Hawaiian punch: US finds time for Ching
Bruce Arena pushed the right buttons in the United States national team's last match, against Jamaica in Kingston Aug. 18. Brian Ching and Cobi Jones entered the match with the US trailing in the second half, then combined for the tying goal, which could go far in advancing the team to the next round of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Arena's moves illustrated a blend of the past and present with a team that is hoping to advance to its fifth successive World Cup finals. When Jones began his international career, he represented an evolution in player selection, with flexibility, mobility, and swiftness preferred to size and strength. Ching, 26, was about Jones's size as a high schooler, but has grown to 6 feet 1 inch, 195 pounds. He is a physically imposing presence, the type of forward who can threaten in the air, and also has the composure and technique to maintain possession.
Conor Casey (Mainz 05, Germany) and possibly Nate Jaqua (Chicago Fire), Santino Quaranta (D.C. United), and Taylor Twellman (Revolution) are other examples. Ching and/or Casey could well be paired with Brian McBride in the next two qualifiers -- against El Salvador at Gillette Stadium Saturday and at Panama Sept. 8 -- providing an aerial dimension that will be especially difficult for Central American defenders.
Ching has yet to start an international match and was barely on Arena's radar screen when the Major League Soccer season began. Jones has started more than 150 games, and was expected to be easing out of the national team picture, opening the way for a new generation.
"Brian did very well [against Jamaica] and, obviously, he's having a very good year with his club team," Arena said yesterday. "I think at this point in time we really look for the players that are in the best form out of this group, and certainly he is among them. He's likely going to get an opportunity.
"One game doesn't completely finalize my opinion on a player. I think I need to see him over a period of time. However, the reason we brought Brian in is because we felt he was a guy that could make his presence felt in these games and get some goals, and he certainly has demonstrated that in his short stint with the national team."
Ching made a similar impression in an exhibition against Poland in Chicago in July, entering in the second half to destabilize the defense as Carlos Bocanegra tied the game with a late header. In four of the last eight games, the US has converted its lone goal in the final minute of regulation time or in added time, off corner kicks or crosses, the team's aerial specialists directly or indirectly contributing. Head balls by Danny Califf, Twellman, and Bocanegra provided or set up the deciding scores against Haiti, Mexico, and Poland. Ching expected to head Jones's cross against Jamaica, but heard Landon Donovan instruct him to let the ball go. Donovan then touched it back for Ching to right-foot into the net from 15 yards.
Until recently, there was so little variety among American players that many opposing countries did not distinguish between individuals. The US presented a linear, predictable style. Regional opponents had to act like matadors, carefully distracting the charging Americans with their capes. That is no longer the case.
The US has outside midfielders who can dribble in one-on-one situations and make effective crosses; central midfielders with patience and vision; holding midfielders who tackle and transition to offense; and defenders who link with the midfield. And the US may be on the verge of developing goal-scorers who can succeed in the Bundesliga and Premiership.
"I know my role, I know my strengths," Ching said. "I don't try to dribble anyone. I get the ball wide and get in the box and finish. Two minutes after I got in against Jamaica, I missed a goal, and I just said, `Give me another chance, give me another chance.'
"Then Landon got me the ball. We never had a feeling we were not going to score, and the team turned the screws down and looked for the equalizer. I hope there are more goals to come. That was the next step in my career. If I go in, I want to make things happen and become a permanent fixture on this team."
Though Hawaiian soccer manifests a rich mix of styles, with a strong Asian influence, players have not traditionally been widely recruited from there, in part because they tend to prefer staying in what Ching terms "paradise."
Ching was among the more ambitious soccer players in the islands, pursuing an offer to Gonzaga University, then remaining on the mainland to perform in the A League. Former San Jose Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop brought in Ching, and after recovering from a knee injury (sustained in a 1-1 tie Aug. 16, 2003, at Gillette Stadium), Ching has emerged as one of MLS's best scorers, an excellent partner for Donovan.
Ching also represents the spread of soccer in the US. He is the first Hawaiian to perform for the national team, but even more remarkable is that he grew up in a remote area, Haleiwa, a surfing mecca on the north shore of Oahu. Ching said he was 5 feet, 100 pounds as a high school sophomore, but was soon recruited by a Honolulu club, the Bulls, who played matches in the city's spacious Kapiolani Park. The Bulls have since moved to Waipio Soccer Complex, near Pearl Harbor, and won a national championship, something that seemed unlikely when Ching was on the team. "I was never a marquee player in high school or college," Ching said. "It's the way my career has gone [in the pros], but I have progressed faster than most.
"When I was a kid, I was amphibious, always diving, fishing, surfing. My dad was a beach boy and my mom was from California. They met when she came over for a volleyball tournament, and she came back to Hawaii to live and raised me and my brothers. She wanted me to play a team sport and she was my first coach, teaching us out of an AYSO [American Youth Soccer Organization] guidebook. I fell in love with the game the first year.
"Now, there are a lot more coaches in Hawaii who actually played soccer and there are a lot more good players. This is the first year a team from Hawaii won the Under 19 national championship."
