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| Wednesday, March 20, 2002 17:22 EST |
Arena confident American captain will be back soon
[Associated Press]
CHICAGO -- U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, bothered by a series of injuries,
was dropped Wednesday from the American roster for the exhibition
game at Germany on March 27.
Reyna, who missed the 1994 World Cup with a pulled right
hamstring, missed three World Cup qualifiers last year because of a
suspension and a groin pull. The Americans lost all three.
He played last fall with a bruised right knee, and badly bruised
his left ankle Jan. 1 while playing for Sunderland in England. He
played for the United States in a 1-0 loss at Italy on Feb. 13.
"If he has to, he could've probably played with us against
Germany," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said, "but that's maybe pushing
him too hard too early when we're thinking about the fact that he's
just coming back from an injury."
Arena isn't worried about Reyna's longterm health.
"I'm confident Claudio will be ready for the World Cup," the
coach said.
Other than Reyna, the Americans have nearly all their
midfielders and forwards for the first time in a year. Brian
McBride, Joe-Max Moore, Clint Mathis, Earnie Stewart, Landon
Donovan, Cobi Jones and Jovan Kirovski are all on the roster. Arena
skipped over Josh Wolff, who has a sore shoulder.
"This is about the healthiest we've been in a long time,"
Arena said. "We have a number of forwards I have to make some hard
decisions on."
Kasey Keller will start in goal, and Tony Meola will be his
backup. Brad Friedel, competing with Keller for the starting job at
the World Cup, was skipped because his English club, Blackburn, has
a busy schedule, including a trip to the United Arab Emirates.
Twelve on the 20 players on the U.S. roster are based in Europe.
Carlos Llamosa and Carlos Bocanegra were bypassed so Arena could
evaluate European-based defenders. Cory Gibbs, a member of the
under-23 team at the 1999 Pan American Games, was put on the roster
and could make his international debut. Gibbs, 22, plays for St.
Pauli in Germany.
Heading into the match at Rostock, the United States has won two
straight against the Germans, outscoring them 5-0 in a pair of 1999
games.
The full roster:
Goalkeepers: Kasey Keller (Tottenham Hotspur, England), Tony
Meola (Kansas City)
Defenders: Jeff Agoos (San Jose), Gregg Berhalter (Crystal
Palace, England), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96, Germany), Cory
Gibbs (St. Pauli, Germany), Frankie Hejduk (Bayer Leverkusen,
Germany), Eddie Pope (DC United), David Regis (Metz, France), Tony
Sanneh (Nuremberg, Germany)
Midfielders: Chris Armas (Chicago), Cobi Jones (Los Angeles),
Eddie Lewis (Fulham, England), Clint Mathis (New York/New Jersey),
John O'Brien (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands), Earnie Stewart (NAC
Breda, Netherlands)
Forwards: Landon Donovan (San Jose), Jovan Kirovksi (Crystal
Palace, England), Brian McBride (Columbus), Joe-Max Moore (Everton,
England)
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