From: MLINDROOS@finabo.abo.fi (Marcus Lindroos INF)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer
Subject: Re: More Good news for US players overseas
Date: 5 Nov 92 12:34:12 GMT
Organization: Abo Akademi University, Finland
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.23

In <1992Nov4.145819.10729@europa.asd.contel.com> andy@rocky.gte.com writes:

> 
> Oh happiness oh joy, our lads our progressing nicely overseas.
> 
> First lets talk about the 1994 World Cup Keeper Kasey Keller.  I know I'm 
> jumping the gun a bit in giving him the nod over Meola but I think most
> people would agree that it is his job to lose.
> 
> Kasey plays for Millwall and the English 1st Division.  The chairman of 
> Millwall is trupeting him as the best young keeper in all of England.  I know
> Kasey has played very well but the Millwall chairman is playing him up so
> that some premeir team will pay a good chunk of change for him.  The 
> most likely candidate will be Chelsea.  They are definately in the hunt for
> Kasey but I think that Milwall is asking for too much.  Millwall is claiming
> that Kasey will become the first two million pound(3.6 million dollar) keeper
> in England.  I hope that Millwall gets what they want and let Kasey go to the
> higher league or else we could have another Tab Ramos situation on our hands.
> 
> The next news comes from Eric Wynalda himself.  Although suprisingly, the news
> is not about him.  Its about Cobi Jones who was last seen training with French
> 1st Division team Lens.  Eric said that Cobi's future lies in Germany.  Eric
> claims that Cobi has seven(sounds like to many to me) offeres on the table
> from German clubs, three of which are in the first division and four of which
> are in the second division.  Lets hope that this is true even in a small part.
> 
> I see for myself four key player moves that should happen in 1993 for US 
> players.  First and foremost Tab must find a way to get himself in the First
> division in Spain.  Next Kasey should move up to the Premeir division either
> this year or next.  Third, Cobi needs, at the very least, one full season in
> a strong league.  And fourth, I would love to see the "Young Phenom" Claudio
> Reyna play in a European league before 1994.  The first three in my opinion
> will happen.  The fourth might not.  Claudio seems content to play out his
> college days and debut with the National Team next year.  Maybe he will have
> a change of heart by next summer.  He's played well enough this year to keep
> Barcelona interested.
> 
> God, its amazing how far we have come in just two years since Italia 90.

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a free lunch. The national team players
will gain invaluable experience in the European pro game, the drawback is that
it will cost a fortune to get them back to play for American clubs once (if?)
the new pro league is started. Wegerle, Wynalda, Ramos and Harkes already seem
to be worth $1 million on the transfer market - now Keller and Reyna may soon
join them.
---
Unless USA'94 manages to convince bussiness America that soccer is a
worthwhile investment, the US is going to end up where Romania, Russia or
Bulgaria are today. There will be a good national team playing in front of
capacity crowds while interest in domestic soccer is negligible because all the
stars are with foreign clubs. But it sure is the next best thing to having
a real professional league in the States. Look at Wynalda - he was doing
nothing for the SFB Blackhawks, now he is star in Germany.


 
> Andy B

MARCU$
Organization: Freshman, H&SS general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA