Defense Means Everything as the U.S. Bid Continues
If Bruce Arena is to be praised for anything as the U.S. national soccer coach, it’s that he has built the team into a formidable defensive power, at least in this region of the world.
Entering tonight’s World Cup qualifying game against Trinidad and Tobago at Foxboro, Mass. (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m. PDT), the Americans have earned shutouts in seven of their last eight qualifiers.
“We’ve built our team from the back forward, so you can say that the nucleus of our team is in the back, our goalkeepers and defenders,” Arena said recently.
The accomplishments of the three goalkeepers--Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel and Tony Meola--have long been recognized, but it is only in the past year that the defenders have earned their moment in the sun.
They are an unlikely cast of characters. The starting four:
* Jeff Agoos, the San Jose Earthquakes and former D.C. United player who burned his uniform after being cut right before the USA ’94 World Cup, made the France ’98 World Cup but didn’t play a minute and now is trying, at age 33, to finally get on the big stage at the Korea/Japan World Cup next summer.
* Carlos Llamosa, the Colombian-born former teammate of Agoos at D.C. United who plays for the league-leading Miami Fusion and whose main claim to fame until he became a fixture in the center of the U.S. back line is that he once worked at the World Trade Center, but fortunately was out to lunch when the building was bombed by terrorists.
* David Regis, the French-born son of a U.S. serviceman who was discovered in 1997 by then-coach Steve Sampson just in time to play in the France ’98 tournament. The FC Metz defender has been the U.S. starter at left back in meaningful games ever since.
* Steve Cherundolo, the 22-year-old youngster from San Diego who plays for Hannover 96 in Germany. He missed the Sydney Olympic Games because of injury but has since made the right back position on the national team his own in a mere five starts.
Backing up the foursome are five others who could step in without the U.S. missing a beat. They are Gregg Berhalter (Crystal Palace, England), Robin Fraser (Colorado Rapids), Eddie Pope (D.C. United), Tony Sanneh (FC Nuremberg, Germany) and the Galaxy’s Greg Vanney.
Arena talks about having “a comfort level” with all nine players, and lately it doesn’t seem to have mattered much which four he starts because various combinations have produced similarly good results.
“We’ve had different guys coming in and out, and we’ve been able to adjust very easily, even with different goalkeepers,” Agoos said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of pride in what we’ve achieved.”
Agoos had put it differently Saturday, after the U.S. had endured the heat, the crowd, the bad field and the best Jamaica could throw at it in earning a 0-0 tie in Kingston.
“We’re Americans,” he said. “The mentality is to not give up. I think you’ve seen that through the career of this team. I don’t think we give up very easily.”
Tonight’s game presents another challenge for the defense, possibly the strongest one it has yet faced in qualifying play.
Trinidad and Tobago is struggling, but it has some powerful offensive weapons, including Dwight Yorke of Manchester United and Stern John, Major League Soccer’s top goal scorer before being sold to Nottingham Forest in England.
“They’ve got some individual players who can be very lethal,” Agoos said. “We know what we have to do. We know it’s not going to be a walk in the park for us.”
Yorke is the main threat.
“I don’t know exactly what to expect from him,” Agoos said. “That’s why it’s so dangerous to play against a player like that, because he is unpredictable. The best forwards in the world are guys you can’t really pin down.
“Obviously, he has great speed, he’s good in the air and has a solid shot with both feet. We know we need to prevent service into him and get guys around him in order to deny him the ball as much as possible.”
“They [Trinidad and Tobago] have one nail in the coffin right now,” Arena said Monday. “This is their last chance [to remain in contention].”
The U.S. defense hopes to nail down the lid completely tonight.
World Cup Qualifying
* What: U.S. vs. Trinidad and Tobago.
* Where: Foxboro, Mass.
* When: Tonight, 4:30 PDT.
* TV: ESPN2.
* At stake: The U.S. seeks a victory to put itself closer to its goal of qualifying for Korea/Japan 2002 as the first round of games in CONCACAF’s regional finals ends. In its first four games, the first-place U.S. is 3-0-1 (10 points) and has given up one goal. In qualifying games against Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. is 5-0-1 all-time.
CONCACAF Standings
*--*
Country W L T GF GA Pts United States 3 0 1 5 1 10 Costa Rica 2 1 1 7 4 7 Honduras 1 1 2 8 7 5 Jamaica 1 1 2 2 5 5 Mexico 1 2 1 6 5 4 Trinidad 0 3 1 3 9 1
*--*
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
At Foxboro, Mass.
Tr. and Tobago vs. U.S., 4:30 p.m.
At San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Mexico vs. Honduras, 4:30 p.m.
At San Jose, Costa Rica
Jamaica vs. Costa Rica, 5 p.m.
NOTE: Top three teams qualify
