Kenya Brown
College Park, Md.
Since DC United has won the MLS Championship, one question has always lingered in my mind. When do they start to compete for a CONCACAF title? I know that there are a couple that United is eligible to play in, but I think the problem with these CONCACAF tournaments is that the tournaments are poorly organized. Do you think CONCACAF should follow the format of UEFA and formulate a Champions League which would make it much interesting in this region?
Ridge Mahoney: CONCACAF stages a Champions’ Cup every year as well as the Cup Winners’ Cup. (Play will start in late winter or early spring.) True, they are somewhat rinky-dink, and frankly I wouldn’t trust CONCACAF to organize my desk, much less an international club tournament. And I don’t think the MLS champ is interested in being drawn against clubs from Belize or Guayana, so a proper seeding is essential.
Right now, D.C. United, as both the league and cup winner, is eligible to enter both tournaments, which, at this point, is exactly what it plans to do. Onto the treble, or maybe a quadruple in ’97!
Jason L.
College Station, Texas
In a recent Sports Illustrated article on Eric Wynalda, it said that he could run the 40 in 4.4 seconds. I always wanted to find out that kind of information about some of the fastest soccer players in the world, because you always hear how the great athletes in basketball and football run certain times, bench press whatever, and have a certain verticle leap. Does any soccer league or national team keep information on their players like this? For instance how fast does Cobi Jones, Ernie Stewart, or Marc Overmars run the 40? Or how much can Eduardo Hurtado or Daniel Amokachi bench press? What is John Doyle or Steve Rammel’s verticle leap? Do you know? How can I find more information like this? To tell you the truth, I’m sick of hearing about how Junior Seau can bench half-a-ton and run a 4.5 and slam on a 12ft basketball goal.
Ridge Mahoney: Sorry, can’t help you with times in the 40. Soccer players are usually tested for stamina in the Cooper test, which measures how far a player can run in 12 minutes. I’ll try to dig up the Cooper Test results for U.S. players, but they vary depending on when they’re tested, and I don’t think most of the players have ever been timed in the 40.
I doubt if Eduardo Hurtado or Daniel Amokachi has ever touched a weight machine or been tested in the bench press. I faintly recall that Doyle’s vertical leap at one time was about 36 inches. I have no data on Rammel, but he’s probably one of the poorest jumpers in the league. He gets his goals by anticipation and timing.
Football and basketball fans, and certainly coaches and scouts, get excited about such data. Most soccer coaches use physical tests to measure a player’s fitness, but evaluate them on their ability to play soccer, not pump iron. It’s not a bad idea perhaps for the league to stage a — sponsored, of course — Fastest Man in the League contest. I don’t think coaches would want their players straining to lift heavy weights. The players who do weight train usually work with lighter weight and rapid reptitions. They want to develop explosiveness of movement, not mass.
Players like Hurtado and Amokachi have most of their strength in the legs, not the upper body. Putting them on a leg press could cause injury, and they’d probably laugh at you if you asked.
Incidentally, here’s a good bit on Amokachi. His nickname is “Amotaxi”, because he’s big and can carry 10 passengers. Ba-dum-ba-dum! (That was a rimshot.)
D. Michael Gregoire
Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
I wonder where women’s college coaches place the greatest emphasis in their recruiting? High school teams, ODP teams/camps, national club team tournaments [e.g. WAGS, Surf Cup, etc.]? Any general consensus?
Dean Caparaz: It’s difficult to say. Women’s college coaches recruit based on a variety of factors, including need, budget (scholarships and travel budget), and stature (i.e., A first-year Division III school may not spend any time recruiting a player like Lorrie Fair). At the highest-level — NCAA tournament teams, for instance — many coaches put a lot of time and money into attending the ODP national tournament as well as other national club tournaments. WAGS and the Surf Cup may draw the most interest.
Coaches of other programs, with less scholarship money and the inability to travel to big-time tournaments, would likely stick to regional ODP tournaments, state events and/or high school teams.
Coaches of all levels are paying more attention to foreign players, though seeing these players compete in person can be a hardship. Division II, Division III and the NAIA have their share of foreign players, but more Division I schools are interested. Nebraska and UNC Greensboro have made use of contacts in Canada and Scandinavia, respectively, to acquire quality talent. A midfielder who plays for the Finnish national team is among the top recruits for next season.
Howard Hamilton
Atlanta
Are there any new developments in MLS’ efforts to sign Jose Luis Chilavert? Do they have a realistic chance of getting him?
Ridge Mahoney: I’d say the chances are rather slim, although he can certainly do well in this league. The problem is he still makes and wants a high salary, and the league isn’t convinced he’ll draw enough fans to make his acquisition financially feasible. (Although I think a South American keeper who takes free kicks and penalties is a real hoot, you’d need a coach willing to let Chilavert be Chilavert.)
The league is also going after forwards and midfielders whenever possible due to limited funds. It passed on Thomas Ravelli last year. MLS is keeping the door open for Rene Higuita, a proven crowd draw who’s a bit younger —
although not a better player — than Chilavert.
Dan Roudebush
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Whatever happened to young O’Brien with the Ajax junior team. The U.S. World Cup team could use some new defenders.
Paul Kennedy: John O’Brien is still with Ajax, but he has yet to appear for the first team. A host of players from his age group have moved up this season, though. Look for him to return to the U.S. U-20 team that will play in Malaysia in June. O’Brien isn’t ready for Steve Sampson’s big team yet.
E. Scott Kelly
Columbus, Ohio
Does the injury that Tab Ramos suffered against T&T mean that Brian Maisonneuve of the Columbus Crew will be called up during the interim? He was a key player in the Olympics, and the Crew had a winning record when he was not playing for the Olympic team. If not Maissoneuve, will another be called up (Chung, Ralston) or will Sampson stay with what he has until the World Cup? Also, how does this affect the lineup? Will Preki get the call in all situations or is Kreis up to speed?
Mike Woitalla: All the players you mentioned are legitimate national team candidates, although I doubt any will ever prove as effective as Ramos. Only Preki possesses a Ramos-like ability to dribble past defenders. I would pick Preki as the best replacement for Ramos — Preki is also an excellent passer. Ralston is on the 20-man roster for US Cup ’97. Maisonneuve was to be called up for the match against Guatemala in El Salvador, but he couldn’t be reached in time to join the squad.
Justin Legrand
Ooltewah, Tenn.
Whatever happened to Andreas Brehme of the German national team of the 1986, 1990,and 1994 World Cups?
Ridge Mahoney: He plays for Kaiserslautern, recently relegated from the Bundesliga to the Second Division. He’s been approached by MLS, not to mention German coach Berti Vogts! He is 36 years old.
Chris Core
Waco, Texas
I was going through some old soccer videotapes and was wondering what are these players doing today: Steve Zungul, Hans Van Breukelen, Kevin Crow, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Pete Bailey: Zungul was living in the U.S. several years ago, but we haven’t heard about him lately, and we’re not sure of the former Dutch national keeper’s whereabouts, either. Crow works for a beverage distribution company in San Diego, and came out of retirement to play for the CISL’s San Diego Sockers this past summer. Rummenigge is a vice-president at Bayern Munich.
Rick Seto
Northampton, Mass.
I read with interest in a recent SA issue about Task Force 2000 discussing tiebreakers, shootouts and the like. I have an idea that I would like to put forth.
My proposal for matches that go into overtime would be to introduce 7-on-7 play. I would envision this occurring after the mandatory 15-minute overtimes, then the sudden-death overtimes. Why 7-v-7? By taking four field players off the field, the time and space for attacking is greatly increased and therefore reducing the conservative, defensive tactics that are the logical result of overtime soccer. In 7-v-7 play, I believe the integrity of the game would still be intact. The team with the better attacking players would thrive – and shouldn’t the team that is committed to going forward be rewarded anyway? A team could still choose to defend with numbers, perhaps counting on a long counterattack.
I would be interested to know whether this has even proposed (or even used). I would appreciate not only comments from SA editors, but even other SA fans.
Ridge Mahoney: Well, I think taking players off the field is absurd, because reducing the number of players sharply increases the physical demands needed to cover ground. And you want to do this AFTER the players have already endured a draining, 90-minute match, plus overtimes? How many players have you seen collapse to the ground after 90 minutes to grab a valuable rest before the start of overtime?
I don’t agree that 7-v- 7 keeps the integrity of the game intact. My preference is to go straight to sudden-death, after the regulation 90 minutes, with more liberal substitution rules. I also disgree that defensive tactics are preordained in overtime, although many of the Euro ’96 OTs were snoozers. A team wishing to progress in a tournament, knowing the match won’t be decided by penalties or shootout or tug-of-war, must push forward sooner or later, since a marathon greatly lessens its chances of winning the next game if it advances. I have to admit no solution addresses all the problems, but 7-v- 7 isn’t a good idea. Of course, sudden-death could go on a long time, which brings dangerous fatigue into the equation once again, so I’d permit each team two additional subs per 15-minute overtime period, including re-entry.