Just For Kicks

By Al Chase

Thursday, July 22, 1999

U.S. men return to action

BRUCE Arena will be coaching the United States national men's soccer team in its first FIFA competition since the 1998 World Cup starting Saturday in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The U.S. men are competing in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. They open pool play against New Zealand Saturday, then play Brazil next Wednesday and Germany July 30.

The other pool in the eight-team tournament includes Bolivia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

Brazil and Germany will be missing some top players, but Arena says those are two of the best five teams in the world.

If the Americans are to advance beyond pool play, a victory over New Zealand is a must according to Arena.

"If you go into the second game with three points, you're in the driver's seat," he said.

He also said the Brazil and Germany games would be difficult for the Americans.

The U.S. men are 4-1-1 in full internationals this year, beating Argentina, Germany, Chile and Guatemala, drawing with Bolivia and losing to Mexico.

Arena's 20-man roster includes 14 Americans who are foreign based. Some of those players are defender Gregg Berhalter (Cambuur Leeuwarden, Holland), goalie Brad Friedel (Liverpool, England), midfielder Frankie Hejduk (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), forward Jovan Kirovski (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), forward Ernie Stewart (NAC Breda, Holland) and defender David Regis (FC Metz, France).

Forward Brian McBride returns to the team after recovering from a broken cheekbone, but midfielder Claudio Reyna will miss the tournament due to club obligations.

PAN AM GAMES:

The United States will be represented in the Pan American Games at Winnipeg, Manitoba, by its Under-23 Men's National Team and the Under-18 Women's National Team.

The men, who won the gold medal in 1991, open the soccer competition with a match against Cuba tomorrow.

This is the first time women's soccer has been included in the Pan American Games. The U.S. women's first match is tomorrow against Costa Rica.

REGIONAL HONORS:

Six more Hawaii players have been named to Western Regional pool teams following a week at Olympic Development Program camps on the mainland.

They are Under 17 Girls Nicole Garbin (Pookela SC, Baldwin), Shari Nishikawa (Leahi SC, Iolani); Under 16 Boys Ross Kodani (Mililani SC, Pac-Five/University), Benjamin Villaflor (Aces SC, Aiea), and Under 15 boys Duke Hashimoto (Honolulu Bulls SC, Iolani) and Aaron-Marcus Ryan (Mililani SC, Iolani).

STAYING IN SHAPE:

Jeff Yamamoto, Mililani high school boys' soccer coach, runs a conditioning program for college athletes dedicated to being fit for the upcoming season.

Players taking advantage of his program include Hawaii Wahine members Kammie Aguada, Carmel Hurley, Helene Miura, Malia Beter, Tiffany Makue and Lea Wakabayashi, and Jackie Pang (Northern Colorado) and Kim Sandhoff (East Carolina).

The men getting ready are Jarrett Asuncion (Loyola Marymount), Kyle Fukuchi (Washington), Tony Deocares, Mark Hasegawa and Ian Hasegawa (all Southern Colorado), Adrian Carvalho (Seattle Pacific) and Nathan Adams (Bradley).

ONLY ONE:

Despite the tremendous success of the 1999 Women's World Cup, only one country, Australia, has submitted a bid to host the event in 2003.

MY GUESS:

The country most likely to be men's and women's World Cup champions at the same time? Brazil.