Foreign Soccer a Way of Life For Senior Playmaker Kydes

Before the game last Saturday, Brown coach Clifford Stevenson said, "This will be a test between our good American high school players and your foreigners," and the individual brilliance which led to Harvard's four goals seemed to be the difference between the two teams.

But to Phil Kydes there is much more to foreign soccer than scoring unassisted goals. "We played a bad game against Brown," Kydes said. "We didn't control the center of the field, and we weren't making short passes. We beat Brown, but against a better team we might have fallen apart."

This year Kydes has been hanging back from his line position to set the other forwards. "We have so much talent on the line that we need someone in the center to take advantage of it all. Dropping back and setting up plays is what I'm best at, and during the course of the season. I've assumed the role of feeder for Papagianis, Adedeji and Thomas."

Greece and moved with his family to South Norwalk. Connecticut when he was sever At Brian McMahon High School he scored 74 goals in three seasons and set the state scoring record as a senior with 31 goals in 11 games.

Kydes best coach was his father, a former Olympic heavyweight wrestler. On weekends they would go down to the high school backboard with a couple of balls and Phil's father would drill him up the fundamental skills which most American players never bother to learn.

"There are very few players who know how to make a head-shot properly," Kydes said. "You have to get up in the air before the ball gets there, and then snap your whole body into it. Being able to stay in the air a split second longer throws the defenseman's timing off. He goes up with you, but comes down too soon."

Four of Kydes seven goals this season have come on head shots.

Juggling

Kydes feels that his success as a soccer player is primarily the result of long hours of practice. "The most important of training for soccer is juggling the ball. It's not the type of skill that you would use in a game, it's a means to an end. Instead of kicking with your entire leg, as most Americans do, you use specific parts of your foot to put spin on the ball." Kydes said.

Kydes spent hours at a time walking and then running around his backyard with the ball never touching the ground.

The result of these long hours of practice is the ability to make plays from seemingly impossible angles. A player with this type of skill is able to spin passes around defenders who seem to have him completely cut off, and even when he is moving foward he can pass a ball which is behind him to either side by hitting it with the appropriate part of his foot.

But there is much more to the foreign style of soccer than just superior skills. American-style teams depend on fast breaks for their scoring opportunities, and their players usually try to win by hustling and kicking the ball hard. Kydes feels that the key to soccer is control.

Control is Key

When I get the ball, I slow the pace down and wait for a passing opportunity to open up. This gives us time to use our superior skills. If there are several fullbacks in the penalty area, it's better to pass the ball backwards to a halfback who can throw the ball out to Adedeji or Papagianis on the wings," Kydes said.

Harvard's attack is built around-one or two basic principles. The team that controls the center of the field should win the game and this is best achieved by short passes from the fullbacks to the haltbacks. And the best way to move the ball into the offensive zone is up the wings.

This type of lateral movement spreads the defense out and enables the line to isolate one defender.

Back to Greece

At the moment soccer is Kydes greatest interest and after graduating he hopes to play professionally in Greece.

"After four years of college I've gotten sick of schoolwork, and soccer is the only thing that really excites me. Part of it is my youth, but it's also because I'm still very much attached to Greek traditions," he said.

"Greece is an underdeveloped nation, and sports are much more important over there than they are here in America. Soccer is practically a way of life in Greece and I want to try it out." Kydes said.