MetroStars midfielder Tab Ramos has recovered from a plague of injuries to earn a U.S. national team callup for World Cup qualifying.
SOCCER AMERICA: A month or so ago, you said you weren’t concerned with the national team because you wanted to devote your time to the Metros. Had you not talked with Bruce Arena prior to the announcement you’d been selected?
TAB RAMOS: No, we had talked. I said that so people wouldn’t think I wanted to leave the MetroStars or was giving up on them, you know?
The MetroStars are still the most important team to me. They’re my club team, and I want to win a championship with them. This is by far the best team we’ve had since we’ve been here.
SA: The inaugural team in 1996 wasn’t bad.
TR: This team is a lot more talented. We have six guys that basically can decide a game, six guys that can get in the box and score goals: Myself and Roy Myers in the middle, Mark Chung on the left, Petter Villegas on the right, and [Adolfo] Valencia and Clint Mathis up front.
SA: Will it be more important for the U.S. to attack in its first two qualifiers, since several defenders are dinged up?
TR: I think we’ll attack, but not because the defense is banged up. that’s the way we play now. We have better, more talented players.
SA: Which brings us to you. More than a few people wrote you off.
TR: And a lot of people thought I wasn’t really injured, that I didn’t want to play. I heard somewhere that I didn’t want to play because Sunil [Gulati] got fired.
SA: I remember that, too.
TR: Yeah, and I can understand. Fans get upset, and they want to see the MetroStars win. But all my thoughts about quitting were because I was injured and couldn’t play. That’s all.
Once I started to get better, I had no thoughts of retiring.
SA: What can you bring to the national team at this stage of your career?
TR: I have a lot of experience, and whether Bruce wants me to play right back or in the middle of midfield or wherever, I can contribute.
by Soccer America senior editor Ridge Mahoney