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Canales Daily: Hejduk, Kljestan Readying for Mexico
Bob Bradley's USMNT training camp has reconvened with the addition of veteran Frankie Hejduk, whose leadership inspires players like Sacha Kljestan.
Jan 31, 2009 5:52:07 PM
By Andrea Canales
Sacha Kljestan, whose now close-cropped hair seemed to indicate a new focus on the business at hand, had blood trickling from a wrapped knee after a national team practice, but he barely seemed to notice.
"I just bumped knees with a guy in a game," Kljestan shrugged. "It's a little bruised, but it's fine."
It seems only fitting that the new blood of the U.S. squad is willing to shed that liquid on behalf of the team. Those are the kind of sacrifices that players eager to prove themselves make every day.
"We've got a lot of talent and young players and hungry players," said veteran defender Frankie Hejduk, who recently joined the team for the latest training camp stint. "You mix the hungry players who want to win with the veterans and it's going to make for a good team. This is what this January camp is all about, getting all the guys fit and getting everyone on the same page. If we get everyone thinking the same, we'll be alright."
Hejduk, with his surfer-zen optimism and manic energy on the field, has long been an inspiration to many U.S. players. A World Cup veteran going back to 1998, Hejduk raised Major League Soccer's championship trophy this past year with the Columbus Crew, scoring the last goal in the final.
"It's a joy to have Frankie in," Kljestan stated. "He's a good leader and he brings a great spirit to training every day. Even to the meeting last night, we had a couple of laughs when Frankie got there. He's a good guy to have around, because of his personality and the way he shows his work rate on the field. He's a guy you want to follow. It's especially good to have a guy like that on your team, who you know is going to work super-hard in every training. Every day, you know you can count on him."
Coach Bob Bradley might have trusted Hejduk so much, he probably allowed the defender time off from the earlier portion of camp. Though Hejduk wouldn't go into detail, it was no accident that he wasn't involved in the earlier portion of training leading up to the Sweden match.
"We had a plan intact," Hejduk acknowledged. "It's going how it was supposed to."
The strategy that seems in disarray presently is that of upcoming opponent Mexico, which looked low on ideas in their loss versus Sweden, the same squad against which Kljestan scored his hat trick.
"I saw a couple of highlights, and a nice goal by Sweden, but we haven't really watched any of it yet," Kljestan said about comparing Sweden's performance against Mexico to that versus the U.S. "I'm sure I'll catch more of it this week."
However, Hejduk cautioned against reading too much into any display by Mexico's second-tier players against Sweden, when the U.S. will instead face the best squad El Tri can assemble in their February 11 game. The match will be played on Hejduk's home turf, Columbus Crew Stadium in Ohio.
"It's going to be a whole different game when they come to Columbus to play," Hejduk explained. "You can look at that [Sweden/Mexico] game and take different pieces out of it, but in no way is that going to be a game that's similar to ours."
Despite his delayed connection to the training camp, Hejduk was as pumped as ever for the upcoming Mexico match. He ran the drills at practice with players more than a decade younger, keeping up or besting many of them. Hejduk didn't picture himself slowing down in the future, either.
"I just love the game," the defender explained. "I want to play as long as I can. It's the greatest sport in the world. Everyone asks, 'When are you going to retire, when are you going to give up?' Why would I want to give up the best sport in the world? If I'm still competitive and I still can play and I'm still hungry, which I am, I'm going to play until I'm 50, or as long as I can. These games especially - with Mexico - those are games that we look forward to as professionals, as athletes. It's a challenge. What better of a game to play in?"
Part of the reason why players are striving so hard at camp is the aspiration to be a part of that match and fierce rivalry. In veteran and newcomer alike, it serves as a strong motivation. But in a more practical sense, there is the World Cup ticket to think about, which goes beyond any grudge against any team.
"It doesn't matter if it's Mexico or Costa Rica, its a home game and we want to get three points out of it," Hejduk said. "We want to open up qualifying with a win, as everyone does, so it should be a fun game."
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com USA
Sacha Kljestan, whose now close-cropped hair seemed to indicate a new focus on the business at hand, had blood trickling from a wrapped knee after a national team practice, but he barely seemed to notice.
"I just bumped knees with a guy in a game," Kljestan shrugged. "It's a little bruised, but it's fine."
It seems only fitting that the new blood of the U.S. squad is willing to shed that liquid on behalf of the team. Those are the kind of sacrifices that players eager to prove themselves make every day.
"We've got a lot of talent and young players and hungry players," said veteran defender Frankie Hejduk, who recently joined the team for the latest training camp stint. "You mix the hungry players who want to win with the veterans and it's going to make for a good team. This is what this January camp is all about, getting all the guys fit and getting everyone on the same page. If we get everyone thinking the same, we'll be alright."
Hejduk, with his surfer-zen optimism and manic energy on the field, has long been an inspiration to many U.S. players. A World Cup veteran going back to 1998, Hejduk raised Major League Soccer's championship trophy this past year with the Columbus Crew, scoring the last goal in the final.
"It's a joy to have Frankie in," Kljestan stated. "He's a good leader and he brings a great spirit to training every day. Even to the meeting last night, we had a couple of laughs when Frankie got there. He's a good guy to have around, because of his personality and the way he shows his work rate on the field. He's a guy you want to follow. It's especially good to have a guy like that on your team, who you know is going to work super-hard in every training. Every day, you know you can count on him."
Coach Bob Bradley might have trusted Hejduk so much, he probably allowed the defender time off from the earlier portion of camp. Though Hejduk wouldn't go into detail, it was no accident that he wasn't involved in the earlier portion of training leading up to the Sweden match.
"We had a plan intact," Hejduk acknowledged. "It's going how it was supposed to."
The strategy that seems in disarray presently is that of upcoming opponent Mexico, which looked low on ideas in their loss versus Sweden, the same squad against which Kljestan scored his hat trick.
"I saw a couple of highlights, and a nice goal by Sweden, but we haven't really watched any of it yet," Kljestan said about comparing Sweden's performance against Mexico to that versus the U.S. "I'm sure I'll catch more of it this week."
However, Hejduk cautioned against reading too much into any display by Mexico's second-tier players against Sweden, when the U.S. will instead face the best squad El Tri can assemble in their February 11 game. The match will be played on Hejduk's home turf, Columbus Crew Stadium in Ohio.
"It's going to be a whole different game when they come to Columbus to play," Hejduk explained. "You can look at that [Sweden/Mexico] game and take different pieces out of it, but in no way is that going to be a game that's similar to ours."
Despite his delayed connection to the training camp, Hejduk was as pumped as ever for the upcoming Mexico match. He ran the drills at practice with players more than a decade younger, keeping up or besting many of them. Hejduk didn't picture himself slowing down in the future, either.
"I just love the game," the defender explained. "I want to play as long as I can. It's the greatest sport in the world. Everyone asks, 'When are you going to retire, when are you going to give up?' Why would I want to give up the best sport in the world? If I'm still competitive and I still can play and I'm still hungry, which I am, I'm going to play until I'm 50, or as long as I can. These games especially - with Mexico - those are games that we look forward to as professionals, as athletes. It's a challenge. What better of a game to play in?"
Part of the reason why players are striving so hard at camp is the aspiration to be a part of that match and fierce rivalry. In veteran and newcomer alike, it serves as a strong motivation. But in a more practical sense, there is the World Cup ticket to think about, which goes beyond any grudge against any team.
"It doesn't matter if it's Mexico or Costa Rica, its a home game and we want to get three points out of it," Hejduk said. "We want to open up qualifying with a win, as everyone does, so it should be a fun game."
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com USA
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