Tab Ramos will be a pivotal figure when the U.S. takes on Costa Rica in Sept. 7. Sidelined by a knee injury for the duration of the Hexagonal, Ramos has returned to form and fitness with the MetroStars. SOCCER AMERICA: You’ve been a spectator for the Hexagonal. How hard has that been for you and what have you made of the team’s progress? TAB RAMOS: It’s been hard. Not because I think things would have gone any different if I’d been playing, but because I wasn’t able to help at all. We have a good team and the way soccer is, you need 11 guys playing well to do well. I think the guys did a good job getting us to where we are and now we’re at a point where we have a must-win situation at home against Costa Rica. If we win, we’re in good shape. SA: What are your thoughts about Costa Rica? TR: Costa Rica is fighting for second place with us. I know they’ve had a lot of problems lately with their coaching, but I think that’s just the way their federation is. I think they like firing guys all the time! That’s something I think they’ll overcome. I think there’s a big gap between Mexico first, then us, then Costa Rica, and then the three other teams. There will be teams involved all the way to the end, but I don’t think there will be any surprises. SA: Even though Costa Rica’s away form is so poor? TR: I would think if anything Costa Rica would be more difficult on the road because they have those real fast guys up front. Hernan Medford and Paulo Wanchope [currently injured] are very fast and any time you can be dominating them, they can counter and score on you. That’s going to be part of their game, and the other teams don’t have those type of weapons. SA: Against Costa Rica you won’t have John Harkes. Where will you fit into the system? TR: I just hope I can contribute, whether it’s in a real offensive role, as a playmaker behind the front two or as a right-sided midfielder. I don’t really care. When I go the national team, I’m just happy to be there ù I’ve been doing it for 10 years. I’ve told Steve Sampson, if I’m selected to play right back, I’ll play right back. That’s never been a problem for me. SA: Let’s talk about MLS. Summarize the MetroStars’ season. TR: I think we have a very good team. We’ve only had our team for five weeks. When I say “our team,” I mean since I’ve been back, since Manny Lagos has been back from his injury, since we got Branco and we traded for Brian Bliss and Mark Semioli. That’s five guys who can really get things going in the lineup and change the way the team’s been playing. Our defense went from being very weak to being one of the best in the league. Bliss on the left has a lot of experience. Put Mark Semioli on the right side and Rhett Harty has played very well all season in the middle. Then you have Branco tightening things up alongside him. We have as good a shot as anybody right now, with all respect to D.C. United and the L.A. Galaxy, who are the best two teams in the league. SA: Not Kansas City? TR: They’re a very good team and Tampa Bay and New England have very good rosters and they can do very well. But when you talk about championship-type teams, I think that L.A. has that. Because they defend well and they’re always going to be in with a shot. That’s what I think Kansas City has been lacking ù they give up a lot of goals. Championships aren’t won by scoring a lot of goals, normally they’re won with defense. SA: How many players are the MetroStars away from having a really competitive team? TR: Right now we have a competitive team that can beat anybody. We can lose to anybody, too, but at this point I’m happy that the club has made some moves and gotten some guys who have made a difference for us. We’ll lose some games, but now we don’t have to feel ù as we have for the last 18 months ù that every time we go out it’s almost a miracle if we don’t lose. SA: You’ve played for three different coaches ù Eddie Firmani, Carlos Queiroz and Carlos Alberto Parreira. Could you compare them for us? TR: Firmani was used to having the type of guys who know what to do under any circumstances. He ran into a team that had a lot of young players and really needed a lot of teaching. That’s part of the reason that Queiroz was so important to us in developing guys and teaching players like Miles Joseph and other young guys we had on the team ù like A.J. Wood ù to help them become better players. Now we get an opportunity to get Carlos Alberto Parreira. He’s a teacher, he’s a coach, he’s everything in one. He knows what it means to get this sport off the ground in this country. He speaks perfect English and we couldn’t have a better guy for this market. SA: What about playing on turf? Does that help or hinder you? TR: It’s no secret that the players hate it. To improve the situation, they put a lot of money into the tray system, and spent millions of dollars in trying to convince the Jets and the Giants to play on grass, but it hasn’t happened. We can’t be mad at the fact that we’re not playing on grass because the management hasn’t tried to get it done, but we’re not happy playing on turf. I’ve been out for six months, now I’ve been back a month-and-a-half, and it’s definitely not good for my knee. I’m scared every time I go out there. We don’t feel we have an advantage playing on turf because we don’t like it. But obviously we know it a little bit better than the other teams. SA: What do you think about the state of the league? TR: It really surprised me that the league didn’t really go after any big-name foreign players. I think they should have continued what they started last year. Having said that, the younger guys have come through just by playing and being in a professional environment. Hopefully next year, they’ll bring in some big-name stars and if you combine that with all the experience the American kids now have, this league’s definitely going places. SA: But players like Carlos Valderrama are hard to find … TR: Those players are hard to find for the kind of money that they [MLS] want to pay. But you’ve got the Jaime Morenos and Marco Etcheverrys, Roberto Donadonis, too, so there’s enough but we need more. Next year, with expansion, some of the teams are starting to look real strong, but what you can’t do is expand too fast, and when the expansion draft comes around that everyone’s going to pick the D.C. United subs! Then you’d be hurting the teams. SA: What about the referees? TR: There’s not a whole lot I can say without getting into trouble, but I’ll say it anyway: I don’t think the level of refereeing has improved at all ùespecially on my behalf. I’ll be dribbling the ball and I get fouled and they call it. And the next time if the guy comes up and hits me above the knee and I fall down and roll two times, they’re almost anxious not to call it just to let me know that was a dive. I don’t get it. I’m not a player who dives, I don’t try to fool anybody and I feel that sometimes that they’re looking at me like I’m diving, they want to teach me that they know I’m diving. I don’t like that at all. SA: As borne out by your disciplinary record … TR: I need to improve on that, I’m not a saint by any means. Whenever I’m out there, I’m going to argue anything I don’t agree with. I go overboard sometimes and I shouldn’t. For example, against Kansas City I let my team down. Forty minutes into the game, we’re winning 1-0 and they’re not even touching the ball and I get thrown out [the MetroStars lost on the shootout after a 3-3 tie Aug. 17]. I got fouled three times in a row. By the third time I was fouled and Arturo Angeles hadn’t called it, I went up and argued with him, and he threw me out with no yellow card! I understand that all referees are different and some guys you can yell at and some you can’t. But I also know he’s a terrible referee! So, I’ll keep paying my fines and I’ll try to get better. SA: Where would you like MLS to be next year? TR: For the league to spend money on new players, because expansion is going to be so important. I think we have a great market in Chicago, but a weak market in Miami. I can’t see that market doing well, but I hope I’m wrong. In Miami they’re definitely going to need some big Colombian or South American stars to bring the crowds to the stands. With the national team, we know that Miami is a hard market to crack and that’s why we don’t go back there. SA: And the national team?? TR: We need to qualify and I’m confident we will. Anything that’s not advancing to the second round will be a big disappointment for us. I think we need to show that we’ve improved with every World Cup we’ve been in. That would be a good way to leave the national team. by Soccer America Senior Editor Duncan Irving