Overage players will alter U.S. complexion in Australia


HERSHEY, Pa. The hardest part of the job awaits Clive Charles sometime around the first of June. He plans then to determine the 18 players he’ll take to Australia in September, and there is only one certainty: It won’t be the same 18 who qualified at Hersheypark.

The United States, and the other 15 competitors in men’s soccer at the Sydney Games, may position up to three overage players on its roster, providing an opportunity to shore up weaknesses or strengthen important areas on the field.

The addition of, say, Cobi Jones or Claudio Reyna to Charles’ under-23 squad will certainly make the Americans a stronger side, a more explosive side, and it will help whip up excitement for the Olympic competition, attract greater fan interest.

It also will leave three of the players who played a role in the Yanks’ impressive qualifying success watching from home, hearts broken.

“The toughest thing,” says Charles, a “players’ coach” who has fashioned a bosom-buddy bunch among the country’s best young players, “will be telling three of these that they can’t go to Australia.”

It could be, barring injury or worse, as many as five. Joey DiGiamarino and Sasha Victorine, replaced on the qualifying roster because of groin injuries, will certainly figure in Charles’ equations as he determines what’s best for his team.

“I’ll sit down with my assistants [John Ellinger and Peter Mellor] and discuss it, I’ll talk to Bruce [Arena], see what he feels,” Charles says. “Then I’ll make some decision based on that.”

AN AGGRAVATING WAIT. Those on the bubble ù potentially everybody but Ben Olsen, Chris Albright, John O’Brien, Steve Cherundolo and the goalkeepers ù now begin an aggravating wait.

“It’s like you talk to people and they say, æOh, you’re going to the Olympics,'” notes Danny Califf, one of three U.S. central defenders at the CONCACAF tournament in Hershey. “And you have to tell them, æWell, maybe I’m not going to go.’

“I’ve just got to go out and do what I’ve got to do, and if at the end of the day he decides [starters Brian Dunseth and Chad McCarty] are going along with an older guy, I’m the one left out. Obviously, I want to go and I’ll be disappointed if I don’t.”

There’s another possibility.

“Maybe he doesn’t bring in three [overage players],” Cherundolo offers. “Ideally, that would be great.”

His smile slowly fades.

“No, he has to bring in players, of course. … You’ve got to put the best team out there, bottom line. We’re professionals, and if a player doesn’t understand that or can’t accept that, he probably shouldn’t be here.”

Charles, too, has mulled over the idea of leaving the old guys home, of rewarding the players who, through a two-year process, did the work that paid off in Hershey.

“I thought about it,” he says. “Then I thought, well, I still have to try to win as much as I can. I think I have to bring in overage players.”

THE SHORT LIST. Charles says he has a short list of perhaps 10 players to consider for the three slots. He must consider the U-23s’ chemistry, arguably its greatest asset, its needs and its depth, which favors the right side and the forwards.

He must also, to some extent, balance his needs against those of his players and their clubs. Reyna, Eddie Lewis and Joe-Max Moore won’t likely be interested in giving up a starting job in Britain for a couple weeks of Olympic glory, and their clubs aren’t going to be pleased if they are. Sigi Schmid’s gonna scream if Charles decides if L.A.’s Jones, Greg Vanney and Robin Fraser are his men.

What are his options?

“I don’t want to bring in an overage player for a position where our position is OK, even if the overage player is better than what I’ve got,” he says. “We need to bring in overage players to make the team better, as opposed to maybe making one position better.”

That means Kasey Keller, an overage pick for Atlanta ’96, is out. Adin Brown could be No. 3 for the full national team by the end of the year, and Tim Howard seems a capable backup. Why replace them?

No forwards are needed. Chris Albright, Conor Casey, Josh Wolff and Landon Donovan give the Americans a deep, diverse, skilled quartet of attackers.

Ben Olsen and John Thorrington provide good depth on the right wing, and right back Steve Cherundolo is the team’s best defender by a large margin.

John O’Brien is a rock in the middle, although Charles needs to determine how to use him, as a playmaker or (as in Hershey) a defensive midfielder.

ARMAS? REGIS? That decision could determine one of his selections: If O’Brien is to be the primary ballhandler, perhaps Chris Armas ù the consensus addition, it seems, of everybody who has no say ù joins the 18. His work ethic and easygoing manner would be welcomed.

Or maybe Charles brings in Jones, a cross between a wing and a forward, and puts O’Brien behind him. Peter Vagenas, O’Brien’s partner in Hershey, and Victorine also will figure in the coach’s deliberations. So might Brian Winters, who looked good in two reserve stints.

The other problem areas are on the left and in the back.

Winger DaMarcus Beasley’s youth was exploited in Hershey, and Ramiro Corrales, the starting left back, demonstrated an agile attacking sense but struggled defensively. Eric Denton didn’t leave much of an impression.

DiGiamarino’s return to health may be enough to solve trouble on the wing, and Olsen or Thorrington will play on the left if asked. The best over-23 choices: Lewis, who won’t want to leave Fulham as the next English season begins, and Jones.

Charles has two outstanding overage options at left back. Vanney has grown into a fine defender, possesses a rocket left foot, is comfortable attacking and can play in central defense or midfield. David Regis has similar tools, plus European experience; he’ll pass if his next job is in Europe.

Central defense provides different concerns. Dunseth, the captain, and McCarty are better in tandem than individually. They’ve played together on the U-20 and U-23 teams for four years.

Fraser, a veteran with speed and ball skills, seems a logical addition, especially if Vanney ù with whom he enjoys a special on-field relationship ù is in the cast. Maybe Charles would prefer Carlos Llamosa or Marcelo Balboa.

The choices will be made, Charles promises, near the start of June.

“I’m going to choose the three,” he says, “then I’m going to change my mind three or four times before I eventually get to where I want to get.”

by Soccer America senior editor Scott French