Soccer America associate editor Will Kuhns was in Barbados when the U.S. national team arrived on Sunday evening: First practice on the island: The team trained Monday on a grassy, but uneven field, perhaps good preparation for the conditions they will face Wednesday during the crucial World Cup qualifying game. The goalkeepers practiced clearing oddly bouncing balls with their feet and the forwards were urged to get to crosses before they hit the ground and changed direction. Three defenders: Coach Bruce Arena said he would play with three defenders, most likely Carlos Llamosa, Gregg Berhalter and Jeff Agoos. And Arena said that Tab Ramos and Eddie Lewis were likely to start in midfield and that Landon Donovan will probably not start. Meola may go abroad: Goalkeeper Tony Meola is set to make his first appearance in a World Cup qualifying game since the 1989 win over Trinidad & Tobago that clinched U.S. qualification for the 1990 World Cup. Meola, the key to the Kansas City WizardsÆ 2000 MLS title win, is also contemplating a stint abroad. Details are being worked out for him to be loaned to Turkish First Division club Fenerbache during the MLS offseason. “If you had asked me a month ago, I’d be looking for somewhere to go full time, but now MLS is working on some things that will be very important for the league and I’m going to stay,” Meola said. “It’s such a long break between now and training camp. I was playing so well and I didn’t want to stop. ôSometimes it stinks moving every five months, but I want to stay on top of my game. I could play 12 months, I’m a goalkeeper, it’s not like field players who need the rest.” SA Q&A with Clint Mathis: SOCCER AMERICA: Could you talk about what it’s like being in camp for a game of this magnitude? CLINT MATHIS: For sure, we need to win this game and it’s very good to even be considered for this game. I’ve been to some other ones, and hopefully if I get a chance in this game, I’ll be able to produce and help my team. SA: You only have four caps, all of them in friendlies and you’ve been called in for four qualifiers without playing. Can you talk about the difference in coming in for a game like this as opposed to a friendly? CM: I think you have to be more mentally prepared. The field conditions and the importance are factors, but you have to be calm and take it like any other game. We have to put pressure early. It’s not a game we need to ride through and stay tied, 0-0. We need to get a goal early and take the game to them as soon as possible. SA: Does Bruce talk to you guys who are in the national team pool about where you stand? CM: Yeah, he does. I think he has to look at the big picture. It’s not just a day-to-day basis. These games are very important. I think players know their place. It also is a matter of how players are playing at the particular time. If you have a group that’s not playing well together, you need to bring in some new guys to spark the team to play better. I think he does a good job of making sure the players understand where they’re at. SA: How good is it to know that playing well in MLS will translate to chances with the national team, such as in your case? CM: Well, that’s got to be basis for it — how well you do with your club. I think that’s pretty much the only basis Bruce has. I’m not a player that has a lot of international experience at this level, so he has to base it on the season we’ve had and bring us into camp. If we do well there, then he has that to base it on. SA: Does it look like you might be starting? CM: Well, you never really can depend on that — it all depends on what happens in the next day or two. … Now I just stay positive and do what I can. If that’s on the bench supporting my team, than that’s my job. — By Will Kuhns in Christ Church, Barbados