The U.S. soccer team is convinced it can upset Portugal. Some players are bold enough to say they can win the World Cup.
Long on hubris and short on health, the Americans may face the Portuguese tomorrow in Seoul without their two most important players: Claudio Reyna and Clint Mathis.
Reyna, the team captain and midfield mastermind from Springfield, N.J., is questionable for the Group D opener because of a strained right quad. Mathis, the MetroStars striker who leads the U.S. in scoring, is hobbled by a sore left knee, the same one in which he tore an ACL in 1995.
“He and I are in the same boat. It’s about 50-50,” said Reyna. “It’s a fine line between playing and tearing it worse. As it is, today I did a bit more than yesterday. It’s still improving and it’s day-to-day. We’re not sure yet, and [Tuesday] after training we’ll make the decision with [coach] Bruce [Arena].”
Like several teams in the World Cup, the U.S. has been hit hard by injuries. Defensive midfielder Chris Armas tore his right ACL on May 12. Four days later, replacement Greg Vanney partially tore a knee ligament. Now it’s Reyna and Mathis who are hurting.
Reyna missed the ’94 World Cup with a pulled hamstring and hurt his quad last week in practice. The U.S. has lost five straight Cup matches and wants to improve on its ’98 last-place finish. But it was 6-1-2 in qualifiers Reyna played, 2-3-2 in ones he didn’t.
“It’s nice to get a chance to come back and hopefully put things right,” Reyna said. “The set-up has already been much better without even playing our first game. In 1998, before we kicked a ball, it was already a mess.”
Mathis’ condition is more encouraging. Arena has been vocal about how slow he’d been to recover from the torn right ACL he suffered a year ago tomorrow. Now it’s the left knee he tore while at South Carolina. But Arena was encouraged, saying “We took a precautionary MRI and found nothing, so he’s fine. I’m glad to say it went well, and it’s not a concern.”
Arena hasn’t revealed his lineup, but Mathis may have lost his starting spot to Landon Donovan, who would pair with Brian McBride. Speedy youngster DaMarcus Beasley would step in at left wing, and Frankie Hejduk might replace struggling David Regis at outside back.
Arena has yet to say if Brad Friedel or Kasey Keller will start in goal.
Ladbrokes has the U.S. a 6-1 underdog to Portugal, a legitimate contender to hoist the Cup. The nucleus of the team won FIFA World Youth Championships in 1989 and ’91 behind star midfielder Luis Figo, last year’s FIFA Player of the Year. Portugal, with midfielder Rui Costa and forward Joao Pinto, reached the Euro 2000 semis and scored 33 goals in qualifying.
Even with Abel Xavier out and midfielder Paulo Sousa doubtful with thigh injuries, Portugal is loaded. But Donovan was unbowed, saying “Obviously we want to win it.
“If you come here with any other idea, you shouldn’t be here. That’s your goal. We feel we can get to the second round, and once we get there, any of those teams we feel we’d have a chance to beat.”
