Sports: Arena turns to youth for final U.S. qualifier

Arena turns to youth for final U.S. qualifier

Needing a win to assure his team a spot in the finals of World Cup qualifying, U.S. coach Bruce Arena chose a surprisingly young roster for next week's crucial game at Barbados.

By BRIAN LANDMAN and Times Wires

Arena bypassed veteran goalkeepers Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel, defender David Regis, midfielder Tony Sanneh and forward Jovan Kirovski for the Nov. 15 game.

In addition, captain Claudio Reyna will be serving the final game of his two-match suspension by soccer's governing body. The United States also will be missing several injured players: defender Eddie Pope (lower back), midfielder John O'Brien (strained left Achilles' tendon) and forward Brian McBride (blood clot under armpit).

If the United States fails to win and Guatemala beats visiting Costa Rica in a game played simultaneously, the U.S. team would miss the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

The United States beat Barbados 7-0 on Aug. 16 at Foxboro, Mass., but Barbados played two men short for the final 49 minutes.

Six of the 19 players on Arena's roster have made six or fewer international appearances and 14 are from Major League Soccer.

Arena's starting goalkeeper appears to be Tony Meola of the Kansas City Wizards, who started for the United States during the 1990 and 1994 World Cups and played two weeks ago in a 2-0 exhibition win against Mexico. Zach Thornton of the Chicago Fire also is on the roster.

Joe-Max Moore of Everton in England's Premier League was one of the five foreign-based players brought in for the game, along with defender Gregg Berhalter (Cambuur Leeuwarden, Netherlands); midfielder Eddie Lewis (Fulham, England); and forwards Landon Donovan (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany) and Earnie Stewart (NAC Breda, Netherlands).

Donovan, at 18 the youngest player on the roster, made his international debut in the Mexico game and scored.

Midfielder Chris Klein of Kansas City also has one international appearance, and defender Mike Petke of the MetroStars has none.

The United States (2-1-2) is second in Group E of the North and Central American and Caribbean region with eight points, two behind Costa Rica (3-1-1) and one ahead of Guatemala (2-2-1). Barbados (1-4) already has been eliminated.

Barbados beat visiting Costa Rica 2-1 in its opening game of the semifinals July 16, and lost to Guatemala 3-1 in its other home game Oct. 8.

The top two teams join Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, advance to next year's six-nation regional finals. From that group, three qualifiers make the 32-country field at the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea.

The full roster:

Goalkeepers: Meola and Thornton.

Defenders: Jeff Agoos (DC United), Berhalter, Carlos Llamosa (DC United), Petke and Greg Vanney (Los Angeles).

Midfielders: Chris Armas (Chicago), Cobi Jones (Los Angeles), Chris Klein (Kansas City), Lewis, Clint Mathis (New York/New Jersey), Tab Ramos (New York/New Jersey) and Richie Williams (DC United).

Forwards: Chris Albright (DC United), Donovan, Moore, Ante Razov (Chicago) and Stewart.

MORE SOCCER: English Premiership club Bradford City fired manager Chris Hutchings and appointed midfielder Stuart McCall caretaker coach. ... The European Union wants to the stop the practice in which young African and Latin American players are lured to Europe and wind up as illegal aliens when they fail to make the team. "They should not be treated as merchandise but as youngsters," EU commissioner Viviane Reding said. A group of 15 sports ministers suggested the sport's federations establish a code of conduct in which such players are better informed and legally protected. ... Zimbabwe's association was fined $2,840 for the 13 deaths during a stadium stampede at a World Cup qualifier in July. FIFA, the sport's governing body, warned there "must be no recurrence of such an incident." ... Police officers firing tear gas sparked a stampede during a game in Kano, Nigeria, that seriously injured at least 20 people.

TENNIS: Lisa Raymond and Amanda Coetzer advanced to the second round of the Advanta Championships in Villanova, Pa. Raymond, a former Florida standout from nearby Wayne, Pa., defeated 19-year-old qualifier Vanessa Henke 6-4, 6-4. Coetzer, the seventh seed in the tournament, downed Erika deLone 6-2, 6-3. Raymond meets defending champion Lindsay Davenport in the second round Wednesday. "Lindsay and I are good friends," Raymond said. "I just have to go out and play my game." Coetzer, ranked 12th overall, will meet Jennifer Hopkins in the second round. Hopkins downed Lilia Osterloh 6-1, 4-6, 6-1. ... Top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten took another step in his quest to finish as the world's No. 1-ranked player, beating Andrei Pavel 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the opening round of the Lyon Grand Prix in France. Also, Patrick Rafter defeated Gaston Gaudio 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. ... Magnus Gustafsson lost 6-3, 6-2 to Vladimir Voltchkov in the first round of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.

COLLEGES: The FSU women's soccer team, playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program's six-year history, hosts Jacksonville on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ... Tampa freshman Sandi Fox was named Sunshine State Conference volleyball player of the week. ... Also, Spartan freshman runner Tracy Buxton won the award in cross country for the second time this season. ... South Florida golfer Fany Schaeffer shot 71 for a tie for second place individually, leading the Bulls (301) to a tie for fourth after one day at the Pine Needles Collegiate Invitational. Miami (309) stands at eighth, led by Dominique Gagnon (73) in eighth. Memphis' Meaghan Francella (70) is the individual leader and Alabama (291) leads the team competition in Southern Pines, N.C.

OLYMPICS: The trial began for an Australian man on charges he threatened to shoot down passenger jets with hand-held missiles and destroy a landmark building to spoil the Sydney Games. Mehmet Akin Kayirici, 35, is accused of sending letters to the consulates of five countries threatening the games through terrorist attacks unless he was paid up to $100-million. Kayirici pleaded innocent to four charges of sending a letter demanding money with menacing intent and one charge of making a demand with a threat to destroy an aircraft.

HORSE RACING: Electric Society, an Irish-bred mare, sold for $1.35-million at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Solar Slew, dam of two-time Horse of the Year Cigar, sold for $1.3-million. The 18-year-old Seattle Slew mare was one of four horses sold for $1-million or more.

CYCLING: A prosecutor in the doping trial of Richard Virenque asked that charges be dropped against the cyclist, but sought suspended jail terms and fines against others implicated in the trial. Virenque is accused of "complicity in facilitating and inciting the use of doping" in the scandal that nearly derailed the 1998 Tour de France.

FIGURE SKATING: Elvis Stojko's nagging heel injury has forced the three-time world champion to pull out of the NHK Grand Prix, scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 3.