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Full circle Stewart will play home games at site of first U.S. capPosted: Tuesday February 18, 2003 6:36 PMUpdated: Tuesday February 18, 2003 6:56 PM
By Ridge Mahoney, Soccer America Like his full name, Earnest, U.S. international Earnie Stewart is honest, forthright, blunt, matter-of-fact. On the field, he may or may not play well -- but he plays direct. Off the field, he gives it to you the same way: straight-up, no ice, no chaser. "It's probably a Dutch thing," he says of a boldness and brashness those outside the country often equate with arrogance. "You pretty much say what's on your mind. And that's a good way to be. When you're honest, things last longest." After a long career of 14 pro seasons tearing up and down fields in the Netherlands, he's coming to America for the final phase of his career. For D.C. United, he will play his home games at RFK Stadium, where he made his first home appearance for the U.S. more than a decade ago.
And had he not spoken frankly about the snag that delayed his departure from the Netherlands, he might still be there. DREAMS OF BIG THREE. He had joined NAC Breda, his third pro club after stops at VVV Venlo and Willem II, in 1996 with hopes of finally playing in European competition and perhaps one day moving to one of the big three Dutch clubs: PSV, Feyenoord or Ajax. But a string of mid-table finishes denied him a showing on the European stage -- Willem II reached the European Cup preliminary rounds twice after he left -- and as seasons unfolded, the realization set in that although he had attained a place in the U.S. national team and played in the World Cup, a call from one of the holy triumvirate wasn't going to happen.
By joining D.C. United, Earnie Stewart completes a cycle to RFK Stadium, site of his first winning appearance for the United States.
"When I was 28 or 29, it set in," says Stewart, who will turn 34 in March. "It's simple. If you feel you do everything in life for your sport and you practice hard, you can't have regrets. Sometimes it's luck, and sometimes you're not good enough. When you sit back and think about it, it's not worth it." Stewart first seriously pondered a move to MLS a year ago as the club kept postponing discussions of a new contract. Always there had been in the back of his mind a foray to America, a country he represented as a player but knew only fleetingly as a child and by his appearances for the national team. "The club did talk about it as a possibility, that it would be fair, in May," he says. "They were going to re-do my contract at around this time last year and they kept postponing it because the situation with the club became drastically worse every single week. "In May, I got sick of waiting and I told them I had another option for them -- if it would be possible to leave in December on a free transfer and pursue my dream."
After more than a decade of balancing his domestic career with international trips -- and overcoming a fear of flying -- Earnie Stewart brings to MLS his straightforward approach to life and soccer.
His first stated preference was a move to the Galaxy and Southern California, an area he'd come to enjoy during the 1994 World Cup. As a self-confessed "fair-weather golfer," he'd find the climate and selection of courses much to his liking. League player acquisition and salary-cap restrictions more or less mooted any such move. CONVERSION TO SOCCER. He had lived in Northern California while his father was stationed at Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento. When he was 7, his father was reassigned back to the Netherlands. Earnest Stewart Sr. had played American football while growing up in Houston, and Earnie's Dutch mother competed as a sprinter. He loved to run the basepaths and snag passes and shoot hoops, yet he found few opportunities to burn off his nearly limitless energy. "It was difficult to play basketball, football, even baseball," he says. "We had to drive maybe an hour and a half, two hours, to play against American teams on other bases. That was very difficult. "I started having some Dutch friends when I was 9 or 10 years old, and all they did was play soccer. That was right next door to my house. Once you look out the window and see they're playing with a ball that is round and kicking it, having fun and laughing, you automatically go out there and try it yourself." At about the same time, he changed schools and adopted a club, Ajax. His life changed as well. "I went to a Dutch school when I was 12," he says. "Everybody has a favorite team over here. Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord -- it's usually one of those three most of the time. You start watching soccer on Sunday night and feeling sick if you're team loses. I guess that's when it pretty much started, when I was 13 or 14 years old." He joined VVV at the age of 19 and after two seasons left for Willem II, for which he scored 49 league goals in six seasons. He found the local populace's fixation on soccer in Tilburg unsettling -- "You get tired of being asked, 'What's wrong with the team?' every time you lose a game" -- and in 1996 moved to NAC and found a farmhouse in Uden, just minutes away from his parents and those of his wife. THE KENNEL GOES. He and wife Yvonne ran a kennel until last September, after the arrival of a second child strained their psyches. "It got pretty busy, especially when Ennis came along," says Stewart of the son who joined daughter Quinty in the household. "It was very difficult for my wife. I was gone most of the time. So with two kids and 100 dogs it was a little bit too much." NAC was floundering despite good results. A failed TV deal had deprived clubs of much-needed income. With the team hovering close to a European spot, Stewart could not extract from the club a free transfer. He refutes reports the club had to release him because of money. "The financial trouble had nothing to do with it, but they released me in the end," says Stewart. "You can send one player away, but it's not going to solve anything on the financial end. In November, the club said I was absolutely not allowed to go because, even though there were financial troubles, we needed to secure a place. I had an interview, and I was asked if I was disappointed that I can't go. I told them, 'I guess that's what soccer's about. They don't look at people, it doesn't matter how long you played there, how you ran your balls off for a club, in the end you're just a piece of meat.'" Such bluntness wouldn't go down well in most circumstances. Stewart's honesty hit home in the right place: Coach Hank Ten Cate. Whether by issuing such a personal appeal or perhaps trying to force the team's hand, Stewart got what he wanted. "After he read that piece, he called me in and told me even though he didn't want to let me go at all, he thought it would be fair and everything if he did let me go," says Stewart. "I'm very grateful to him." MOVE TO REDSKINS COUNTRY. He first contacted the U.S. Soccer Federation early in 1990, a few months before the World Cup. Bob Gansler, U.S. national team coach at the time, watched tapes of him but didn't call him in until that December.
Earnie Stewart has played up front and in midfield for the U.S. and mostly on the wing in the Netherlands. As for D.C. United, he says simply, "I hope to play." .
"We played against Portugal," he says of his U.S. debut in Oporto. "I remember not having much of the ball at all with the national team, but none of us got very much of the ball that night. We lost that game, 1-0, which was a pretty good result, but playing-wise wasn't too great." Not until 1992, well into the tenure of Bora Milutinovic, did he return to the U.S. squad for a match at RFK against Ireland. Stewart had played against in Fortaleza against Brazil, in Valladolid against Spain, and against Morocco in Casablanca. All were defeats. "I remember we won [3-1], in the pouring rain against Ireland, and we played a very good game," he says. "There are just good memories. I knew a couple of the guys already, but to play in the U.S. for the first time was a special feeling. It's pretty good to be going back there to play my games." Despite a lifelong love for the Dallas Cowboys that he shares with his father, he says he's ready for Redskin country. "Yeah that's a big rivalry," he laughs. "The Cowboys aren't doing too well. But, oh well. I'm going there to play soccer." The Stewarts will keep their home in Uden. They've rented an apartment in Reston, Va., and following a farewell appearance -- in street clothes -- for NAC, he'll belong to MLS, D.C. United and Coach Ray Hudson. "The plan is to play up front, but nothing is set in stone," he says. "We spoke once over the telephone. He's a great person to talk to. Camp is going to say everything. I hope to play, let me put it that way."
Ridge Mahoney is a senior editor at Soccer America magazine.
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