|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Air McBride flying high Columbus forward indispensable as U.S. starts qualifying
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Simply put, the three players that U.S. national coach Bruce Arena cannot afford to lose on the road to soccer's promised land are defensive midfielder Chris Armas, playmaking midfielder Claudio Reyna and airborne forward Brian McBride. Armas, named Tuesday as U.S. Soccer's male athlete of the year, is a workhorse and the link between the backline and attack. Reyna is the midfielder organizer, and McBride literally rules the air in front of the opposing nets. As it turns out, two members of that terrific trio were absent the last time they held a World Cup qualifier at Columbus Crew Stadium, a scoreless tie against Costa Rica on Oct. 11. Reyna sat out the match with a suspension while McBride watched it from a luxury box due to a blood clot in his right arm that gave him the scare of his life. Both players are expected to be wearing the red, white and blue of the United States on Wednesday night when the Americans host Mexico in the opening match of the final CONCACAF round of World Cup qualifying. For McBride, the match is extra special because he has called Columbus his professional home since 1996, when the Columbus Crew made him the first overall pick in Major League Soccer's inaugural player draft. While he has been slowed down by injuries -- McBride endured a rapid heart beat, fractured cheekbone and a blood clot just in 2000 -- he hasn't disappointed when healthy. After all, McBride connected for 17 goals in 1996, scored the 1998 MLS goal of the year and struck for the lone American goal at the 1998 World Cup. Morever, the 28-year-old McBride has improved and matured into an imposing force for the U.S. national team. His six career qualifying goals in only eight games is only one behind Willy Roy, who is probably better known to soccer fans as the former coach of the Chicago Sting of the late North American Soccer League. Now imposing has McBride been? You can bend statistics all you want. But here are several sobering numbers: In the two qualifiers McBride played, he connected twice and the Americans were 2-0 and outscored their opposition 8-0 (yeah, I realize one of those matches was the 7-0 shellacking of Barbados). Without him, they were a more down-to-earth 1-1-2, scoring six goals and allowing three. No one has to remind Arena of McBride's worth to his team. "He's a real forward," Arena said. "When he steps on the field you know he is going to give you 90 minutes. I don't know how much more you can ask of him. With his dimensions, obviously he is very good in the air. He's a very good player at holding the all and pressuring the opponent. He is invaluable." McBride has established a reputation -- and rightfully so -- as arguably the best player in the air in U.S. Soccer history, if not in all of CONCACAF. Just call him Air McBride. While some of his most memorable goals have been scored with a good flick of his head, McBride has prided himself on improving his ground game. The 6-foot, 170-pound McBride -- doesn't it seem like he's 6-3 or 6-4? -- has worked on being a better target man with the Preston North End coaching staff in the English first division. "Bruce told me some things that I needed to work on -- making sure my first touch is good," he said. So for 10 minutes after every practice, an assistant coach or a teammate drills balls to McBride in the penalty area "to get the ball and turn." "I hope I have improved," he said. "I feel more confident. Soccer has a lot to do with confidence and I feel I can take the ball down in tight places." In fact, he demonstrated his potential in the Sept. 3 qualifier vs. Guatemala in Washington, D.C. His spectacular, sliding goal off Cobi Jones' pinpoint pass in the 72nd minute spared the U.S. embarrassment in the wake of Eddie Lewis' red card and a possible tie. Had McBride not scored and the U.S. wound up with a scoreless draw, the Americans today would be at home stewing about being eliminated, and Guatemala would have advanced. Several days later, McBride discovered the blood clot while playing with Preston North End (he was loaned to the team by the Crew in September). "I have an extra piece of muscle pushing down on the vein all my life," he said. McBride missed the next two qualifiers before returning to play with Preston around Christmas time. "I was fit, but not sharp on the ball," McBride said. "Lately, I've been feeling good. Things are going well." He hopes he will continue his progress against a struggling Mexican side that is 0-4-1 in its past five matches. "We're not talking this game lightly because they had a few bad results in the past," McBride said. "We have to be concerned Mexico will pressure the ball with everyone." McBride, however, downplayed his role as a superb header with the national team. "Hopefully, we won't have to play direct," he said. "Then I become an option. But that's not our main goal." Regardless, McBride's abilities are too great to waste. At the age of 28, his time has come. But we have to be realistic in our expectations. It would be unreasonable to ask a player to score a goal a game for his national team during qualifying. But the Americans do need someone who they can count on. Even Eric Wynalda, the United States' main man up front during the 1998 qualifying run, found the back of the net five times in 11 matches. The bottom line: For the U.S. to gain one of three berths in South Korea and Japan, a player must step forward and score probably five goals -- spread out over the 10 final-round games. Landon Donovan? At 19, the promising forward has yet to prove himself at the club level, but he's definitely a player for the future. Joe-Max Moore? He hasn't always been an Arena favorite. Clint Mathis? He has a ton of talent, but his fiery temperament sometimes betrays his game. Simply put, at this juncture Brian McBride should be head and shoulders above everyone else as the leading candidate to accomplish that feat -- with either his head or feet. Projected starting lineup: Brad Friedel - Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, Carlos Llamosa, David Regis - Earnie Stewart, Chris Armas, Claudio Reyna, Cobi Jones - Joe-Max Moore, Brian McBride. Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News. He has already predicted a 1-1 draw; check back Thursday for Lewis' post-game analysis.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
