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 Tuesday, March 27, 2001
Arena has several decisions to make for Honduras
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
If there were three games U.S. National Team followers red-lettered when Bruce Arena's side got their tickets punched for the final stage of CONCACAF qualifying for World Cup 2002, they were the two matches with Mexico, and the road match against Honduras. When the schedule was released showing back-to-back matches with the Tri Colores and the upstarts from Central America to start the 10-game journey, it was clear that the Americans would know exactly where they stood in the six-team group before Major League Soccer kicked off its season.
|  | | U.S. forward Josh Wolff battles Mexico's Claudio Suarez during their World Cup Qualifier last month. He is a likely starter against Honduras. |
Though the U.S. is seemingly riding a wave of invincibility after its historic 2-0 dismantling of the group's unwritten top seeds last month in Columbus, an already difficult match in spirited Estadio Olympico (San Pedro Sula) on Wednesday night (8:30 p.m. ET, available on pay-per-view) can now be viewed as somewhat of a survival match. Arena will not say it on record, but it's safe to say that he'll be quite satisfied to simply follow the clichéd blueprint of "win at home, tie on the road" due to the injury rash that has struck the Yanks since they took to the pitch against Mexico.
"It's a bunch of players," said Arena while his squad was practicing in Fort Lauderdale. "We probably don't want to make it too public. Hopefully it adds up to nothing in the end. We just have a number of players that are experiencing injuries from preseason with MLS."
The list includes both Eddie Pope (sprained big toe), who was spectacular against Mexico in the central defense, and 19-year-old sensation Landon Donovan (broken rib), a likely starter before getting nicked up in U-20 qualifying in Trinidad last week. Both players were scratched from the 20-man pool upon the team's departure to Honduras on Sunday.
Against a fast-attacking side like the Hondurans, Pope's man-marking ability and international experience would have made him one of the more important players on the field for Arena. In his absence, expect Jeff Agoos to pair up with longtime D.C. United teammate Carlos Llamosa as the U.S. team's central defense. The U.S. doesn't lose much in speed, technical play or field savvy with Llamosa, but he does not provide the attack a dangerous target man on dead-ball plays or the type of clearing ability with his head on defensive corners that Pope gives them.
The loss of Donovan wouldn't have had the same effect on the starting 11, since it was a mere toss-up between him and recent glory boy Josh Wolff to start alongside Brian McBride. But now McBride will not see action as well, due to a knee injury suffered on Friday. Not having a sniper like Donovan available to start or come on in the second half as one of the team's three precious substitutes deeply disables the team's options.
Not only could he have spelled either Wolff or his probable partner, Ante Razov, up front, he also could have provided a backup at offensive center midfielder -- a position that will also not be manned by Clint Mathis with Claudio Reyna still hampered by a strained groin suffered against Mexico.
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Possible starting 11 for the U.S.:
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Forward: Ante Razov
Forward: Josh Wolff
Central midfielder: Clint Mathis
Central midfielder: Chris Armas
Left midfielder: Eddie Lewis
Right midfielder: Tony Sanneh
Left back: David Regis
Central defender: Jeff Agoos
Central defender: Carlos Llamosa
Right back: Steve Cherundolo
Keeper: Brad Friedel
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When available from the Glasgow Rangers in Scotland, Reyna has been the team's designated playmaker in the center of the field. After coming out of the Mexico match after one half of play, the U.S. has been able to see the blossoming talents of Clint Mathis extend from MLS to the international scene. His commanding second-half performance against Mexico that started with a perfectly timed ball to Wolff for the team's first strike and all-around greatness against Brazil on March 3 certainly changed matters.
Reyna practiced with the Rangers last Thursday before travelling back to the States to join the U.S. squad in Florida. At the time, Bruce Arena said he thought his captain would be fit to play. Unfortunately, that is not the case. With Mathis in and Reyna out, the entire look of the squad changes.
"He and Claudio are different players," said Arena when asked to compare Mathis and Reyna. "It's difficult to compare them ... Clint is more of a goal-scoring player in the midfield position than Claudio is. Claudio is a much better distributor of the ball and is an outstanding player defensively. Clint gives you more going forward."
Based on Arena's usual practices to go with the more "in form" player, it is likely that Mathis would have received the nod anyway. If the Hondurans load the center of the field, Arena is going to need someone to cover more ground than usual at that position, and that might have been too much of a task for Reyna coming off such a nagging injury.
The two other areas to key on for the U.S. are at left midfielder and right back. Even though Cobi Jones provided 90 minutes of tireless work against Mexico, Arena seems to prefer a true left-sided player (i.e. a left-footed wing with a deadly cross) in that slot. That's why he recalled Eddie Lewis -- a forgotten man as of late -- from Fulham of the English Second Division.
"The reason is really to get another left-footed attacking player," said Arena. "I think we have two good young ones in DaMarcus Beasley and Bobby Convey, but I clearly think Eddie's experience is such that he's the best choice to make at this time. Eddie looks very sharp. Although he's not in with the full team at Fulham, he's been playing with the reserve team on a regular basis."
|  | | Preki, who hasn't played for the U.S. since the 1998 World Cup, has been dominant in spring training with the Miami Fusion. |
He also added both lefty specialist Preki and Chris Albright, both of whom can play either up front or as a left midfielder, to the squad on Monday to bolster his injury-riddled roster.
At right back, Tony Sanneh is still battling various foot and ankle problems. If he does play, it could be at right midfield with Earnie Stewart moving up top. Llamosa would have been slotted into the right back spot normally in this situation, but with Pope out there is a chance that 22-year-old Steve Cherundolo will get a look-see after having an impressive camp with the National Team last week and a solid season for Hannover 96 (German Second Division). Cherundolo is a player Arena has been talking about for more than a year as his future right back. The question is whether he'll thrust him into the spotlight so soon.
"I think if you traced the way we've handled players like Steve, we bring them into camp initially to get them comfortable with our players," said Arena. "Then we pick a time to get them on the field. What you'd like to do is give them an opportunity to taste success the first time they step on the field, so we've got to be smart about how we introduce Steve to international soccer."
Lastly, there's the dead-heat competition between the post being waged between Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel. Arena wouldn't tip his hat on which European-based standout he'd go with against Honduras.
"I think they both think that they're number one, and rightfully so," he said. "I believe whoever is chosen not to play won't be really happy about it, but that's all part of it. From my coaching perspective, I think it's terrific to have this kind of competition in the goal. Friedel proved last game that he's a quality keeper, and (Tony) Meola has proven the same. They're all good keepers, and they all want to be play, but that's not going to happen. The advantage Friedel has at this point is the fact that he played in the last game and we won."
Both Keller and Friedel represent the strongest facet of the U.S. lineup when one is in net. Even if Arena's somewhat jayvee-ish side can't muster anything within the final third of the field, a 0-0 tie is always a likely result. In this scenario, a tie would put the U.S. atop the CONCACAF standings with four total points ahead of Mexico (4-0 victory over Jamaica on Sunday) and the Jamaicans. Four points after two games against arguably the two toughest opponents the U.S. will face would surely be nothing to balk at, especially after playing a squad that feels the pressure having tied Costa Rica in its opening match.
"It is a huge match for them," said Arena. "You have to win at home, and they're certainly looking at that ... I think Honduras feels the pressure because they need three points for this match. I anticipate that they're going to come at us with everything they have in the early moments of the game."
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online.
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