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THE final round of qualifying for the 2002 World Cup begins Wednesday for the United States men's national team. Mathis, U.S. gear up
for qualifyingThe Americans play Mexico at Columbus, Ohio, in the first of 10 matches that will determine if the U.S. joins 31 other national teams in South Korea and Japan next year.
Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago also are in the North and Central American and Caribbean region (CONCACAF). The top three teams advance.
Clint Mathis, who comes to Hawaii each winter to work the soccer clinic at Waialae Iki Field, played the midfield in January's friendly matches against China and Columbia.
"Mexico has a lot of hard workers. The defense is talented and sound," Mathis said. "It will be important to score early, stay on top, get in their heads and take them out of their game."
Mathis said scoring the first goal, whether it's in the first minute or the 90th, is crucial.
"Scoring first gets a team up mentally. It gives a little edge, but that's not all. You have to stay in the game for the full 90 minutes. A game can turn so fast."
This happened to the Americans twice in the previous qualifying round when Guatemala forced a draw and Costa Rica took a victory with goals in the final five minutes.
With this in mind, U.S. coach Bruce Arena has recalled 11 European-based players for the Mexico match. Those players are in-season and match-tested while Major League Soccer players just began training Feb. 1 for their season.
Mathis has seven caps (appearances) with the national team and one goal. That goal was the first against Barbados in a 4-0 win last November that assured the U.S. advanced.
In January's friendly matches, Mathis played the offensive midfield position where captain Claudio Reyna most likely will start Wednesday.
Reyna, who plays for Scotland's Glasgow Rangers, has indicated he may retire from the national team after the 2002 World Cup. His backup, Tab Ramos, retired last year.
Mathis isn't sure if he is being groomed to eventually take Reyna's position, but says, "either way, it's a good situation to be able to learn from a player like Claudio.
"Claudio is the center midfielder, the playmaker. Maybe Bruce is experimenting a little bit in case we don't have him."
How much Mathis plays may depend on what system Arena decides to use, a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2.
The 5-foot-10 University of South Carolina product does not mind coming off the bench.
"You see who is having a good day. Sometimes it's tough with the speed of the game, but you have to know your role. It's great to step in and make an impact," Mathis said.
For this qualifying round, Mathis said the U.S. has to win its home matches to take some of the pressure off, then try to pick up a point (tie) or three (win) on the road.
The two-time All-American said Honduras has a young team that is playing very well and Costa Rica is always tough.
Mexico is the highest ranked team of the six finalists in the FIFA ratings. Mexico holds a 27-7-9 edge in the all-time series with the Americans, but has won just four of the last 12 matches between the countries.
The Americans take a 16-match home unbeaten streak in World Cup qualifiers into Wednesday's showdown.
The next qualifying match is at Honduras, March 28
The New York-New Jersey MetroStars want to build a stadium for the 2003 MLS season, but have not chosen a site or found backers to fund the facility which is expected to cost up to $60 million.
