Mission Viejo a Candidate for Soccer Training Site

U.S. Soccer Federation President Alan Rothenberg said Friday in Barcelona that a decision is imminent on the selection of a permanent training site for the U.S. national soccer team. Mission Viejo and Orlando, Fla., are the finalists.

Rothenberg said Bora Multinovich, national team coach, prefers Mission Viejo because it has 12 months of mild weather.

“It’s fabulous,” Mission Viejo Mayor Pro Tem Robert Breton said. “Soccer fever is going to spread through Mission Viejo and all over Orange County as a result of this. This will be a tremendous public relations bonanza and an economic boom for our city. It will bring international prestige to Mission Viejo.”

Another advantage of Mission Viejo, Rothenberg said, is its proximity to Los Angeles, which will play host to eight games of the 1994 World Cup.

While the USSF is based in Chicago, the national team has hopscotched around the country with no training base.

Rothenberg said that by basing the team and coaches in one place, the expense of flying the players to a common assembly point before trips would be saved. He said the training center would be financed by private or civic sources.

Breton said if Mission Viejo becomes the site, it could bring $4 million to $5 million to the city, mainly through spectators coming to watch 12 games against national teams. Those games likely would be played at Trabuco Hills High. Capistrano Valley and Mission Viejo highs and Saddleback College are other possible sites, Breton said.

“Our youth soccer leagues will be able to see world-class soccer in their own back yard and be able to attend scrimmages, games, practices and be able to enjoy camaraderie with the best soccer players in the U.S.,” Breton said. “But more importantly, (they’ll) have some local heroes that I’m sure will represent the U.S. very well in the 1994 World Cup.”

Cart reported from Barcelona and Herbert from Orange County