Scott Spires San Francisco, Calif. Is it a concern for the national team that the forwards never score goals on headers? Only the defenders seem to get on the scoresheet this way and McBride is the only forward who seems dangerous in the air. Ridge Mahoney: It’s a concern that the forwards can’t score goals, period. Eddie Pope, Alexi Lalas, and Marcelo Balboa are all good headers at both ends of the field, but there’s only one or two others on the squad. Wynalda is actually pretty good in the air, but usually he’s knocking balls down for others — as he did in the 2-2 tie at Foxboro last April for Pope to score with his feet — and McBride has simply not been finishing well either with his head or his feet. Lassiter is notoriously poor in the air, Wegerle is adept at nodding or flicking the ball on, but prefers the final pass to his feet. Joe Max can score with his head, but as a deep-lying midfielder recently, hasn’t had many opportunities. I don’t know if you saw the loss to Belgium, but McBride had a great chance on a ball lofted to him at the far post. Instead of attacking it with his head, he tried to chest it down and then shoot, but the ball got tangled in his feet and he didn’t get the shot off. This miss was a clear indication of his lack of confidence; when on his game, McBride flings himself at that ball instead of dancing with it. Your point is well-taken. I think a lot of it has to do with the team’s inconsistent crossing. I’ve seen numerous occasions this year when a forward is in position to head on goal, but the ball just doesn’t get there — it’s either too low and is intercepted, or it soars over the attacker’s head. A lot of the superb headed goals you see scored by English, German, Spanish and Scottish players are due to the precise timing of delivery and attackers approaching the goal at the correct angle as well as good heading technique. Also, aside from McBride, few U.S. players are confident heading at goal from the near post; it’s a difficult angle, and the ball has to arrive at just the right moment. Again, Joe-Max is not bad, and if memory serves, he just missed a flicked near-post header during the Gold Cup (I can’t remember which match). Lofted balls to the far post are predictable — especially on set plays — but can be more effective if the attacker wins the aerial battle. One final point: In many situations, an outside midfielder, outside back, or winger can sneak in at the back post, but Cobi Jones and Ernie Stewart are somewhat short, and no great shakes when heading for goal. Ditto Mike Burns and Jeff Agoos. Jessi Anucinski Naples, Fla. I am a goalie, a junior in high school and I have just turned 17. I have some ODP experience, and my dream is to eventually play in the Olympics and maybe go professional. I have pretty much been told if I don’t get accepted to a college like North Carolina or Notre Dame that I will probably never be able to realize my dream. Is this true? What is your advice to someone in my position? Dean Caparaz: Some might say there’s a formula to reach the national team, Olympics, World Cup, etc. — go to UNC, play on the national team. But that’s not necessarily the case. UNC alum Tracy Ducar is currently a regular on the national team and current collegians LaKeysia Beene (Notre Dame) and Siri Mullinix (UNC) are U.S. under-20 standouts. But the goalkeepers on the U.S. Olympic team — starter Briana Scurry and Mary Harvey — went to the University of Massachusetts and U.C. Berkeley, respectively. Jaime Pagliarulo, a top goalkeeper who’s played with the U.S. under-20 national team, goes to George Mason University. Even before choosing your college, you should keep playing in ODP and, play for a strong club team if you want to get noticed by the U.S. coaches. Of course, playing on one of the youth national teams — the U.S. U-16s coached by April Heinrichs or the U.S. U-20s coach by Lauren Gregg — can help one’s case considerably. Even if you reach the top level, the competition at goalkeeper should be fierce, as the U.S. produces plenty of quality goalies. Ralph Klein Chatsworth, Calif. My son is a goalkeeper who, after playing in college, has aspirations being a pro. He holds dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship. Would the Israeli citizenship allow him to play in Europe (Israel being part of UEFA) without being considered a foreign player under the Bosman ruling? Duncan Irving: It depends on the nation. In some countries your son would be eligible as a European Economic Area player (Germany being one). Other countries have rules that apply solely to European Union citizens (England), while others have waived the European restrictions altogether (the Netherlands). It depends on the country and how hard the club is prepared to work to do the paperwork (i.e. how highly they rate your son). Either way, an Israeli passport is less of a handicap in ensuring a work permit than a U.S. one. Bill Danzeisen Richmond, Va. Kevin Daly, an outstanding defensive player for St Johns University was selected as an All-American by almost every selection process in the US this year. He was not selected in the MLS draft or the A-League draft. Is this because he is English and has indicated the intent to return home to play, or is there some other reason (underclassman etc.) that he was not selected? Mike Woitalla: I don’t know what Kevin Daly’s own career plans are. But his appeal to MLS teams would indeed be limited by his foreigner status. While you are correct that he was an outstanding college player, an MLS team would be unlikely to use up one of its five foreigner spots on a defender unproven in the pro ranks. These five spots are usually reserved for stars allocated by the leagues. And very often, the foreigner spots go to players who backgrounds would appeal to a particular ethnic fan base. For a British player to be brought in, he would have to have a good professional history, and/or a coach willing to lobby hard to the league for his acquisition (as Ron Newman did with Wizards’ forward Paul Rideout). Andrew Williams is a foreign college player who did land on a MLS team (Columbus), but he had already proved himself while playing for the Jamaican national team. David Phillips Mableton, Ga. I seem to remember an article in SA where, in preparation for the 1992 Futsal World Cup, the national team played a couple of exhibition matches with the Dallas Sidekicks. They played one game each, futsal and the hockey-rink kind. Were there any opinons expressed as to which version was most preferable? Personally, I feel that futsal would be more economically feasible than the hockey-rink style, and would also be more TV-friendly. Since futsal has become standardized worldwide, and since we’re good at it, why couldn’t the established leagues (NPSL, EISL, etc.) start moving toward futsal? Seeing what has happened with the CISL, they really wouldn’t have anything to lose (besides money, and most teams do that anyway). Paul Kennedy: Futsal would be more economically feasible, but soccer’s problem has never been costs — they are low — but revenues. You’d still have to set up a place to attract fans — a basketball arena setting might work. Futsal is standardized worldwide, yes, but it is a very minor sport — similar to sports like roller hockey in Europe. The existing NPSL has chosen a path of sticking to the traditional (i.e. American) indoor game. TV isn’t a factor since indoor soccer doesn’t do well. Futsal has had trouble selling here: It’s billed as more like outdoor soccer, in which case why not play (or watch) outdoor soccer?