|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Spoiled by Mathis U.S. star sets sights on MLS title, European dream
SAN PEDRO SULAS, Honduras -- Perhaps I've been spoiled by Clint Mathis . After watching him in less than a full season with the MetroStars, I expect him to do fantastic feats every game. Perhaps that is an unfair, to expect a fantastic performance from any player in Major League Soccer, foreign or American, game in, game out. But Clint Mathis has raised the bar of expectations. "That's the way I should be," he recently said. "I have a lot to learn. I'm only 24-years-old. I have played in only seven or eight national team games. I still have a long ways to go." But we're watching Mathis learn and grow and we're enjoying every minute of it. "He is without a doubt the most talented young player in America," MetroStars defender Steve Jolley told a group of youth players at a soccer camp last summer. "You will hear Clint Mathis' name in the next 10 years. He ranks up there with Claudio Reyna ."
Last season the MetroStars were 14-6-3 with Mathis in the lineup and 3-6 without him. If there is a weakness to Mathis' game, it's his inconsistency. Not surprisingly, the MetroStars lost twice when he turned into an invisible man. Then he comes up with a magical performance, something like that five-goal dream match against Dallas last August. One goal was enough for the U.S. national team on Wednesday night as the attacking midfielder connected for a dramatic, game-winning free kick with four minutes remaining in regulation for a historic 2-1 victory over Honduras in a World Cup qualifying match. "Any time you score a goal of this magnitude in a World Cup qualifier, it's a great feeling," he said. Mark Berson, his coach at South Carolina, watched Mathis fill the net in college. "He's still growing as a professional," Berson said. "He still has a long way to go. In order for him to become a national team caliber player, Clint has to become a day-in, day-out, grind-it-out MLS starter. He's got to get into that routine. He has to improve defensively. "There is no ceiling for Clint Mathis at this point, as long as he maintains his concentration." Mathis admitted that he has worked on his focus. We saw him lose it in the loss to Colombia in February, where he literally talked himself out of the match while arguing with the referee. "I've gotten somewhat better at it," he said. "The problem is that I'm so competitive that I get into the game. That's what makes me as a player, to get in there to have the intensity I have and that desire to win, the hunger for the game. "Sometimes I let it get overboard. That's something I am working on and hopefully improve, to have that aspect to calm down a little bit in certain situation. As far as bringing that intensity and hunger onto the field, I don't feel I need to lose that." His objectives? Easy. Become more consistent. "It's all right to have a phenomenal game where you net three or four goals and then you come back and not score any, but you still have a great game," Mathis said. "Maybe to the naked eye or to people who don't understand soccer Enough, that might be looked at as a downfall. Sometimes I did slack off in some games where I did not play well. It could have been for different reasons or just been one of those days." But he has spoiled yours truly and other soccer fans. "I look at myself, that if I am able to do that once, I should be able to go in every game and do it. But then again, I understand there is a reality level, too. You're not going to be able to do that every game. But I should be able to push myself to be able to come as close as I can." Here's a pair of intriguing questions concerning Mathis:
"I would love to see it," Mathis said about being on the field on the same time. "That's not my choice. Bruce would have to make a decision. We're two totally different players. He's more of a playmaker who keeps the ball. Maybe I'm the guy who goes out and works off the boards a little bit. If you go into a 3-5-2, maybe you see that kind of chance. In a 4-4-2, you never know. It comes down to depth; that you like to see."
"I would be cutting myself short. It has always been a dream of mine," he said before the U.S. took on Honduras in a World Cup qualifier last night. "If I can go over there and make it, great. If I can go over and do my best, then I have proven to myself that I tried. "If I don't try at least once in my career, then I don't think I have fulfilled my soccer dream. That's what I always wanted to do. Hopefully, that's something in my future." Mathis stressed that he isn't about to bolt the team. He figured he has some unfinished business with the MetroStars. "It's hard to put a time restriction on it," he said. "I enjoy being in New York. I enjoy playing here. I would like to win a championship here. But if it comes to a time when a situation comes up I think I have to look at Clint, also. "Not to be selfish or anything like that; I love my team and I love my teammates. When it comes down to it, I have to look at my future. I'm going to have a family eventually and I have to look at the situation like that and look at my dreams. I would be cutting myself short if I didn't follow my dream. My best-case scenario would be to win a championship this year and then go." Playing in the World Cup wouldn't be bad, either. And remember, Mathis is just reaching his prime. "He will get better," MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano said. "We haven't seen the best of his game yet." Pretty scary thought, huh? Some thoughts about the gameYou can't ask for anything better than what the U.S. national team has accomplished after two matches: six out of six points. Now, I don't want to throw a wet blanket on the accomplishment, but the U.S. has been quite fortunate in its opening two matches. In the 2-0 win over Mexico on Feb. 28, goalkeeper Jorge Campos ventured way too far out of the penalty area, and Josh Wolff took advantage of his wanderings to score the first goal and change the complexion of the match. The Hondurans held a significant territorial advantage and placed more passes and crosses into the penalty area and shots on goal on Wednesday night. Yet, it was the U.S. that walked away with three points. And that's what counts. Perhaps all of this evens out in the end. As it turns out, Honduras has duplicated the United States' semifinal round start. The Hondurans lost a one-goal lead in stoppage time and wound up with a tie with Costa Rica in its first game. They then lost a home match -- a devastating setback -- on a goal with four minutes remaining in regulation. In fact, the offense was virtually non-existent. Besides the goals -- Earnie Stewart's score was deflected, by the way -- how many good chances did the U.S. have? Less than a handful. And you have to question coach Bruce Arena's strategy of floating balls into the box when Wolff and Ante Razov are much better on the ground. A quick look at the U.S. performance:
And you can quote me
Chip shots
When we got to the stadium, there were no chairs in the three small press boxes reserved for the American media (we discovered later that fans had taken them out to sit on). In the box that I shared with Steve Goff of the Washington Post and Mike Woitalla of Soccer America, we actually had a small table to put our computers on and a desk. The phone line, however, did not work. Goff spent a good 20 minutes trying to clean gunk out of the modular connection. We discovered later the line was dead (just to get a local line to e-mail our stories back to the States, we had to pay the local telephone company $20 apiece to get the proper software in our computers). And we had fans standing in the way outside the press box, so we had to stand anyway to watch the match. OK, so at least no one was throwing batteries or bags of urine at us.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News. He also has written three books about soccer.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
