Ricardo Clark said he was nervous when the opening whistle blew to start 2003 campaign for the MetroStars. Could you blame him? Here he was, a 20-year old rookie playing in front of 23,000 fans and sandwiched between a pair of midfielders – Clint Mathis and Richie Williams – who have a combined 46 international caps between them to take on the Columbus Crew, a side loaded with U.S. National Team stalwarts. And right smack in the middle of Bob Bradley’s five-man, diamond-configured midfield, no less. Poor kid should have never been placed in a situation like that, he could have had a heart attack. Now that he made it thru his first professional game things should get better for him and the team.
Of course, if he had been put in after halftime, or in a later game, he would have had the same nerves...
I remember Sam Forko's first start last year on the D-line. He did a damned good job against Diallo a couple of times. Clark got the first match out of his system. He will be fine.