Recently Reyna said in an interview that the 98 team was more talented (think that's the word he used). In the NYT, Sampson said, "To this day, I believe we struck a balance, or a least tried to, between the experience we needed to get to France and the need to bring along younger players In a way, I was caught between generations.” So how do the two rosters stack up? 2002 GK 1998 GK FRIEDEL Brad FRIEDEL Brad KELLER Kasey KELLER Kasey MEOLA Tony SOMMER Juergen Defense Defense HEJDUK Frankie AGOOS Jeff BERHALTER Gregg BALBOA Marcelo REGIS David LALAS Alexi AGOOS Jeff POPE Eddie CHERUNDOLO Steve BURNS Mike LLAMOSA Carlos REGIS David SANNEH Tony POPE Eddie Midfield Midfield MASTROENI Pablo RAMOS Tab O'BRIEN John JONES Cobi LEWIS Eddie RADOSAVLJEVIC Preki STEWART Earnie DEERING Chad REYNA Claudio MAISONNEUVE Brian BEASLEY DaMarcus HEJDUK Frankie REYNA Claudio DOOLEY Thomas Forward Forward MOORE Joe-Max WYNALDA Eric MATHIS Clint MC BRIDE Brian WOLFF Josh WEGERLE Roy MC BRIDE Brian STEWART Ernie DONOVAN Landon MOORE Joe-Max I don't remember how good/poor the form of such players as Dooley, Balboa and Deering was in 1998, so I've been having a tough time comparing the two rosters. Plus, was 98 Stewart better than 02 Stewart? How about Cobi? Did the 98 squad really underachieve? Did the 2002 squad overachieve? Are the two squads equal and did the coach make the difference?
More readable formatting: Code: 2002 GK 1998 GK FRIEDEL Brad FRIEDEL Brad KELLER Kasey KELLER Kasey MEOLA Tony SOMMER Juergen Defense Defense HEJDUK Frankie AGOOS Jeff BERHALTER Gregg BALBOA Marcelo REGIS David LALAS Alexi AGOOS Jeff POPE Eddie CHERUNDOLO Steve BURNS Mike LLAMOSA Carlos REGIS David SANNEH Tony POPE Eddie Midfield Midfield MASTROENI Pablo RAMOS Tab O'BRIEN John JONES Cobi LEWIS Eddie RADOSAVLJEVIC Preki STEWART Earnie DEERING Chad REYNA Claudio MAISONNEUVE Brian BEASLEY DaMarcus HEJDUK Frankie REYNA Claudio DOOLEY Thomas Forward Forward MOORE Joe-Max WYNALDA Eric MATHIS Clint MC BRIDE Brian WOLFF Josh WEGERLE Roy MC BRIDE Brian STEWART Ernie DONOVAN Landon MOORE Joe-Max
Friedel said the same thing on the "Our Way" DVD. But he also said that 02 was light years ahead as a team and that's what counted.