Razov to Join Goal-Hungry U.S.
With Ireland, Mexico and South Africa about to send their fittest and finest to these shores for the U.S. Open Cup, this is as good a time as any to take a look beyond MLS to see what’s happening abroad.
First, though, a look at the team U.S. Coach Bruce Arena has assembled for the June 3-11 tournament, to be played in Washington, Dallas, Chicago, Foxboro, Mass., and East Rutherford, N.J.
It includes no surprises and no newcomers, but one interesting recall: Ante Razov, the former UCLA forward who is Major League Soccer’s co-leader in goals scored this season with eight goals in 10 games for the Chicago Fire.
Razov’s inclusion is one more attempt by Arena to find a player who can put the ball in the net with a degree of consistency. So far, none has been forthcoming. The U.S. team created all sorts of scoring chances in a 2-0 loss to Russia in Moscow in its most recent game, but poor finishing (and some top-class goalkeeping) thwarted it.
The four-nation event also may help Arena look ahead to World Cup 2002 qualifying play in July.
“This is the most complete team we’ve had since I’ve been coach,” Arena said. “These games [are] our last chance to assess the quality of the team before qualifying begins, so this is a very important tournament for us.”
Arena’s squad of 22, announced Thursday, is evenly split between MLS players and those with European teams. The squad:
Goalkeepers: Brad Friedel (Liverpool, England), Kasey Keller (Rayo Vallecano, Spain).
Defenders: Jeff Agoos (D.C. United), Gregg Berhalter (Cambuur Leeuwarden, Netherlands), Robin Fraser (Galaxy), Carlos Llamosa (D.C. United), David Regis (Metz, France), Greg Vanney (Galaxy).
Midfielders: Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), Frankie Hejduk (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Cobi Jones (Galaxy), Eddie Lewis (Fullham, England), John O’Brien (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands), Ben Olsen (D.C. United), Steve Ralston (Tampa Bay Mutiny), Claudio Reyna (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Tony Sanneh (Hertha Berlin, Germany).
Forwards: Razov (Chicago Fire), Jovan Kirovski (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Jason Kreis (Dallas Burn), Brian McBride (Columbus Crew), Ernie Stewart (NAC Breda, Netherlands).
If Agoos plays in any of the games, he would become the fifth U.S. male player after Marcelo Balboa, Cobi Jones, Paul Caligiuri and Eric Wynalda--and the first non-Californian--to appear in 100 games for the national team. Jones, meanwhile, needs two games to surpass Balboa as the country’s all-time appearance leader. Jones currently has 126 international caps.
The United States plays South Africa at RFK Stadium on June 3, Ireland at Foxboro Stadium on June 6 and Mexico at Giants Stadium on June 11.
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SOCCER HISTORY I
A little bit of magic was created Friday when Deportivo Coruna clinched the first Spanish championship in its 94-year history. The club from the northern seaport beat Espanyol, 2-0, in its final game of the season to become the first team from outside Barcelona or Madrid to win the title in 17 years. Barcelona finished second.
No Americans play for Deportivo, but Keller’s Rayo Vallecano also won its final match to clinch ninth place in the league, a tremendous achievement for a team in its first season in the top flight.
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SOCCER HISTORY II
Things were a lot less magical for Bayer Leverkusen Saturday. The Bundesliga team needed only to tie its final game of the season to clinch the first German championship in its 96-year history, but it lost, 2-0, to SpVgg Unterhaching. Bayern Munich won its final game and stole the title.
Three Americans--Frankie Hejduk, Landon Donovan and John Thorrington, all from Southern California--play for Bayer Leverkusen’s reserve team.
SOCCER HISTORY III
Wembley Stadium, or as it is more correctly known, the Empire Stadium at Wembley, has been the sport’s spiritual home since the first game was played beneath its famed Twin Towers in 1923.
On Saturday, the final Football Assn. Cup final was played at the ground made famous by the 1948 Olympic Games and by England’s dramatic World Cup victory over West Germany in 1966. Chelsea defeated Aston Villa, 1-0, on a 73rd-minute goal by Roberto Di Matteo in front of 78,217. The new FA Cup holders started only one English player, captain Dennis Wise.
Wembley is being torn down in the fall to make room for a new stadium that will feature a giant arch rather than the Twin Towers that have graced the ground for 77 years.
Construction will begin on a 90,000-seat stadium after England’s World Cup 2002 qualifying match against Germany on Oct. 7.
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SOCCER HISTORY IV
Diego Maradona, the midfield maestro who led Argentina to its 1986 World Cup victory over West Germany in Mexico, has accepted an invitation to attend Lothar Matthaeus’ farewell match in Germany in Munich on Friday.
Matthaeus, now with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, was captain of the German team that lost, 3-2, to Maradona’s Argentina at Azteca Stadium in 1986. Four years later, Matthaeus led Germany to the World Cup title in Italy, beating Argentina, 1-0, in the final in Rome.
Maradona, 39, will return immediately to Cuba, where he is undergoing treatment for a heart ailment linked closely to his cocaine use.
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SOCCER HISTORY V
Domingos da Guia, the Brazilian defender better known by the nickname the “Divine Master,” has died at 87 after a stroke. Da Guia starred in the 1930s and 1940s and won championships with teams in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
