Galaxy’s Omar Gonzalez has opportunity to add to impressive resume
If soccer were a game of checking boxes, Omar Gonzalez would be off to a flying start. Just look at his resume:
* In 2005, play for the U.S. at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Peru. Check.
* In 2007, play for the U.S. under-20s at the Pan-American Games in Brazil. Check.
* In 2008, win an NCAA championship with Maryland and pick up first-team All-American honors along the way. Check.
* In 2009, get selected in the first round of the Major League Soccer draft by the Galaxy and go on to win the MLS rookie-of-the-year award. Check.
Now, 2010 has arrived and another significant unchecked box awaits. Tonight, the U.S. national team plays Honduras at the Home Depot Center as both teams begin preparations for the World Cup in South Africa in June.
The game (6 p.m., FSC and TeleFutura) could mark the national team debut for Gonzalez. At 21, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound defender from Dallas realizes there are half a dozen or more outstanding defenders ahead of him in the pecking order, but even a few minutes on the field tonight would be a real milestone.
South Africa 2010 is not Gonzalez’s goal, not realistically, anyway, but Brazil 2014 and the World Cups beyond that are definitely in his sights. The past few weeks in camp with the national team have opened his eyes to the possibilities and the challenges ahead.
“It’s been very exciting coming here,” he said. “The level is that much higher and every single one of these players is good. I’ve been getting a whole bunch of information from the coaches and different players.
“It’s been a big step up in my game. I can’t really tell if I’m getting better yet.”
Gonzalez has the size and presence of national team standout Oguchi Onyewu and the two could make a formidable pairing in central defense for the U.S. one day. But first Gonzalez has to meet demands that are both physical and tactical.
“It’s both,” he said. “The game speed is that much faster than MLS. It’s just tougher every single day. Mentally, you’ve got to be in it. It wears on your mind and your body. Every day you’re just tired, but you’ve just got to push through it.
“It’s been fun and a great experience for me.”
Gonzalez was the only Galaxy player to appear in every one of the team’s 30 regular-season games last year, compiling a team-high 2,672 minutes, or all but 28 minutes. He also played every minute of all four playoff games.
“It was an incredible year for me. I did everything that I wanted to accomplish,” Gonzalez said. “I started every game and got to play against two of the best teams in the world,” AC Milan and FC Barcelona.
His performances in 2009 caused U.S. Coach Bob Bradley to call him into the national team camp for tonight’sgame, if only to see if he could take the next step.
“As a young, first-year defender, he had an excellent year,” Bradley said. “He grew as the year went on and continued to improve. Sometimes, young guys at a certain point hit the wall. I thought that he sustained himself and continued pretty well.
“When you see him day in and day out, you see the potential, the starting points. You also see the need for continuing to work on all the little details -- his positioning at times, his footwork at times, his pure passing at times -- things that I know the Galaxy are speaking to him about.
“Hopefully, the things that get pointed out here,” he said, referring to the national team camp, “help him move along.”
Gonzalez might play tonight, depending on how the game develops, but he realizes that more experienced central defenders such as Jimmy Conrad, Chad Marshall and Clarence Goodson are ahead of him on the roster.
Beyond them, there are such European-based national team central defenders as Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Spector and Danny Califf. All are ahead of him in the quest to go to South Africa.
“I think it’s a longshot,” Gonzalez said of his 2010 World Cup chances, “but it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying.”
