June 4 (1997)

St. Louis native Mike Sorber plays at home for the first time since his college days at St. Louis U., and is called “a badly needed steadying influence” at midfield by St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Tom Timmermann as the U.S. Men’s National Team and Paraguay play to a scoreless result in an international friendly at the Soccer Park. The game is a chance for U.S. coach Steve Sampson to experiment with his team as it prepares for its next World Cup qualifying match against El Salvador on June 29. A Soccer Park sellout crowd of 7,016 sees John Harkes break in on goal in the 82nd minute and sky his 12-yard shot over the net in what was the game’s best offensive chance for the U.S. The team will go on to qualify for the World Cup with a second-place finish, one point behind Mexico, in the CONCACAF hexagonal. Sorber, described as “our MVP” in the 1994 World Cup by then-USMNT coach Bora Milutinovic, will not be chosen for the final roster for the 1998 World Cup. After retiring as a player, he will become assistant coach at St. Louis U. Sorber will be named as an assistant under Bob Bradley with the USMNT in 2007. Today, Sorber is assistant to Bradley with Toronto FC of MLS.