Please tell me Claudio will be back.
I dare not suggest the U.S. fate in qualifying rests on one playerÆs shoulders. Watching the past three games, however, ought to convert anyone who has doubted ReynaÆs value.
For so long, we craved a true No. 10, a guy who could set goals on platters and score the occasional one himself. We yearned so much to see an American fit this bill that we pinned our hopes on Reyna. And why not? He wears the digits ù and the armband.
One problem: Reyna is not that type of player, not entirely, at least.
He does, however, run the team on the field. He is the teamÆs best at maintaining possession. With him, the team rarely goes through 20-minute stretches without advancing past midfield, like it did in Costa Rica.
He is also defensively intelligent. When he and Chris Armas are together, the team rarely gets bypassed like a set of cones as it did against Honduras.
Furthermore, ReynaÆs absence, when combined with injuries to Clint Mathis and John OÆBrien ù the only two players remotely capable of playing his position adequately ù caused Coach Bruce Arena to concoct new strategies to fill the void.
In Costa Rica, the strategizing resembled that of predecessor Steve Sampson, logically fashioned on a chalkboard but too unfamiliar to the players. When Arena put all his guns on the field trying to equalize the Ticos, they did not know how to find each other. It reminded me of USA-Iran in 1998.
The U.S. must be composed and confident in these last two qualifiers.
ôClaudio is kind of like a warm blanket,ö assistant coach Dave Sarachan said. ôHe has a quality about him, both on the field and in training, that is very comforting, just knowing heÆs on your side.ö
So please tell me Claudio will be back.