Mathis Injury Also Pains League
Major League Soccer finds itself in a bit of a quandary caused by the injury to U.S. national team forward Clint Mathis.
Mathis had brought the floundering New York/New Jersey MetroStars to life this season, scoring a league-high seven goals before he suffered a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while training with the U.S. squad in early June.
The injury coincided with a dramatic downturn in the MetroStars’ fortunes.
New York/New Jersey, which plays the Galaxy at the Rose Bowl on Saturday evening, is winless in its last five games and has scored only two goals in the process.
Coach Octavio Zambrano’s team needs help, but it is unlikely to be forthcoming any time soon.
“I think it’s unrealistic to expect that you could replace a player who has had an impact like Clint has had this year,” said Ivan Gazidis, the league’s deputy commissioner.
“Our rules on marquee players and their replacements are designed to lend some kind of relief, unlike, for example, the NFL, where a team just has to live with an injury.
“We’re still working on that, but it’s difficult because most of the U.S. players performing overseas are under contract, and the MetroStars have all three of their senior international slots occupied [by the Colombian trio of forwards Adolfo Valencia and Alex Comas and midfielder Pedro Alvarez].
“I think it’s unrealistic to think that we’ll come up with another Clint Mathis.”
Mathis had surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday and is not expected to resume training until November at the earliest.
Attendance Up
One reason for MLS to help the MetroStars is that attendance is up at Giants Stadium. Saturday’s game against the San Jose Earthquakes attracted a crowd of 23,561.
Overall, before Wednesday night’s game, the league had drawn 1,032,891 fans this season, or an average of 13,772 per game.
The latter figure is about 1,000 higher than the per-game average through the same time last season.
Spitting Image
Tampa Bay Mutiny midfielder Carlos Valderrama has long been known for his flamboyant hairdo.
He might soon be known for something far less appealing.
The MLS disciplinary committee is expected to come down hard on the Colombian playmaker after he was involved in two spitting incidents in less than a month.
On June 1, MLS fined Valderrama $1,000 and suspended him for one game after he had spat on Miami Fusion midfielder Ian Bishop after the Fusion’s 4-0 drubbing of the hapless Mutiny at Tampa.
On Saturday, in a 6-1 loss to the not-quite-as-mediocre Crew at Columbus, Valderrama was red-carded for dissent and spitting after he had been fouled by former U.S. captain John Harkes, who received only a yellow card for the foul.
“That incident is being reviewed,” Gazidis said. “Whether [the punishment] would be an increased fine or further suspension I couldn’t comment on now, but it could be either one of those.”
The Mutiny has lost seven in a row since an improbable 4-4 tie against the Galaxy on May 9. It is 2-10-1 overall and is headed nowhere unless MLS gets smart and relocates the team next season. Valderrama is 39 and is frustrated at the prospect of ending his illustrious career on such a sour note.
That does not excuse his behavior, however, and it might be better for everyone concerned if he simply retired now before things get further out of hand.
Or out of mouth.
That Toxic Glow
The MetroStars are close to reaching an agreement to build a $60-million, 25,000-seat stadium in Harrison, N.J.
There’s only one slight problem: It would be located on the site of an abandoned chemical plant.
“We’d have to do some clean-up,” Nick Sakiewicz, the team’s general manager, told Soccer America magazine, “but we’re real excited about the site.”
That’s what is known as a “glowing” review.
Quick Passes
New Zealand’s 2-0 loss to Australia in a World Cup qualifying match in Wellington, New Zealand, on Wednesday means that Galaxy midfielder Simon Elliott will not be involved in the World Cup next year unless the Kiwis can somehow conjure up a three-goal victory over Australia on Sunday in Sydney.
