Arena: Playing Germany was a mistake
HAMBURG, Germany -- A day after his team's fiasco against Germany, U.S. coach Bruce Arena blamed himself for scheduling the game.
An undermanned American team was overwhelmed by the Germans 4-1 Wednesday night in Dortmund, and Arena didn't offer much encouragement in his assessment.
"We had anywhere from two to three first-team players playing, seven, eight, nine players fighting for a roster spot," he said after arriving Thursday in Hamburg, where the United States will be based during the tournament.
Because of injuries and club commitments, Landon Donovan, Brian McBride, Claudio Reyna, DaMarcus Beasley, Oguchi Onyewu and Eddie Lewis weren't with the U.S. team.
Arena's starting lineup included goalkeeper Kasey Keller, defender Steve Cherundolo and midfielder Pablo Mastroeni -- who all could be World Cup starters -- plus defenders Gregg Berhalter, Cory Gibbs and Jimmy Conrad; midfielder Kerry Zavagnin; and forwards Josh Wolff, Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching. Coming in as reserves were defender Heath Pearce; midfielders Chris Klein and Ben Olsen; and forward Taylor Twellman.
"I think there's some disappointment in some players because it was an opportunity for them to try to convince me that they belong on our roster for the World Cup," Arena said. "Most did not have a strong argument; some did."
Some of the regular starters weren't available because Wednesday wasn't set aside by FIFA as an international fixture date -- when all clubs must allow players to join national teams.
"We've worked real hard to build our team to where it is today, and to not prepare properly to play a game of that magnitude is a mistake, and I accept the full responsibility for that," Arena said. "If I felt that it wasn't the right time for us to play that game, I should have been a little bit strong in saying this is not the right time to play."
Keller gave up four goals in the second half and was upset at his team's performance against 22nd-ranked Germany, a soccer power that has struggled of late.
"I don't know what some our players thought, that they could just run around, do what they wanted to and Germany's players were just going to roll over and let you do that?" he said.
The United States, which has a No. 5 ranking that even it admits is misleading, has four remaining World Cup warmups, all at home and all against relatively weak opponents: No. 45 Jamaica (April 11 at Cary, N.C.), No. 37 Morocco (May 23 at Nashville, Tenn.), No. 70 Venezuela (May 26 at Cleveland) and No. 68 Latvia (May 28 at East Hartford, Conn.).
Against Jamaica, the roster is likely to be filled from players in Major League Soccer. Most of the Europe-based group will be available for the final three games.
Arena plans to narrow his potential roster to 30-33 following the Jamaica game, then announce his 23-man team about May 1, well before FIFA's May 15 deadline. The Americans leave June 1 for Germany and have first-round games against the Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana.
He was not too concerned about the latest injury to Reyna, who separated a shoulder last weekend playing for England's Manchester City. The U.S. captain is expected to be sidelined about a month.
"I think Claudio is fairly fit right now," Arena said. "Getting over the broken ankle was big. His ankle now is sound, so that's a positive. I think the shoulder separation is a temporary setback."
Arena chose Hamburg last July over Berlin and Munich. He said the northern port city, where the Beatles got their start, will suit his team well leading to the World Cup.
"When I stepped off the train in Hamburg, we could sense this was the right city for the American team, an exciting environment," he said. "This is a city that's very similar to cities in the United States, and I just think it's a perfect match. Great restaurants, a lot of entertainment, a lot of things to do, a great hotel, great training facilities. Everything we wanted was here."
