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Throw-Ins U-17s Donovan and Beasley face the test of time
Posted: Friday December 03, 1999 11:13 AM
Do the names William de Oliveira, James Will and Daniel Addo ring a bell? They shouldn't. They're players who were named the Golden Ball winner -- soccer's version of the MVP -- at the FIFA Under-16 or Under-17 world championships. They starred for Brazil, Scotland and Ghana in 1985, 1989 and 1993, respectively. Some players peak early, others are plagued by injuries for most of their career, while yet others just don't develop beyond a certain level. Last week, forwards Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley made U.S. soccer history by earning the Golden and Silver Ball awards at the Under-17 FIFA World Championship in New Zealand. The honors were voted by the media. In men's international tournaments (Under-17, Under-20 and World Cup), players on the same team finishing one-two is a rare but not unprecedented achievement, although it could mark a major breakthrough for the U.S. internationally. (By the way, this was certainly not a U.S. first -- Carin Gabarra and Michelle Akers captured the Golden and Silver Balls, respectively, at the very first Women's World Cup in 1991). While Donovan and Beasley definitely earned those honors, the real challenge they face in the coming years will be the test of time. Will they develop beyond being great youth players and realize their potential professionally and perhaps with the U.S. national team? Success can be measured in many ways. They don't necessarily have to become superstars, although that would be nice. Solid professional careers certainly will do. Of course, Donovan already has been touted as a potential game-breaker, and his performance in New Zealand certainly did not disappoint. Beasley, as we reported last week, was outstanding with his swivel moves. Hopefully, both players have a nice long pro career in front of them. Donovan already is part of German powerhouse Bayer Leverkusen's organization, while Beasley was a Project-40 allocation to the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer. Of course, some of the MVPs of FIFA's Under-19 and Under-20 world championships have gone on to bigger and better things. Let's see, there's Argentine superstar Diego Maradona, who was the second-leading scorer and MVP of the 1979 tournament. There's Robert Prosinecki and Zvonomir Boban, then of Yugoslavia and now of Croatia, who finished one-two in the Golden Ball voting in 1987. And there's Kasey Keller of the U.S., who earned the Silver Ball for his stellar performance in 1989.
Zambrano struck gold in 1993New York/New Jersey MetroStars forward Henry Zambrano, incidentally, starred for Colombia youth teams, winning the Golden Shoe as the leading scorer at the 1993 Under-20 tournament, which was held in Australia. Zambrano finished with three goals, which tied him with six other players. But he was given the title because he had scored the highest percentage of goals (60 percent, three out of five) for his team. Colombia was eliminated after three opening-round matches. According to the official FIFA report, Colombia "basically relied on two players, Oscar Restrepo and Henry Zambrano. Zambrano had played with the U-17's in Scotland in 1989 and had then been one of the top players in his team. When Restrepo was injured in the third group game, the team was effectively reduced to half strength. Zambrano no longer had a partner to supply him with the long, deep passes that he liked. This was certainly one of the main reasons for the early exit. "Zambrano was their top scorer with three goals, but no one else came anywhere near the same level." And a couple of interesting notes: The U.S. reached the quarterfinals before succumbing to Brazil, 3-0. The U.S., which rolled to a 6-0 first-round victory over Turkey, had several future Major League Soccer players, including Matt McKeon, Brandon Pollard, Brian Kelly, Miles Joseph, Imad Baba, Nelson Vargas and Kerry Zavagnin, to name a few. Defender and team captain Gregg Berhalter now plays in the Netherlands. Joseph had two goals in the Turkey match and Zavagin had the 78th-minute equalizer in the 2-2 draw with South Korea, which boosted the Americans into the quarterfinals.
We're not in LA-LA land anymore, OctavioGood luck to Octavio Zambrano, the MetroStars' sixth coach as they head into their fifth season. Known for his attacking system with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Zambrano can push forward all he wants, but the team won't score unless he has the right players. In other words, look for the MetroStars to be revamped -- again. And one last thing. A man with the initials such as OZ, wouldn't it be more appropriate for him to coach, ahem, the Kansas City Wizards? Seriously, Zambrano appears to have his head on straight. To make room for German international defender Lothar Matthaeus next season, the MetroStars had to cut a foreigner by Dec. 1. They chose forward Eduardo Hurtado, who endured a 1,294-minute scoring drought over 15 matches in 1999. There is speculation that Zambrano might pursue Brazilian forward Welton, of the Miami Fusion, which has a glut of forwards. Welton played for Zambrano at the Galaxy. Forward Roy Lassiter, acquired by the Fusion in a trade with D.C., has also said he doesn't want to play in Miami. Zambrano said it will be at least a month before the team does some serious wheeling and dealing. He wants to take stock of what he has and what the MetroStars exactly needs. "There are so many options right now," he said. "What we need to do is that when we make a move, we have a player in our grasp who is better than the player we let go."
Feuer has a Rapid departureMan, we're trying to figure out why the Colorado Rapids jettisoned goalkeeper Ian Feuer in the wake of the team's miserable scoreless drought at the end of the season and the playoffs. For the record, Feuer was 10-9 with a 1.22 goals-against average, including eight shutouts in 19 matches in slightly more than half a season. With Marcus Hahemann in the nets, the Rapids were 10-3. He had a 1.08 GAA and four shutouts in 1,170 minutes spanning 13 games. For the record, the Rapids entered the playoffs with an MLS record 499-minute scoreless streak. If you add the 180 minutes of scoreless action against the Galaxy in the playoffs, the Rapids' streak is at 659 minutes. The Rapids, who scored but three goals in their final 12 regular-season matches, haven't scored since a Jorge Dely Valdes goal in a 1-0 win over the Galaxy on Sept. 18. Feuer wasn't the problem. The forwards and midfielders were. They couldn't score over the last month of the season. Coach Glenn Myernick must solve that other problem or follow Feuer out the door. Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of Soccer Magazine. To submit a question or comment to Michael Lewis, click here.
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