edcrocker
23 Jun 2003, 11:27 PM
Is Jeff Cunningham injured? He was our only field-player not to play a minute in this tournament. If he is not injured, then he should have played in the match against Cameroon. I think he should have started the match. And at least he should have come in at the half, perhaps for Kirovski. Cunningham is a fast player and a good dribbler. Over the last three seasons, isn't he one of MLS's leading scorers? It is important to gauge how Cunningham can do at the international level.
edcrocker
28 Jun 2003, 10:02 PM
Jeff Cunningham didn't play tonight against DC United. Apparently, he picked up a hamstring injury while the US team was in France. It's good that Bruce Arena kept Cunningham on the bench for the Cameroon match. Hamstring injuries are easily aggravated and, when aggravated, can take a long time to recover from.
Cunningham will get another chance to see what he can do with National Team. He is fast and has been productive in MLS. Also, in the last Gold Cup also, he had a really nice assist. It led to Beasley's game-winning goal against South Korea.
At the MLS level, Cunningham is able to beat people off the dribble. It is good to have forwards that can do that, and, with the National Team, we are a little short on that kind of player. McBride, though an outstanding forward, doesn't often dribble around players. His body is better suited for other parts of the game. Mathis is still working on returning to his pre-injury form. Although Wolff can beat players one-on-one, he has to regain his health. Donovan seems as though he might be feeling a bit overburdened at the moment. Twellman seems to be more of a Careca-type forward
The question: Could Cunningham help us in qualifying? The best way to get a gauge on that is to see how he performs in international friendlies and tournaments. Hopefully he will be patient with himself as he recovers from this injury. Then I'm sure Arena will keep his eye on him.