Coach Bruce Arena doesn’t like to discuss the U.S.’ horrible 1998 World Cup showing out of respect for his predecessor, Steve Sampson. The players don’t like to talk about that bickering, last-place collapse because it’s a painful memory. But rest assured they will all be driven to use next month’s World Cup to show just how far they’ve come.
The team arrived in Seoul Friday and open play with three Group D games: June 5 against highly-touted Portugal (5 a.m, ESPN2), then face host South Korea on June 10 (2:30 a.m, ESPN2) and finish group play on June 14 vs. Poland (7:30 a.m, ESPN). A win and a tie will likely be needed to achieve their goal: Advancement to the second round.
“I think [we can],” Arena said. “We aren’t going to Korea to have a vacation: We’re going there to play three-plus games. That’s our attitude, and we’re hopeful it happens. Certainly we go there with a lot of optimism. We know it’s not going to be easy. We’re going to be fully prepared and step into the game [believing] that we can win.”
No less an expert than Pele himself said the U.S. could advance, telling The Post “The U. S. team is in a reasonable group. It’s not the most difficult, and in this group with Portugal, Poland and Korea, the U.S. team has a good chance to get through to the second round. The level of American soccer is very good.”
That level has been helped by budding MLS products, particularly attacking players like 25-year-old MetroStars forward Clint Mathis, 24-year-old Chicago striker Josh Wolff and 20-year-old midfielders Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley. The young strike force has shown far more scoring and style than past U.S. teams.
Exactly a year to the day after Mathis tore his ACL, the U.S. will open against Luis Figo & Co. Now, Mathis – who has a team-high six goals this year – has drawn interest from Bayern Munich, Bayern Leverkusen, Glasgow Rangers and Real Madrid. He could command a $5-6 million transfer fee and head to Europe – but only if he and the U.S. play well in Asia.
“It’s not going to be any different than playing Holland. We have to just go over there, work hard and play at our best. It’s going to be a tough game,” said Mathis, recovering from a broken big toenail. “The way we’ve progressed, we can go over there and give [Portugal] a tough game. It’s going to be a good game.”
Arena hasn’t named a starting 11, and his biggest call is going to be between the pipes, deciding between Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller. Friedel helped Blackburn win the English League Cup this season while Keller plays for Tottenham and started the ’98 Cup. Despite their rivalry, they won’t let the decision splinter this team the way the ’98 bunch came apart.
“If you told me to name the goalkeeper right now, I couldn’t. Whatever decision I make is a good one. Perhaps it’ll be based on a hunch,” Arena said. “Both can help us win and the team is confident in both of them. These two understand what we’ve been through and the importance of putting team first and cooperating.”
If they can – and if left back David Regis and a leaky defense holds up, and team captain Claudio Reyna plays like the midfield general he has for club teams Rangers and Sunderland – they could earn one of Group D’s two berths in the round of 16.
“I wasn’t as fit and healthy as I could’ve been in ’98, and that cost us,” said Reyna, who starred scholastically at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J. “We want to do well, improve on the last time around. That’s our goal – to get out of our group. We’re not going just to be there; we’re going to compete. We’re not going just to have fun and get a little bit of Asian culture, but to give our opponents a good game.”
Chris Armas’ torn ACL could have Reyna playing defensive midfield. Ajax’s John O’Brien and defender Pablo Mastroeni are other options. But that would mean 1) moving O’Brien off the left wing and starting Beasley, or 2) starting a player with limited experience, the only one on the roster who didn’t start a single game in qualifying. Expect Reyna to start there and be a huge key to the U.S.’ chances.