U.S. Should Have a Different Look
Clovis de Oliveira traveled to Columbus, Ohio, last week to do some homework.
The Brazilian coach of Jamaica’s national team was at Crew Stadium on Thursday night to scout the U.S., which plays Jamaica in a World Cup qualifying game at Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday.
Presumably, De Oliveira won’t find his notes of much use because the U.S team that flies to Kingston on Friday morning is unlikely to resemble the one that tied Ecuador, 0-0, in Columbus.
Coach Bruce Arena on Sunday told 23 players to report to camp at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., today, including goalkeeper Kasey Keller, defenders Jeff Agoos, David Regis and Carlos Llamosa, midfielders Earnie Stewart and Chris Armas and forward Brian McBride.
None of the seven played in the Ecuador friendly but all could start Saturday.
The match (live on Channel 7 at 11 a.m. PDT) is the first of three qualifying games in a two-week span for the American team. After Jamaica, the U.S. plays Trinidad and Tobago on June 20 at Foxboro, Mass., and Mexico at Mexico City on July 1.
Victory in two of the three games would all but mathematically secure the U.S. a place in the 2002 World Cup.
“As I’ve [said] previously, we’ve broken qualifying down into three phases, and we’re in the second phase,” Arena said.
“Stage one was to get to the final round of qualifying. Stage two obviously is to qualify for South Korea and Japan. And stage three is just to make this team better. I think we’re on track to accomplish all three.”
With each team having seven games left to play, the U.S. leads the six-nation group with a 3-0 record and nine points. Costa Rica, Mexico and Jamaica (all 1-1-1) each have four points, Honduras (0-1-2) has two and Trinidad and Tobago (0-2-1) has one.
The top three teams qualify for the World Cup.
The Mathis Impact
The loss of forwards Clint Mathis and Josh Wolff to injury and Cobi Jones to a two-game suspension is not an insurmountable problem for the U.S., as Mathis and Wolff themselves showed earlier this year when they came into the starting lineup to replace the then-injured McBride and Joe-Max Moore.
Mathis, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during training Tuesday and is out for the year, showed remarkable restraint in talking about the season-ending injury on Thursday’s ESPN broadcast.
Instead of anger and disappointment, he voiced only hope.
“I’ve been through some changes in my life where I’ve had to deal with some hard things,” he said. “Not everything works out in this world. I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason.
“I don’t ask, ‘Why does this happen to me?’ I try to take the attitude, ‘Why not me?’ and try to make the best of any situation, and things always turn out for the better.”
Mathis tore the ACL in his left knee while playing for the University of South Carolina but bounced back to become a standout in Major League Soccer, first with the Galaxy and now with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.
Up and Coming
Based on their performance against Ecuador, chances are that Irvine’s Moore and San Diego’s Jovan Kirovski will start up front against Jamaica, although McBride is close to being match-fit again and Ante Razov also was called into camp.
It is in midfield, however, that Arena has an interesting problem to solve: Who does he start?
John O’Brien, the Ajax Amsterdam and 2000 U.S. Olympic team midfielder from Playa del Rey, looks better with each game and, in fact, could prove in the long run to be a more valuable player than Claudio Reyna. He was one of the 23 Arena summoned Sunday.
Steve Cherundolo, another San Diegan, also is rapidly developing into a player who will be difficult to omit from the starting lineup. Against Ecuador, Cherundolo played in right midfield rather than his customary right back position but looked equally at ease.
Midfielders John Thorrington of Palos Verdes and Joe Enochs, a 29-year-old who left Sacramento State nine years ago to play in the lower divisions in Germany, and defender Mike Petke of the MetroStars, all held their own in their national team debuts.
Mastroeni, the Movie
The most impressive debut of all, however, belonged to midfielder Pablo Mastroeni of the Miami Fusion.
Mastroeni, born in Argentina but raised in Arizona, gained his U.S. citizenship on May 18 and, less than three weeks later, was representing his new country.
“This is like a movie unfolding for me,” he said. “All these different things have happened: the Fusion doing so well [at 9-1-1], and now earning my first cap, it’s an amazing thing.
“It just goes to show you can’t take anything for granted, because you never know when this movie is going to end. So I just go along with it and enjoy it while it lasts.”
Apparently, it will last a bit longer.
Mastroeni will be in camp this week, having been brought in as a defensive midfielder. With any luck, he soon will take the place of Richie Williams, who continues to figure into Arena’s plans without anyone knowing precisely why.
The squad called up Sunday included former Galaxy teammates Greg Vanney and Robin Fraser, the latter now with the Colorado Rapids.
Fraser played well against Ecuador, exerting a calm influence on the back line and managing to shut down Ecuador’s main scoring threat, striker Agustin Delgado.
It’s a pity he’s no longer doing the same with the Galaxy.
