U.S. SOCCER: USA looks for first win of 2004 vs. Poland Wednesday

• by Soccer America , Mar 30, 2004

The USA plays its fourth game of 2004, Wednesday in Poland. The Poles beat the USA, 3-1, in their final group game of the 2002 World Cup. Poland had already been eliminated at that point and the USA advanced to the second round despite the loss thanks to a South Korean victory over Portugal.

* NO U.S. WIN YET IN 2004. In its three games so far in 2004, all friendlies, the USA tied Denmark (1-1), lost the Netherlands (0-1) and tied Haiti (1-1)

* DEFENDER OUT. Cory Gibbs has left the U.S. camp because of an intestinal problem and will not be replaced. Late last week, forward Landon Donovan (flu) and Chris Armas (strained right hip flexor) were replaced by defender Tony Sanneh and midfielder Chris Klein.

* FRIEDEL BACK. The 17-man roster includes 10 European-based players, including keeper Brad Friedel, who hasn't been with the team since starting every minute of the USA's five World Cup 2002 games.

* REMATCH: Six players on the U.S. roster played in the USA's 3-1 loss to Poland at the 2002 World Cup -- Brad Friedel, Clint Mathis, Brian McBride, Claudio Reyna, Tony Sanneh and DaMarcus Beasley.

* CASEY'S HOT. The U.S. roster includes one uncapped player, 22-year-old forward Conor Casey of Germany's Karlsruhe. With 12 goals, Casey is the third leading scorer in the German Second Division.

* REYNA NEARS 100. U.S. captain Claudio Reyna is set to earn his 99th U.S. cap on Wednesday. Six players in U.S. Soccer history have reached 100 caps.

* POLES ON ROLL. Poland failed to qualify for the 2004 European Championship, but has won its last seven games, the last six of which were friendlies and included wins over Italy (3-1) and Hungary (2-1).

* HEAD TO HEAD: The USA has played more games with Poland than with any other European nation. The Poles lead the series with seven wins, four losses and one tie.

* COACH BRUCE ARENA SAYS: ''It's an important game because I have a chance to evaluate players. With only three more matches before World Cup qualifying begins, we're getting down to crunch time.''

* U.S. Roster

GOALKEEPERS
Brad Friedel (Blackburn/England) 81 caps/0 goals
Jonny Walker (MetroStars) 2/0

DEFENDERS
Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus/Germany) 33/0
Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham/England) 22/4
Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96/Germany) 16/0
Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado) 25/0
Greg Vanney (Bastia/France) 26/0

MIDFIELDERS
Tony Sanneh (Nuremberg/Germany) 38/2
DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago) 30/4
Bobby Convey (D.C. United) 21/1
Chris Klein (Kansas City) 15/3
Kyle Martino (Columbus) 3/0
Clint Mathis (Hannover 96/Germany) 39/11
Claudio Reyna (Manchester City/England) 98/8
Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City) 3/0

FORWARDS
Conor Casey (Karlsruhe/Germany) 0/0
Brian McBride (Fulham/England) 73/23
Josh Wolff (Kansas City) 22/6