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US ends World Cup qualifying with 0-0 tie

© Corey Arnold

In their final World Cup qualifying match for the 2002 tournament the US tied Trinidad/Tobago in Port of Spain, Trinidad with a score of 0-0. The US had already qualified for the Cup and therefore used this match as their first of actually preparing for the tournament next Summer in Japan/Korea. Several new and under-used names were on the field for the US.

Zach Thornton made his first US qualifying start and could easily be named man of the match by earning the shutout. Jovan Kirovski played the full 90 minutes, and Josh Wolff and Jesse Marsch both subbed into the match in the second half.

The off-season preperation has begun in earnest with several MLS teams sending coaching staff members overseas to scout potential new talent. According to MLS this is the current breakdown of who is traveling and to where:

Chicago Fire: Bob Bradley (no current plans for overseas travel)

Colorado Rapids: Tim Hankinson (currently in Spain with potential trips to Ukraine and Georgia on tap)

Columbus Crew: Greg Andrulis (traveling to Costa Rica in November and Germany in December)

Dallas Burn: Mike Jeffries (has already traveled to Honduras the week before MLS Cup; he will go to Costa Rica in late November and possibly Mexico and El Salvador in the near future)

Fusion F.C.: Ray Hudson (traveling to Europe through November 20 with a possibility of a trip to Central America to follow)

Kansas City: Wizards: Bob Gansler (no current plans for overseas travel)

Los Angeles Galaxy: Sigi Schmid (set to travel to Germany from Nov. 12-22 and to Costa Rica from Nov. 26-29)

MetroStars: Octavio Zambrano (planning on visiting France, Germany, and Argentina for scouting in addition to visiting various youth academies)

New England Revolution: Fernando Clavijo (tentative plans for scouting players in England, Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Germany)

San Jose Earthquakes: Frank Yallop (traveling to England from November 19 through December 12)

Tampa Bay Mutiny: Perry Van Der Beck (Van Der Beck, together with COO Ed Austin, are currently scouting in the United Kingdom; that will be followed by trips to either Yugoslavia, Costa Rica, Greece or Honduras)

Look for teams to be looking at a number of US talent in academies and in the college ranks. One of the great things about MLS is that you can only improve your team slightly with foreign talent. You have to have quality US players to put around those overseas "superstars" in order for them to produce.