If you told me I had to hand in a roster tomorrow, I could do it. However, we know from experience -- at least from the last time -- a lot of things happen.

If you had told me I'd be making 62 tomorrow, I'd say you were lying.

When I became president, they gave me a roster of about 150 members, and told me to find out who was still active and actually wanted to be involved. Once we knew who the real members were, we could do programs for them and pursue others who were really interested in participating. . We also had some tax issues that we took care of, and once we got through that the group was really able to grow and develop more easily.

I like the fact that we're not playing at altitude (as in Mexico City), and Columbus is as good a venue as we can select. We have no excuses. We need to step on the field and win.

We want to give some promising players some opportunities and start to formulate some strategies for 2006. There is no easy way to establish a player at the international level. The easiest way is to get them on the field.

I think it's critical. If we want this sport to grow, if we want to truly position ourselves to one day win a World Cup, we need support from the people that follow soccer in the United States.