D.C. United’s reign as the class of the East should be fiercely challenged this year by Columbus and Miami, although on paper, D.C. is still a cut above the rest. Come mid-May, the Crew will have a Home of Its Own, something no other MLS team can claim. Once a few more owners hear the roar and see the bottom line of a bandbox stadium, more shall follow. United is the primary tenant at RFK Stadium, yet the two-time league champion has to play its first three games on the road. Why? Exhibition baseball. Ouch. New England and the MetroStars are enigmas fronted by charismatic personalities. The Revs missed the playoffs and many of the same players are back, but then, so is Walter Zenga. The Metros have Bora and a whole new team. Neither of the Florida teams has been a smash at the gate, and Tampa has changed stadiums in a desperate effort to avoid relocation. That pirate ship won’t bring in fans night after night, and like the stadium, it belongs to somebody else. Miami has the coziest venue in the league, at least until the Crew’s new home is ready, but the franchise is riddled with management headaches. COLUMBUS A hot ticket Not many American fans would pick northern Ohio as their first choice for a European-style stadium built specifically for soccer. There are bigger markets with far more tradition and greater populations. But this is the land of single-entity, shootouts, and until recently, More or Less Sunil. It is also the land of Lamar Hunt, who has taken his share of the family oil fortune and plowed it into pro sports. This is his first foray into stadium construction, and at a price of $20 million, it will carry the traditional Hunt principles of clear-headed purpose and fiscal restraint. In this case, smaller — and cheaper — is better. How a cozy stadium and a regulation field will affect the Crew won’t be known until May 15, when the 22,500-capacity facility is unveiled for a match against New England. Yet the team may exchange one homefield advantage for another: Crowded instead of cramped. Columbus often prevailed in the ugly, brainless soccer produced in the bowling-alley confines of Ohio Stadium. Former D.C. United head coach Bruce Arena said the stadium, and the yield, were perfect fits for the coarse soccer tastes of Middle America. But those tastes, and the soccer, are apt to change. A staccato drumbeat of Caribbean rhythms is blended with steady American veterans like Brian McBride, Brian Maisonneuve, Mike Lapper, Jason Farrell and, in his farewell season, Thomas Dooley. A wider field not only gives Andrew Williams and Stern John more room, it should also grant Farrell and Robert Warzycha greater freedom on the flanks. A rested, eager McBride can surpass his ’96 peak of 17 goals. There are concerns in goal. Backup Mark Dougherty filled in capably last year, but Jurgen Sommer could miss the first half of the season. If head coach Tom Fitzgerald can solve the defensive dilemma presented by increased space, and sufficient salary-cap room can be found to keep John happy, Columbus has all the ingredients. As of March 1, more than 7,000 season tickets were sold, luxury boxes were almost gone, and sponsorships were piling up. Soccer a hot ticket in Middle America?: What a concept! D.C. UNITED A different mix The sobering question for this franchise, and indeed for MLS, is: “Has D.C. United peaked?” It reached its third straight final last year, but lost, and also has lost its head coach. Attendances have flattened out in the post-Raul Diaz Arce era. And what does it say about the franchise, and the league, when a buyer can’t be found for its most successful team that, unlike most, is the primary tenant in its home stadium? Filling the shoes of Bruce Arena, who weathered some early storms in his first season, is a formidable task for Thomas Rongen. The Revs chased him out of town amid dissension and acrimony in the locker room. Unlike Arena, Rongen doesn’t take on D.C. as a rookie in the pro game. He won MLS Coach of the Year honors in 1996 in leading Tampa Bay to the league’s best regular-season record with a team built around Carlos Valderrama. Since then, his D.C. playmaker Marco Etcheverry has surpassed Valderrama in stats and prestige. Arena had to earn Etcheverry’s respect, and so too does Rongen. With John Harkes gone, El Diablo’s presence on the team is greater than ever. The D.C. roster is full of strong personalities, and much of Arena’s success was due to him instilling a fierce team spirit while encouraging healthy competition for spots. Rongen doesn’t plan to alter the team’s system significantly, and the addition of Diego Sonora and Jason Moore on the flanks may counteract the departures of Harkes and Tony Sanneh. An effervescent Ben Olsen on the right flank, coupled with Sonora’s skill and guile, will unhinge a lot of opponents. The gaunt Dutchman doesn’t have Arena’s remarkable record of success, nor does he have Arena’s unique blend of bluntness and bluster. It’s a different mix in D.C. Jaime Moreno faltered a bit in 1998, and while many observers feel that was due to defenders respecting him more than Roy Lassiter, he also struggled with health and fitness. Never before has Rongen been dealt such a strong hand. Is he the equal of these aces? METROSTARS It’s Bora time If charm won games, the Metros would blast through the regular season at 32-0 and probably sweep in the playoffs as well. The genial GM, Charlie Stillitano, is paired with the indecipherable bon vivant, Bora Milutinovic. Together, they’d provide unparalleled company at a bar or restaurant, and they’re also not allergic to their wallets in said situations. But in the workings of MLS, their opinions differ, and thin wallets are opened grudgingly. How long Bora can endure under these chafing constraints is the question. Stillitano, while quietly holding out hope that one day Roberto Donadoni can be lured back to the Meadowlands, has deferred to his coach while the roster has been ripped apart and re-sown with new material. A typical Bora team is pregnant with pragmatism, and given the Metros dearth of exciting types in past seasons, forecasting the same for Metros ’99 isn’t difficult. Yet in Mark Chung, Roy Myers, Eduardo Hurtado and Tab Ramos, there’s sufficient flair to spice the Bora staples of positional structure and numbers back. The deployment of Myers — forward or midfielder — may depend on whom the Metros unveil as their fourth foreigner. “He can play both,” says Stillitano of Myers. “He scored a great goal against Empoli, but can control and pass the ball and obviously would be great in midfield as well.” If preseason games are any indication, keeper Mike Ammann could be riding a roller-coaster this season. He made several superb saves in a 2-1 loss to Italian Serie A cellar-dweller Empoli March 4, then let in a real softie two days later in a 2-1 defeat by Russian team Alania Vladikavkaz. Bora has several young players whose initial luster has faded. Mike Duhaney, Miles Joseph and Ramiro Corrales float in the nether region of great promise unfulfilled. Can he bring them into the light as starters, or will they fade into the background as journeymen? It’s been more than a year and a half since Ramos re-injured himself in the fall of 1997. If that characteristic explosiveness is contained by his feet and thighs, he may remind fans why he was the first player signed by MLS. MIAMI Serna spearheads attack He has no U.S. internationals, his No. 1 and No. 2 goalkeepers are injured, his leading scorer is pouting about paychecks, and he’s planning to start at least two rookies when the season opens March 20 against the MetroStars. And, no, Ivo Wortmann isn’t worried. Rooted firmly in his philosophy is the belief younger players are to be forged on the field, not nurtured on the bench. “By playing, you give them experience, and from this experience, they grow,” says Wortmann, who inherited an 8-11 Fusion team last season from Cacho Cordoba and guided it into the playoffs. Many coaches believe relying on young players is a ticket to unemployment. “You must pick the right players, of course,” replies Wortmann. “You let them play, and then you take the information.” To that end, he’s brought Duke product Jay Heaps and Project-40 assignee Maurizio Rocha into the starting lineup. A 1998 wunderkind, Pablo Mastroeni, is battling for a spot on the roster. Dusty Hudock will man the nets while projected starter Jeff Cassar and backup Scott Budnick recover from injuries. Heaps has grabbed a man-marking spot, and Rocha is penciled in as a central midfielder. Up front, the salary-surly Diego Serna is paired with newcomer Roberto Gaucho, who reported to camp late and played his first 45 minutes March 7 in a 3-1 loss to Tampa. Last season, Wortmann’s acumen and authority were confirmed soon after he took over. He shifted Serna from defensive midfield to attacker, and suspended Carlos Valderrama when the lion-maned Colombian refused to attend training in the aftermath of Cordoba’s ouster. Serna finished with 11 goals, and should be more productive with Gaucho alongside. If Gaucho is on the beam, he and Mario Gori form a potent left flank. Valderrama, who played only 18 games last year and recorded 12 assists, has looked very sharp in preseason. Unfortunately, the con-Fusion’s chaotic front office is like a busy restaurant with one cook and no waiters. What is served up at Lockhart should be delicious, but will the tables be filled? NEW ENGLAND Magic from Zenga? Revolution fans are so disgruntled that even a mediocre cast of characters would be hailed as a vast improvement over the listless band of losers that has populated Foxboro in the past. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that impresario Walter Zenga is likely to provide even a modicum of improvement. He’s unproven as a head coach, yet his scant coaching experience is lost in the glare of his braggadocio and remarkable achievements as a player. With him in goal, the Revs won quite a few games — although many of them were by shootout — in 1997. After such wins, he’d extend his arms and beam broadly as his teammates flocked around him, as a proud father embraces his children. However, he’s also a volatile mix of ego and extreme pride. Many great players fail as coaches, for they cannot accept the limitations of those less blessed. Failure is an affront, and not easily tolerated. New England has a dubious track record of settling for the most convenient coaching choice, but at least it was clear Frank Stapleton wouldn’t be suiting up against the MetroStars. Problem was, Stapleton couldn’t coach, either. During the MLS preseason combine, he regarded the potential talent pool as “woeful.” And so the Revs proved to be that first year. The Thomas Rongen regime crumbled last August after an encouraging playoff appearance in 1997. So, of course, the team turned to Zenga, who had elected not to return after the ’97 season. Zenga’s patience will be tested early in the season. The Revs start with road games in Miami and Kansas City, open at home with D.C. and Columbus, then travel to D.C. for United’s home opener. Questions swirling around the Revs are obvious. Can Signore Spiderman successfully integrate the Dutch skills of Edwin Gorter and Richard Goulooze into his Inter Milanesque system? Can he mine consistent production out of the fiery Joe-Max Moore? Himself aside, can New England hold the fort against the potent attacks of D.C., Columbus, Miami and Los Angeles? The Foxboro faithful would thrill to a grinding sequence of gritty wins. Glamour would be gravy. TAMPA BAY Building from top The new look of the Mutiny starts right at the top with its two new forwards, but Coach Tim Hankinson wants to believe the greatest change isn’t so readily evident. “When the players develop respect for each other, and are willing to fight for each other, that will carry you through a lot of the rough times,” he says. “I can’t say I saw much of that in this team last year when I took over.” Hankinson took over a 3-12 team that improved to 9-8 under his tenure. But a good deal more upgrading will be needed if Tampa is to make the playoffs, and after eight players were cut loose in the offseason, Hankinson decided to build from the top. Frontrunners Jefferson Gottardi and Alejandro Sequeira sparkled in a 3-1 exhibition win over the Fusion March 7. An auspicious start for the tandem Tampa Bay is banking on. “Both are true center forwards,” said Hankinson, who then pointed out Sequiera sometimes likes to drift wide and Gottardi had two assists against the Fusion. Both provide attractive options for midfielder Mauricio Ramos, whose effectiveness would further increase if wide-man Steve Ralston can rebound from a poor 1998. Aside from veteran Jan Eriksson, there’s a lot of youth in the back, which is no longer anchored by the tireless tirades of Thomas Ravelli. Replacement Scott Garlick proved his worth in D.C., but that was behind one of the league’s top defenses. The early schedule favors the Mutiny with its first three games at home. Yet it may have to win over the fans in those few games, otherwise the spectacular surroundings of Raymond James Stadium will be starkly free of warm bodies. MLS Commissioner Doug Logan has given Tampa one year in the new facility to prove it belongs there, and has set a very modest goal of 12,000 average attendance — less than the norm in Rochester. By Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney Tomorrow: Scott French previews the Western Conference