US. VS. IRAN NO SUPPORT; IT FEELS LIKE A ROAD MATCH FOR U.S. AT ROSE BOWL U.S. 1, IRAN 1.

Byline: Fred J. Robledo Staff Writer

PASADENA - As much as the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran downplayed the historical significance of Sunday's first meeting between the two soccer counties on U.S. soil, at the Rose Bowl, it was hard to ignore the festive and political atmosphere that surrounded the much-hyped match - especially with planes carrying banners overhead that opposed the Islamic Regime.

And the United States, as it has shown in the past, proved again that this is the only country in the world where you prepare for hostile road matches in your own country.

Reminiscent of the pro-Mexican crowds here before, a mostly pro-Iranian crowd of 50,181 was constantly singing, screaming and celebrating Iran's 1-1 draw with the United States, in the second meeting between the two countries since Iran beat the U.S. 2-1 during the 1998 World Cup in France.

U.S. striker Cobi Jones has been in plenty of ``road matches'' in Southern California before, but he was surprised by the noise level demonstrated by the Iranian fans.

``This crowd was extremely loud, one of the loudest I've ever played in front of,'' Jones said. ``It makes it difficult. You don't like to play at home and be the actual away team, but that's what we have to live with in this country.''

U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk, who urged American fans to make the trip to Pasadena earlier this week, was dissatisfied with the lack of American support.

``It was great to have the Iranian fans; without them, there wouldn't have been too many people here,'' said Hejduk. ``You would think that eventually our American fans would catch on. We could lose 10 in a row or win 10 in a row and it would be the same fans out here every time.

``I can't believe the lack of nationality that some people show. Here was a huge game between two political nations that are opposite. And in our own country there were more of them than us.

``These games are only two hours long. You would think that with all the people participating in soccer in this country, and especially in Southern California, that we would have more fans here.''

Luckily for the U.S., the Iranian fans didn't have much added incentive because the Americans dominated most of the match.

Iran countered most of the afternoon, scoring the game's first goal when Mehdi Mahdavikia took a pass from Khodadad Azizi and split U.S. defenders Marcelo Balboa and Carlos Llamosa in the seventh minute, beating U.S. keeper Brad Friedel to the far post.

After a number of missed chances, Jones sent a curling cross in the 48th minute that Chris Armas one-touched to the upper-netting to tie the match.

With the Gold Cup next month, the U.S. Cup in June and World Cup qualifying starting later this year, Jones was happy with the U.S. team's effort but disappointed with the result.

``It's a game that we would have liked to have won because I felt we handled them for the most part,'' Jones said. ``It's a good sign that we did fight back and control 80 percent of the game. That was the big difference between playing Iran today and playing them two years ago.''

The U.S. record improved to 7-4-2 since Arena took over the team at the beginning of 1999. A draw against Iran would seem to indicate a step backward, but Arena dismissed those claims.

``The world of soccer is getting smaller in terms of soccer countries, they're much closer together now,'' he said. ``The top 50 soccer-playing countries on a given day can beat each other, and Iran, I believe, is among the top 50.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Jeff Agoos (12) steals and clears a ball intended for Iran's Mehdi Mahdavikia (2). Mahdavikia scored Iran's goal in the seventh minute.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) American Chris Armas (14) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the game-tying goal.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer