There is still time to catch a flight back to Munich, but Lothar Matthaus’ long-awaited debut with the MetroStars is tantalizingly close.
That debut is scheduled to be Sunday against the Miami Fusion. The match can be seen in Chicago at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.
That game will close the MLS’ first full weekend of the season. The league also will have a national presence Saturday after having no games on national English-language television last weekend. ABC will carry the rematch of last season’s title game when D.C. United hosts Los Angeles at 1 p.m. CST.
“I think our players have been looking forward to this contest for quite a while,” United coach Thomas Rongen said. “I expect that Marco [Etcheverry] will be ready to play, which should make for a great game.”
Etcheverry is nursing a calf injury and wasn’t able to play an entire game in the preseason.
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Los Angeles enters the match with a victory under its belt. The Galaxy defeated Colorado 2-1 in its season-opener last weekend.
“It’s an attractive matchup early in the season that gives us all an opportunity to see exactly where we’re at,” Los Angeles coach Sigi Schmid said.
Fire and rain: Former Fire defender Francis Okaroh made his Fusion debut in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with New England. The contest, played in a driving rain, was the first to end in a tie in the five-year history of the league.
Stars and stripes: Three Fire players, Josh Wolff, DaMarcus Beasley and Evan Whitfield were named to the 25-player pool for the U.S. Olympic team. That pool will be reduced to 18 with three alternates for the opening of camp April 10. The U.S. will begin qualifying April 21 in Hershey, Pa.
All in favor: FIFA and the IOC have agreed on Sept. 4 as the date in which clubs must release players participating in the Sydney Olympics. The date is five days before the final game of the MLS regular season and at the beginning of the European club seasons. It is 10 days before Sydney competiton.
Let’s all unite: It’s a goal of the FIFA executive committee to form a calendar that unites every league in the world. Europe and South America now play from August to May, while MLS plays from March to October.
The FIFA plan has been met with heavy criticism from rich European clubs, which want the August to May season to remain.
Great Eight: Barcelona led the field of eight quarterfinalists in the European Champions League. Barcelona easily won its group. Also advancing were Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Lazio as group winners and Porto, Valencia, Real Madrid and Chelsea as group runners-up. The quarterfinal matches will be played April 4-5 and April 18-19.
More trouble: Nicolas Anelka can’t seem to avoid trouble. Real Madrid has suspended the forward, acquired for $35 million before the season, for 45 days for refusing to train. Anelka also has been banned from the French national team. He was left off the eligible list for France’s friendly next week with Scotland, which likely rules Anelka out of this summer’s European Championships.
All alone: When the European Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions began last summer, nine Italian teams were involved.
Only Lazio is still alive as both competitions reach the quarterfinals. It’s the poorest showing for Italian teams since 1982.
Time to go: Paraguayan goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert has asked for a transfer out of Argentina after a firecracker exploded near him during last Sunday’s match between Chilavert’s Velez Sarsfield and Lanus.
“I have already had seven of these things thrown at me here and this was the one that exploded closest to me,” Chilavert said. “I felt as if it was an assassination attempt.”
The match was suspended after the incident, which happened 15 seconds after the opening kickoff.