Andrea Canalas Q&A with John O'Brien

[appoo]

http://www.soccer365.com/_365_Interviews/page_123_119061.shtml

probably what everyone is interested in is right here:

As far as your current fitness, how would you compare your level now to when you started playing Gold Cup with the U.S. team last year?

Before I started Gold Cup, I’d been training for a little while, but I hadn’t gotten any good games. It’s kind of comparable. Again, I still need to get in better condition. Yesterday I played in a practice game. That was fun. Hopefully I can get in an MLS game before the national team camp starts so I can get in some good games. But yeah, my fitness is maybe about the same.


two things here:

First, He's one the team. That's clear. Might as well stop debating that.

Second - He might be able to regain full form by the end of the World Cup run up if this is similar to pre-Gold cup. a few weeks after that Gold Cup, we played TnT in a WC qualifer and he was outstanding. The timing looks to be about approximatly the same for our opener against the Czech Republic.

[ursula]

It might be useful here to point out that pre-GC we had no friendlies and a two (?) week camp. Here we have a five week camp with three friendlies here and one just before the WC. Plus we start the WC late. And that's after a game or two with Chivas. So he should be on schedule earlier in the WC then he was for the GC.

[IndividualEleven]

Dude just rolled out of rehab for the Gold Cup and did well where
others were quite mediocre. That's talent right there.

[tab5g]

an average man who went to train in Amsterdam as a teen, the oft-injured fella dons his national team uniform to become Super #5 whenever Bruce Arena calls on him.

i do have my worries and concerns for the health and fitness of the person and Chivas player John O'Brien. but i fully believe that he is almost a super-hero-like figure who will perform at his peak during the 2006 World Cup.

and if he can no longer fly, he'll let his side-kick/deputy Bobby Convey answer the call.