Former Bruin Goalie Probable U.S. Starter
Brad Friedel’s soccer career has taken him to some unlikely places. Now, it’s bringing him home.
The former UCLA goalkeeper was selected Thursday as the probable starter for the U.S. in its World Cup 2002 qualifying match against Mexico on Feb. 28.
Friedel, 29, was one of three goalkeepers chosen by Coach Bruce Arena to a 24-player squad for the U.S. team’s first of 10 games this year on the road to Japan/South Korea.
The other two goalies named were Tony Meola of the Kansas City Wizards and Zach Thornton of the Chicago Fire.
On the surface, the absence of Kasey Keller from the squad would seem to be a surprising omission. Keller, 31, has been the first choice in the U.S. nets for several years, with Friedel second and Meola third.
Keller, in fact, started four of the U.S. team’s six games in last year’s World Cup preliminary qualifying round, skipping only the two games against weakling Barbados.
But two factors came into play that caused Arena to take what might be seen by some as a calculated gamble.
First, the match is being played in Columbus, Ohio. Friedel grew up in Bay Village, Ohio, and played for Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew. He knows the territory and, more important, he knows what the weather in Ohio is like at the end of February.
Second, Friedel has been in top form recently. Since his November move from the bench at Liverpool to a starting spot for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League, Friedel has earned seven shutouts in 13 matches.
In addition, he has been playing through the winter in England, facing conditions much closer to those in Columbus than Keller has experienced at Rayo Vallecano in Spain.
Keller remains the No. 1 U.S. goalkeeper, however, a point emphasized by Arena after the recent victory over China in Oakland, where Meola was the starter.
In all, Arena selected 15 MLS players and nine who are playing for clubs in Europe.
In addition to Friedel, the foreign-based players named were defenders Gregg Berhalter (Cambuur Leeuwarden, Netherlands), David Regis (Metz, France) and Tony Sanneh (Hertha Berlin, Germany); midfielders Claudio Reyna (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland) and Earnie Stewart (NAC Breda, Netherlands); and forwards Landon Donovan (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Joe-Max Moore (Everton, England) and Ante Razov (Racing de Ferrol, Spain).
Donovan is one of two 18-year-olds called into the U.S. training camp that opens today at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The other is Chicago Fire winger DaMarcus Beasley.
With Cobi Jones now a free agent, only one Galaxy player, defender Greg Vanney, was included among the two dozen. Vanney will not make the Galaxy’s three-game trip to China and Japan that starts Saturday.
The U.S. squad will train in Florida until Feb. 24, when the roster is cut to the 18 who will go to Columbus that day.
Immediately after the Feb. 28 qualifying match, the U.S. team--minus probably all of its foreign-based players--will travel to California for a March 3 game against Brazil at the Rose Bowl.
On Thursday, Brazil’s coach, Emerson Leao, named a 17-player roster for that game and another against Mexico on March 7 at Mexico City.
Although such international stars as Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos were not included, the Brazil team does feature 1994 World Cup winner Romario, one of soccer’s most colorful characters.
Emerson included seven Europe-based players on the team, but because the game is only a friendly, it remains to be seen whether those players’ clubs will agree to release them in the middle of the European season.
