[Frank Cunha]

MetroStars: Mathis a goner, but won't say it



Wednesday, November 12, 2003


BY COLIN STEPHENSON
Star-Ledger Staff

Clint Mathis addressed his MetroStars teammates at the team's final meeting of 2003 yesterday, but the out-of-contract forward had one major point of emphasis to make.

"I didn't say goodbye," Mathis said at the team's year-end luncheon, in which he was recognized for being the club's leading scorer on the season. "A lot of them probably didn't know I was finished. I just said, 'I want to get a chance to let all of you guys know. Hopefully, I'll see you soon.'


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"But at the end of the year, it's tough to say, 'See you next year,' or say, 'Goodbye,' to anyone, because you don't know who's going to be where. A few of the players always change, no matter who you are, or what team you're on. So you just kind of leave it at that."

Mathis, who turns 27 this month, seems certain to leave Major League Soccer for Europe. This is likely his last chance to hook up with a big-money team overseas.

And though he has suffered through two straight sub-par seasons -- four goals in 2002, nine in 2003 -- Mathis is still a U.S. national team player who is available to European clubs for free, and therefore probably worth a gamble for some middle or lower-third team in one of the bigger leagues -- in England, perhaps Scotland, or Germany.

In the meantime, MetroStars coach Bob Bradley has some decisions to make in rebuilding his team, which finished 11-10-9 in the regular season and was eliminated by New England in the first round of the playoffs. Whether or not Mathis returns, acquiring some proven veteran goalscorers will be his first priority for the 2004 team.

The Metros were hurt by the back injury suffered by Jaime Moreno that derailed his season. Moreno ended up having back surgery and finished with just two goals in just 11 games.

Like Mathis, Moreno's contract is up, and the 29-year-old's future is up in the air. While Bradley said Moreno's future is to be determined, other people within the organization said the former D.C. United star is welcome to come back in '04 -- if he takes a drastic pay cut from his MLS maximum salary.

Bradley said a decision has not been made as to whether to bring back Polish striker Adrzej Juskowiak, who signed late in the season to replace Moreno. But Juskowiak showed little in his five league games, getting just one goal. And he did not even make the 16-man travel roster to go to New England for the season's final game last Sunday.

The two Argentine players who joined the team on loan from Boca Juniors will likely not be back, but Bradley doesn't think the cooperation agreement the Metros had with Boca was a wasted effort.

"It's something that can pay off," he said. "If we get the right guy, who, all of a sudden, (blossoms because) he gets an opportunity that he wasn't getting in his own country, then you might have a special player.

"It was it was a good faith effort on both sides. Hopefully, we can continue to work with Boca. The people there are very good."

Honduran midfielder Amado Guevara, who scored their only goal in the two-game playoffs, was named the team's Most Valuable Player; Eddie Pope was the team's Defender of the Year, and rookie Tim Regan was the team's Humanitarian of the Year.



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