Josh Carraghan Boston Do you know when and where the CONCACAF Champions Cup will be held? Pete Bailey: Look for an announcement next week that the ’99 edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup will be held in Las Vegas, Nev. from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3. Houston and Los Angeles had also been under consideration as the site, but both dropped out. Eight teams will compete, including defending MLS champion Chicago, defending CONCACAF champion D.C. United, and Toluca, winner of Mexico’s Torneo Verano. Joe Public from Trinidad & Tobago won the Caribbean championship last fall to fill one slot, and three more will be filled by Central American clubs. (They are about to begin the second phase of group qualifying play.) The other spot is yet to be determined, and could be allotted to the winner of a playoff between Mexican Torneo Invierno champion Necaxa and the Los Angeles Galaxy, the team with the best record during the ’98 MLS regular season. The winner of the ’99 CONCACAF Champions Cup goes to the inaugural FIFA World Club Championship in Brazil Jan. 5-14. Hideki Miura San Diego I just got back from Japan and I’m sad about what’s happened to the J-League. The high-priced foreigners are gone and the level of play is down. It seems interest in soccer has slowly been decreasing despite improvement by Japan’s national and youth teams. Bad news for WC 2002. Many point to when “Golden Boy” Hidetoshi Nakata left as he was quickly being identified with the league and drawing huge crowds. Japan will follow i’s stars abroad (Hideo Nomo or Hideki Irabu), but the novelty will go away quickly. Japan, like America, prefers to have its stars showcased before them. Shipping them to Europe is not the answer. Is there anything MLS can learn from the J-League’s problems? Paul Kennedy: MLS’s lessons from the J-League experience: (1) Watch out when the economy slows down! MLS has never experienced a downturn in the national economy to deal with. If Japanese companies were on the fence about staying involved in the J-League as investors or sponsors, the Japanese economic meltdown forced many of them to cut back their soccer involvement. (2) Don’t spend like the Japanese did. The reason the J-League had all the big foreigners was that clubs spent ridiculous amounts of money on them. MLS hasn’t, and it’s at least more realistic in its outlook. By Year 4 of the J-League, 1996, the attendance was starting to go down significantly. MLS attendance in Year 4 isn’t back to Year 1 but it isn’t dropping either. Japanese TV ratings really fell badly by Year 4. MLS, in Year 4, is doing OK on TV, considering the incredibly crowded field for TV programming. (3) You can’t stop players from going abroad. Yes, it is a cultural problem: How will fans react when their star player ups and moves to another country? On the competitive side, there’s no way to stop them, though. As far as the Japanese national team goes, players going abroad is the best thing that can ever happen to it, just as it was for the U.S. national team. Finally, one comment: Don’t assume J-League problems will impact the 2002 World Cup. It will be as big or bigger in Japan as it was here in ’94. The J-League was already struggling badly last year, yet ratings for the Japanese matches in France were phenomenal. Justin Lovich Pittsburgh I was wondering about the status of Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel for next season. Keller is still looking for a squad — any leads as to where he’ll end up? As for Friedel, will he get to see much of the field for Liverpool with the huge money dished out for the transfer of a Dutch goalkeeper? Pete Bailey: Keller is still without a club — a move to Wimbledon fell through after the coaching change that brought Norway’s Egil Olsen in — and he may be hoping to impress clubs with a strong performance at the upcoming Confederations Cup. The rumor mill has had him linked to Real Mallorca in Spain, as its Argentine keeper, Carlos Roa, has opted to quit life between the pipes and to dedicate himself to religious work, but nothing substantial has been reported. As Leicester has yet to sign a replacement keeper, don’t rule out Kasey returning to Filbert Street just yet. As for Friedel, the good news is that his work permit was extended, allowing him to play another season in England. The bad news is that Liverpool already has a full complement of three non-EU players and Friedel would need to obtain a full German passport in order to stay with the team. If he obtains said passport, he would likely stay and back up new Dutch signing Sander Vesterveld. (Liverpool has also signed a German keeper who could be backup material.) However, if Friedel doesn’t obtain the passport, his permit extension means he could play for another British club. We’ll have to see what transpires. In the meantime, both keepers are due to join the U.S. team in Colorado this weekend. Wilson M. Muguiyi Birmingham, Ala. What does it take for one to become a soccer coach? Are there institutions that train one on how to become a coach? Mike Woitalla: Wilson, if you’ve played the game for a good part of your life and know the rules, you probably already have the tools be a coach. Whether you want to take part in the coaching education opportunities in this country, is up to you. Some may recommend getting U.S. Soccer licenses because they look good on your resume and help you make contacts in the coaching community. If you’re not very familiar with soccer — many Americans become soccer coaches without experience because their children play and coaches are needed — then I would do the following: Watch as much soccer as you can, on television and in person. Try to play a bit by joining a recreational league or finding pickup games. Read the rule book. You can find one at a soccer shop or go to FIFA’s website (www.fifa.com) or visit the www.socceramerica.com Book & Video Source (click on the icon in the menu at the left). If you’re going to coach very young kids, knowing the rules and the basic concepts of the game are probably the most important things, because tactics shouldn’t come into play until much later. Your main objective will be to let the kids play as much as possible and have fun. Don’t bore them by setting up a bunch of cones and having them wait in line to perform “drills.” There are myriad instructional books available for novice and advanced coaches. There are also two main organizations with coaching schools. The U.S. Soccer Federation offers courses that award licenses — from F through A. (USSF: 312-808-1300 and www.us-soccer.com) You could also contact U.S. Youth Soccer, which operates under the USSF umbrella. (1-800-4SOCCER or www.youthsoccer.org) Then you have the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), which traditionally caters to college and high-school level coaches (1-800-458-0678 or www.nscaa.com). Chris Caron Wilmington, N.C. In years past, I have heard that the USASA, PDSL, and D-3 teams that advance the farthest in the U.S. Open Cup get a cash reward. Is this true, and if so how much is it? Pete Bailey: The team from each level of play (Division II, III and amateur — which encompasses both the PDL and USASA) that advances the farthest in the Open Cup receives $10,000. If two or more teams are tied for advancing the farthest, they split the money. Looking at this year’s tournament, the Carolina Dynamo will be the D3 Pro League team that advances the farthest, as its upset win over Orange County of the A-League means it will be the only D3 team in the Third Round. Mid Michigan is currently the only amateur team to make the Third Round, but Cocoa has yet to play its match against A-league opponent Jacksonville. Should Cocoa win and then both PDL teams lose to their MLS opponents in the third round, each of the PDL teams would receive $5,000. There are still plenty of A-League teams in contention.