Will Clavijo, Quinn Become MLS Coaches?
Major League Soccer has three coaching vacancies and if Alan Rothenberg, the league’s chairman and founder, has anything it say about it--and he does--the positions will be filled by Americans.
Oddly enough, all three openings were created by the departure of European coaches--Portugal’s Carlos Queiroz from the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, Ireland’s Frank Stapleton from the New England Revolution and England’s Bobby Houghton from the Colorado Rapids.
Rothenberg said the clubs probably won’t need to be pushed to select American replacements.
“I think they see the results this year and I bet they figure it out for themselves what works,” he said.
“There’s a mixture here that’s got to be dealt with uniquely. You’ve got a lot of college-educated kids, a lot of very ambitious Latins, a salary cap. A guy just getting transplanted from Europe, particularly, has a very difficult time because the system is just totally different.”
Among the candidates being considered are two former U.S. national team players: 1994 World Cup defender Fernando Clavijo and midfielder Brian Quinn.
Both would be excellent choices.
Another name that has surfaced, most notably in connection with the MetroStars’ position, is Italian national team Coach Arrigo Sacchi.
Sacchi led Italy to second place behind Brazil in the ’94 World Cup but has since fallen into disfavor and is likely to be replaced by the end of the year.
He would give MLS instant credibility but three questions surface:
--How could New York/New Jersey, even with billionaire John Kluge as owner, possibly justify matching his current $1-million-a-year salary?
--Why would Italian fans in this country be any less disenchanted with Sacchi than those in Italy?
--What would he possibly have to gain by coming to MLS?
Unlike Clavijo and Quinn, he would not be a good choice.
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China is where the San Jose Clash has gone to spend the first couple of weeks of the MLS off-season.
The Clash left Saturday on a three-game tour of the People’s Republic.
While in the Far East, Clash General Manager Peter Bridgewater and Coach Laurie Calloway will make a side trip to Japan to meet with J-League officials.
Washington D.C. United, the MLS champion, is supposed to play the winner of the J-League later this year. Details regarding the date and site have yet to be worked out.
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D.C. United completed the league and cup double Wednesday night by defeating something called the Rochester Raging Rhinos, 3-0, at RFK Stadium to win the U.S. Open Cup.
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For the first time, the United States will have a full-fledged second division in operation next season.
The merger of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) with the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues (USISL) has produced a 19-team A-League, with the possibility of it growing to a maximum of 28 teams by next spring.
The A-League currently is made up of the Atlanta Ruckus, Carolina Dynamo, Charleston Battery, Connecticut Wolves, El Paso Patriots, Hershey (an expansion team that has no nickname yet), Jacksonville Cyclones, Long Island Roughriders and Milwaukee Rampage.
Also, the Minnesota Thunder, Nashville Metros, New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers, Orlando Lions, Raleigh Flyers, Rochester Rhinos, Seattle Sounders, Toronto (expansion team, no nickname yet), Vancouver 86ers and Worcester Wildfire.
“The unification hasn’t been easy,” said Francisco Marcos, president of the USISL and commissioner of the A-League. “Many times during the past few months it seemed like the easier thing to do was to forget about it.”
Although its exact number of clubs, divisional alignments and other details have yet to be decided, teams will play a 24-game regular season.
The A-League will serve as the soccer equivalent of baseball’s triple-A, acting as a feeder league for MLS.
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Spanish-speaking fans seeking to keep up on the international game can do worse than tune in to KWKW (1330) from 5-6 p.m. daily for Futbol de Primera.
The internationally syndicated radio show, put together by Alejandro Gutman, Andres Cantor and veteran Mexican sports columnist Ignacio Matus, features interviews with players and coaches around the world, including regular appearances by Mexico’s national team Coach Bora Milutinovic and Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning Coach Carlos Salvador Bilardo.
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Carlos Valderrama, MLS’ player of the year, has been loaned by the Tampa Bay Mutiny to Deportivo Cali, the defending Colombian League champion.
“At this point in my career, it is important for me to keep my fitness level at its peak,” Valderrama, 35, said. “It is important for me to keep playing. I am still captain of the Mutiny and I look forward to returning for the 1997 season.”
Also headed overseas is Colorado Rapids’ goalkeeper Chris Woods, who has been loaned to Southampton of the English Premier League. Woods, 36, is a former national team keeper for England.
Soccer Notes
Roy Lassiter, the Tampa Bay Mutiny striker who was MLS’ leading scorer with 27 goals in 1996, has joined Genoa of the Italian second division on loan from MLS. . . . Joe Machnik was named vice president of game operations by MLS. A former coach and referee, Machnik, 53, from Connecticut, will have primary responsibility in overseeing the league’s much-criticized referee program. . . . Defender Tahj Jakins of UCLA is one of 15 players nominated for the Missouri Athletic Club’s player of the year award. Former winners include U.S. national team members John Harkes, Alexi Lalas and Claudio Reyna. . . . The Notre Dame (16-1-0) and North Carolina (15-1-0) women’s teams are ranked 1-2 in NCAA’s latest national poll. Virginia (13-0-3) and Washington (12-2-0) are 1-2 in the men’s ranking. . . . Andrey Lopes de Castro’s goal 1:16 into overtime earned Monterrey La Raza of Mexico a 6-5 overtime victory over the Houston Hotshots in front of 14,553 at The Summit and clinched the championship of the Continental Indoor Soccer League for the second year in a row.
