United States looks ahead to next year

WATERFORD, Barbados (AP) _ U.S. players didn't seem to be celebrating. <br><br>The Americans had just escaped World Cup elimination, and already they were thinking about next year's qualifying

Thursday, November 16th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WATERFORD, Barbados (AP) _ U.S. players didn't seem to be celebrating.

The Americans had just escaped World Cup elimination, and already they were thinking about next year's qualifying finals.

``We've got to win our home games,'' forward Joe-Max Moore said after Wednesday's 4-0 win over Barbados.

Because the Americans played a scoreless tie against Costa Rica last month at Columbus, Ohio, they were forced into a must-win situation. While Barbados is ranked only 102nd in the world, the Bajan Rockets beat Costa Rica in their opener, and play tough on their slick, bumpy field.

For 63 minutes, Barbados stymied the Americans, who finally broke through when Moore set up Clint Mathis for a goal. Three more goals quickly followed _ the first time the U.S. team scored four times on an opponent's field since a 4-1 win at Liechtenstein in May 1990.

But the opponents in next year's finals _ Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, and either Costa Rica or Guatemala _ are much stronger.

Only the top three nations from the North and Central American and Caribbean region advance to the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea. If the Americans, ranked 18th, don't make it, they will miss the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

``We've felt some unfair criticism,'' U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. ``The objective of this round was to get into the final round.''

In the semifinals, the United States opened with two road games, tying at Guatemala and losing at Costa Rica. The Americans were last in their group after two games.

They hope they'll get a better schedule in the draw for the finals Sunday _ the 11th anniversary of the win at Trinidad that put them in the World Cup for the first time in 40 years.

The finals start in February and end in November, with two games played during five-day spans in both mid-June and early September. With the U.S. Soccer Federation wanting to avoid crowds favoring opponents, Portland, Ore., and Birmingham, Ala., have been mentioned as possible sites, along with Washington; Foxboro, Mass.; and Columbus _ where semifinals were played.

Injuries, which hampered the United States throughout the semifinals, could be key.

Twenty-five players started for the Americans in the semifinals, and not a single player started all six games, partly because Claudio Reyna and Earnie Stewart were both suspended. Arena said two factors were hurting the team's fitness: the shortness of Major League Soccer's late-March-to-September season and European-based players who don't see much time on the field with their clubs.

``To this day, we haven't put our full team on the field,'' Arena said.

Forwards Brian McBride and Moore both missed the first two games, and McBride missed the last two. Arena started Mathis in a qualifier for the first time Wednesday, saying he the best at converting scoring chances.

By next year, Arena might weave in 18-year-old forward Landon Donovan, voted the outstanding player of the 1999 FIFA Under-17 championship.

``I know we're good enough to qualify,'' Moore said, ``and we will do that.''