John's ball is in the air

FOXBOROUGH -- Avery John has a difficult decision to make. John could be offered a contract to play for the Revolution, which means low pay and no guarantees of a starting position. Or he could hold out in hopes of going to South Africa, with a chance to perform for Orlando Pirates, one of the most popular teams in Soweto.

After Carlos Llamosa injured left knee ligaments last month, the Revolution appeared to need John more than he needed them. Though Llamosa missed the Revolution's 3-2 loss to Los Angeles in their season opener and is out for the home opener against San Jose Saturday, he trained yesterday on a stationary bicycle at Gillette Stadium, indicating he might not have a season-ending injury.

But Llamosa's absence showed the lack of depth, variety, and versatility in the Revolution defensive scheme. And John, 28, could well solve this problem, judging by the mobility and sense of positioning he displayed during a tryout game last week, less than 24 hours after arriving in Boston.

The Revolution have an opening for a foreign player but little salary cap space, even after moving forward Chris Brown to San Jose opened about $60,000 worth of salary.

John has been playing in Ireland (for Shelbourne, Bohemians, Longford Town), and appears to be motivated by factors other than financial opportunity. He comprehends the advantages of performing for the Revolution's Steve Nicol, his coach with the Boston Bulldogs in 2000, who has guided the Revolution to the MLS Cup final and semifinal the last two seasons. John also is intrigued by South Africa after performing there with the Trinidad & Tobago national team last year.

"When Steve Nicol says to come and try out and let's discuss things," John said yesterday, "to me, it's a big compliment. I still have a lot to learn and, I mean, he's Steve Nicol and he played for Liverpool.

"I played for him with the Bulldogs and he even played with me a couple times in defense. Just watching the way he touches the ball, the way he strikes it, you can tell how good he was. He drives you to do your best and he doesn't expect anything else but your best on the field. If you have a bad day, but you have done your best, he will say, `Well done.'

"In football, you grow as a person. I am always looking to take on another challenge, I am always looking to challenge myself. Growing up, everyone's goal is to play at the top level, and that means Europe. It's football mania over there. And South Africa is an unbelievable place. I played in games with 65,000 people in the stands. And they are getting ready for the 2010 World Cup, so there is a lot of money going into football."

John, who plays on the left side of defense or midfield with Trinidad & Tobago, performed as a substitute against the US in a 2002 World Cup qualifier at Foxboro Stadium. He also was a teammate of Revolution midfielder Richie Baker, playing in the Champions League preliminary round with Shelbourne.

"One thing I am good at is looking at things in business terms," John said. "At the end of the day, we are all doing something we love to do, and not everyone has a job like that."

Power games

The huge increases in soccer revenue in recent years raised fears of the rich becoming richer, and poorer clubs being marginalized. A group of Europe's major clubs formed something called the G14 (Group of 14), which proposed to supplant the UEFA and would even challenge the authority of FIFA. The idea was that Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester United, AC Milan, Real Madrid, etc., controlled the financial high ground and should be able to dictate terms, especially in conflicts involving players and their national team obligations.

UEFA responded by changing the format of the Champions Cup. Since 1955, the competition was open only to league champions and contested on a single-elimination basis. Under pressure from the big clubs, the scope of the tournament was expanded to include the top four or even five teams from the prominent countries, meaning it no longer was limited to championship teams, and a league format was installed. Both changes were expected to favor the powerful clubs, which could buy their way in. Huge expenditures do not guarantee championships, but big money can virtually assure a club finishing in the top four in its domestic league.

But things have not gone as expected this year. The Champions League final four are Chelsea, Deportivo La Coruna, Monaco, and FC Porto -- none of the major powers of European soccer.

Of the four, only Porto is a G14 member, and then only because the group now includes 18 clubs. Porto has dominated Portuguese soccer in recent years but lags far behind Benfica and Sporting in terms of supporters.

Chelsea now is funded by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who spent 182 million euros on player acquisitions, more than the total of Manchester United (54 million euros), Real Madrid (30 million), Arsenal and Bayern Munich (25 million), Juventus (20 million), and Milan (8 million). Chelsea could be a candidate to join the elite group but lacks deep-rooted, high-profile identity, having won the English league title only once, in 1955. Abramovich's refusal to confirm Claudio Ranieri's future as Chelsea manager is also a mark against the club. After a 0-0 tie with Middlesborough last week and a 3-2 loss to Aston Villa yesterday, Chelsea could be regressing.

Monaco is considered the plaything of the Principality, performing in a 20,000-seat stadium, and not to be taken seriously. Most of Monaco's top players will move on after this season, and coach Didier Deschamps is a strong candidate to join Marcello Lippi's staff at Juventus. Lippi would become technical director and Deschamps, who has won the World Cup, European Nations Cup, and Champions League as a player, would be the on-field coach.