2003 MLS season loaded with highlights

By Nik Fattey

The 2003 Major League Soccer season is only 10 weeks old and already has had a whirlwind of highlights.

Old faces have returned to past glory as the league’s talent depth continues to grow and a new Vatican of American soccer has opened its doors in this young season.

The Western Conference

The Los Angeles Galaxy, last year’s champions, have finally moved into their new state of the art soccer specific complex in Carson, CA. The Home Depot Center is a 27,000-seat stadium and will be the crown jewel for U.S. Soccer for years to come. It is only the second soccer specific stadium in MLS.

Guatemalan international and last year’s MLS Most Valuable Player and scoring champ, Carlos Ruiz, is again in top form and has six goals in nine games. The Galaxy came out of the gate stumbling and without a win in their first eight games, but are now undefeated at their new digs in Carson.

One of the biggest surprises of the year has to be the play of the San Jose Earthquakes. San Jose is tied at the top of the table with Kansas City and have won a league-high five games.

American all-star Landon Donovan and the surprising play of former Rochester Rhino goalkeeper and Canadian International Pat Onstad have led the Quakes. It will be interesting to see how San Jose reacts when Donovan is called to the U.S. National Team duties for the two-week Confederations Cup in late June.

Kansas City shares first place honors with San Jose and has really played some exciting soccer this season. American sniper Josh Wolff is contributing after his trade from the Chicago Fire. Wolff and Preki have led the Wizards to a MLS best 20 goals in 10 games.

The Colorado Rapids have only two wins in 10 games and are having a hard go this season. Scoring must improve and is the team’s real weakness. The Rapids have proven they can do it and have scored four goals in one match this year. They have only scored four goals total in nine other games. They dearly miss retired Colombian playmaker Carlos Valderrama.

Another team in a new home this year is the Dallas Burn. The Burn are temporarily playing at Dragon Stadium as they await the completion of their own soccer specific stadium in Frisco, TX. Which should be completed in 2005.

The Burn are in last place in MLS and really need young American Eddie Johnson to contribute offensively and help out perennial all-star Jason Kreis.

The Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference in the MLS has also been loaded with news and action. The biggest surprise may be the emergence of the Metrostars as the team to beat. The Metrostars have 17 points and are alone at the top of the East. There are many different reasons why the Metrostars are on top. One is their new coach Bob Bradley. Bradley had success coaching the Chicago Fire and brings a new commitment to excellence to the Metrostars.

Another large reason for the Metrostars turn around is the new faces. Eddie Pope has come over from D.C. United and solidified the defense. Rookies Mike Magee, Ricardo Clark and Kenny Arena have provided a spark, and Honduran midfielder Amado Guevara has shown brilliance.

The final piece to the Metrostars puzzle has been the play of its stars Tim Howard and Clint Mathis. Mathis scored goals in five consecutive games and has his career back on track. The play of Howard may be most surprising of all. He has had three shutouts already and his play has earned him a probable transfer to world soccer giant Manchester United.

Brian McBride has returned from a successful loan to Everton. McBride played brilliantly in the English Premier League and has continued his outstanding play with the Columbus Crew this season. He leads the Crew with five goals and is followed up by Jeff Cunningham who has contributed four.

Columbus is going to be short three starters when Cunningham, midfielder Kyle Martino, and defender Frankie Hejduk leave to represent the United States in the Confederations Cup in France.

The Chicago Fire are also going to be down three starters when speedy midfielder DaMarcus Beasley, midfielder Chris Armas and defender Carlos Bocanegra join their fellow Americans in France.

Forward Ante Razov leads the Fire with five goals in six games and goaltender Zach Thornton is playing some of the best soccer of his career.

The New England Revolution played some exciting soccer this year. Taylor Twellman ripped up the league last year scoring 23 goals and already has six goals in this young season. His play has earned him a spot on the U.S. Confederation Cup roster.

With Twellman leaving, New England is going to have to rely on forward and former national team regular Joe-Max Moore. The former MLS sniper has returned after a few seasons in England.

Another national team hero who is making his MLS debut is D.C. United’s Ernie Stewart. Stewart starred as a striker for years in Holland and is playing in the U.S. for the first time in his career.

D.C. United are having a very hard time so far this season. The team has three national team regulars in Stewart, Bobby Convey and Ryan Nelson. The roster also includes star international players Marco Etcheverry and Hristo Stoitchkov, key role players Dema Kovalenko, Ben Olsen and Mike Petke and two young guns Alecko Eskandarian and Santino Quaranta.

It is a mystery why United are having a problem scoring goals. They have all the makings of a winner and should be a force at the end of the season when they find the right chemistry.

Other News

It’s official. David Beckham is leaving Old Trafford for Spanish giant Real Madrid. It is odd that Manchester United would give up its greatest asset right before their 2003 U.S. summer tour. Maybe the move was made to free up some cash for Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho.

Remember the name Freddy Adu. Adu is a 13-year-old and playing for the United States under-17 national team. Recently, Adu signed a $1 million dollar contract with Nike.

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