Charles Sets Sights on a Sydney Berth
When Clive Charles came to the United States from England in the 1970s to play for the Portland Timbers of the old North American Soccer League, he hardly could have imagined that a quarter-century later the game would carry him even farther around the globe.
Now, however, Australia is in his sights. Specifically, Sydney.
On April 21, the United States under-23 team, with an Englishman at its helm as coach, sets out to reach the 2000 Olympic Games. For two years, Charles, renowned for never being at a loss for a quip or one-liner, has been preparing the squad for this moment.
Now, only the 10-day, six-nation qualifying tournament in Hershey, Pa., stands in its way. Canada and Guatemala and the U.S. already are in the field. Mexico is closing in, and Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Bermuda and Cuba still are in the hunt.
Today, the other three participants will be known and the task facing the Americans will be brought into sharper focus.
No matter who its opponents are, however, the U.S. team knows that anything less than reaching the final April 30 will not be good enough. Of the six teams, only the top two advance to Sydney.
Three victories, in other words, is what it will take. A loss in the final would not spoil the celebration.
On Friday, Charles selected the 18 players he will entrust with the task of getting the U.S. into the Olympics. Twelve of them are from California, including Galaxy players Sasha Victorine, Danny Califf and Peter Vagenas.
That trio will join the rest of the team for a week-long training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday.
“If we’re good enough, we’ll make it,” Charles said. “If we don’t make it, it will be because the other teams were better.”
SIR CLIVE? NOT YET
Charles, an assistant to Steve Sampson on the 1998 U.S. World Cup team, is coach of both the men’s and women’s programs at the University of Portland, where he helped develop such players as U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller and U.S. Women’s World Cup winners and Olympic champions Tiffeny Milbrett and Shannon MacMillan.
His personality was well captured by Keller before the France ’98 World Cup.
“Clive is an individual who has an extreme amount of soccer knowledge,” Keller said. “He has played at every level, bar the full international level for England. He was an under-21 player for England, an under-23 player for England, but didn’t quite make it to the senior level.
“Obviously, he played at the top level for West Ham [United], he was one of the top players ever in the NASL and he brings a vast amount of soccer knowledge to this team.
“I think what he gives to this team is a real good calming effect. He can say, ‘This happened at this time to this player and I think everything’s going to be OK. It’s not a problem.’
“And not just that. He’s a tremendous man, both on and off the field. He’s a person every player respects but can also have a great time joking with and a tremendous amount of levity. So in other words, he’s basically God. Other than that, he’s not that big.”
QUICK PASSES
World and Olympic champion Michelle Akers, who underwent surgery in Orlando, Fla., to repair damage caused when she dislocated her right shoulder during training, is expected to rejoin the U.S. women’s national team by July 1. “When she woke up, the first thing she asked me was whether she could ride her horse,” said team physician Rob Palumbo. “I told her that would have to wait.”
U.S. referee Kevin Stott, who lives in Riverside County, is one of the officials calling games in Mexico’s Olympic qualifying group in Guadalajara. . . . The U.S. under-17 national team went 1-1-1 in an international tournament in Trinidad and Tobago, defeating the host nation, 6-1; losing to Mexico, 1-0, and tying England, 1-1.
The U.S. under-20 team that plays Argentina on Wednesday in Buenos Aires is coached by former Los Angeles Aztec midfielder Wolfgang Suhnholz. . . . The U.S. under-18 women’s team playing in the Albena Cup in Bulgaria includes Southern Californians Stacy Lindstrom of Laguna Niguel, Chardonnay Poole of Claremont and Veronica Zepeda of Riverside. . . . UCLA’s men’s soccer team will play the Galaxy reserves at 1 p.m. Monday on the North Athletic Field. Admission is free.
