DI = Senior Editor Duncan Irving; RM = Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney; MW = Senior Editor Mike Woitalla; PS = Associate Editor Poul Swain; PB = Online Editor Pete Bailey.

MLS

Sam Morgan

Lawrenceville, Ga.

Now that we can watch MLS on ESPN or Univision, I would like to hear more comments about the performance of of the referees. So far so good. You rate the players, why not the referees? For the US to get to the top level, the players, coaches and the REFEREES must get better. Every one needs to go to the next level. We can’t continue to think like youth people for ever.

RM: That’s true, but while we will be writing about the referees periodically, we will not rate the referees. It is difficult enough to find writers sufficently versed in the game to rate players, which we feel our readers are much more intererested in. Unlike USA Today, we don’t use coaches for ratings, and having coaches rate referees isn’t a good idea.

I find it curious that a few other people want us to rate referees, but just about every soccer fan, player and coach admits the best referees are the ones you notice the least. To us, the game and its principals are far more important.

Ralph Culver

Burlington, Vt.

Poor Jim St. Andre. He really was a superb keeper with UVM, but much of his pro life has been hard-luck, it seems. Between injury and circumstance allowing someone else to step up (witness the situation at New England right now with Heaney). MLS has been pretty tight-lipped about contractual details, but I’m curious whether any MLS players such as St. Andre continue to be paid at the same level if they happen to fall out of the starting line-up. And what happened to DC United’s Suarez? Has he left the team? My rotisserie league side is in a shambles.

RM: Suarez is still on the United roster, and since he has a guaranteed contract, is still being paid. There are three levels of guarantees in MLS player contracts: Guaranteed, semi-guaranteed (player is paid for a full year if he remains on an MLS roster until July 1), or non-guaranteed. St. Andre is not guaranteed, despite the fact he was allocated. Perhaps you can petition the Sunil Gulati of your rotisserie league for emergency replacements.

Hector Castro

Jersey City, N.J.

Can you please tell me what ever happened to Bruce Murray and Desmond Armstrong?

RM: Murray, who signed an MLS contract but wasn’t drafted, works in the front office of the A-League’s Atlanta Ruckus; Armstrong is a player agent, runs a design company, may play on the U.S. beach soccer team, and will work ABC telecasts of the U.S. Cup.

Shana

Stockton, Calif.

Hi. My dad and I were arguing over how much foreign players get paid. I understand that the max pay is something like $200,000. Do they exceed that amout greatly for the better foreign players? My dad thinks they do, i think they may exceed it a little. My dad has a hard time understanding why a good foreign player would leave his club to come play here.

RM: Hi, Shana. Thanks for your question. The official MLS maximum salary is $175,000 per year, but many players — both foreign and American —
are paid more than that.

It gets a bit complicated, because the league — not the teams — own the players’ contracts, and each team has a salary cap of $1.135 million per year.

Here’s how it works: if a player makes more than $175,000, that amount counts as part of his team’s salary cap, and any amount more than $175,000 is absorbed as part of the league’s overall budget, although it could be paid by a sponsor or other source.

Also, when MLS paid transfer fees for the better players, the players received a share of that fee and/or a signing bonus.

Tell your dad that some of the foreign players — Carlos Valderrama, Roberto Donadoni, Leonel Alvarez, Marco Antonio Etcheverry, Jorge Campos — who have come to MLS have been making huge salaries for several years, so they can afford to make less in the U.S. Some of them also have big endorsement deals. African players like “Digital” Takawira, Doctor Khumalo and Shaun Bartlett didn’t make that much money in their native countries because most of the clubs in Africa are struggling to make money. But in the case of Khumalo, he has endorsement deals to promote everything from shoes to cereal.

And soccer players are just like other foreigners, they love America, and many have visited the U.S. before with teams or on vacation. Still, nobody is making the incredible amounts of money the top players like Gianluca Vialli or Jurgen Klinsmann or Gabriel Batistuta make — which is why MLS fans must wait for more superstars to come to America.

Stephen Duniven

Oakland, Calif.

If a shoot out win does not show up in the goals scored column, then my statistic that the MLS is currently running at 3.26 goals per game should be accurate. Compared to any other full tables you have listed in the paper publication,this is higher than any of the other international ones. I show the next best as Netherlands at 2.96(using 2 issues back stats). Could this really be true?

RM: Yes, it is. But not really so surprising, since the league has aggressively recruited attacking players and many teams have been victimized by disorganized defenses and shaky goalkeeping in the first two months of the season. But I think the league will average slightly better than three goals per game even if the defenses improve, because of the wealth of attacking players and the league directives ordering referees to harshly punish deliberate fouls.

Dustin Christmann

Dallas, Tex.

Am I the only one that finds some of your “Team o’ the Week” selections unusual? For example, the GKs thus far have been Tony “Near Post” Meola, Bo Oshoniyi, Pat Harrington, and Tom Liner, four of the most scored-on GKs in the league! Where are Jorge Campos and Mark Dodd?

RM: Campos, until he shut out Kansas City 2-0 with some brilliant saves May 19 and was named to the team of the week, really hasn’t had that much to do thanks to L.A.’s strong defense. Dodd had some shockingly poor games in April as well as more solid games recently.

The goalkeeping in the league has been inconsistent, to be sure. But we rate goalkeepers on how well they play in a game, and any keeper will tell you the goals-allowed figures are as much a product of team defense as good goalkeeping. Every keeper we’ve named to the Team of the Week played a strong game that particular week. As an example, on April 21, Pat Harrington gave up two goals, but made several good saves to keep his team in the game, and the Wiz eventually won that marathon shootout against the Clash.

A goalkeeper won’t get a high rating if he has little to do, regardless of how many goals he gives up. In the case of Oshoniyi, he played superbly early in the season, but the past two weeks his inexperience and some slack defending have caught up with him. Same with Harrington, who’s been benched in favor of Garth Lagerwey.

One must look at much more than goals allowed to assess goalkeepers, especially in a new league where they and many of their teammates are relatively inexperienced pros.

Christopher Sammon

Boston, Mass.

When will the New England Revolution play the Republic of Ireland in the proposed friendly I heard about recently?

RM: They won’t. The U.S. national team plays Ireland at Foxboro June 9.

Rick Dorman

Lee’s Summit, Mo.

My wife and I are fans of Iain Fraser of the New England Revolution. I was wondering what the time table is for his return to active status?

RM: He’s supposed to play this weekend (May 25) against Colorado. He had groin surgery two months ago.

There must be something universal about the Revolution’s appeal. Here in northern California, there’s a group of Revs’ fans that patronize a certain English pub! And their fan club’s nickname The Midnight Riders is by far the best in the league.

World Cup ’98 and Euro ’96 Tickets

Tom Donovan

Newport, Minn.

You reported that WC ’98 tickets were to go on sale on May 4. How can I order tickets?

DI: Try US Soccer: Phone: (312) 808-1300; Fax: (312) 808-9566, or France `98 Phone: 011-33 -1-44-14-1998; Fax: 011-33-1-44-14-1800.

Wade Jackson

St. Charles, Mo.

I will be meeting Sam’s Army co-founder, John Wright, in London on June 26th. We would like to attend the Euro ’96 Semi match scheduled at Wembley on that date, but tickets seem impossible to come by for common USA fans. What can you, or SA do to help us in our quest to watch some Euro ’96 footie?

DI: Try the Euro `96 ticket hotline at 011-44-99-099-1996

International

Ben Newton

Ann Arbor, Mich.

What’s the latest prognosis for Marc Overmars’ knee? I imagine that he won’t be likely to see any action in Euro ’96, but is he expected to be back in the lineup for Ajax at the beginning of next season, or play in Holland’s next few World Cup Qualifiers?

DI: Overmars blew out his knee last December, just after the Dutch won their playoff with Ireland to advance to Euro ’96. The prognosis at the time was that he would be out for 6 months, but don’t expect to see him playing again before next season.

Whether Overmars plays for the Dutch squad in World Cup ’98 qualifiers will depend on the team’s performance at Euro `96 — if a dominant player emerges on either flank, he will face tough competition to regain his spot.

Paul Gregory

Chicago, Ill.

There are the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners Cup, and UEFA Cup. What are the qualifying criteria for these three? I suppose that winning the league in your nation qualifies you for the Champions League, and that winning the cup in your nation qualifies you for the Cup Winners Cup. But what about the UEFA Cup? Can a team be in more than one?

DI: Your suppositions used to be correct, but sadly that’s no longer the case. Qualification for the European Champions’ Cup used to be simply winning your domestic league championship.

Since the arrival of the Champions’ League, however, UEFA changed the rules, taking the nations with the better European records and placing them in the Champions League, offering preliminary rounds to others and then dumping the rest in the UEFA Cup, which is traditionally a best-of-the-rest competition (coincidentally, it’s also the hardest one to win!)

Unfair? You bet. And it’s going to get worse before it’ll get better. Next year’s tournament should be christened the Champions and bring-your-friends-if-they’re-rich-enough league, with extra spots promised to the runners-up of powerful countries (Italy, Germany, England and Spain). Put more cynically, richer countries with bigger TV viewing figures.

All is not lost for the minnows, though. There is a UEFA motion tabled to reinstate regular champions for the 1997-98 Champions League, with a couple of extra rounds of preliminary qualifying thrown in for good measure. All of which promises a further cash injection to UEFA’s already-bloated coffers.

U.S.Olympic Team and Atlanta ’96

Gabriel Fuentes

Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Given the performance of the DC Cavaliers (I mean United), and given that the US olympic team can’t seem to beat USISL teams — don’t you think that it is obvious that Bruce Arena can’t coach at this level?

As was stated on Univision during the Galaxy-DC game, The US olympic team will be a fiasco since Arena is the coach.

I ask the editors to be brave enough to ask for Arena’s resignation- before the eyes of the world witness the sad state of affairs that is US soccer

MW: I am not sure U.S. Soccer would be wise to make its second Olympic team coaching change in a year.

Arena’s D.C. United has indeed struggled. His Olympic team has lost five of its 21 exhibition games. That is not a terrible record. Unfortunately, the team has not been tested by opponents as strong as ones they’ll meet in the Olympics.

Is Arena wearing too many hats? That is a legitimate question. But he was hired by U.S. Soccer with the understanding that he would coach both teams and then concentrate on the Olympic teams when the tournament nears.

If he quickly decides on a roster and his three wild-card players, maybe it’s not too late to properly prepare the team.

Mike Bradway

Voorhees, N.J.

Are any olymjpic games going to be played at RFK stadium in Washington D.C. and if so what is a number to call for tickets?

MW: Washington, D.C. is hosting six games. Call 1-800-34-SCORE for ticket information, or order tickets on the world wide web (http://www.atlanta.olympic.org).

College

Stephen Bailey

Fremont, Calif.

I’ve been trying to find out why Ian Sawyers left Stanford. I have seen notices of his replacement but not information on why he left Stanford.

PB: Sawyers resigned from his post as Stanford women’s head coach in March, and former Dartmouth women’s coach Steve Swanson was recently named as his replacement. Sawyers refused to comment on the reasons for his departure, and both he and Stanford have been rather tight-lipped about the situation.

Terrence Anderson

Bridgeport, W.Va.

Here in West Virginia, our ODP program is very limited and most coaches will not look at us here. How can I get noticed. I am a one touch player that is a left footed kicker and have played competive soccer for 10 years?

MW: While ODP is the main route to the national teams, players such as Eric Wynalda were discovered thanks to their college play. Others have been spotted while playing for their clubs. Keep striving for the highest level and concentrate on developing your skills.

Soccer America Silver XI

Diana Sands

South Orange, N.J.

How can I cast a ballot for the Silver XI? I saw the ad in SA, but I can’t find the ballot at this internet site.

PB: In celebration of our 25th anniversary, we will be presenting the Soccer America Silver XI, the 11 players and one coach from the past 25 years who have had the most positive impact on American soccer. The Silver XI will be determined by our readers’ votes, and the team will be announced at the NCAA Men’s Division I Final Four in Richmond, Va. in December. Ballots aren’t available yet, but they will be soon!! Look for them (and celebrity/expert nominations) in upcoming issues of SA and here at SA Online.

Youth Soccer

Jeff Palm

North Huntingdon, Penn.

Have you ever thought of covering the 4 Regional Tournaments for the youth of America. I have only seen the National Championships. Please don’t forget about the younger players, who don’t get to go to the National Championships.

PB: This year, SA will provide the 4 regional champions and the scores of the regional finals.

David Sarver

Birmingham, Ala.

Do you have any info on the 78’s national team in France.

PB: The U.S. U-17 team is playing this weekend (May 25-27) at a tournament in Romans, France. In addition to 8 french clubs, and the U.S., youth teams from Ajax Amsterdam and FC Porto are competing, as well as Morocco’s U-17 team.

Exercises and Apparel

Julian Bouck

Golden, Colo

I’m just getting into soccer and I am wondering what the best type of shorts and shoes are to use?

PS: I prefer loose fitting shorts that breathe. Your legs need to be able to move, without confinement. For your first pair of soccer shoes don’t go out and spend $100 (easy to do). Get a cheap pair that fit. That’s the most important thing — that your feet are comfortable.

Douglas Acton

Ithaca, N.Y.

As someone who hasn’t played soccer in quite a while, what are some good drills I can do on my own to get in shape and develop same basic skills before approaching a team to try out?

PS: To get fit for soccer you need to do a variety of exercises. Just long-distance running will not suffice. You need to mix in sprints, sit-ups, leg lifts etc. and lots of stretching.

Also keep a ball with you so that if you have some spare time you can juggle or dribble back and forth on a field.