Fresh Faces Rule National Team
Within 24 hours of having been hired as coach of the national team, Bruce Arena presented an outline for soccer’s future in the United States.
It arrived Wednesday in the form of a 22-player roster for next week’s game against Australia at San Jose. As promised, there were several surprises.
The old guard has largely been set aside. It has not been discarded, but no longer is regarded as essential. Some veterans will return, others will not. Only five of the 22 players who were part of former coach Steve Sampson’s France ’98 World Cup squad are included on Arena’s first roster.
They are defenders Jeff Agoos and Eddie Pope, midfielder Cobi Jones and forwards Brian McBride and Joe-Max Moore.
Jones and Moore, two of five former UCLA players on Arena’s roster, are the only holdovers from Bora Milutinovic’s 1994 U.S. World Cup squad.
Jones is one of four Galaxy players on the list, along with midfielder Clint Mathis, defender Robin Fraser and goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
Of Arena’s initial 22 players, 12 have never played for the U.S. before at full national team level. The average age is 25.3 years, compared with 28.3 for the France ’98 squad.
The players, all from MLS clubs, will arrive in the Bay Area on Saturday to begin training for the Nov. 6 game against Australia. No foreign-based players were called up for the match and few are likely to be selected in the immediate future.
“We know the veteran players and what they have to offer,” Arena said. “We respect that and understand that. They don’t need to play against Australia to demonstrate to me what they can do at the international level.”
In their place, Arena is giving the opportunity to a dozen or more young MLS players whom he believes show potential.
“If you watch MLS,” he said, “those players lack international experience but they don’t lack ability. . . .
“One mandate we will expect out of national team players is that they are among the best players in MLS, game in and game out, week in and week out.”
Two World Cup ’98 players Arena selected for the roster were not available. New England Revolution defender Mike Burns is getting married the weekend of the game and Columbus Crew midfielder Brian Maisonneuve is recovering from an injury.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
U.S. Roster
U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Australia on Nov. 6 in San Jose:
*--*
Name Pos. Club Jeff Agoos D Wash. D.C. United Paul Bravo F Colorado Rapids C.J. Brown* D Chicago Fire Mark Chung M Kansas City Wizards Leo Cullen* D Miami Fusion Robin Fraser D Galaxy Kevin Hartman* G Galaxy Cobi Jones M Galaxy David Kramer* G San Jose Clash Roy Lassiter F Wash. D.C. United Eddie Lewis* M San Jose Clash Clint Mathis* M Galaxy Brian McBride F Columbus Crew Joe-Max Moore F N.E. Revolution Ben Olsen* M/F Wash. D.C. United Mike Petke* D NY/NJ MetroStars Eddie Pope D Wash. D.C. United Steve Ralston M Tampa Bay Mutiny Ante Razov* F Chicago Fire Zach Thornton* G Chicago Fire Richie Williams* M Wash. D.C. United Josh Wolff* F Chicago Fire
*--*
*--New to the national team.
Coach: Bruce Arena.
Assistant Coach: Bob Bradley
