Goalkeeper, striker choices lead U.S questions for qualifiers.

By Robert Wagman
SoccerTimes

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Wednesday, August 22, 2001) -- Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff, Brian McBride, Ante Razov. An argument can be made that the four are among the top six or so United States forwards playing the game today.

The four -- Mathis (knee surgery), Wolff (foot surgery), McBride (blood clot), Razov (groin pull) -- will not be available to U.S. coach Bruce Arena for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Honduras September 1 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., and for another in Costa Rica four days later So, once again, Arena will have to juggle his line-up, something he has grown used to.

Among potential starters, also missing will be midfielder John O’Brien who suffered a knee injury in a Ajax Amsterdam preseason contest.

Arena has called 24 players into George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., to compete for the 18 roster spots for each of the two matches. The whole group will stay together until those playing against Costa Rica leave for San Jose on September 4.

A few surprises are on the list. Columbus Crew midfielder Brian Masioneuve, who played with the national team at the World Cup in France in 1998, but who missed all of 2000 with an injury, is rounding back into form in Major League Soccer and is getting a look. Four MLS players having fine seasons -- Manny Lagos (San Jose), Chris Henderson (Miami), Nick Rimando (Miami) and Scott Garlick (Colorado) have been called in. For the most part, however, the roster is made up of players who have seen action in the six qualifiers already played.

Arena is calling both goalkeepers Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller into camp. At one point in the past, he said he probably would not do this so only one would miss action from his club in Europe. But with third choice keeper Tony Meola having only recently returned from injury, the risk is too great. Besides, the England’s Premier League is standing down for European qualifying matches, so both are available.

The intriguing question is who gets the start. Over the past six matches, Keller had emerged as the first choice. But Friedel now is in a starting role with Blackburn Rovers and is match fit, while Keller is only just settling in with Tottenham Hotspur and has not played a match this season.

The U.S. is set on defense. It has given up only two goals in six matches, one on a set play against Mexico, one on a perfectly-placed long-range strike in Honduras. Barring injuries, the defense should remain David Regis, Jeff Agoos, Carlos Llamosa and Steve Cherundolo, with Eddie Pope and Gregg Berhalter the reserves. Chris Armas, too, will be at his usual defensive midfield position.

The question is where will the goals come from. Assuming they are healthy, both Claudio Reyna and Earnie Stewart are sure starters in the midfield. Tony Sanneh has been effective on the right side of midfield in both a defensive and offensive role. Preki Radosavljevic won’t start, but is always valuable coming off the bench. He was one player who was absent, but who could have helped in the last outing, a 1-0 loss in Mexico City.

Who are the forwards? Arena is bringing in Joe-Max Moore, Jovan Kirovski, Cobi Jones and Landon Donovan. The problem the U.S. continues to have is that by almost any measure all four are withdrawn forwards or actually midfielders. None are target forwards like McBride or Razov, the likely starters had they been healthy. Arena has the added problem that Kirovski has missed Crystal Palace's last two matches with a minor injury. How fit is he?

Arena has scheduled a week of intense, closed practices. His mission is to find someone who can score, and to decide how match-ready Keller is. The U.S. probably needs to score a couple of goals against Honduras and it would be nice to score one in Costa Rica, and then let the defense take over.

Senior correspondent Robert Wagman's "It Seems To Me . . . " appears regularly on SoccerTimes. He can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com..