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U.S. team calls on Hejduk again

Speed and versatility thrust him in spotlight in '98 and might do so again.

By BRIAN LANDMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 28, 2002

If you last saw U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk four years ago, you might not recognize him today.

"I was the guy with the long hair and I couldn't go out to dinner without having people come up to me; everyone knew who I was," he said, rubbing his hands over the Marine-like cut he now sports that enables him to dine or shop incognito.

That is an occupational hazard for players in a soccer-mad country like Germany, where Hejduk, the former Tampa Bay Mutiny star, has been playing since he burst onto the international scene at the 1998 World Cup in France.

While many teammates played poorly on soccer's grandest stage, Hejduk showed dizzying speed, inexhaustible energy and the versatility to defend and attack. A diving header nearly tied Germany in the opener, one of the few highlights for the United States.

Shortly after the United States' embarrassing exit from the World Cup, he signed a contract with renowned German club Bayer Leverkusen.

Goodbye MLS.

Hello Bundesliga.

"It (the World Cup) definitely was a springboard," he said recently. "A lot of luck was involved. I peaked at the right time. I peaked when the world was watching and that's what you hope the whole team does. In the last World Cup, it was a couple of players who peaked at the right time and that's why we weren't that successful.

"That's pretty much the goal for the World Cup, to get those 11 players, and really all 23 players, to peak at the right time. That's what makes the World Cup so special."

Although he has played intermittently for both Leverkusen and the U.S. national team the past four years, he has earned a spot on the World Cup roster and has impressed coach Bruce Arena during the team's final preparations.

With the U.S. team lacking speed in the back, a player such as Hejduk could emerge as he did in 1998.

"Hejduk was a pleasant surprise to me," Arena said shortly before the team left for South Korea. "I think Frankie Hejduk is definitely a better player now than he was when he left MLS. I wouldn't have said that a year and half ago, but after watching him over the last six or seven months, I do believe he's a better player. ... He's grown with the game and he's in such a good environment that, although he hasn't played on a regular basis, he's still improving because of the environment he's in day in and day out."

Hejduk, 27, agrees that his experience has advanced his career and been nothing but a positive.

A weight program has helped him gain strength; training and playing with the elite has helped him better understand the game's nuances; and, perhaps most important, the constant buzz about the team and the sport has helped him gain an even greater appreciation of the demands on a pro.

"You're totally engulfed by soccer over there," he said. "In the States, you don't really have that. Over there, it's the only thing on television. It's on the front cover of the sports page. As a soccer player, that's what you want."

Even if it forces you to cut your hair.

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