run back to their half of the field
and take up their positions without
even looking at the man with the
ball until he crossed midfield. He
said that it takes about a minute to
get back down the field and anoth-
er minute to get into position and
start an attack. That wastes an
extraordinary amount of time
merely moving the ball around.
Cruyff preaches—and practices—
something like the full-court press
in basketball.

"You have to harry the other
team whenever it gets the ball, on
whatever side of the field," Cruyff
said. "If you get it on their side, you
are that much closer to the goal,
and you get it when the defenders
are not as well-organized."

Playing this way, Cruyff argues,
can give you the ball as much as
60% of the time.

Can anything be done to infuse
new vigor into soccer? We do not
pretend to be experts on rules, but
FIFA could change its procedures
into the first round—as we have
suggested before—to encourage
scoring and discourage ties. Addi-
tionally, it should consider substi-
tuting the number of goals scored
for the penalty shootout as the way
to settle ties after overtime. FIFA
has already said it will loosen the
off sides rule to give the attackers
more opportunities.

Finally, the coaches, owners and
other leaders of soccer can do
much to encourage habits of offen-
sive play that once made this game
so much more fluid and dramatic. It
is worth noting that of all the
teams in this World Cup, only the
West Germans consistently played
offensive soccer. And when all is
said and done, they not only scored
the most goals, they were the best
Leam and won the Cup.

-Kissinger, the former U.S. secretary of state, is the chairman of the Board of the World Cup '94 Organizing Committee. Day is senior correspondent for The Times.