China Test Is Step One for U.S.
Today, four days before the end of January, the year begins for Bruce Arena, coach of the U.S. national soccer team.
As Arena well knows, that means the clock is ticking. By the end of the year, he will have qualified the U.S. for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea or he will be looking for a new job.
The leaders of U.S. Soccer have no patience when it comes to failure. Arena’s predecessor, Steve Sampson, found that out in a hurry when the Americans’ 1998 World Cup campaign hit the wall in France.
Oddly enough, it is Sampson’s predecessor, Bora Milutinovic, who will be on the opposing bench this afternoon when the U.S. plays China in its first match of 2001.
Bora, as he is known, also knows the federation’s short fuse. He was dismissed early in 1995 even though he coached the U.S. into the second round of the 1994 World Cup.
Arena is under no illusions, therefore. If the U.S. does not finish in the top three from a qualifying group that also includes Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago, he will be knocking on Major League Soccer’s door, perhaps looking for his old job back at D.C. United.
This afternoon’s game is relatively free of pressure, assuming of course that the former and current U.S. coaches have nothing to prove to each other.
It does, however, give Arena the opportunity to check on some of his players before the final round of World Cup qualifying begins Feb. 28 against Mexico in Columbus, Ohio.
For one thing, Arena needs to see how well striker Brian McBride has recovered from a long layoff caused by a blood clot under his arm.
McBride, the Columbus Crew forward playing on loan for Preston North End in the English first division, very much wants to be a part of that Feb. 28 game. He admits, however, that he is “not all the way back yet.” Arena will have to judge if he can be back to 100% within a month.
The U.S. coach has pretty much left his European-based players alone for today’s game, but he has called up Landon Donovan, the teenage midfielder/forward from Redlands who had a sensational debut for the national team in October, scoring one goal and assisting on another in a 2-0 upset of Mexico at the Coliseum.
Donovan’s presence is important in light of remarks made in Scotland recently by U.S. playmaker Claudio Reyna. He said he wants to concentrate on his club career with the Glasgow Rangers and is considering retiring from the national team after the 2002 World Cup.
Donovan, who is with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, could become his successor, just as Reyna took the place of now-retired Tab Ramos as the key creative player in the U.S. midfield.
Another intriguing possibility is Pete Vagenas, one of four Galaxy players called in by Arena for the China game. If Donovan develops better as a forward than a midfielder, Vagenas might become the playmaker.
The U.S. will field a team today that has a mix of veterans--Cobi Jones, Tony Meola, Jeff Agoos--with youngsters trying to break into the national team on a permanent basis.
After this, the U.S. plays a Feb. 3 “friendly” game against Colombia in Miami. After that, it gets serious.
The U.S. has played China six times and has a 3-1-2 edge. This time, though, China has Milutinovic, the man it hopes will qualify it for the World Cup for the first time.
If Arena feels under the gun, just think what sort of pressure the hopes of a billion Chinese can produce.
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Today’s Game
* What: U.S. vs. China men’s soccer exhibition
* When: 2:30 p.m.
* Where: Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland
* TV: ESPN2, KVEA (Channel 52)
