HARKES RETURNS: Former U.S. midfielder John Harkes returned last night from an interview with Rochester Rhinos general manager Chris Economides. Former Burn coach Mike Jeffries will interview today for the coaching job left vacant by the departure of Pat Ercoli.

Harkes, who is D.C.'s director of youth development, is certainly intent on furthering his coaching ambitions. He will serve as an assistant coach next month when Sigi Schmid and the U.S. under-20s attempt to qualify for the 2005 World Youth Championship.

''It's something I'm definitely looking into and interested in, obviously,'' said Harkes, 37, who has also worked the past two year as co-host of ''MLS Wrap.'' ''The people in Rochester are ambitious. They're building a stadium and they want to be in the top league [MLS} some day, so it might be a good opportunity. But we'll see.''

Harkes said Thursday he had not spoken to Marcelo Balboa or Charley Wright about the Colorado job, but asked his agent, Craig Sharon, to get in touch.

RAPID SEARCH: The Rapids have released names of six finalists: Tommy Soehn, Denis Hamlett, Fernando Clavijo, Juan Carlos Osorio, Brian Bliss, and Curt Onalfo. A source said the team is also interested in Schmid, who is believed to be one of the handful of other candidates whose names were not released.

''Obviously I've known Marcelo for a long time and I think my interview with Charley Wright went very well,'' said Clavijo, who coached the Revs from November of 1999 to May of 2002. ''But then everyone probably thinks their interview went very well.

''I gave him a proposal of what I would do with the team and went through everything. The first question he asked me was what had happened in New England, and I told him I thought I brought in some good players but for the first two seasons was dealing with a few players with guaranteed contracts so in some ways I could not do what I wanted to do.''

Since being dismissed as Haiti's national team coach several months ago, Clavijo has been working with AC Milan, which is launching an extended camps program in the United States.

NELLIE'S NEW VISA: The path to English soccer for United defender Ryan Nelsen has been cleared by the British Department of Employment extending certain working rights for Commonwealth citizens to soccer players.

Nelsen, a native of New Zealand, has been approved for a holiday visa, by which he can work in the UK for the next two years. The visa is also renewable after the first year.

Should Nelsen be denied a work permit, issued to non-EU citizens wishing to play professional soccer in England, he would be employable with the tourist visa. Nelsen — the Kiwis team captain — qualifies for a work permit under the criteria that stipulates a player must have appeared in 75 percent of his team's competitive internationals during the previous two years, but New Zealand is right on the bubble of the other criteria: being ranked in the top 70 of the FIFA rankings. The Kiwis were 69th as of last month and the averages are recalculated for all countries every month.

Nelsen, 27, played four seasons in MLS and his contract has expired. Agent Lyle Yorks confirmed that two Premier League teams are interested in Nelsen but didn't confirm reports that he would be on trial at Blackburn this month. Yorks said a Bundesliga club has also inquired.