U.S. Wary of Costa Rica’s Wanchope
Plots and subplots abound in international soccer and its ever-changing cast of characters.
Tonight, when the United States plays Costa Rica in a potentially intriguing World Cup qualifying game at Arrowhead Stadium, it might be Clint Mathis or Paulo Wanchope taking center stage.
Certainly, U.S. Coach Bruce Arena has identified Wanchope as a potential danger.
And, if he has done his homework properly, Costa Rica’s Coach Alexandre Guimaraes will have realized that the unpredictable Mathis can be equally dangerous, whether in midfield or as a forward.
Mathis, the former Galaxy player controversially traded last year to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, has been the more productive player in qualifying play so far.
He set up Josh Wolff’s goal in the U.S. team’s 2-0 victory over Mexico in Columbus, Ohio, in February, and scored the game-winner on a free kick against Honduras on the road in March.
That might well make him a marked man tonight, but Mathis shrugged.
“It’ll open up an opportunity for someone else maybe,” he said Tuesday. “That’s just part of the game. I can go out there and accept the challenge. If I am a marked man or not, I still need to go out there and do my job [of] scoring goals or setting people up.”
Fouls have triggered the famous Mathis temper, but he knows that is exactly what opponents want.
“I need to keep a cool head, of course, and hopefully [the foul] will be around the box and we can get a goal off a free kick,” he said. “It happened to work out for us in the Honduras game.”
Wanchope, meanwhile, missed Costa Rica’s 2-2 tie against Honduras and was used relatively sparingly in its 3-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago, both in San Jose, Costa Rica.
But Arena believes that the striker, who plays for Manchester City in England’s Premier League, poses a large threat to U.S. hopes of staying unbeaten and atop the six-nation qualifying group.
“Physically, he’s a dominant player,” Arena said. “I don’t know his exact dimensions, but he must be 6 foot 4. He’s terrific in front of the goal. He’s got long legs and he’s able to stretch and get to balls that most forwards can’t. He’s very dominating in the air.
“He’s a real difficult player to play against. He gets in front of the goal, yet at the same time he’s a player who is dangerous getting behind your team in the counterattack. He’s got real speed.”
The U.S. (2-0, six points) and Costa Rica (1-0-1, four points) rank 1-2 in the group, from which the top three teams will qualify for Japan/South Korea 2002. Neither team desperately needs the victory, so a tie is a logical possibility.
The situation is different in tonight’s other two group games. Trinidad and Tobago (0-2, zero points) is at home against Mexico (1-1, three points) and has to win or bid adieu to World Cup hopes. Honduras (0-1-1, one point) is on the road at Jamaica (1-1, three points) and also is eager to achieve its first victory.
Much as he respects Wanchope--not to mention Hernan Medford, Rolando Fonseca and the other Costa Rican veterans--Arena realizes he has a useful weapon of his own in Mathis.
“Clint has done well,” he said. “He’s the type of player who can turn a game around with one play. He’s a dangerous attacking player, [although] he still needs to mature at this level of international soccer.
“He will not replace Claudio Reyna, but we will manage a way to get those two on the field at the same time.”
Mathis and Reyna have never played together for the national team but, with Brian McBride out because of an injury and Cobi Jones suspended for a red card picked up against Honduras, both could start tonight.
Mathis said he expected the Costa Ricans, who defeated and tied the U.S. in the previous round but who will be without injured playmaker Wilmer Lopez, to allow the Americans to do the hard work.
“They’re probably going to be happy coming out of this game with a point,” he said, “so they might tend to sit back a little more and try to counter.
“I think we should go at them. If we can get an early goal, that would be great. It would force them to come out a little bit more and maybe we’d be able to get a couple more.”
Arena, while confident, is not overconfident.
“We’re not content where we are right now,” he said. “We’re only going to be content when we’re mathematically qualified for the World Cup.”
Mathis had the last word.
“We have to win games, no matter what,” he said. “There are still eight games left. Six points isn’t going to qualify us for the World Cup. We definitely need to go out there and win games.”
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying
TONIGHT’S GAME
* Who--United States vs. Costa Rica.
* Where--Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
* When--4:30 PDT.
* TV--ESPN2 and Telemundo (Spanish).
* Series history--Costa Rica leads, 8-7-4 (including 5-3-2 in World Cup qualifying).
* At stake--First place in the six-nation qualifying group from which three teams will go to World Cup 2002 in Japan/South Korea.
Referee--Jorge Luis Larrionda (Uruguay).
*
ROSTERS
USA
* Goalkeepers: Kasey Keller, Tony Meola.
* Defenders: Jeff Agoos, Gregg Berhalter, Steve Cherundolo, Carlos Llamosa, David Regis, Tony Sanneh.
* Midfielders: Chris Armas, Eddie Lewis, Clint Mathis, Preki, Claudio Reyna, Earnie Stewart, Richie Williams.
* Forwards: Landon Donovan, Ante Razov, Josh Wolff.
COSTA RICA
* Goalkeepers: Erick Lonnis, Alvaro Mesen.
* Defenders: Robert Arias, Carlos Castro, Pablo Chinchilla, Jervis Drummond, Luis Marin, Gilberto Martinez, Reynaldo Parks, Harold Wallace.
* Midfielders: Rodrigo Cordero, Ronald Gomez, Mauricio Solis, William Sunsing.
* Forwards: Steven Bryce, Rolando Fonseca, Hernan Medford, Paulo Wanchope.
*
STANDINGS
*--*
Team Won Lost Tied GF GA Points United States 2 0 0 4 1 6 Costa Rica 1 1 0 5 2 4 Mexico 1 0 1 4 2 3 Jamaica 1 0 1 1 4 3 Honduras 0 1 1 3 4 1 Trinidad/Tobago 0 0 2 0 4 0
*--*
TONIGHT’S OTHER GAMES
* Honduras vs. Jamaica at Kingston
* Mexico vs. Trinidad and Tobago at Port
of Spain
