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Photo by Kyle Gustafson.
"I'm not going to be content. I want to make the World Cup team."
A lofty goal from a player that hasn't suited up for his country in more than four years, sure; but knowing the man and the story behind those words, anything seems possible -- yes, D.C. United's Santino Quaranta will once again wear the shirt of his country. Rosters for the 2009 Gold Cup, CONCACAF's yearly tournament were released on Thursday, and wouldn't you know it, there was Santino's name, nestled in among the mostly-MLS based squad.
"It's been such a long way back for me, personally," said Quaranta in a video statement posted to United's website yesterday. "This callup shows the amount of hard work I've put in, and the reward is that I get to be a part of the national team again."
It's but another step for the attacking midfielder, whose battles with drug addiction are well-documented. But anyone assuming that this is a feel-good, sympathetic choice on the part of national team coach Bob Bradley obviously hasn't seen enough United matches this season -- Quaranta's been one of the club's better players this season: always quick to give the team a lift, scoring timely goals, and providing solid two-way play.
With all the recent fireworks surrounding the national side, it'll be interesting to see if 'Tino can crack the starting lineup for a tournament in which the United States has historically performed well. The cup runs from July 3-26, including a doubleheader on July 8th at RFK Stadium in which the U.S. will take on Honduras. Up top, Quaranta will likely be hard-pressed to break past established strikers like Kenny Cooper, Brian Ching, and Charlie Davies, but the attacking midfield/winger role which he usually fills with United appears to be a fairly wide open competition.
"It's an honor to get to put that jersey on," Quaranta, who has 11 caps for the U.S. senior team in his career, reflected. "Not many people get to do it."
United will also be without the services of central defender Dejan Jakovic, who will feature as part of the Canadian national team in the twelve-nation tournament.
It's an great story for Quaranta and his many supporters, and Jakovic's play this season surely warrants a callup from the Canadian F.A. But the toll the absences could take on United's MLS season might be problematic -- especially during July, a month in which United has three league games, including a big home date with Chicago which has the potential to be another battle for first place.
In Quaranta's case, it's less of a blow. Certainly, the Black-and-Red will miss his pace and activity on the pitch, but United have done a fine job of building up the depth at forward and attacking midfielder this season -- though if nagging injuries to Fred and Jaime Moreno continue to linger, the team will be stretched. In the case of Jakovic though, things get a little murkier. Without question, the Canadian has been the rock between Marc Burch and Bryan Namoff who's allowed the two offensive-minded fullbacks to make ventures into the attacking third. Without Jakovic, it would appear as if Tom Soehn might need to revert to a four-man back line with some combination of featuring Namoff and Burch with Avery John, Greg Janicki, or Devon McTavish -- something United has struggled with occasionally this season: the most recent example of this combination? A 3-0 at Colorado last weekend.
But no matter what, the team certainly won't be lagging for inspiration -- hopefully they'll be able to get a morale boost from watching two of their own compete on the international stage.
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This is great for Santino. I think he has the talent to be on that team in 2010, but it's going to take one hell of a year.
This team may struggle a little bit, especially if Honduras bring their first squad. But good games to be sure. Hoping the atmosphere at RFK is rocking for this late kickoff.