Clot Sidelines McBride; Plot Thickens for U.S.
Before bemoaning what impact the loss of Brian McBride will have to the respective fortunes of the Columbus Crew and the U.S. national team, there’s something else to consider:
The well-being of the player himself.
McBride has been a marquee figure in Major League Soccer since its inception in 1996. He, more than any other player, defines the Crew.
He is also the national team’s most reliable forward, a player who can be counted on to give 100% every time out and the only American striker who is as good in the air as on the ground.
In 49 games for the U.S. since his 1993 debut, McBride has scored 14 goals.
Now, he is out for the season, with the worrying but unspoken thought that his career might be in jeopardy.
A recurrent blood clot is the cause.
Last Tuesday, the 29-year-old former St. Louis University All-American from Arlington Heights, Ill., started feeling unwell at practice and was taken to Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus for tests.
A blood clot was discovered in his upper right arm, apparently a reformation of a clot he’d had removed last September while he was playing on loan with Preston North End in the English first division.
On Wednesday, doctors performed a vascular procedure to open the vein and put McBride on blood-thinning medication.
His loss for the season is a huge blow to club and country, but as Jim Smith, the Crew’s general manager, said, “All of that takes a back seat to his health.”
World Cup Impact
McBride is the third U.S. national team forward to be lost to injury this year, after Clint Mathis and Josh Wolff. The timing couldn’t be worse for the American team, which faces two difficult World Cup qualifying games in quick succession: at home against Honduras on Sept. 1 and at Costa Rica on Sept. 5.
While wishing McBride well, U.S. Coach Bruce Arena tried to appear untroubled.
“Injuries are part of the process,” he said. “One of the strengths of our team throughout qualifying has been the tremendous depth that exists at every position on the field.”
That depth will be tested more than ever against the two Central American opponents. Costa Rica leads the six-nation group, with the U.S. second and Honduras third. Only the top three will qualify for Korea/Japan ‘02, and Mexico and Jamaica still loom as threats.
With Mathis, Wolff and McBride out, Arena’s options up front have been reduced to Ante Razov, Jovan Kirovski and Joe-Max Moore, although midfielders Cobi Jones and Earnie Stewart could be moved into the forward line.
Arena could also consider calling up youngsters such as Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley or Edson Buddle, although that is unlikely. Arena has said time and again that he prefers experienced players in such games.
With that in mind, there is nothing to stop him from reaching back into the past for a veteran who is enjoying his best season in years. Eric Wynalda is not an unthinkable option.
High-Flying Crew
The MLS championship game will be played Oct. 21 at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
There is no better reason than that for the Crew to have become the hottest team in MLS over the last two months.
Columbus turned around its season when it fired popular but ultimately unsuccessful Coach Tom Fitzgerald and put his assistant, Greg Andrulis, in charge.
Under Andrulis, the Crew has gone 9-2-4, the league’s best record over the last 15 games. Columbus is unbeaten in its last eight matches (6-0-2) going into today’s game against the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.
Poetry in Motion
Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid might have picked the Crew’s pocket last week when he handed Columbus a conditional 2002 draft pick for the rights to former UCLA forward McKinley Tennyson.
Tennyson, 21, offers something the Galaxy has lacked since the departure of Eduardo “El Tanque” Hurtado: size and power up front.
The 6-foot-2, 194-pound striker from Indianapolis has played for the U.S. under-16 and under-20 national teams and left UCLA as the Bruins’ ninth-leading all-time goal scorer. He had 40 goals and 22 assists in 73 games.
“I think he is a talented player who with good direction can make an impact on this league,” Schmid said. “It’s a move we’re making for the future and not really for this season. He’s a big and powerful forward, the same type as a Mamadou Diallo.”
Quick Passes
Word is that Kevin Payne, president and general manager of D.C. United, will leave the three-time MLS champions to join the Anschutz Entertainment Group in a position where he would oversee AEG’s four MLS teams, among them the Galaxy. That would leave Bill Peterson, current senior vice president for soccer operations, free to take charge of AEG’s European interests, which include hockey and soccer teams as well as stadium and arena projects in Berlin and London. . . . Groundbreaking on the Galaxy’s new stadium in Carson is scheduled for October, meaning the stadium will not be completed in time to host the 2002 MLS championship game, but instead will open for the 2003 MLS season. . . . Irvin Khoza, chairman of South Africa’s World Cup 2010 bid committee, was charged with possession of a suspected stolen firearm after a raid on his Soweto home by police and tax investigators, who also searched the offices of the South African league champion Orlando Pirates, which Khoza heads.
