By FRANCO PANIZO
Oguchi Onyewu's place on the U.S. national team's World Cup roster may be all but assured, but many questions still remain about his ability to perform at the game's highest level.
Onyewu has fully recovered from the torn patellar tendon he suffered in a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica in October, but the AC Milan defender has yet to step on the field for anything but training, raising red flags from fans and media alike.
Those concerns, and the questions that come with them, should be addressed to an extent when the first of three friendlies prior to the World Cup is played on Tuesday against the Czech Republic in Hartford, CT. While the match will be used largely to test the fringe players before head coach Bob Bradley trims his roster to 23, it will also serve as a way to gauge just how far Onyewu has come since returning to training.
"When you see somebody back on the field, especially in training at times sometimes you create games that are in tighter spaces," said Bradley. "Everything is very fast because it is tighter space and the reactions and the tempo, everything is incredibly fast.
"Sometimes as a player is coming back from a period of time off, in those kinds of situations it's almost more difficult than a regular game. You can see moments when to release a pass or something takes a split second too long, but we're always confident that those are the kind of training sessions that get players back where they need to be quickly."
It is those training sessions, combined with the double days he was doing with AC Milan, that have Onyewu feeling prepared for the upcoming friendlies. More importantly, Onyewu believes there won't be any rust if he lines up against the Czechs on May 25 and Turkey four days later.
"Personally, if given the opportunity to play I want to show to everybody (I'm ready)," said Onyewu. "I'm sure you read blogs, or magazine articles or newspaper articles that a lot of people are saying that I won't come back like I was.
"I'm going to go out there and agree with them. I won't come back how I was, I'm going to come back stronger. I don't think right now I'm the same player I was seven months ago regardless of what anyone thinks. I'm going to use this year to prove that."
A repeat showing of the Confederations Cup would go a long way toward accomplishing that goal. Last summer's run to the final, which included a historic 2-0 triumph against Spain and a 3-0 dismantling of African champion Egypt, showed that when Onyewu is on top of his game, the team is that much more difficult to break down.
Heading into his second World Cup, Onyewu understands his role is not just to play stout defensively, but to help provide leadership to the younger guys that make the squad.
"(In 2006) I was the newcomer, the youngster in the group," said Onyewu. "Right now, I don't like to say I'm old, but I'm one of the veterans of this cycle. I think boths teams were very, very talented. I think this team has more youth to it, which can help us and hopefully it will."
With a much younger team heading into the World Cup, Onyewu's leadership abilities will be put to the test along with his sharpness and fitness.
"I don't think there is any element of the game that I haven't taken part of in as of yet," said Onyewu. "The sprinting, cutting, fitness, jumping, heading, all of that is where it should be, where it needs to be for me to compete at the highest level. I'm ready to go at it and to put to rest all these concerns from people."
Onyewu's first chance to do that will likely come on Tuesday.
Exactly!!! and does anyone remember originaldo having the triangle haircut? Gooch looks badass! Beardcore forever!
In fact, I think it’s so badass that I am now featuring it in my avatar.
Aren’t practices closed to public?
It is not their full national teams playing, yet they, especially Turkey looked very good, it surprised me.
Totally agree, it’s badass
I’ve heard some good news about progress though. I think that if he goes 90 in the 3 matches that he will be very close to World Cup Match ready.
That doesn’t sound good.
Clint Mathis was AWESOME and he looked like an IDIOT in 2002. Who cares whaht they look like and let them play!
What’s surprising, those 2 nations often have quality national teams.
I dig the beard. And I think it will win over some o’them amish fans
There’s really nothing bizarre about a beard. “Oh my god! Look over there. That man has a beard!”
It’s a heart rate monitor. It allows the fitness coach, Barrieu, to monitor each individual in real time, so he can tell if they are giving it their full effort or not.
And yes, Dempsey, the guy you think is “lazy” wears one too.
Obviously you don’t know what “normal” American athletes look like.
And in this country soccer is a weird exotic game.
So farging what? Go crawl back into the sewer you came from
Watched the USA train this morning. Gooch is huge! He looks more like a NFL tightend than a soccer player. He didn’t look like he was running that well,…laboring a bit.
I am not so sure that he will be able to scrape off the rust in three friendly matches.
all you guys dissing Gooch’s beard all sound like little USMNT fan girls where talking about a player’s skill and appearance go hand and hand. Its Gooch’s face so he can do whatever he wants.
@ Tres
If an american becomes a fan cuz our athletes look “normal” (whatever that means) then im sure they wont become much of a soccer fan. Did you not see Ron Artest’s hair during the first round of the NBA playoffs? Also, what the hell is normal for athletes? Is it Ochocinco and his attention-whoring ways? Is it the way Baron Davis dresses when not in the basketball court? Is it the vast majority of NBA players that have like a kazillion tattoos on them? What the heck is a normal looking athlete?
lmao, you sir are ridiculous… and you making these comments shows how picket fenced and suburban the game is here in the U.S.
you can look at nearly all the top leagues in the U.S. and see very different personalities & images in sports, not just soccer.
maybe you should leave the beautiful game and enjoy Polo instead?
I love hearing internet bloggers from rural america giving fashion advice to professional athletes who live in the fashion capital of the world. Please shutup
That is how the BP disaster is being reported, all copycats from one source, the Co. BP. No independent reports as of yet.
it was the article about m. bradley i think. same quotes, same structure. this one’s not so bad. basically same headline though
(SBI-We haven’t done an SBI article on Michael Bradley.)
nihat’s pretty badass. how come he doesn’t play in the prem? used to play in spain, right?
Are you kidding me??? That beard is amazing!
Maybe I’m over-thinking this, but for the World Cup I want our players to look as non-freaky as possible. The World Cup is the one big chance to sell soccer to America every four years, the best chance for convincing everyone to take the sport seriously.
So I want our guys to look like “normal” American athletes. Bizarre beards and hairdos (thank God that Kyle Beckerman didn’t make the squad) don’t help in that regard. They just feed the perception that soccer is this weird, exotic game.
I know it’s a minor issue, and I’m not gonna fight to the death over it, but that’s just my gut take on the thing.
“Onyewu’s first chance to do that will likely come on Tuesday.”
But from this game the Turks will be more of a challenge. Bob should take him out at half of Czech game and see how does against very quick attackers (Turks).
yeah, turks look good
I guess ONLY one news network should report on teh BP oil disaster huh? Who ripping of who in that situation?
I’ve got this afc…
In the past week and a half Onyewu has been in a lot of the Italian press due to his announcement that he’ll be playing for free in his final season with AC, on the conditions he’ll have unlimited access to all the jelly doughnuts in Italy, (apparently, they are hard to come by).
Turks very strong on attack.
free?
bornstein isn’t in that category you idiot
Both the Turks and Czechs look good so far (first half). They should be surprisingly strong opponents for the USA.
seriously, hearing gooch talk about the criticism and turning it around on them just is awesome…pure awesomeness. CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT IN ACTION, LETS GO TOUGH GUY!
gooch is the man.
i like the beard. it’s like what stevenson did at the wizards (NBA) for awhile. looks damn intimidating.
have you ever read mainstream news? Often what is news to one organization is also news to the rest. For instance, if gooch does an interview, then I am sure everyone wants to write about it, and everyone else wants to read about it. hence many sources saying the same thing….
i wouldn’t call that ripping off, just the state of journalism today.
And as I missed goff’s articles, I would have missed the story all together if it hadn’t been on here, so good on them!
well done, enjoyed this article. really got me fired up
That beard is badass! He should keep it for the World Cup. Very Metzelder like
you guys are coming dangerously close to ripping off goff’s articles. this is like the second time there’s a similar profile the day after wapo does it.
(SBI-Are you serious? Get a clue my friend. The media at camp all has the same access and gets the same quotes. Just because some outlets throw the stuff out faster than others doesn’t somehow mean they suddenly own the quotes and stories.)
I saw, in one of the USsoccer.com videos, someone else checking a watch while the guys were doing laps. I think it was Beasley. Maybe they all have them? Or, some have them and have a timing responsibility that goes along with that?
I don’t know guys… it’s pretty unique, AND theres no way you could miss him on the field now! I mean, other than the fact that he’s the only black guy on the back line. haha, but still, it’s kinda cool in a Kimbo-slice way.
Interesting observation on the watch. He does always wear tape on his wrists in games. Wonder if he always wears it…? Perhaps an insulin monitor or similar?
Agree that the beard should go. Especially if he’s gonna keep his head shaved like that…
He still needs to watch his positioning…We cannot afford the red cards we have received in the past. There is almost no way we can win going a man down. And based on Gooch’s size and style of play, he draws contact, which makes him open to the judgement calls by the anti-American (aren’t they all?) refs!
That’s not how I read it. All BB says is that they you can use training in tight space to assess where a returning player stands. He doesn’t say how Gooch is doing in this quote
I think ‘poor’ isn’t the right choice of word there, euroman. BB was identifying where Gooch wasn’t in the good form.
Poor is the kind of language we should reserve for Kljestan, Bornstein and Findley.
Yeah, weird get up he’s rockin’ there. And whats with the watch/heart rate monitor? Are other players wearing those? Haven’t noticed…
Accord to BB’s comments Gooch has looked poor in training in the tight space quickness stuff. The games are of course the real test and will releave our fears or confirm them. Tuesday should be interesting for a lot of reasons.
I want capri workout pants!!!
The beard is horrible but when you play for free you can do whatever you want 🙂
Agreed, I love it. I’m really hoping he sticks with it for the cup.
Heresy, Jerome.
That beard is sweet.
He is a beast. Although, he needs to shave that beard.