Mulrooney makes most of Cup chance

ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- Richard Mulrooney is a defensive midfielder for the Major League Soccer champion San Jose Earthquakes, but he could find himself playing right fullback this summer at the World Cup.

Mulrooney has started two straight games at right back -- a 4-0 thumping of Honduras and a shorthanded 1-0 win against Ecuador. U.S. coach Bruce Arena called up primarily MLS players for the two matches, allowing European-based players to remain with their clubs.

Arena's experimentation with Mulrooney shows that position to be less than settled, though the other top contenders are all based in Germany: Tony Sanneh, Steve Cherundolo and Frankie Hejduk.

Mulrooney, a 25-year-old native of Memphis, Tenn., relishes the challenge.

"It's an opportunity I've got to make the best of," he said. "Each minute that goes by, I feel more and more comfortable there.

"It's just a matter of getting some experience there and more minutes," Mulrooney said. "If you look at my club team, I pretty much play a defensive role there.

"Guys are running at me all the time. It's not the same position as center defensive midfielder, but it's not like I've never played defense before."

Days after helping the U.S. shut out Ecuador, Mulrooney showed his offensive prowess as the Earthquakes beat CD Olimpia of Honduras 1-0 on Wednesday in the away leg of their matchup in the CONCACAF Champions Cup round of 16. Mulrooney sealed the win with a 28-yard shot in the 73rd minute.

 

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U.S. tops Ecuador 1-0 in World Cup warmup Earthquakes beat Olimpia in FC Champions Cup
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