Back on track
Arena blends intense demands with humor as USA enjoys strong start to his 2nd tenure as coach
Associated Press
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Bruce Arena bites his fingernails religiously, a habit he has had since age 10.
Among some other unmentionables.
“Are you kidding me? I’m sure there’s plenty of those,” the U.S. coach acknowledged with a chuckle, “I don’t make that public information, though.”
Arena walks across midfield soaking in the California sun and surveying the scene as his players take a lap and begin stretches ahead of training on a practice field adjacent to Avaya Stadium, home of theSan Jose Earthquakes.
He crosses his arms and paces — side to side, forward and backward — eyes up always. He shifts his hands to his hips and steals a glance downfield to where the goalkeepers are doingindividual work.
“I’m thinking about my investments and retirement and things like that,” Arena cracked, then added: “I’m observing the players and looking at their habits, trying to learn as much as I can about playerson a daily basis. It’s not only game day. When you have a team and there’s 23 players, every player is important. So sometimes your contributions aren’t only on game or on the field and it’s other things. You look at the qualities of players both on and off the field.”
With his quick wit off the field and demanding nature on it, Arena has instilled a calm and a swagger the U.S. squad needed, and that has bred success again after fans reached panic mode. Now, Arena can become the first to coach three CONCACAF GoldCup titles if the Americans can beat surprising Jamaica on Wednesday night. The Americans won under Arena in 2002 and ’05.
“I came in with Bruce in January and I think initially you saw someone who’s trying to get points across and be pretty serious about it, but as we realized his demands and his intentions he’s been able to kind of dial it back a little bit,” midfielder Graham Zusi said. “Very dry, good sense of humor. It’s important, especially in these long camps, to have some kind of comic relief as well.”
On Monday, Arena reminded his players it was here in the Bay Area where the Americans regained momentum in March by beating Honduras, 6-0, in a World Cup qualifer.
Arena, a member of the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame who turns 66 in September, has led the team to an 8-0-5 record since he returned in November for a second stint as coach, replacing Jurgen Klinsmann after the Americans’ first 0-2 start in the final round of qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbeanregion.
“Four months ago we were rebuilding our program, a program that was in desperate shape of being ina position to qualify for a World Cup and all other things,” Arena said. “We’ve made great strides over the last four months. This is a great opportunity for us to continue to make progress. We’d love to win theCup.”
The United States is seeking its sixth Gold Cup title and first since 2013. Nine different players have scored so far this tournament, most notably Clint Dempsey’s record-tying 57th goal in a 2-0 semifinal win against Costa Rica on Saturday that matched LandonDonovan’s mark.
“Coming into the situation, into the job, we were in a tough spot,” Dempsey said.
Under Arena, the Americans have momentum again regardless how Wednesday turns out. Qualifying resumes with matches against Costa Rica on Sept. 1 at Harrison, N.J., and four days later at Honduras. The hex concludes against Panama on Oct. 6 in Orlando, Fla., and at Trinidad and Tobago four days after.
Arena took over with little room for error. A decade ago, he never would have envisioned himself in this spot now.
“I’m enjoying it, and I’ve always thought about what I was going to do in my mid-60s,” Arena said. “I thought I was going to retire at 55, so I’m a little bit behind schedule right now.”