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Throw-Ins
T & T players aim for World Cup, weigh MLS future
Posted: Thursday February 15, 2001 1:29 PM
LONDON -- Let's call it A Tale of Two Brents.
As in Brent Sancho and Brent Rahim. They have similar stories.
They both were born and grew up in
Trinidad & Tobago.
They both played for NCAA Division I men's champions from the Big East,
Sancho for St. John's in 1996 and Rahim for the University of Connecticut
just this past December.
And they both have dreams of playing in the World Cup -- "a once in a
lifetime chance," Rahim said.
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Both also are prepared to not play in Major League Soccer if it means an
opportunity to help their national team reach soccer's promised land.
In fact, Rahim, a midfielder, is prepared to forgo this season with the Los
Angeles Galaxy, which picked him in the fifth round of the SuperDraft last
week.
"I always wanted to get into... MLS," Rahim said. "Obviously I am trying
to keep my options open to see if I can get something overseas in Europe. So
I'm going to put that off right now. I have not spoken to the coach yet.
After the Jamaica game [qualifier on Feb. 28], I intend to speak with him and
see how things work out."
He would love to play in England, where a number of Trinidad players perform.
"It's always a problem getting a work permit [in England]," he said. "The
only way I get a work permit is if I play for the senior squad."
Trinidad is scheduled to play West Ham and the Cayman Islands here in London before
visiting Jamaica for its first final round CONCACAF qualifier on Feb. 28.
"If
things work out well in this campaign, then I'll be back in England," he said.
One thing is certain -- Rahim, a finalist for the Hermann Trophy (soccer's
equivalent of the Heisman Trophy), won't be back for the spring semester at
UConn.
"We have a great chance of making the World Cup," he said. "I want to be a
part of it, even if I don't play a minute. Going to the World Cup is
something special. If I have to put off school for a semester, that would be
the best thing for me. It's a once in a lifetime chance. My eligibility is up
now. I won my championship."
Sancho, a defender, said that the Miami Fusion has expressed interest in him,
but he was uncertain whether he wants to split his energies between club and
country. Most of the qualifiers will held be during the MLS season.
"The campaign will be long," he said. "It's going to be hard in MLS having to
go back and forth at the height of World Cup qualifying. It won't be fair to
Miami and it won't be fair to Trinidad."
Sancho, who was so close to signing with the MetroStars last year that he was
featured in their media guide, said he has tried out with several English
second division teams. He wouldn't say which clubs.
"Hopefully, they are impressed," he said.
On a cold and crisp Tuesday night, Sancho played the entire 90 minutes of Trinidad's loss to English Premiership club Charlton Athletic, featuring a side made up of first-team players,
players returning from injuries and reserves. Trinidad did not have its full
team, missing key players such as Manchester United star Dwight Yorke.
"It was the first time we got back together as a team," Sancho said. "There
were some bumps and bruises we need to straighten out.
"The team is
playing well. We just need to jell together with the foreign-based players.
That's what we wanted to [do]. That's why we had less communication on a
couple of goals tonight."
Exclusive scouting report from The Valley
You won't get this little scouting report anywhere else -- the latest on the
Trinidad & Tobagan national team, one of the United States' five opponents in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. I got an opportunity to watch them play on
Tuesday night against Charlton.
Because so many of their players perform in England, team officials figured if you
couldn't bring Mohammed to the mountain, that you should bring the mountain
to Mohammed -- or something like that.
Before my analysis, I need to qualify a few things:
It was only a friendly.
It's only February, and the U.S. doesn't meet Trinidad until June 20
in Foxboro, Mass.
It was a cold February night here. It must have been around 32
degrees, as most of the Trinidad players, unaccustomed to playing in chilly
weather, wore gloves. Having sat in the crowd, I should know.
The lineup and players performances can change between now and
then.
But here are some thoughtful observations as I throw in my two cents
worth (I'll bill U.S. Soccer when I get back to the States).
For the record, Charlton Athletic recorded a 3-0 victory in the exhibition
match before a crowd estimated at 3,000 at The Valley (not
bad for a midweek match that ultimately did not mean anything of value to
Charlton fans). Jonatan Johansson (36th minute), Kevin
Lisbie (53rd) and Iranian international Karim Bagheri (60th) scored for the
home team.
The Caribbean side had defensive problems, particularly on the flanks in
the back and especially between goalkeeper Clayton Ince and left fullback
Anthony Rougier. For example, Charlton received an easy goal in the 36th
minute on poor communication between the team. Ince came out of the net for
the ball on the top of the left side of the penalty area but collided with
Rougier. Johansson lofted a one-bouncer into an attempt net. A minute later
Ince was removed from the game with a pulled muscle. Sancho, who played on
the right side, was caught upfield for several counterattacks. He did
eventually recover, but it took him some time.
Ince's backup, Ross Russell, acquitted himself well, although Trinidad gave
up two more goals, neither of them the keeper's fault.
After surrendering the first goal, one Trinidad supporter said to another,
"We'll see what they're made of now." The Trinidadian players continued to
work hard and didn't drop their heads. But they just weren't up to it that
night.
Trinidad had coordination and timing problems on attack, winding up offside
four times in the opening half alone.
On the positive side, when the team moved the ball around, it was
dangerous. It's most incisive moments came during a five-minute spell late
in the first half, when Trinidad placed three legitimate shots on goal. That
included Nigel Pierre firing a 20-yard shot that forced the Charlton
keeper to make a one-handed save, a Charlton defender clearing a shot off the
line a minute later and an overlapping Rougier placing a header after a
nice overlap in the 44th minute.
Playmaking midfielder Russell Latapy and Pierre enjoyed an excellent
understanding between each other with quick passes that either sprung each
other or an open teammate deep in enemy territory.
Wish I could say that Rahim did something constructive or spectacular
during his short stint, but I can't.
They also need Yorke (who was in Valencia, Spain, with Manchester
United for a Champions League match on Wednesday).
But then again, virtually every national team and club in the world could use
a Dwight Yorke.
Seconds after the game ended and the teams walked off the field, the PA
announcer said, "Good luck Trinidad & Tobago in your quest in qualifying for
World Cup 2002."
If Tuesday night's performance is any indication, Trinidad is going to need a
lot of it.
Fortunately, Trinidad's got two weeks before the Jamaica encounter to get its
act together.
Garber looks ahead
At the MLS SuperDraft last week, I spoke with commissioner Don Garber on a
number of subjects:
The league's top priority: "The No. 1 priority for the league is to
continue to grow the credibility and respect for Division I professional
soccer in this country. This is a crucial, a critical year for the league,
not in the terms of what it means, but more in terms of what we want to
accomplish."
On turning things around quickly: "Americans expect immediate gratification.
Sports teams and leagues are battleships, not PT boats. You've got 12 teams
and lot of things going on and mechanisms that need to be working at the same
time in order for the results to pay off. Behavior patterns take time to
create. You can't tell people games are on Saturday and have them change
their lives to watch them. It's going to take time for them to see this is an
important part of their lives."
On league attendance, with season-ticket sales
substantially ahead of last year at the same time, from 29,000 to 36,000:
"This year we have to set a very high bar. That is to grow our attendance for
the first time since '96. That's the first time the league has shown an
increase. That's how high we set the bar."
On TV: "We have a core audience that is watching our games -- the 18 to 34
category -- which is important. But we need to grow the numbers that watch
our game. That's a priority for us... It's difficult if you expect they
come, demand they come or hope they come. They won't come if you want them
to. They come because you give them a reason to be connected with their team
and our players. In the offseason, our teams and players went out and
communicated with the soccer public."
On league expansion, which had been tied in part to cross-ownership with the Women's United Soccer Association: "WUSA has their hands full. We will expand when we
have facility development in these areas. If we're going to go into new
markets, we're going to be sure the markets have an appropriate facility in
their plans. If not immediately, then in the very near future."
On signing high-profile foreign players (after Khodadad Azizi and Lothar
Matthäus turned into busts, don't expect many well-known foreign players in
2001): "To our credit, the league is willing to experiment and find out what
approaches are going to bring us success. Last year's approach was 'Let's go
out and see if we can bring in some international players who can help to
move the needle.' We made some significant investments in players to do that.
The fact is that it didn't move the needle. What we've been hearing and
finding in the research we've been doing is that fans want good soccer teams
and they want players they can identify with... Our focus this year is
going to be very much on younger players and trying to get players who
are committed to the league and giving it their all. So, I don't think you're
going to see the kinds of signings we had last year."
Sack of the week
Sheffield Wednesday coach Paul Jewell Monday was shown the door by the
English first division team, which is hovering close to the relegation zone.
But it would be unfair to blame Jewell for all of Wednesday's troubles. When
he took over last summer, he inherited a team with US$22 million in debts,
which left him with little or no room to bring in decent players. So, what do
about management? Well, minutes after Jewell's departure was announced, club
chairman Howard Culley stepped down.
Lothar's corner
I'll make this short and sweet. Matthäus turned down an offer to coach
Eintracht Frankfurt in the German first division. "To take this decision
after all the contacts I've had with Eintracht officials was not easy,"
Matthaeus said on the team's official Web site. "But the risk for me to handle
the difficult situation of the club for my first coaching job was too big."
You know what? He's probably right. Now that's a rare instance in which we
agree.
Chips shots
Prince Philip. Good bless billionaire Philip Anschutz for his interest in
soccer and for saving D.C. United. But owning four teams in the same league
just doesn't look good to the rest of the sports world. You have to wonder why no one
else is investing in Major League Soccer. I have one solution to this
situation: Can we clone Anschutz three times and have his fortune -- reported at US$18 billion -- divided four ways?
Brian's song. It wasn't widely publicized, but Brian McBride set up the
lone goal in Preston North End's 1-0 win over Stockport County in the English
first division on Tuesday. McBride flicked Gary Parkinson's corner kick to
David Healy for his fifth goal since joining the team in December, in the
74th minute.
Red letter date. Of note among all the key dates that were released by MLS in its calendar
on Tuesday was July 1. That's the day all player contracts become guaranteed.
Playing for your country and for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is great. But
paying your rent or mortgage on time is even greater.
Memory lane. Remember Leonardo, the Brazilian who fractured Tab Ramos's
skull with his elbow during the 1994 World Cup (not only did he receive a red
card, but he was banished for the rest of the tournament)? Well, he's still
alive and kicking. He scored the first goal in AC Milan's 1-1 draw with
Paris St. Germain in the European Champions League on Wednesday. That's
funny -- it doesn't saying anything about that misdeed in his bio in the
official Champions League handbook. It does say, however, that he holds a
Portuguese passport, "qualifying thanks to his wife."
Fear and loathing. I don't think Arsenal's Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp, who
doesn't like to fly, sent coach Arsene Wenger any Valentines yesterday. On
Tuesday, Wenger decided against using the Dutch master scorer for his side's
Champions League match in Lyon, France. Bergkamp said he was prepared to go
by car. But Wenger said: "It might be easier by train but I don't know if
he's frightened of trains. I think for Dennis the train flies as well." On
Wednesday, however, Bergkamp was fuming. "Why was my fear been turned into a
soap opera? I'm sick of it," he said. To be continued.
Gut feeling. I'll go out on a limb here. Nottingham Forest will surprise
Fulham at home 2-1 as Ben Olsen sets up the gamewinner in the 89th minute
at Craven Cottage this Saturday. In an even bigger
surprise, U.S. national team midfielder Eddie Lewis is allowed to sit the
bench for the English first division runaway leaders.
The last word. I've got to call it a column and run to Fulham's
practice. Next week, I'll have a report from Craven Cottage and even a
theater review to boot. Cheers.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News. He was recently honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in the college division of its writing contest for Life is Beautiful, a column on University of San Francisco coach Steve Negoesco.
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