MLS CONFIDENTIAL: Fish future; presidential invite

FISH FUTURE: Much is at stake tonight when Guatemala hosts Costa Rica on the final day of Hexagonal qualifying, and agent Richard Motzkin will be on hand not just for the result but its aftermath regarding Carlos ''The Fish'' Ruiz.

By winning, Guatemala can finish fourth in the Hexagonal if T&T loses or ties in Mexico City. That would send the Chapines into a playoff against either Uzbekistan or Bahrain, which meet in the second leg of their Asian playoff today.

Ruiz's contract with MLS expires at the end of the year, and he's made no secret of his ambition to play in Europe or South America or Mexico. League officials say they would like to retain his services, which would normally require the league to stump up a lot of money to keep him. 

Because his rights are held by Guatemalan club Municipal and that contract extends beyond Dec. 31, there will be a flurry of phone calls and meetings and faxes during the next two months to sort out where he plays and who pays him what. No official figure has been confirmed but Municipal pays him approximately four times the $30,000 he earned in salary from MLS this year.

Motzkin traveled to Guatemala City to initiate discussions he doesn't expect to be resolved until December at the earliest.

"Is he going to be treated fairly here and get a fair financial offer?" asks Motzkin. "There's a certain amount of him that's happy and comfortable and likes it here, or does he want to start fresh somewhere else, whether it's in Mexico or Europe?"

Whether Guatemala reaches the World Cup will affect Ruiz as well.

His value increases if it does, but so do the pressures and distractions on him, and it's these outside influences as well as personal issues that have hounded him during his MLS career despite his remarkable scoring record.

"They don't own him forever but they have rights to him that extend beyond Dec. 31," said Motzkin of the deal with Municipal. Like Ruiz's MLS contract, it pre-dates Motzkin's representation of Ruiz. "That deal was signed several years ago and is not commensurate with what his value is."

That's especially true in light of MLS forking out annual salaries of $900,000 for Landon Donovan, $875,000 for Eddie Johnson, and reportedly more than $1 million for Francisco Palencia. Municipal wants to cash in, not fork out.

PRESIDENTIAL INVITE: D.C. United coach Peter Nowak will be at the Polish embassy today in the nation's capital to watch England and Poland play their final World Cup qualifier with outgoing President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who is stepping down after serving two terms.

Poland secured its second straight World Cup appearance Saturday without kicking a ball. By beating the Czech Republic 2-0, the Netherlands assured both Poland and England, which beat Austria, 1-0, would qualify for the World Cup regardless of which nation finished first in Group 6. Poland (8-1-0) leads the England by two points (7-1-1) heading into their meeting in Manchester.

"He invited me," said Nowak. "I will be glad to sit with him and watch the game. I am proud that they go to the second World Cup in a row. The coach [Pawel Janas] did a great job to keep them together. The group was pretty tough.