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Armas in the clear -- but should he be?

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This week's question | Quote of the week | Game of the week

Sources close to the situation tell me that FIFA will announce on Friday that it has cleared U.S. midfielder Chris Armas to play for the Americans in World Cup qualifying, thus denying the formal protest filed by Guatemala following last week's 1-1 draw between the two countries in Mazatenango.

In its protest, the Guatemalan federation charged that Armas was ineligible to play for the United States, citing details that have have been public for some time. A Bronx native whose mother is Puerto Rican, Armas played in five games for Puerto Rico (a separate team from the U.S. squad) in the 1993 Shell Caribbean Cup.

According to Article 18 of the Regulations Governing the Application of FIFA Statutes, "any player who is qualified to play for more than one national association (i.e., who has dual nationality) will be deemed to have committed himself to one association only when he plays his first international match in an official competition (at any level) for that association."

Top of the Table MetroStars. Strange: If the red-hot Metros jettison Lothar Matthäus -- and if they don't, they should -- it would speak more positively about the level of MLS than even his original signing did. Alexi Lalas. The Tim McCarver of American soccer? Not yet, but he's on his way. Junior Agogo. Prolific Colorado Rapids striker has me wondering: Chicago only got a third-round draft pick in exchange for this guy? Relegation Zone New York Times. For hyperventilating that the U.S. draw with Guatemala was "by any estimation ... disastrous." Well, no. Not by my estimation. Disastrous is France '98. Disastrous is not qualifying for the next World Cup. What sort of apocalyptic imagery would the NYT have used if the U.S. had actually lost the game? U.S. Soccer Federation. The Armas case may be settled, but it's hardly thanks to the USSF. When news broke of Guatemala's protest this week, USSF officials claimed they had documentation from FIFA of Armas's eligibility. When I asked the Fed to show me that important evidence, it refused. Wake up, guys: Only the masterminds at the USSF could take a ruling in their favor and still appear as if they're trying to hide something.

The question is what exactly FIFA considers "an official competition." In November 1998, FIFA cleared Armas to play for the U.S., ruling that the 1993 Shell Caribbean Cup was not an official FIFA competition because it did not serve that year as a qualifying event for a FIFA tournament. Later Shell Cups were official events, however, because they served as qualifiers for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which is itself a qualifier for FIFA's Confederations Cup.

Confused? You're not the only one. What matters most, of course, is that FIFA's final answer is that 1) Armas can play, and 2) the U.S. gets to keep the point it earned in Guatemala. But whether Armas should in fact be eligible to play for the U.S. is another matter. After all, the spirit of the rule is that once you've played for one country, you can't play for another. But by FIFA's logic, Armas still could have played for Puerto Rico if it had been invited in this year's U.S. Cup, simply because the tournament didn't serve as a qualifier for a FIFA event. That's messed up.

What's more, while FIFA nowhere defines an "official competition" in its literature, it does say in Article 4 of the Regulations that "international football matches recognised by the Federation shall be those between two national associations affiliated to the Federation and for which each association fields a representative national team." Armas's participation with Puerto Rico fits that description.

In any case, Armas is a splendid player for the U.S., and he happens to be as nice a guy as any you'll meet in sports. He's a classic example of a player who has worked his butt off and has steadily improved to the point that he's the best defensive midfielder in this country. Ultimately, the U.S. is lucky to have a player of Armas's caliber -- and, judging by the evidence, lucky to have Armas, period.

Razov rings the bell

For an SI survey in the summer of 1998, I asked each MLS coach to name his hypothetical starting lineup for the U.S. in World Cup 2002. At the time, one coach surprisingly listed a forward who, after riding the pine in L.A. for two seasons, was only playing as a regular for the first time that year for the Chicago Fire.

The coach was former D.C. United coach Bruce Arena, now the U.S. men's coach. And the player was Ante Razov.

While Arena could hardly have known how well Razov would adapt to the international game, his hunch is looking awfully good two years later. With three goals in his last three games for the U.S., Razov is clamping a vise grip on one of the starting striker spots heading into the meat of World Cup qualifying. "[Arena] had me in '96 [as the Olympic team coach], so he knew I had some talent," Razov says, "but he also saw that I also had some maturing to do."

Razov acknowledges that he can still be his own worst critic, and both Fire coach Bob Bradley and Arena have worked hard to keep him from getting too down on himself. Before Razov scored the lone U.S. goal against Guatemala last week, Arena's last words were to "relax and have fun." Says Razov, "I've got a lot of confidence in myself, and when things don't go right I can get pretty upset. I have lofty standards, and some people say I'm reaching a little, but I think I could be a really good player at the next level."

He means Europe, of course, which is where Razov hopes to go after his MLS contract runs out at the end of the season. If he continues on his current tear, look for some suitors to start lining up soon.

This week's Question(s): Skills Test No. 1

Garth Lagerwey
quote(s) of the week

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Sports Illustrated staff writer Grant Wahl will keep you up to date on U.S. soccer teams and players each Wednesday. To send him a question or comment click here.

 

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