INCONSISTENT PRACTICE SCHEDULE HAMPERS U.S. SOCCER.

Byline: Associated Press 

U.S. coach Steve Sampson is peeved at Major League Soccer and the U.S. Soccer Federation.

With the U.S. team preparing for today's World Cup qualifying game against Canada at Stanford Sampson was angry at the lack of practice time he has had with his primary players.

``You can't have the expectation of this team playing on all cylinders when

they haven't played together in five, six months,'' Sampson said Wednesday during conference call. ``Anyone who thinks you can pull a rabbit out of a hat and pull off miracles without training is, I think, naive to the international game.

``The expectations for this team are appropriate, but only if given the time to train together and play international matches.''

The United States is 0-4-2 this year and played a scoreless tie at Jamaica on March 2 in the opening game of the final round of qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbean region. Three of the six teams will qualify for the 32-team field at the 1998 World Cup in France.

Sampson said the lack of international games stemmed from the federation's ``desire to be cooperative with MLS.''

USSF president Alan Rothenberg also is the chairman of MLS and Sunil Gulati, a key figure in the USSF, is the league's deputy commissioner.

Sampson also is angry that D.C. United of MLS used defender Eddie Pope during an exhibition tour in Hong Kong last weekend, then insisted he return to Washington for a medical exam. Pope was to rejoin the national team Wednesday.

``Why the X-ray machines in Washington are superior to those in Los Angeles I don't understand,'' Sampson said. ``They chose to play him for 60 minutes in a match that was inconsequential for D.C. United, in my opinion, and was an enormous risk to the health of Eddie Pope.''

On an uneven playing field at Jamaica, the Americans had few scoring opportunities. The U.S. team has scored just three goals this year.

In 1995, when the Americans were playing well, they employed an attractive, offensive-minded style. Lately, the U.S. team has been more defensive, prompting criticism from those wanting more open play.