From having his players meet Celtic great and ultimate winner Bill Russell in Hartford to President Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton at the White House, U.S. National Team coach Bob Bradley has been busy this week with carefully-crafted teambuilding, like a chemist in a lab.
But the irony is if they have great chemistry in next month’s World Cup, it’ll likely be more nature vs. nurture. Unlike the disappointing 2006 team that went winless _ or even the 2002 squad that made the quarterfinals _ this team is close in age with many having played together for years. They’ve formed a bond they hope will carry them far in South Africa.
“The veterans did a good job; I didn’t feel out of place at all. But right now the team is a little close in age. A lot of us have been playing together for years,” said defender Oguchi Onyewu, teammates with Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley on the first U.S. U-17 residency program in Bradenton back in 1999, and on the team that made the semis at the U-17 World Championship that same year.
“I’ve been playing with DaMarcus and Landon since I was 15. There’s a sense of familiarity amongst the players. The fact we’re close in age allows us to have a team bond you can see when we play. That’s one of our strengths, and hopefully that’s going to propel us in the World Cup.”
If Onyewu, Donovan, keeper Tim Howard, defender Carlos Bocanegra, midfielder Clint Dempsey, midfielder DaMarcus Beasley and striker Jozy Altidore are the core of this 23-man roster, all but Altidore are between 27 and 31-years-old, have longstanding relationships and are in the prime of their respective careers.
But during 2006, veteran leaders Kasey Keller (36), Brian McBride (34), Claudio Reyna (32) and Eddie Pope (32) were all set to retire from the international stage right after the World Cup, while Donovan, Dempsey and Onyewu were in their early-to-mid 20s and in a whole different stage in their lives.
“In 2002 especially I think there was a pretty large divide between the lifestyle of Beaz and I and a lot of the older guys, veterans who’d been around,” said Donovan. “That has positives, but this time it feels like most of us are close in age. Most of us can relate off the field which does help on the field.”
Which is one of the things the U.S. is banking on.
“There were a lot more older guys, and they seemed older,” said Howard.”Maybe that’s just me acting like a kid and Carlos and Gooch and Beaz and Landon not feeling like we were grown up yet. But it just seemed like Kasey and Claud and McBride and (Greg) Berhalter, those guys were the veterans and there was more of a hierarchy. (Now) we definitely have our leaders, but it’s more of a blend.”
The U.S. can only hope it’s a more seamless one than in 2006.
“I think it helps, especially in regard to key players that have been there in the past,” said Bradley. “Landon, Gooch, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Timmy Howard—I think the relationship that those guys have with the whole team works well for us.”
