The Hindu : Sport / Football : Defensive role for Reyna?

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Thursday, May 18, 2006

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Defensive role for Reyna?

CARY (USA): After spending two World Cups as an attacking playmaker for the United States, Claudio Reyna might find himself in a more defensive role at this year's tournament.

The U.S. team's training resumed on Tuesday following a day off, and many of the top players spent more than an hour each talking about what they expect to achieve at this year's World Cup, where the United States plays the Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana in one of the tougher first-round groups.

``As players come and go into the team, I think I just try to find my role in the team,'' Reyna said. ``Previously, I was probably more of an attacking player. And now, I still have a responsibility to control the tempo of the game, when to slow it down and speed it up.''

He became the U.S. captain in 1999, shortly after Bruce Arena took over as coach, and played one of the best games of his career in the 2-0 second-round World Cup win over Mexico.

Some intriguing questions

If the 32-year-old Reyna is pushed back into more of a holding midfield role, it leads to some intriguing questions about Arena's lineup for the opening game against the Czechs on June 12. Will Landon Donovan play as an attacking midfielder or as a forward alongside Brian McBride? Will Josh Wolff or Clint Dempsey find his way into the starting lineup? Will John O'Brien, if he recovers from his string of Achilles' tendon, hamstring, groin and hip injuries, find his way into the first 11?

Unlike Czech coach Karel Bruckner and Italy coach Marcello Lippi, Arena doesn't carry the expectations of a nation.

``The guys with all the pressure are the guys called Signor Lippi and Bruckner, but not Arena,'' he said. ``They're the one who are supposed to win.'' — AP

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