Jeff Agoos did not set anything ablaze. Nor did he feel any giddy sense of relief. When he heard, as expected, his name on the roster of the 2002 World Cup team, his response was businesslike.
“We have a lot of work to do,” said Agoos, the San Jose Earthquakes defender and, at 33, the most senior member of the World Cup team that was announced Monday.
True. The U.S. national team has a tremendous amount of work ahead. But it has also made huge strides in the last three-plus years. Its perennial goals of proving itself on a world stage, of converting cynics at home and conquering skeptics abroad, have been combined with a newfound sense of legitimacy and confidence.
If roster day is any indication, this U.S. team will tackle its Sisyphean task in Agoos-like style–with a workmanlike, team-focused approach.
“I think when the going gets tough in the World Cup, they’re not going to bail out on each other,” coach Bruce Arena said. “They’ll stick their noses to the ground and battle it out. They’ll represent us quite well and be a handful to play against in each game.”
Four years ago the U.S. players bailed out on each other. They bailed out on coach Steve Sampson and Sampson bailed out on them. The team lost all three games. It was an unmitigated, overmatched disaster, a memory Arena wants to erase.
In hindsight, you might have been able to predict the disaster the day the roster was announced. There were histrionics, surprises, slights, complaints, unproven newcomers, those who thought they owned roster slots for life.
But from the ruins of France, the U.S. team has been rebuilt.
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On the roster Arena announced last week there are veterans: Earnie Stewart, Claudio Reyna, Joe-Max Moore and Cobi Jones, Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller and Tony Meola–all on their third World Cup team. There are novices: Landon Donovan, 20, and DaMarcus Beasley, 19. There are Major League Soccer players and players working abroad. There are naturalized Americans and homegrown Americans.
It is the oldest U.S. World Cup team, an average of 28.7 years old, and the most experienced, with an average of 51.6 national team appearances.
These players have proven themselves with Arena over the last 3 1/2 years. There have been few head games, little pretense. The surprises have come in results, not in coaching decisions. Arena is famous for being blunt, forthright and uncompromising.
What his players share, Arena hopes, is a sense of purpose and a mutual understanding.
“From what I’ve seen, they all get along quite well,” Arena said. “And they showed a lot of character in qualifying in the tough times. They’ve stuck together.”
This World Cup team is better than any other American team in the past. But on the demanding World Cup stage, that doesn’t mean its results will be any better than in 1998 and perhaps not as good as 1994, when the host Americans made the quarterfinals.
The United States’ draw–Portugal, host South Korea and Poland–is similar to 1998.
Portugal plays the role of Germany–though less experienced than the Germans, it is a talented, heavily favored team. South Korea fills the slot formerly held by Iran–an easily overlooked but potentially dangerous team, playing with emotion. In this case, the team won’t be fueled by political motivation but by home crowds and pride. And Poland fills in for 1998 foe Yugoslavia–a team the U.S. could beat but that will pose problems if Team USA is in a position of having to beat it to advance.
The challenge isn’t any less than it was four years ago. But this team should have something going for it that its predecessors did not.
“One thing I’ve learned,” Agoos said, “is that to overcome big obstacles you have to be more of a team and have more team chemistry than the other team. That was something we learned last year in San Jose.”
And something learned the hard way in France.
When the World Cup roster was announced, there weren’t any huge surprises or loud complaints. That’s the first step in the right direction.
U.S. World Cup team
Goalkeepers (3)
Brad Friedel-bc, Blackburn, England
Kasey Keller-ac, Tottenham, England
Tony Meola-ab, Kansas City
Defenders (8)
Jeff Agoos, San Jose
Gregg Berhalter, Crystal Palace, Eng-land
Frankie Hejduk-c, Bayer Leverkusen, Germany
Carlos Llamosa, New England
Pablo Mastroeni, Colorado
Eddie Pope-c, D.C. United
David Regis-c, FC Metz, France
Tony Sanneh, FC Nuremberg, Germany
Midfielders (8)
Chris Armas, FIRE
DaMarcus Beasley, FIRE
Landon Donovan, San Jose
Cobi Jones-bc, Los Angeles
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Eddie Lewis, Fulham, England
John O’Brien, Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands
Claudio Reyna-bc, Sunderland, Eng-land
Earnie Stewart-bc, NAC Breda, Netherlands
Forwards (4)
Clint Mathis, New York/New Jersey
Brian McBride-c, Columbus
Joe-Max Moore-bc, Everton, England
Josh Wolff, FIRE
a–on 1990 World Cup roster; b–on 1994 roster; c–on 1998 roster
Alternates
Goalkeepers: Tim Howard, New York/New Jersey; Zach Thornton, FIRE
Defenders: Steve Cherundolo, Hannover 96, Germany; Richard Mulrooney, San Jose; Greg Vanney, Bastia, France
Midfielders: c-Brian Maisnneuve, Columbus; Brian West, Columbus; Richie Williams, D.C. United
Forwards: Jovan Kirovski, Crystal Palace, England; Ante Razov, FIRE