Sports: Soccer

Do you also have questions about D.C. United? MLS? National team? Europe?

Washington Post soccer writer Steven Goff was online Wednesday, Feb. 22, at noon ET to talk soccer.

The transcript follows.

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Steven Goff: Howdy, everyone. Thanks for checking in. Let's get started......

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Columbia, Md.: Steve, I saw your byline on some college basketball stories. Does this mean your leaving us behind in the soccer world???

Steven Goff: Nah, no worries, just expanding my horizons during the winter. I must say, it's nice to get back to soccer (for an hour, anyway) while my colleagues Rennie and Prisbell take chat abuse from whiny GW hoops fans.

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Herndon, Va.: Steven, I scoured every inch of Monday's sports section for the score and report from Sunday's USA v Guatemala friendly...to no avail. How can stories like a toy shoe for Shaq and a bone marrow transplant for a dog sled racer actually get printed when the report from an actual game is dissed? The Post (and you) are among the top 2-3 papers nationally in covering soccer (you did have the flap about Nowak's alleged comments) - but where was the game!?

Steven Goff: Very, very good point. I was stunned not to see anything in the paper the next morning. You should probably pass along your concerns to the editors at sports@washpost.com

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Washington, D.C. : Noticed that Olsen has been getting more time with the U.S. lately than I would have expected -- and also doing a bit of spot duty as a right back. Any idea where he sits as a potential roster spot holder for Germany with his performances and apparent versatility? (Not to mention his great goal against Guatemala.) Is he in front of Zavagnin at D-Mid?

Steven Goff: I am suddenly liking Olsen's chances, a lot more than last fall. Ben is a worker, a team player, and an inspirational figure behind the scenes. The only question was whether he could still perform in international matches. That goal on Sunday was outstanding. Keep in mind, however, these are just the MLS players, so Bruce Arena still has to review his Euro-based talent, starting next week against Poland.

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Reston, Va.: Steve,

Realistically which United players can make the trip to Germany. I've got a feeling that Olsen may make the cut as a gritty guy to kill off a match. But Carroll (Brian, need to distinguish, now) needs a couple of unfortunate injuries to pack his bags. Your thoughts?

Steven Goff: Olsen has moved ahead of Quaranta, in my opinion, among DCU players contending for World Cup roster spots. Carroll is a longshot and Adu has very little chance.

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 Washington, D.C.: Clint Dempsey, a.k.a the rapper Deuce: are you a hatta or lovva?

Steven Goff: I like his act. Brings some hipness to the national team. Not sure about his voice, though.

:-)

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Greenbelt, Md.: With all due respect to Freddy who I love as a DC United player, who would chose him for the MNT with a healthy Eddie Johnson to play? Also, how is Alecko Eskandarian looking in training? Finally, who do you see as winning the central D spot on DCU, Facundo Erpen or Bobby Boswell?

Steven Goff: Barring injury, Brian McBride should start in the World Cup because of his experience, professionalism, work rate, ability to battle in the air, etc. Not to mention, he is a regular in the English Premiership. Johnson still has something to prove this spring.

Alecko was slowed by a minor injury (hamstring?), but seems to be on course for a comeback season. As for central defense, great question: Somehow, Nowak has got to find a way to get both Erpen and Boswell on the field. Not sure how he's going to do it.

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Falls Church, Va.: What's up with the MD SoccerPlex these days? I know they have had financial problems and then managed to alienate several local leagues. But it's a GREAT complex for soccer at all levels - have you heard anything about its future?

Steven Goff: No, I haven't followed the financial issues of the SoccerPlex. It's a wonderful facility, but clearly politics and management have become a distraction.

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 Washington, D.C.: Some D.C. fans seem to have high expectations for Argentine striker Lucio Filomeno. Why? What has he done or shown that other candidates haven't?

I would think that Eskandarian and Adu would be higher on the depth chart for that second striker spot, next to Moreno. Any thoughts on that?

Steven Goff: Filomeno arrived at training camp is superb shape, which has led many in the organization to believe he could have a big impact this year. We'll see...

If Esky regains his fitness and scoring form, I would guess he will start alongside Moreno. Certainly, Nowak has a lot of options (Adu, Quaranta, Walker, Filomeno)

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Va.: Where were you when Nowak uttered his infamous words?

Steven Goff: Working on a GW basketball story.

Wish I were in Bradenton to hear first-hand what was said.

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Arlington, Va.: What's the inside scoop on Nowak and the "go to hospital" comment.

Steven Goff: Nowak said something, Salt Lake heard one thing, United folks heard another. Unless an audiotape emerges, we'll never know for sure. Keep in mind, however, that Nowak is often difficult to understand and words that seem simple to pronounce to most of us sound much different when they leave his mouth.

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Bethesda, Md.: Steven

Looking forward to your coverage of DC United and Germany 2006. Can you offer a guess on who might be a surprise addition to the US team. Stunning omission?

Steven Goff: Hmmm, great question.

Heath Pearce and Jonathan Spector are intriguing candidates for the backline -- two players who have flown under the radar in Europe.

I kinda wonder if Man U's Tim Howard will actually make the final roster. At the moment, Keller and Hahnemann seem to be 1-2, with an MLS goalie filling the third spot. Just thinking out loud...

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Washington, D.C.: I went to school with Shawn Kuykendall. I saw a bit of his play last year, and I thought he did a decent job subbing in for Dema. I would love to see a fellow Eagle get more playing time. Now with Dema gone are his chances of securing some minutes aside from reserve matches realistic?

Steven Goff: The front office likes Kuykendall a lot and he seems to have a future in MLS. However, at defensive midfield, Olsen, Carroll and Simms are the top options, I imagine.

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 Washington, D.C.: Do you see either LA or NE making it through to the finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup?

Steven Goff: Not likely. MLS teams aren't in top form so early in the year, giving the advantage to Central American and Mexican clubs. Look what happened to DCU last year.

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Arlington, Va.: Please tell me that the pitch at RFK is going to receive top priority this season. As the spring turned to summer and summer to fall it was apparent that the grounds were deteriorating.

Steven Goff: As long as two teams are playing there, it's never going to be in ideal condition. Can't wait for the first big thunderstorm to turn it into mush.

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Fairfax, Va.: Steve, outside of the comment Nowak may or may not have made, how do you think the league will deal with the obvious leak by the RSL staff to that radio station? I was at that scrimmage and can state without a shadow of a doubt there were no fans or media near the benches during the game.

Steven Goff: It's Salt Lake's word against United's word. From what I hear, the league is not pleased with the way Salt Lake has handled it, especially Ellinger's radio interview.

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 Washington, D.C.: If we believe the United players and staff that Peter Novak is innocent of making an inappropriate comment during the Real Salt Lake scrimmage, how badly will United beat RSL when they play this season?

Steven Goff: The first thing I did the other day was check to see when the teams play each other for the first time this year! Unfortunately, not until August, I believe.

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Lusk, Wyo.: Steven,

Didn't you suggest in one of these chats a while back that there'd be some expanded coverage of DC United on the Washington Post website? Is that still in the works? I know there are a some reporters with "blogs" on their newspaper's websites (Wendy Parker in Atlanta, Lauren Gustus in Salt Lake City to name two.). I'd love to see something like that set up for you.

Thanks!

Steven Goff: Nothing new, unfortunately. These chats are the only avenue for expanded coverage, at the moment. As the World Cup approaches, however, I'm sure you will see a lot more soccer features in the paper and on the web site.

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Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.: What are you hearing about the rookies? Who looks to be the biggest impact player in the new season, and who could be the biggest surprise a la Boswell?

Steven Goff: From what I hear, Rod Dyachenko and Justin Moose have been impressive, but I have not spent any time with the team in Florida (nor will I go to Spain with them next week) so it's hard for me to say for sure.

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Takoma Park, Md.: Any word on the opponents or venues for the final 3 world cup warm-up matches in May?

Steven Goff: Some rumors (Ireland, Greece, Mexico, others) but nothing is set. I imagine we'll know in the next few weeks. As for the sites of those games, Chicago, Columbus and Foxboro appear near the top of the list.

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Great Mills, Md.: Last season the field conditions at RFK were terrible. Has D.C. United or the D.C. Sports Commission done anything to improve the playing surface condition?

Steven Goff: It is what it is. The field will be fine early in the baseball and soccer seasons, but inevitably, it will take a beating from constant use.

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Reston, Va.: If we start a quick campaign, can we get your editors to spring for a quick trip to Spain? After all, they are paying for a quirky cheese blog at the Olympics...

Steven Goff: Thanks for your "cheesy" support, but won't happen. However, I am going to Belgium and Germany in a few weeks to work on some pre-World Cup stories.

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Alexandria, Va.: Aside from Prideaux, any trade talk lingering around the front office?

Steven Goff: Nope. Pretty quiet at the moment.

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Washington, D.C: Hi Steven,United announced the international camp and three games within it: the Getafe friendly and two close doors scrimmages. Any clues on which are the contenders in these scrimmages?

Steven Goff: I imagine they'll play against a couple reserve teams, perhaps Real's.

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Takoma Park, Md.: When do you normally hook up with the team early in the season? Is it normal for you to have so little contact with the team during pre-season?

Steven Goff: We don't usually cover DCU preseason on site for financial reasons, especially during a World Cup year. I'd rather save the money for United road games once the season starts.

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Alexandria, Va.: Does anyone find it hilarious that a team based in Salt Lake, that bastion of diversity and racial tolerance, is the offended party in the Nowak controversy?

Steven Goff: (sigh)

Ellinger is a Maryland dude and the incident happened in Florida.

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Bethesda, Md.: Any chance that new Beasley teammate Ngyuen at least gets a look against Poland or Germany?

Steven Goff: Nguyen, who played a year at Indiana, is a very intriguing player who now is in the Dutch league. Wouldn't be surprised if he got called up for those friendlies.

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Arlington, Va.: Who do like in today's Chelsea v. Barcelona match? Will you watch?

Steven Goff: Barca, baby!

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Baltimore, Md.: Steven:

Did you get an opportunity to ask Peter to tell you himself what he said? If so, what did he tell you?

Steven Goff: Yes, I believe I was the only reporter to speak directly to Peter. He confirmed the 'hospital' comment and was adamant that he made no racial comments. In fact, he's furious at Salt Lake for accusing him of it. You don't want to be around Peter when he's REALLY angry.

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Arlington, Va.: Anything new on the new stadium? I guess with the new owners bowing out we have been set back. Didn't the mayor promise us 2007?

Steven Goff: Stadium? What stadium?

DCU officials keep saying everything is on schedule, city officials say optimistic things.

I don't know, I'll believe it when I see it...

I'm not as optimistic as I was six months ago.

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Arlington, Va.: A big picture question. I catch a lot of EPL, Italian, and Spanish league games on cable, and I am always a bit stunned by the skill level in comparison to the MLS. The big question: what will it take to close the gap for US soccer? More players in Europe and South America? Better youth programs? Better skill training in the MLS? It seems like the vision of USSF folks is to hope and pray that the US will stumble through the round-robin stage of the World Cup, and this will inspire all the better young athletes will gravitate to the sport, and that one of them will emerge as the next Pele. Well, I think the Freddy Adu experience has shown us that this is not fail-proof.

I go to many DC United games, and while I love the effort that Santino and Ben put out, the idea that they are serious candidates for playing time on the National team shows us how far we have to go.

Steven Goff: It's a combination of a lot of things in order for MLS to improve: continued youth development, better salaries for American players so they don't bolt to Europe, improved quality of foreign players in order to upgrade the level of play in the league.

Obviously, MLS can't compare to England, Italy, Spain, etc., but it's not as far behind some of the mid-level Euro leagues as some think.

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Bethesda, Md.: Is there any hope that we'll get a new soccer stadium, or has the craziness over the new baseball stadium pushed soccer off the map?

Also, I heard that Sasho Cirovski wants a better space at U Md--any chance of a new stadium in College Park that could accommodate DC United?

Steven Goff: New MLS stadiums must hold at least 20,000. I can't imagine that's in the works in College Park.

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Washington, D.C.: What does "send back to hospital mean? Who was Peter yelling that to?

Steven Goff: Apparently, he was telling his own players that the Salt Lake player should be 'sent to hospital' -- retaliation for physical play.

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Arlington, Va.: Is United under the salary cap? If so, are they planning to hang onto the money for a mid-season acquisition after they see where things stand with our current roster?

Steven Goff: They are in good shape at the moment. If they feel the need to add a player during midseason, obviously they would have to trade or waive someone.

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Fairfax, Va.: Have you checked out the candidates for goal of the decade? Which is your choice - do you think Etch's goal against NE has a chance of winning or was it too long ago?

Steven Goff: There are always one or two great goals each year, but at this point, over the course of 10 seasons, I couldn't pick out just one.

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Oakland, Calif.: Any thoughts on Freddy switching positions as a way to play full 90s?

Steven Goff: Perhaps his best chance to play a full 90 minutes were if he were a flank player. But that's not really the case. If the team decides he's an attacking midfielder, he would have to beat out Gomez for the job. If he's a forward, he's got Eskandarian, Moreno, Quaranta, Filomeno and Walker to overtake.

It's a tricky situation.

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 Washington, D.C.: After watching DC United's performance on and off the field under Coach Nowak over the past few years, I'm getting the nagging, disturbing feeling that he's the soccer equivalent of Billy Martin or Mike Keenan. He takes over a team which has lots of underperforming talent but lacks discipline and whips them into shape through the sheer force of his stubborn, ornery personality. He gets results, but gets dragged into silly controversies with his players and others, and the team and the entire organization get so burned out and exhausted in the process that he wears out his welcome quickly and has to leave after only a few years. Your thoughts?

Steven Goff: Peter is an intense individual whose personality seems to rub off on his team. (Although with Kovalenko gone, perhaps the team's edginess will soften.) He has had some public scraps (the Colorado coach last season, the Freddy mess, etc), but as long as he's successful, I don't think the team will make a change.

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Reston, Va.: Speaking of Marco, have you seen him recently? Is he ever going to officially hang up the cleats so we can have a much deserving celebration of what he's done?

Steven Goff: Marco was asked by the team when he would like to be honored. Not sure if he's given them a timeframe yet.

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Downtown Washington, D.C.: Do we have a genuine goalkeeping controversy this year, or is the job Rimando's to win or lose?

Steven Goff: Rimando is the No. 1 keeper, but if he slips, Perkins is certainly capable of stepping in.

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Elko, Nev.: Any chance Ellinger faces discipline from MLS for a false accusation?

Steven Goff: I'm sure that is among the options for the league.

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Richmond, Va.: What will Houston's new name be? and what do you think of the naming mess.

Steven Goff: Houston franchise not off to a good start. Quite embarrassing for the league. What's so wrong with a simple plural nickname??? United is fine and Revolution is okay, but I don't understand why Tigers or Toros or Eagles can't be used for these new teams.

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Fairfax, Va.: Love the online videos on the USSF Web site. Did you see the clip of Arena's post-game press conference against Guatemala. A reporter asked what Brazilian fans should think of the USMNT's level of play. Arena looked positively flabbergasted, glanced around the room with a bewildered expression and finally answered the question by saying that he strongly doubted that Brazilian fans were spending any time worrying about the USMNT. It was priceless!

Steven Goff: Bruce is the best in post game settings!

He's no Ray Hudson, but highly entertaining.

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Arlington, Va.: Do Nowak or Payne expect Nowak to be fined for admitting to calling for an opposing player to be retaliated against/injured? Do you expect Nowak to be fined for that?

Steven Goff: Indeed, that is the secondary issue. If the league finds that he did not make the Africa comment, will it discipline him for essentially calling for his players to injure someone?

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Leesburg, Va.: Who is your favorite U.S. Men's National Team player?

Steven Goff: Ted Eck.

And with that, I must bid farewell. Thanks for all your questions. Sorry I could only respond to a fraction of them. Feel free to reach me anytime at goffs@washpost.com

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