Reyna speaks softly at the hub and lets others make noise

East Rutherford, N.J. – The question underlying the entire U.S. Cup – Is this team ready for qualifying? – broke down primarily into discussions of the United States’ strengths and weaknesses on the field. But because of the off-field dissension that detonated the United States’ chances at France ’98, the team’s intangibles also deserve examination.

Chief among those intangibles is leadership, since from that comes a team’s attitude, connection and ability to cope with adversity.

Eight different players have worn the captain’s armband in the 23 games since Bruce Arena became coach. This year, however, Arena has made it clear that Claudio Reyna is the captain.

Reyna has captained the team eight times, Kasey Keller four, Brad Friedel and Tony Meola three each and Cobi Jones two times. Thomas Dooley, Jeff Agoos and Richie Williams have each captained one match. Only Keller and Meola have worn the armband in games that Reyna started (once each).

The choice of Reyna is a logical one since he is one of the most accomplished players internationally, but an interesting one because he is one of the quieter members of the team. His humility is so thorough that he sounds almost reluctant when talking about his role.

“I guess I’m slightly more comfortable with it now,” Reyna said during U.S. Cup. “I really don’t do much more.”

THE FIELD GENERAL. The duties of a prototypical captain involve assertiveness. He may mediate between two players at odds with each other. He may verbally straighten out a player he feels is out of line. Reyna says he has not done anything of that sort yet.

“I’m not going to change how I act by screaming or doing different things,” Reyna said. “With the guys we have here we always have a good team spirit, we get along well, so I would say my job is very easy as a captain. We go out, we work hard in training and everyone is a good professional here. For me, there’s not much to do.”

As Scott Stevens recently proved with the New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League playoffs, a loud mouth is not a prerequisite for great leadership. The utmost respect of teammates, however, is essential. It appears Reyna has that.

“He’s our general,” forward Ante Razov said of Reyna. “He leads by example. He’s not the most vocal guy … but he’s the field general. He’s our captain and he’s our best player. When he’s out on the field, everyone feels good and everyone follows him.”

Never has Reyna’s effect been more evident than against Ireland, when he came on as a substitute. Entering in the 60th minute for John O’Brien, who had played well, Reyna impacted the game immediately. The U.S. possessions had greater purpose and fluidity. Reyna single-handedly brought some order to the chaos wrought by wretched conditions.

COMPLEMENTARY FIGURES. Reyna’s reserved leadership style works, in part, because other players have more extroverted personalities.

Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel, as goalkeepers, are more vocal by necessity and both have hefty international experience to bolster their ethos. Friedel wore the armband against Ireland.

“We’ve got a few leaders on this team, which is nice,” Friedel said. “Sometimes you have teams that search just for one. We’re lucky enough to have five or six players who could actually wear [the armband]. It’s a great honor to ever do that for your national team. We all know what it means, and when you’re lucky enough to wear it, you wear it with pride. There’s no doubt about that.”

Some of the team’s important leaders have yet to wear the armband and may not. Robin Fraser, who missed U.S. Cup while recovering from an ankle injury, is highly regarded by his teammates. Earnie Stewart may have carved his niche in the team’s hierarchy during this tournament. He established himself as a catalyst for the offense and showed that his competitiveness still flares at age 31.

“Earnie’s probably the most emotional guy – animated is probably the correct word,” Reyna said. “He gets things going in training sometimes, but he has a lot of fun with it, too. He’ll go at you and then put his arm around you.”

VOCAL OLD GUARD FADES. Stewart also prefers to lead by example, but he recognizes that a host of players who spoke their minds – John Harkes, Tab Ramos, Alexi Lalas, Marcelo Balboa and Eric Wynalda – have faded from the national team picture.

“It comes a little bit with age [and] I don’t think we have that many vocal players on this team,” Stewart said. “Maybe Kasey and Brad Friedel, but we don’t have much more of those players. The rest pretty much lead on the field. Claudio has that, I have that, Cobi [Jones] has that. … Everybody’s on the same page and we have a lot of confidence in what Bruce is doing. I guess you can see that on the field, too. There’s not too much to be said; everything is going well.”

‘BEHAVE LIKE BIG BOYS.’ Therein lies the key to leadership and team chemistry. Several players have echoed Stewart’s positive comments during Arena’s tenure, but the true test will come if things start going wrong – especially when the stakes are raised.

In the 90-degree heat against Mexico, Reyna showed his frustration when teammates failed to check back quickly enough for his passes. His patience may be tried again during qualifying.

The team’s most natural leader is probably Arena himself, which bodes well. Arena’s candor has earned him respect with players of all personality types over the years. He does not tolerate unprofessional behavior. His training sessions are conducted at a very high level.

“Everyone knows when they come here that it’s important they behave like big boys,” Reyna said. “A lot of credit goes to Bruce for instilling that atmosphere in the team.”

Arena also refuses to put words in his players’ mouths. When the question of the tournament came down one last time after the Mexico match, he dodged it in his own unmistakable manner.

Is this team ready for qualifying?

“I didn’t poll them in the locker room, but I hope they’re ready.”

by Soccer America associate editor Will Kuhns