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Playing hurt U.S. roster thin as Honduras looms
NEW YORK (AP) -- It's gut-check time for the U.S. soccer team. Trying to qualify for its fourth consecutive World Cup, it heads into Saturday's game against Honduras missing most of its top offensive players. That's not unusual for a team that repeatedly has had to deal with injuries and suspensions. What had changed is the Americans enter as a front-runner (4-1-1), second in the six-nation finals of the North and Central American region, unbeaten at home in 19 qualifiers since a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica in May 1985 in Torrance, Calif.
"The worst-case scenario after this game on Saturday is we're in second place," U.S. head coach Bruce Arena said Thursday. "The best-case scenario is we're in first place. I can't imagine that undoes anything we've done to date." A victory in Washington against Honduras (2-2-2) would give the Americans 16 points, probably enough to claim one of the region's three berths at next year's tournament in Japan and South Korea. Still, because each team will have three or four games left, it wouldn't mathematically clinch a spot. A loss would leave the Americans stuck at 13 points heading into Wednesday night's game at Costa Rica, where the U.S. team is 0-4-1 in qualifying. In World Cup play, the goal is to win all your home games and pick up points on the road. The Americans have beaten Mexico, Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago at home and are 1-1-1 on the road, winning at Honduras, tying at Jamaica and losing 1-0 at Mexico in their last game, on July 1. "We didn't play well against Mexico," midfielder Earnie Stewart said, "but I guess you're always going to have one or two games in qualifying you don't do as well as you expect to." The U.S. offense sputtered at Mexico, especially in the first half, lacking direction because of the absence of midfielder Claudio Reyna, who was serving a one-game suspension, Reyna, the American captain, reaggravated a groin injury last week in Turkey while playing a European Champions League qualifier for Glasgow Rangers and will miss Saturday's game. "You lose arguably our best passer on the field," Arena said. Also missing are Clint Mathis (knee surgery), Brian McBride (blood clot), John O'Brien (knee), Ben Olsen (ankle surgery), Ante Razov (recovering from strained groin) and Josh Wolff (broken foot). Four of the seven goals by the Americans in the qualifying finals were by players now sidelined. Stewart scored the other three. "I never would have anticipated having the number of injuries we had," Arena said. "If there's anything I have learned from this job, it's that you need to be able to make adjustments and you need to be flexible. And we have." Because of the injuries, Arena is likely to start 19-year-old Landon Donovan in a qualifier for the first time. Donovan, who won the Golden Ball as the outstanding player in the 1999 FIFA Under-17 Championship, has seven goals in 15 games this season, his first with the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. Donovan, who would be the youngest player to appear for the United States in a qualifier since records began in 1988, has four appearances with the national team, all in exhibition games. He scored against Mexico in his international debut, a 2-0 win last Oct. 25. "Are we throwing him in too early at this point in time? That remains to be seen," Arena said. "But Landon is going to be able to help us over the next two games in some capacity. "His first touch is tremendous. He's got very good vision. He's a good passer, a good finisher. ... If there are any knocks, it would be his lack of experience and physically he isn't where he needs to be yet, although he's getting pretty close." In last year's semifinals, the United States stumbled to a scoreless tie against Costa Rica at Columbus, Ohio, putting the Americans in a must-win situation for the final game at Barbados. The United States struggled for most of the game, then pulled away for a 4-0 win. "Coming through was a real confidence boost for our team," Arena said. "If we make it through these rounds to the World Cup, I think it will be a plus."
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