Catching FIRE

Eleven years have passed since Bob Gansler plucked Eric Wynalda out of relative obscurity at San Diego State and turned him into a national soccer icon.

Well, OK, Wynalda achieved the icon thing himself. All Gansler, the 1990 U.S. World Cup coach, did was recognize the potential there. But the fact remains that Cobi Jones’ former teammate at Westlake High in Westlake Village has done very well for himself on the soccer field.

And very badly for himself off it.

In years past, Wynalda was known for his goal scoring and his outspoken confidence. A bright, friendly sort, he always was good for a quote and a magnet for controversy.

In recent years, however, he has been widely, if incorrectly, regarded as an injury-prone whiner, someone coaches believed was more likely to produce excuses than goals.

Until this season, that is.

When Chicago Fire Coach Bob Bradley took a chance and acquired the 32-year-old Wynalda in May, it marked a turning point in the player’s fortunes.

“Bob called me and we had a nice conversation over the phone and he had one question for me,” Wynalda said. “He said, ‘Do you still love to play?’ I said, ‘Yeah,’ and he said, ‘Good, because I just traded for you.’ The next day I was [in Chicago] and scored against Tampa and we went from there.”

Since Bradley took the gamble, Wynalda has become the Fire’s leading scorer, with nine goals heading into tonight’s U.S. Open Cup semifinal game against the Galaxy at Cal State Fullerton. The teams will meet again Saturday at the Rose Bowl in MLS play.

Having bounced from the San Jose Clash to the Miami Fusion to the New England Revolution and finally to the Fire, Wynalda now feels at home.

Well, sort of.

“For me, it’s been a great turn of events,” he said. “It’s a good team and a great atmosphere.”

But Wynalda just as easily could have ended up with the Galaxy, had Coach Sigi Schmid been willing to give up a first-round draft pick for him, which is all that Revolution Coach Fernando Clavijo was seeking last spring. Although furious at the time, Wynalda now understands Schmid’s reluctance to make the deal.

“[Schmid] had to build his team,” he said. “Looking at the last two years for me, they’ve been nothing to talk about; it’s just been an injury-ridden disaster. I think he was afraid to pull the trigger when it came to me because he thought I was going to show up, play a few games and then get hurt.

“Everyone knows I’m from Los Angeles and I have a home in L.A. and that [a trade to the Galaxy] would have simplified things. But I couldn’t be happier than where I am now and I’m not thinking at all about what could have been or what should have been.”

Wynalda, who earlier this year was honored as U.S. soccer’s “player of the decade” by the Spanish radio network Futbol de Primera, said he had seriously considered retiring after last season.

“It’s been a trying time for me,” he said. “Injuries have really taken their toll on me and I wasn’t able to play on the level I’m used to. Being pain-free in practice day in and day out is not something that’s been the case for me in the last year and a half.”

Wynalda’s wife, Amy, gave birth to a daughter, Brooke, in 1999 and her development has helped Wynalda put things into perspective.

“I’ve just been more of a dad than a soccer player,” he said. “I reevaluated a lot of things. I’m in a good spot in Chicago with a good coach. I feel like I have the support of my teammates, the people around me and the fans of Chicago, who are absolutely wonderful. I’m in a good place and I’m at peace with everything and it makes going to work fun and good results are happening.

“In the past, I think I’ve always had a little too much responsibility and pressure on me, on and off the field, to be too many things. I thought I could handle that type of pressure but I didn’t do a good job with it.

“Being [in Chicago] has allowed me to come to work, be a soccer player, and when that part is over I’m able to enjoy that other part of my life, which is the family. That’s the most important thing. Now that the dust has settled and I have a better balance in my life, it’s carried onto the field.”

And might continue at an even higher level.

It is almost impossible to read about Wynalda without coming across the phrase “the United States’ all-time leading scorer.” See, there it is again.

“I’m sick of reading about myself being the all-time leading goal scorer,” he said. “I don’t think that really defines who I am.”

But it’s not something that’s going to go away any time soon. He has 34 goals for the U.S. national team and there isn’t a player close to catching him. But if Wynalda doesn’t like that tag, here’s another statistic not often mentioned:

Wynalda, uniquely, has scored at least one goal for the U.S. every year since 1990--11 consecutive years.

And if Coach Bruce Arena calls him to the national team for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Costa Rica, who’s to say Wynalda won’t extend the streak to a dozen years?

“I’d be lying to say that I wasn’t thinking about it,” Wynalda admitted.

But the more mature Wynalda realizes that even something earned isn’t necessarily something given. He hasn’t played for the U.S. in 18 months.

“I don’t think I deserve anything yet,” he said. “The national team has been functioning very well on its own. I don’t think that the national team needs me to come back and play for it. I don’t think that’s the case.

“If Bruce thinks he needs someone like me to get him a goal or be a sub, then there might be an opportunity there. It certainly isn’t a situation where I’m feeling like, ‘When am I going to get my shot because I feel like I’m playing well.’ That isn’t the case.”

The loss to injury of U.S. forwards Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff and, most recently, Brian McBride, make it a less far-fetched notion, although Wynalda is nursing a calf injury.

“It would be an unbelievable opportunity, but at this point I’m not spending too much time thinking about it,” Wynalda said. “And I won’t think about it until the phone rings. We’ll have to wait and see and I just have to keep playing as hard as I can for my team.”

The Fire, that is.

“It’s a great mix of guys who are blue-collar, hard-working guys,” Wynalda said. “We’re a very honest team and very honest with each other. Every team has its problems throughout the year but Bob [Bradley] does a really good job of keeping the team tight.

“We discuss our problems and get them out of the way. Nothing lingers and nothing is left to speculation. We’re just able to stick together and be a good team. Being a part of that kind of team is neat for me because I haven’t seen that in the past.”

But past is past and for Wynalda, the future once again beckons.