U.S. men

Reyna aggravates quad, jeopardizing his start in World Cup opener against Portugal; Mathis has MRI on knee.

SEOUL (Monday, June 3, 2002) -- United States midfielder and captain Claudio Reyna aggravated his chronic right quadriceps injury yesterday in training, jeopardizing his chances of playing in the American’s World Cup opener Wednesday against Portugal.

And to make matters worse, striker Clint Mathis had an MRI this morning on his aching left knee, though the results were negative.

Reyna went through a light workout yesterday. "I was able to do some of the lighter stuff, the warmups," he said. "We did kind of a shadow workout. As soon as we got into a little more intense, I had to step out because, being the game is three days away, I didn't want to take steps backward. We'll see in the next few days."

Reyna, a veteran of 88 appearances for the U.S., said yesterday if the Portugal match were to be played then, he probably could not participate. "I think that the situation is that I might be doing further damage to my thigh and maybe missing all three games. It's a tough one. It's a thin line of whether I'll be able to go and not have a problem or completely tear it, maybe. It's a decision I'll have to make with the coach and medical staff.

On Monday, he repeated his statement of a day earlier that his chances of playing against Portugal are "50-50."

With Wednesday's match in Suwon, South Korea, set for 6 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET), "I'll probably decide on Tuesday evening, probably latest even leave it for Wednesday morning," Reyna added. "Going into the game, I want to be sure I'm 100 percent and that's the only way I'll be able to help the team."

Mathis' sore left knee is opposite from the one in which he tore the interior cruciate ligament in 2001. He did, however, tear the left ACL in college.

"He practiced briefly today," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said this morning. "We took a precautionary MRI and found nothing.''

With Chris Armas, a stalwart at defensive midfielder for the last three years, out after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament, the possible loss of Reyna would create quite a disruption in the midfield.

Problems with his right quad have hampered Reyna, causing him to miss games for the U.S. during World Cup qualifying and during his first season with Sunderland in England’s Premier League over the past year.

Coach Bruce Arena put the U.S. squad through a two-hour practice session this morning at Misari Practice Stadium on the outskirts of Seoul. He made no mention of Reyna’s injury.

Reyna "has shown his versatility, as well, where he has played in a number of positions in the last three years of his professional career," Arena said. "One area where he is clearly now an outstanding player is on the defensive end of the field. He positions himself well, he is good in the tackle and he is very responsible on the defensive side of the ball. Obviously, the other way he is a good player in helping us keep position. He is a good passer and he helps settle our team down.

"And he demonstrated in the last couple of weeks in our last few friendlies that he is a good attacking player, as well, so he has grown considerably. He is a well rounded player now and I think he will show in this World Cup that he is a very good player."

If Reyna should be sidelined, he would not be the first star and captain to miss his nation’s opening game. France’s Zinedine Zidane was unable to play in a shocking 1-0 loss to Senegal and is not expected to be able to go Thursday in the must-win match against Uruguay. Brazil defender and captain Emerson has been ruled out for the entire competition after dislocating his right shoulder fooling around playing goal in a training session.

Sweden suffered a blow on the eve of today’s 1-1 draw with England when central defender and captain Patrik Andersson was forced out with a left thigh injury. England’s captain, midfielder David Beckham, just rushed back from a broken foot, started, but tired and had to leave early in the second half.

Italy’s star striker Filippo Inzaghi will likely relegated to the bench when Italy opens tomorrow against Ecuador. "Pippo" hurt his knee last weekend during a warmup match.