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U.S. men's schedule, results
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U.S. men Poland to have plenty of fans playing Americans in Chicago.By Robert Wagman
(Wednesday, July 7, 2004) -- The United States men will once again be playing what is essentially a road match on home soil Sunday when they meet Poland at Soldier Field in Chicago. The 7 p.m. (ET) game, to be televised by ESPN2, is the home leg of a two-match series against the eastern Europeans. The U.S. went to Poland and won 1-0 March 31 in Plock. Chicago has the second largest Polish population of any city in the world except for Poland's capital of Warsaw, and many of the 27,000-plus tickets sold thus far to Sunday's match have been purchased by residents of Chicago's city's Polish neighborhoods. So, just as fans of Latin American teams are often in the majority when the U.S. plays in Washington, D.C., California, Florida or Texas, it looks like Poles will dominate in the seats of Soldier Field. U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena often says that in friendly matches like the one Sunday, the result is not all important. Victory is the goal, but he is more concerned his team plays well, that he gets to look at some players who might help the team during the long World Cup qualifying process, and that in training players from different club teams get used to playing with one another. Thirteen of the 19 players Arena has gathered in Chicago for Sunday are from Major League Soccer, and one, goalkeeper Zach Thornton -- who played in MLS with the Chicago Fire before going to Portugal -- is out-of-contract and without a team. Arena called in five European-based players, including keeper Tim Howard from Manchester United in England whose only recent national team appearance in Foxborough, Mass., showed he needs playing time with the U.S. defensive corps. The U.S. is thin up front, so Arena has called in Brian McBride from Fulham in England and, now that he has recovered from a late season injury in Germany, attacker Clint Mathis from Hannover 96. The U.S. defense is still taking shape, so Arena called in both Carlos Bocanegra from Fulham and Steve Cherundolo from Hannover. Arena is looking to reach the 50-win milestone, having complied a 49-23-18 (.644) mark since taking over the U.S. program in late 1998. "This roster is an excellent blend of youth and experience, which is the formula we think will help us be successful in World Cup qualifying," Arena said in a U.S. Soccer Federation press release. "The match against Poland is an excellent opportunity for these players and will help me finalize my plans for the group that will compete in the next round of qualifying." Poland coach Pawel Janas is bringing a reserve team to Chicago. Because the match is not on the official calendar of world governing body FIFA, he has not called in any players who ply their trade outside of the country. All the players come from Poland's domestic league and, in fact, since none come from Wisla Krakow, the Poland league champion which is getting ready for a European Champions League qualifier, the team is something of the reserve side's second team. No one on Poland's roster for Chicago was on its World Cup squad in 2002 and none played in Poland's first 2006 qualifier in March. But at least five of the players -- Maciej Scherfchen, Sebastian Mila, Marcin Burkhardt, Lukasz Madej and Ireneusz Jelen, all midfielders or strikers -- are among Poland's best young players and all are fighting for spots on Poland's first team. An interesting question is whether Soldier Field will cut the grass for this match. The Chicago Park District, which operates the stadium, is annoyed with the Fire for abandoning it in favor of its new stadium. The venue's main tenant, the National Football League's Bears, is concerned about what soccer during the summer will do to the field, so it has asked the Park District to keep the grass long so the field will not burn in the summer heat. And the Park District has complied, making the field difficult to play on for soccer. "It's frustrating,"' Fire coach Dave Sarachan said recently. "We ask them to cut it short and we ask them to water it. They say they can't water it because of some liability issue. And they won't cut it." Maybe Arena will have better luck. Even though both sides will be well below full strength, the match should be interesting. Poland has pace and technical ability and should be spurred on by a supportive crowd to avenge falling to the U.S. in March. Rosters for the U.S. Poland friendly. All players from Poland play in the nation's domestic league. United States Goalkeepers (2): Tim Howard (Manchester United, England), Zach Thornton (no team).
Poland Goalkeepers (2): Artur Boruc (Legia Warszawa), Waldemar Piatek (Lech Poznan) .
Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman. |
