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 Tuesday, April 3, 2001
With six points, the pressure is off U.S.
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
If you didn't shell out the $19.99 it cost to watch the United States take on Honduras Wednesday night, you missed three spectacular goals wedged in 90 minutes of the ugliest soccer you'll ever see. In other words, it was a typical World Cup qualifier.
|  | | U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel raises his arms after his teammate Clint Mathis scored the second goal against Honduras. |
Fortunately for Bruce Arena's half-varsity, half-jayvee squad, two of those goals, including a dipping 22-yard free kick off the foot of Clint Mathis in the 87th minute, were hammered home by the visitors in a 2-1 victory amid horrid conditions at Estadio Olimpico in San Pedro Sula.
With the victory, the Yanks now have a commanding lead in CONCACAF region qualifying with six points after two games. Costa Rica (1-0-1) follows with four points, while Mexico and Jamaica (each 1-1-0) have three and Honduras (0-1-1) has one. Trinidad and Tobago (0-2-0) has yet to earn a point. Having to start the 10-game round robin by playing arguably the other two countries favored to qualify for World Cup 2002, the U.S. has firmly sent a message that it can keep its composure on the road and win without many of its usual stalwarts. It also firmly implants them as a member of the 32-nation World Cup barring any losses at home the rest of the way.
"We can sit back a bit and relax," said Arena.
Not having starters Claudio Reyna, Joe-Max Moore, Brian McBride and Eddie Pope and young standouts Ben Olsen and Landon Donovan, Arena's lineup had a different look than the starting 11 one would have expected to see after the historic 2-0 triumph over Mexico last month. Some of his choices, such as 22-year-old neophyte Steve Cherundolo at right back, made strong cases to be included on the side that faces Costa Rica at Arrowhead Stadium on April 25, while others, such as striker Ante Razov, saw their stock plummet.
The following is a position-by-position look at what cards lie on Bruce Arena's table for the next World Cup qualifier (April 25 vs. Costa Rica) based on Wednesday night's showing.
Defense:
Using a backline of Cherundolo, Carlos Llamosa, Jeff Agoos and David Regis, Arena relied on a corps that had never played together. Quite a risky option considering that Honduras lives and dies behind snipers Carlos Pavón and Milton Nuñez. But his options were limited with Pope nursing a sore toe. In Pope's absence in the central defense, Llamosa was spectacular in bottling up Honduras' weapons. He once again proved that he belongs in the starting 11. The question is where. Once Pope returns, Arena will have a difficult choice as to whether he pairs him with Llamosa in the central defense in place of Agoos, or insert him as his definitive starting right back.
That's where Cherundolo comes in. Though the Hannover 96 standout had a few bad touches in the first half, he was up to the task of shadowing the dangerous Pavón all night. Several times, Cherundolo was forced to handle the ball inside the 18, and time and time again he came through, showing the composure of a World Cup veteran. His play was intriguing enough to deserve another shot, whether it's at right back or in the midfield where he often roams on his club side.
Regis turned in another solid, yet curious performance as the left back. Playing in a unique role where he was counted on to fill-in the gaps up the left flank since Arena pinched left midfielder Earnie Stewart to the middle all night, he was a workhorse. His defensive skills were there, but the balls he sent up field lacked consistency and direction. If he is to be used in such a role, getting those lefty crosses and through balls to the on-running strikers up front is a must.
Midfield:
Looking to force Honduras to the flanks, Arena employed a formation that basically consisted of two defensive central midfielders with Stewart and Chris Armas with Tony Sanneh on the right and Mathis in the playmaking role of offensive center midfielder. Though the left side of the field was open throughout the night, the stubborn Honduras squad repeatedly tried to attack through the middle.
What stood out mostly was Sanneh's play on the right, as he frequently covered back on defense to aid Cherundolo and stymied the Honduras offense on most of their attacks down the left flank. With the emergence of Cherundolo, Sanneh may very well continue to aid the U.S. in the midfield rather than at right back -- a position in which he never seemed completely comfortable.
Besides his exceptional man-marking and covering for Armas throughout the game, Stewart's biggest contribution came on his 35-yard blast in the 33rd minute that deflected off the back of José Clavasquín and found its way into the upper left corner of the goal past Noél Valladáres. It gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead, and seemed to settle down what had been a frenzied squad. Whether it is on the right or left, Stewart is a lock in the U.S. lineup, as is Armas, who played his most offensive-minded game Wednesday night but wasn't his usual unbeatable self on defense.
|  | | Clint Mathis, right, shouts to Honduras player Samuel Caballero after scoring the second goal at Olimpic Stadium. |
Mathis certainly didn't play the type of game that would force Arena to move Reyna to another position when he returns from a nagging groin injury. Before his heroics at the end of the game, the volatile midfielder was often careless with the ball and didn't cover his normal ground after taking a hard lick in the early going. However, he did show once again that he's one of the most dangerous players on the squad inside the 30 with a booming shot in the 54th minute that was nearly a goal. His talents might be best utilized as a second-half substitute to change the look of the offense, as he did against Mexico in the team's first qualifier.
Cobi Jones came on for the last 20 minutes of the game as a front-runner. Though he didn't have much of an effect on the match, his red card on a retaliation foul in the final moments of the game will cause him to miss the Costa Rica match. If Eddie Lewis, Cherundolo or Sanneh shines as the left midfielder in Kansas City, Jones may have a hard time aiding the U.S. in any other manner than as a second-half sub.
Forward:
Neither Josh Wolff nor Razov could get anything going all night. Wolff, coming off two incredible games against Mexico and Brazil, looked slower than usual and not sharp with the ball. Even with open space, the Chicago Fire star was tentative and made several poor decisions. Don't read anything into his assist in the box score, as it came on a routine pass to Stewart around midfield that was magically turned into a goal moments later.
Razov was worse. Not only did he fail to win most every 50-50 ball that was sent up front, he failed to generate any kind of offense. A vicious slide tackle in the 64th minute earned him a yellow card, but should have sent him packing for the night and the next match due to its unsportsmanlike nature. Unless the U.S. is presented with limited options due to injuries again, it is unlikely that we'll see Razov in the starting lineup.
Perhaps the best development for the striking contingent is the allocation of the 19-year-old Donovan to the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS. Playing matches twice a week in a more competitive league (the quality of play in MLS is actually stronger than what Donovan faced in matches for Bayer Leverkusen's reserve squad) should give Arena ample reason to play him alongside Brian McBride down the line in the starting 11.
Goalkeeper:
Brad Friedel let in one goal, but it was a strike that would have found the back of the net against most any keeper that has ever graced the soccer field. It was a 32-yard knuckle ball from Julio Cesar de León that perfectly dipped at the proper time to stitch the upper right corner of the goal in the 59th minute. He had a couple of huge saves inside the 18 and was there every time the U.S. needed him.
However, he was a tad hesitant on a few high balls in the box that resulted in a U.S. defender heading it over the byline for a corner or a last-second clearance. That's an area Kasey Keller, on the bench for this one, excels at. The fight for the team's No. 1 keeper will certainly be as open as ever, and the starter against Costa Rica may very well be decided on how each player performs with their club team in Europe over the next month.
Of course, either way, the U.S. is in good hands.
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online.
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