U.S. SOCCER: Preview -- USA takes on Venezuela

• by Soccer America , Mar 29, 2003

The USA faces Venezuela in tomorrow's game because the original opponent, Japan, canceled its U.S. tour in response to the U.S. military's attack on Iraq, citing air-travel security concerns. Japan's decision came in the wake of Major League Baseball's canceling a series in Tokyo between the Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners.

Venezuela is the only South American country never to have qualified for a World Cup, but its five wins in its last campaign indicate it may have its strongest national team in history.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The teams have met once, in a 3-3 tie at the 1993 Copa America, in which John Doyle, Chris Henderson and Dominic Kinnear scored for the USA.

The U.S. lineup was:

Friedel, Kooiman, Doyle, Clavijo, Caligiuri, Lalas, Henderson, Jones (Murray), Ramos, Kinnear (Harbor), Vermes.

BIRTHDAY BOY: Earnie Stewart, who turns 34 today, debuted for the USA in December of 1990. Asked whether being called in for tomorrow's game was something he expected, Stewart said:

''Not at all. I could understand that Bruce would want to go in a certain way, needing to look at younger players with World Cup qualifying about a year away. The team has to keep going forward. I was pleasantly surprised that my name was still up there to be called in. I'm still very honored.''

USA ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS
Tim Howard (MetroStars) 5 caps/0 goals, Kasey Keller (Tottenham Hotspur) 60/0.

DEFENDERS
Carlos Bocanegra (Chicago) 10/2, Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96) 11/0, Nick Garcia (Kansas City) 3/0, Frankie Hejduk (Columbus) 44/5, Eddie Pope (MetroStars) 55/5.

MIDFIELDERS
DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago) 18/3, Bobby Convey (D.C. United) 6/0, Chris Klein (Kansas City) 10/2, Kyle Martino (Columbus) 1/0, Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado) 17/0, John O'Brien (Ajax Amsterdam) 20/2, Earnie Stewart (D.C. United) 84/15.

FORWARDS
Edson Buddle (Columbus) 0/0, Landon Donovan (San Jose) 32/7, Jovan Kirovski (Birmingham City) 54/7, Brian McBride (Columbus) 65/20.

VENEZUELA ROSTER:

GOALKEEPERS:
Gilberto Angelucci (Deportivo Tachira), Manuel Sanhouse (Club Espoli/Ecuador).

DEFENDERS:
Wilfredo Alvarado (ItalChacao), Luis Vallenilla Pacheco (Caracas FC), Jose Manuel Rey (Emelec/Ecuador), Jorge Rojas (Emelec/Ecuador), Leonel Vielma (Maracaibo), Javier Villafraz (Estudiantes).

MIDFIELDERS:
Leopoldo Jimenez (ItalChacao), Ricardo David Paez (Caracas FC), Giovanny Perez (Estudiantes), Gabriel Urdaneta (Lugano/Switzerland), Luis Vera (Caracas FC).

FORWARDS:
Cristian Casseres (Deportivo ItalChacao), Juan Garcia (Mineros), Wilfredo Moreno (Mineros), Daniel Noriega (Deportivo ItalChacao)