Thursday, January 30, 2003 ESPNsoccernet: May 20, 7:47 PM US
Classy addition
Marc Connolly
When you've been on the National Team for over a decade like Earnie Stewart has, you start knowing your way around certain venues.
Earnie Stewart would jump at the chance to suit up again for the U.S. National Team. (Tony Marshall/Empics)
For example, Stewart could probably tell you all about the traffic on Rt. 1 leading into Foxboro, Mass., before a big match or how it takes only 17 minutes to get there from Providence, R.I., if your mini-bus is speeding up I-95 because you're late for a morning training session. He could fill you in on places like Pasadena, Calif., and Miami, as well.But there is hardly a city in America that Stewart knows better than Washington, D.C. With all the matches at RFK Stadium over the years, the training sessions at local colleges and nights spent in hotels all around the Beltway, the veteran of three World Cups has seen most of what the nation's capital has to offer. So when deciding between Dallas and D.C. to, in essence, give his "recommendation" to Major League Soccer of where he'd rather play -- D.C. United ultimately had the final say, though, with the first allocation pick -- he tried to block out all that he knew about the city going in."I have a pretty good feel for the place since I've been there so many times for games, but you never walk around thinking that you're going to live there someday," said Stewart. "So I had to look at it with a different view."Whatever that different view was, his decision came to him early on, when he traveled there earlier this month."When I got off the plane and walked around, I had a feeling that overcame me," he said. "It was a gut feeling that that was a great place and one that was right for me."Stewart's endorsement certainly made it a lot easier for Ray Hudson, Dave Kaspar and the rest of D.C. United's brass to pull the trigger with their allocation to secure the 33-year-old for the next two years (and one option year)."How do you pass up on someone who's played all over the world and is such a classy professional to boot," said Hudson at the MLS Draft two weeks ago. "He's going to be a joy to have."So now here he is, one week from leaving Holland, the country he has called home since his family moved from Point Arena, Calif., when Stewart was seven years old, and just days away from attending what was supposed to be a surprise party in his honor by his club of seven years, NAC Breda, and he's more interested in talking about the future than reflecting on the past."The only thing that I'm really going to miss is my family and friends," said Stewart, speaking on his cell phone from his home in Uden, Holland. "I'm so used to the States that it won't be hard to get used to anything. The States is home for me, too. My wife and my kids are looking forward to moving to the States to finally see how the American way of living is."Despite crisscrossing the Atlantic too many times to count over the years to play for the National Team, the longest block of time that Stewart has been in the U.S. is three months, which took place in 1994 for the World Cup. He would have come to Major League Soccer sooner, actually, had it not been for his ongoing fear of flying. Once he got into National Team camp in Cary, N.C., last May, he knew he'd finally be able to handle flights on a weekly basis across the country, which is something he didn't have to do playing in Holland with the close proximity between all the clubs.Now that he's signed and ready to play for D.C., he's been getting all sorts of well-wishes from Dutch soccer fans that are now knowledgeable enough about MLS and U.S. Soccer as a whole to understand his move. He leaves Holland knowing that there is a respect for American soccer there that he certainly never saw a glimpse of growing up and hardly ever heard a kind word about until recently."There's a lot more respect, for sure, than there was five or so years ago," he said. "They especially talk about Brad Friedel right now. He came off an outstanding World Cup. They talk about the young kids like Landon (Donovan) and DaMarcus (Beasley). Clint (Mathis) is brought up, too. Right now, the big topic is Brian McBride because he's scoring out of his mind in England."Generally speaking, they know a lot of our players. It used to be based on the players who were in Europe playing for big clubs like Claudio (Reyna) and Kasey (Keller)," Stewart added.Several of the names mentioned above are friends of Earnie's that he now will be playing against for the first time. It's something he relishes, especially when it's against his best friend, Cobi Jones, and the defending MLS Cup champion L.A. Galaxy.It's also one of the reasons he is counting down the days until his squad travels to Fort Lauderdale for a week of training on February 12 and then again on March 3 for spring training."Right now I'm not even looking at the beginning of the season, just getting down to Florida," he said. "Especially the second time we go into training camp when all the MLS teams get together. I'm really looking forward to that, and seeing all my teammates. I'll be having some dinners (with friends from the National Team) left and right."It's also during that time when Stewart will start to find his role within D.C. United. Hudson could slot him into several spots in the lineup, whether it be as a striker, a wide midfielder or in a more central role where he played for NAC Breda and at times for the U.S. during World Cup qualifying in 2001."Ray and I spoke about it, but it hasn't been set in stone or anything," he said. "We're pretty much going to go into camp and see how it works it. You could say a lot of things right now, but in the end it all has to do with how everyone links together. Those times in Florida at camp will say a lot about what my role will be. I like to be in the mixture of things, and in the middle somewhere, whether it's up front or a little bit behind the forward runners. Being in the middle makes communicating easier and I feel more comfortable there."Wherever he plays, Stewart will surely make an impact on last year's cellar-dwellars. Off the field, he's one of the classiest players to ever wear the U.S. jersey and leads both via his words and his actions. On the field, there haven't been any signs of him slowing down despite the fact that he'll turn 34 before the season begins. In fact, he'll be one of the quickest players in the league, and give D.C. a proven finisher, which are not exactly littered across MLS rosters. "Age isn't even an issue for Earnie," said Mathis. "He's as fit as anyone in the league, and works harder than most players I've ever seen.""He's not here just to collect a few paychecks," said Bruce Arena. "I think he'll come in and really make a difference both within the league and with the team."New teammate Ben Olsen, who has played with Earnie on the National Team, said much of the same."He's always going to work hard, and he's been experienced," said the 25-year-old midfielder. "The guy's been in three World Cups. The thing about him is this: In big games, he always steps up. We're just real excited to have him."Stewart says the secret to staying young is being around young players. With guys like Santino Quaranta (18), Bobby Convey (19), Eliseo Quintanilla (19) and Alecko Eskandarian (20) roaming about, that won't be too hard. It may even keep him around longer than two years. "I have to take it from year to year now," said Stewart. "I feel great now, and I can really see myself helping out and doing well these next two years. After that, we'll see."And, hey, don't exactly go and retire Stewart from the National Team just yet.With 84 caps to his credit and more minutes logged in World Cup action than any American in history, there's always a chance he'll be summoned to help Arena's side through what is always a grueling qualifying process that begins next year."That's up to Bruce," he said. "That's not my call. If he would ever need me, I'd be the first person to get in a car, a train or a plane to be there. Nothing makes me prouder than to play for the U.S."And now it'll also be special to play in the U.S. every time I go out there."Marc Connolly covers soccer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at shaketiller10@yahoo.com.
