Casey’s Olympic Hopes Fade in Germany

Conor Casey was looking forward to staying in Europe this summer.

Already playing in Germany, with Karlsruher of the Bundesliga’s second division, the former University of Portland player from Gilpin, Colo., hoped to make the short hop to Greece in August to compete in his second Olympic Games for the United States.

Karlsruher, however, had other ideas.

Instead of allowing Casey to stay with the U.S. team, which was training at the Home Depot Center for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament that begins Monday in Guadalajara, the club yanked him back to Germany once the Bundesliga’s winter break ended.

Under FIFA’s perplexing rules, there was nothing U.S. under-23 national team Coach Glen “Mooch” Myernick could do about it.

“It was an on-going battle,” Myernick said. “None of the teams in Europe want to release players. Countries view the Olympics in different lights. Some nations put a great deal of stock into it and for others, basically, it’s all about their domestic league.

“Conor is the leading goal scorer at Karlsruher, a team with aspirations of eventually getting back into the Bundesliga’s first division. I knew that they would be reluctant to let him go.”

So Casey was absent when the American team traveled to Mexico, and when the Columbus Crew’s Edson Buddle subsequently was sidelined because of tendinitis that limited his mobility, it meant that the U.S. had lost two of its six forwards -- one third of its strike force.

That might not matter in the first two matches -- against Panama on Tuesday and Canada on Thursday -- but the next game is against Honduras on Saturday and will determine if the U.S. finishes in the top two in its group and advances.

And the game after that is the semifinal, which will determine the North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region’s two representatives in Athens. The U.S. opponent probably will be either Costa Rica or Mexico.

Buddle’s unavailability is unavoidable. Casey’s loss is more controversial.

“If Conor had been available, he would be here, but that was not the case,” Myernick said Friday from Guadalajara.

That leaves the U.S. with four frontrunners: the Major League Soccer trio of Landon Donovan of the San Jose Earthquakes, Alecko Eskandarian of D.C. United and Ed Johnson of the Dallas Burn, as well as David Testo of the A-League’s Richmond Kickers.

Casey is 6 feet 2 and Buddle is 6 feet 1. They gave the U.S. some power up top. By contrast, Donovan and Eskandarian, the likely starters, are both 5-9. It’s not much of a difference but it does rob the U.S. of some aerial options.

Johnson is 6-1, but he is only 20 and earned his spot on the team through an excellent performance in the FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates in December, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer.

Testo is 5-10, but coming from the A-League means his experience at this level is limited.

In other words, Casey’s absence could be keenly felt. With six goals in 15 games for Karlsruher this season leading into this weekend’s resumption of Bundesliga play, he has had a significant impact.

Even Germany’s 1990 World Cup winner and 1996 European champion Juergen Klinsmann, now living in Newport Beach, has been impressed.

“Oh, I think it’s absolutely an accomplishment in any European league if you can kind of prove your quality there and you break into the first 11,” he said. “It takes a lot of character. It takes a lot of focus and ambition. He did that now over quite a long period of time and that’s worth a lot.

“It’s a very traditional team, Karlsruher. They’ve had a couple of ups and downs, but most of their time was spent in the first Bundesliga, and that’s where they want to go back.

“They have a tremendous amount of supporters and the whole region is behind their club. It’s a good environment. It’s a great learning experience.

“It doesn’t matter where you play as a foreigner, it’s always tougher because you have to deal with the environment, you have to deal with the language. It’s a lot of work on and off the field. So I think he [Casey] can be proud of what he has achieved so far.”

Asked while training at the Home Depot Center if he was looking forward to another Olympics after having helped the U.S. reach the semifinals at the Sydney 2000 Games, Casey readily agreed.

“Yes, of course,” he said. “The Olympics are the Olympics. It doesn’t matter how many times [you take part]. Also, I was 19 then and I definitely appreciated it, but maybe now that I’m older I’ll appreciate it even more.”

If the U.S. qualifies, there is still a chance that Myernick could bring Casey back into the squad for Athens, but since the coach will also have the option of adding three over-age players, the chances are not promising.

Especially if Karlsruher decides it needs Casey more than the U.S. does.