ôYou don’t need to be a genius to figure out our lineup and formation, and it won’t look much different than anything we have done in the past.ö — Bruce Arena (Feb. 21). In preview of the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifying match Feb. 28 and the USA-Brazil friendly March 3, U.S. coach Bruce Arena, meets the press: BRUCE ARENA Opening comments on USA-Mexico: “Naturally we are very excited about the opportunity to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. We know it will be a difficult year, with 10 difficult matches coming up. ôThe national team began preparation for this game on Saturday in Ft. Lauderdale. All of our players are slowly arriving in to Ft. Lauderdale, and by Saturday we will have our full complement of players in for the final few days of preparation. ôWe suspect that we will be able to field one of our strongest lineups since I have been head coach when we take the field on Wednesday.” On the use of a mix of European players and MLS players in the team’s roster: “A majority of MLS players have not been playing on a regular basis for 3 or 4 months. Our players in Europe have been playing more regularly and right now have an edge in fitness and timing and confidence. ôWe started back on Jan. 5 with a number of MLS players and tried to slowly bring them into sync with our European players, and I think we’ve accomplished that. I am simply hopeful of producing a roster that gives us the best chance to win the game against Mexico. ôMost MLS guys have been out of action so long it would be tough to rely on more players than we currently have in camp.” On the USA-Brazil match on March 3 at the Rose Bowl, three days after USA-Mexico: “First of all, whenever and wherever you are playing Brazil is great. But our approach to the Brazil game is that we will face that game when the time comes, and that time is Thursday morning. ôI know that they are coming here with a fantastic roster, and our roster will most likely be more MLS-dominated coming off the Mexico game. ôWe are going to put a good team on the field, and play with a lot of enthusiasm. … It should be a great match for everyone, and will be a thrill for our players. Anytime you play against Brazil, you are playing against the best. It should be the game of the year in the L.A. market.” On Brazil’s attack-oriented lineup under Brazilian head coach Emerson Leao: “You’re saying they are going to play with seven strikers (joking)? I would think that Brazil will be playing in their traditional formation with four in the back and four in the midfield and two strikers up top. ôObviously with two very attack-oriented midfielders, as well. I have a feeling that a couple of those strikers they are bringing will be on the bench at the start. Again, anytime we play Brazil it is a very important game for U.S. Soccer and our players. Whoever they play, it will be a great challenge for our players.” On the USA’s lineup and formation for USA-Mexico on Feb. 28: “I don’t plan on talking with the press about formations or starting lineups. We want to keep that information within our team. I don’t believe it is critical to have it in the press right now. ôWe want to go about the business of preparing our team and trying to get ready for Wednesday. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out our lineup and formation, and it won’t look much different than anything we have done in the past. But we will be keeping that information within our team.” On training in Florida instead of Columbus this week: “I don’t think we need to concern ourselves with acclimating to the weather. A majority of our players are playing in weather like this in Europe right now. We want to concern ourselves with being able to train on a regular basis. We don’t care what the weather is on Wednesday, but we want to be able to have some consistency in our training to be able to play Wednesday.” On the team’s focus entering the first match of the final round of World Cup qualifying: ôThe team is much more focused than in the semifinal round, simply because we are beginning to see light at the end of tunnel. When you begin to prepare for a World Cup it is generally three years ahead. Now we are so close we can taste it. We are better prepared mentally and better prepared physically. There is a lot of excitement, coupled with playing in Columbus, which I think will be great. The team will be very ready to play and it should be a great game.” On the U.S. team’s recent defensive play: “We’ve played well defensively recently, giving up a couple of goals in the last two games, but for the most part playing strong for 180 minutes. ôAnd our defense has been strong the last year or two. Now the decision is who will play, and that list could include any number of players, including David Regis, Carlos Llamosa, Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, Tony Sanneh, Gregg Berhalter. We have a good group of players to choose from. We may go with three in the back, we may go with four. That will be determined in the coming days.” On how he sizes up the Mexican team: “Mexico is an outstanding team, they have been a team well-known for their attacking style of play. A big concern we have is dealing with Luis Hernandez. As you know from watching him in the MLS, he is a dangerous player who is very good in counterattacks, he’s good at positioning himself in front of the goal and getting chances for himself and his teammates. (EditorÆs note: Hernandez is doubtful with a hamstring injury.) ôMexico is very good at set pieces, a number of goals they score are from set pieces and we are going to have to be ready to defend those. (Claudio) Suarez is one of the best defenders in the history of CONCACAF, and (Pavel) Pardo is very good in the back and is excellent at going forward. We are going to have to watch him. I expect it to be a tough game and very low-scoring.” On the advantage or disadvantage of opening qualifying with Mexico: “I think it is nice to be playing Mexico at home first, and we will have a good crowd in our favor. However, regardless of the stadium, and timing, and crowd, and weather, we will not be successful unless we step on the field and play well. ôIt is hard to predict how opening against Mexico will impact the rest of the tournament. You have 10 games in the final round, after two games you will start to see a pattern. We have to play Mexico twice, obviously, and I think that playing them first at home is best for us.” On sizing up the final round of World Cup qualifying: “It is a long stretch of games. If you look back at the last round, after two games we had one point and after six games we were at the top of our group. A lot of things change. Playing Mexico first, I can’t tell you how it will effect our group. There are three games on the first day and it will be interesting to see how it will shake out. ôI really believe that this time qualifying will be very different than it was in 1997. With teams 1-6 there is not much difference. In 1997, there was a big difference after the top four and then El Salvador and Canada. I don’t think that gap will happen this time around. I think it will all come down to the last day.” On whether Mexico is ôin as much trouble as they appearö: “I think you are accurate in saying that they are not in as much trouble as they appear to be. The loss of [Cuauhtemoc] Blanco and [Ramon] Ramirez will hurt them. ôYou can’t replace those types of players easily. But in international soccer you rarely have your full team on the field. So that is not an excuse for anyone in international soccer. I think they are going to have a good team on Wednesday and are going to be tough to beat. You need to ignore the results from the last few months; they will be insignificant when the whistle blows on Wednesday.” On the recent improvement of many soccer playing nations in the CONCACAF region: “I think part of the improvement is that local federations have been putting more money into developing the sport in their country. Also key players in these countries are playing abroad: Dwight Yorke at Manchester United, David Suazo for Honduras in Italy, and Paulo Wanchope from Costa Rica in England. ôThese countries players are better and have more well-rounded soccer experiences. So when they come back they are more well rounded and can help the team.” On using young players vs. old players: “The emphasis here is to win now. We are going to put the players on the field who give us the best change to win, whether it is Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley or someone with 136 caps like Cobi Jones. That is the decision I am going to make, I am not concerned with developing players for down the road. Again, the emphasis for us is qualifying for the World Cup.” On Brad Friedel’s selection to the roster, and whether the “job is his to lose”: “I don’t look at it as Brad’s job to lose. We have three very good goalkeepers in Friedel, Keller and Meola, and, frankly, I know we can win with any of the three in goal for these games. ôThe decision to bring in Brad is mine and I accept the responsibility. The reason we brought in Brad, is because Kasey Keller is required to play a game in Madrid on Sunday, and would have arrived late into Columbus. I am more comfortable having our goalkeeper in camp all week, which is an important factor in preparation. And having a goalkeeper coming in late could create a problem with injuries or travel or having him arrive late. Brad has played very well the last few weeks and has looked strong in camp.” On Brian McBride’s recent form in England: “I was able to watch him train (recently while in Europe) and I think he’s back to 100 percent. What he brings to the team is that he is a real forward. When he steps on the field you know he is going to give you 90 minutes. ôWhat he has done for us is he is a player we know we are going to get 90 minutes from and he scores goal. I don’t know what more you can ask from him. With his dimensions, obviously he is very good in the air. He’s a very good player at holding the ball and pressuring the opponent and he is able to keep enough balls alive to move forward into the attacking end of the field. He is invaluable.” On what type of player he sees as a good partner for Brian McBride up front: “Someone who can score goals (joking). Brian is a more central player and target player, so it is good to pair him up with a player that is a little more mobile … a player capable of scoring goals and moving forward.” On Ante Razov’s play in Spain: “Dave Sarachan visited him recently in Europe. In the Spanish Second Division, the competition is around the level of MLS. Maybe Ante’s team wouldn’t be in the top level of MLS, but they are around that level. ôThe one nice part of Spanish soccer is that it is good soccer and the ball is on the ground and the game moves well. It is attack-oriented soccer, better than you would see in Germany or England at that level. That suits Ante’s game well.” On the development of Steve Cherundolo: “Steve is back to being close to 100 percent. I stay in contact with him on a weekly basis. He is a player I envision on being on our roster in the near future. I tried to bring him in to a camp in January and February, but his team would not release him. I didn’t feel this is the time to bring him in to a World Cup qualifier. We need to get him into camp and get him into some matches and get him some experience and confidence at the international level.” On the number of points the U.S. might need to advance to the 2002 World Cup: “I really can’t answer that question. I think the minimum a team went forward with last time was 15. I think the group will be closer this time, so maybe 13 points, but I really don’t know. We aren’t looking at total points. After a few games we will have a better feel, but we are focused on one thing right now, and that is getting three points against Mexico on Wednesday.” On the U.S. team’s expanded player pool in the semifinal round of qualifying which included using 30 players: “Well, you would like to believe it would be a smaller group of players. One issue for us, though, is that the other five teams are mostly using domestic players, and they can control their scheduling around their domestic leagues. We don’t have that luxury. We are caught between two seasons with our domestic league playing on a different calendar than Europe. The last round we had some unique issues with suspensions and injuries, and our league calendar, but yet there are four more games. I believe Costa Rica used something like 17 players in games last round. Hopefully our numbers will get narrower in this round, but I can’t predict that, but it is our hope.” On the pressure of winning at home: “I don’t think this game has any more pressure than others. I think that every game has pressure. If any game is going to have less pressure, it is going to be game one, not game ten. Obviously, it is important to win at home, but it is not critical with this being game one. Having said that our main objective is to walk off the field with three points. Anything less than that and we will be disappointed.” On having a specific “national stadium” for U.S. soccer in the United States: “The focus during this qualifying round isn’t necessarily to develop a home stadium or the sport or whatever, but is related directly to giving our team the best chance to win or qualify for the World Cup. ôAt some point in the future, that might be on our radar screen more, but we aren’t really concerned with that right now. Columbus Crew Stadium is a great facility and we will utilize it to help us win. It would be nice in the future to have a home stadium or a number of home stadiums.”