[nas] Mathis

Mathis looks for magic    

 By Ives Galarcep

North Jersey Herald News - Sept. 3, 2003

  Editor's Note: This is the ninth in a nine-part series looking at the
  top American soccer players. Each Wednesday, the Herald News took a
  look at some of the country's best at each position. This week's
  article focuses on forward Clint Mathis.

 

The width of a crossbar or post can often times save a goalkeeper or
curse a goal-hungry forward. For Clint Mathis, those precious inches of
fiberglass have meant the difference between him being regarded as the
goal-scoring demon who starred for the U.S. national team two years ago
and being the struggling striker desperate to regain his form.

 

There was Mathis, skying for a header against Los Angeles three weeks ago
only to see his effort carom off the crossbar (and fall to John Wolyniec
for a game-tying goal). Here was Mathis curling a free kick against
Chicago two weeks go, only to have it plaster off the crossbar in an
eventual 2-1 loss. All of a sudden, Mathis has gone two months without a
league goal and the talk of his decline is back, even as he steps closer
and closer to the form that, at one time, made him the most dangerous
attacking player in American soccer history.

 

"Fans and media tend to just look at goals," said MetroStars coach Bob
Bradley. "If a player is scoring goals he's playing well. If he isn't
then he must be struggling. The game is much more than that. It's about
effort and creating chances and Clint has been giving us that.

 

"There was a time when he was able to do some special things, when it
seemed as if everything he did lead to goals," said Bradley. "Some people
still hold him to that standard, and that's a bit unfair."

 

Mathis doesn't bother with talk of his demise. He just laughs at the idea
that he's washed up, that the torn ACL he suffered in 2001 has
permanently erased the magic that made him an unstoppable force for the
Metros and U.S. national team. To Mathis, the absence of goals on his
score sheet is irrelevant. He can still make defenders quiver with the
ball at his feet. He can still pick out teammates with perfect passes.
What he hasn't been able to do is find the net. Before a brilliant
20-yard strike against New England in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal last
week, Mathis had gone five MetroStars and seven U.S. national team games
without a goal.

 

"I really don't care about goals as long as my team is winning," said
Mathis. "What's the point of having 20 goals if you don't have a trophy
at the end of the year. That's what I'm focused on, winning an MLS Cup,
not scoring a ton of goals."

 

Mathis doesn't consider his game to be as rusty as some would believe,
but the evidence is hard to ignore. He has not shown his trademark
acceleration in a long time, his free kicks have been off in recent
months and he has disappeared in games for long stretches. 

 

To his credit, however, Mathis has stepped up his effort in recent weeks,
showing an increased work rate against Los Angeles, Chicago and in the
U.S. Open Cup game against New England.

 

"Every player goes through periods where their touch may be a little off
or the breaks aren't going their way," said Bradley. "The key is how a
player works through that, how they respond to that adversity. Clint's
attitude and effort have been there, and he has been creating chances.

 

"Sometimes he's almost too unselfish, too willing to drop off a pass to a
teammate. He has to mix it up a bit more and take on defenders more,"
said Bradley of Mathis. "The goals will come. He has been creating the
chances, and it's only a matter of time before they start going in."

 

Currently in the final year of his contract with MLS, Mathis is also
facing the pressure to perform for potential suitors. He denies any bad
blood with MLS officials and puts his chances at returning to the
MetroStars next season at 50/50. 

 

The 26-year-old forward insists that he is focused only on winning an MLS
title, not on where he will be playing soccer next season.

 

"I don't need any distractions right now," said Mathis. "I'm feeling
healthy, and the team is starting to come together. We're looking to win
a title, and it would be a nice way to finish the year, by winning MLS
Cup and going to Europe."

 

As he considers the finality of his statement, Mathis adds, "Winning a
title wouldn't mean I would leave. It might also make more anxious to
stay here and keep winning."

 

For the Metros to keep winning, Mathis will have to start scoring, his
shots will have to start hitting the net instead of the crossbar and the
player known more for his haircuts than goals these days will have to
find that magic he has been missing.

 

 


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