SPORTS PEOPLE- JORGE CAMPOS

  THERE WERE no goalies back then, only a gaggle of tiny, tireless strikers 
cald in neon beach garb, chasing a soccer ball across a swath of Acapulco 
sand. Out of bands was the Pacific. Amid the swirl of bycicle kicks and 
diving headers and bad Pele impersonations, defense was an accident. Never 
the less, the kid who would grow up to guard the Mexican national goal, Jorge
Campos, was aamong them, playing on that beach. This explains why the 27-year 
old Campos will be listed in this month's World Cup program uniquely parado-
xical position: GOALTENDER/FORWARD.
  Beyond Mexico's winning the World Cup, Campos, the goaltender, has but one 
goal, which is, well, one goal. At 5' 9", 150 pounds, he isn't your basic 
brawny netminder. When he was asked to join the UNAM ( Universidad Autonoma
de Mexico) club team in 1989 as a goalie but found himself third in line for 
that position, he persuaded his coach to try him at forward. Campos led the 
team that season with 14 goals. He played mostly between the posts for UNAM 
in the four subsequent years but still scored at least six goals during each 
of those seasons. Campos, who some experts beleive is at his best as a
striker, explains his dream of scoring a World Cup goal. "A forward has more 
chance to express his joy at scoring than a goalkeeper does at saving," he 
says.
  Which is why Campos won't be tethered to his own net post during World Cup
play. Coming off a 9-2-1 record with seven shutouts in World Cup qualifying,
Campos will definitely be playing goal, but he oftens roams out of his penalty
area as far as midfield when his mates have possession. "They say teams have 10 
players and a goalie, but with Campos you have 11 attackers," says Mexico's 
former national coach Cesar Luis Menotti. "Hes's a prototype of the 21st-century 
goalkeeper."
  Of course, this improvisational style has its pitfalls. In a recent match Mexico
led Bulgaria 1-0 near game's end, when Campos cavalierly played a ball in the
box with his feet and not his hands. The ball was stolen, leading to the tying goal.
The next morning's headline in a Mexican sports daily screamed: 1 GOAL FOR MEXICO,
1 BLUNDER FOR CAMPOS. "We accept the risks he takes since he's so fast and supple,"
says Mexico coach Miguel Mejia Baron.
  Campos traces his flashy approach to his boyhood days as a surfer, when the waves
taught him that risk produces the seetest rewards. Fittingly, then, his wardrobe,
also adapted from the beach, takes some fashion risks. His jerseys feature hues
of fluorescent yellow, lime green and pink. It's a testament to his celebrity
that pint-sized clones of his uniform were one of the most popular Halloween costumes
in Mexico last year. Says Campos. "If you look good, you feel good, and if you feel
good, you play good."
  Critics contend that he looks like a jockey. Or a clown. Brazilian coach Carlos
Alberto Parrerira complains that the jerseys give Campos an unfair advantage because
he blends in with the bright colors of the stadium crowd, and opponents can't quickly
identify him. His threads were even panned by his own federation, which threatened to
cornerkick Campos off the Mexico team if he didn't wear the team sponsor's jersey.
As a compromise he now wears his shirts wiyh the sponsor's label sewn on. "My clothes
make me happy," he says, "as if I'm back in my childhood, before I knew what a golie
was."