Wynalda vows to avenge men’s World Cup debacle

Steve Carp

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 9:37 a.m.

Injuries

Las Vegas resident Eric Wynalda is a health insurance company's worst nightmare. The 30-year-old forward for the Miami Fusion has endured more than his fair share of injuries on the soccer field. Here's a list of Wynalda's most recent injuries dating to 1997:

* Separated left shoulder

* Separated right shoulder

* Hernia

* Torn groin muscle

* Torn meniscus left knee

* Pulled calf muscle

* Torn ACL left knee

It's a year later and no amount of Listerine can eliminate the bad taste that lingers in Eric Wynalda's mouth.

The humiliation of the U.S. men's national soccer team in France where the Americans finished dead last in the 32-team World Cup field has not been forgotten. Nor has he let go the hurt that came with the way former coach Steve Sampson utilized him.

But the Canyon Gate resident is brimming with incentive. Not only is there a new coach, Bruce Arena, to impress, but Wynalda is now a father and he wants to show his daughter, Brooke, that he is one of the greatest players this country has produced.

"I've never given up," he said from Miami, where he is bouncing back from his latest physical setback, a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, to hopefully play for the Miami Fusion of Major League Soccer.

"After the France debacle, there's no way I'm leaving it that way."

Wynalda will be 33 when the 2002 World Cup is staged in Japan and South Korea. And while there is a youth movement under way with the national team, a healthy Wynalda could be of assistance. He is, after all, the national team's career goal-scoring leader with 32.

"Bruce and I have talked about it," he said. "He told me I was in his plans. I heard from Bruce two weeks ago he was penciling me in when I'm ready to return.

"I'm more motivated than ever."

It has been a wild year for the former San Diego State star. In February, he was playing for Leon in the Mexican First Division when he took a brutal tackle from behind in an exhibition match against a club team from Paraguay. His left knee, which had already been operated on for a torn meniscus, was once again injured.

Surgery was performed and he was out of commission. In the meantime, wife Amy gave birth to the couple's first child. In a weird sort of way, the injury was looked upon as a blessing by Wynalda.

"Had I not been hurt, I wouldn't have been there to see my daughter be born," he said. "It was such a wonderful thing to be there with Amy and be part of it.

"I told my dad it was so wonderful that if I never play soccer again, that's fine. But two months later, I was holding her and I said, 'I've got to play again. I want her to see what I do.' "

But playing again was still a long ways off. He was still in MLS as a member of the San Jose Clash. But things didn't work out the way he had hoped and in June, he was dealt to the New York-New Jersey MetroStars. However, he had no desire of playing late in the season on the Astroturf at Giants Stadium and the MetroStars shipped him to Miami.

He said he's probably about two weeks away from playing, though the Fusion believe Wynalda's debut won't come until the end of August. The Fusion, which was 7-12 and in fourth place in the MLS Eastern Conference heading into Thursday's game with in-state rival Tampa Bay, can use some scoring. The man who scored the first goal in MLS history could be the answer.

"No question I can help this team," Wynalda said. "But I want to make sure I'm ready and not rush it. You've got to pace yourself. You don't want to do anything stupid."

That also means not putting himself at risk to help the national team. The Americans will have to qualify through the CONCACAF (Confederation of North America, Central America and Caribbean Football) tournament in 2001, and Wynalda will have to prove to Arena he is capable of contributing.

Wynalda said Arena told him he would have a sole purpose with the national team -- put the ball in the back of the net.

"Bruce is good at analyzing a player's strengths," Wynalda said of Arena, who was a highly successful coach at the University of Virginia and led D.C. United to the first two MLS championships before replacing Sampson as the national team coach. "He's not going to ask you to do something you're not capable of."

Where Sampson asked Wynalda to be more of a complementary forward and even play in midfield, Arena would want the old Wynalda -- the one who attacks the goal and can put away chances -- to suit up, play up front and score.

The possibilities have him excited again.

"I dream about it a lot," he said. "You have to understand how frustrating France was for all of us who were on the team. We failed to capitalize on the success of 1994 (when the Americans advanced to the second round of the World Cup). And the way things happened there, it's just a bad feeling."

Wynalda said the success of the U.S. women's team was great for the sport, even though the men sometimes found themselves the subject of ridicule from certain segments of the media.

"I called Michelle Akers the day after the final and I told her she should enjoy it," Wynalda said. "She and so many of the others have given so much to the game over the years. I can definitely relate.

"I think it's great what they did. It was great for soccer. It was great for women's sports."

And in a way, the success Wynalda and his teammates had in the 1994 World Cup helped the U.S. women win the World Cup in '99. Some of the money made by the U.S. Soccer Federation from the '94 World Cup was put into the women's national program. And even though the women have dominated throughout the decade, the financial support helped.

Wynalda hopes to restore some pride and dignity to the men's national team. But first, he has to return to the MLS pitch and regain his touch. That, he said, won't be so easy.

"When you're the starting forward for the U.S. National Team playing in MLS, you have a target on your back," he said. "Guys are always gunning for you.

"I see guys like Cobi (Jones) getting injured and it's stupid. What good is it if the stars people come out to see can't play because they're hurt?

"But I need to get back out there. It's important to play again. For me and for my family."

It's the only way to get to the Orient and erase the bad memories of France.