Growing up in New York, it was hard to see the birth of Major League Soccer come with such a futile franchise in the New York metropolitan area.
Names of the franchise (now the New York Red Bulls) and faces of players and coaches have changed with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, but it is amazing to see the number of top-flite coaches that have been jettisoned from Giants Stadium.
Michael Lewis reports on how three former MetroStars managers are now preparing to coach nations in the 2010 World Cup, and how a fourth, is scouting for another nation that will participate for the World Championship.
When you think about clubs that probably would have the greatest representation on World Cup-bound teams, the names of Arsenal, Liverpool, Real Mardrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich certainly would come to mind. A team from Major League Soccer? And the MetroStars of all teams? You've got to be kidding.
Heck, the club isn't even named the MetroStars any more. The New York/New Jersey team in MLS is called the New York Red Bulls, after its energy-drink owners, thanks to the purchase of the team in March 2006.
But the MetroStars' legacy certainly lives on, with not one, not two, but three former coaches guiding at team in South Africa at the 2010 World Cup -- Carlos Queiroz (Portugal), Carlos Alberto Parreira (South Africa) and Bob Bradley (United States). A fourth ex-MetroStars coach -- Bora Miltunovic, is a scout for his native Serbia after nothing materialized from talks with North Korea. Don't slam the door on Bora. Teams have been known to have coaches only months prior to the Mundial's kickoff -- ie Bora himself with Costa Rica prior to Italia '90.
"In the early days of the MetroStars there was a focus on having some big name foreign coaches and obviously, Carlos Querioz and Carlos Parreira fit the mold," Bradley said prior to the draw in Cape Town earlier this month. "Both have had incredible careers and its not a surprise to anybody who knows them or has seen them work that they're coaching teams in this World Cup."
It's too bad Portugal, South Africa, the USA, and Serbia could not have been draw together in a World Cup group. It certainly would make one intriguing group to talk about from now until June 11th.
By the way, the combined record of Queiroz, Parreira and Bradley with the MetroStars was sub-.500 at 58-62-26. If you add Milutinovic's record, it is 62-89-30.
The former MetroStars coaches involved in the World Cup:
Carlos Queiroz
He was brought in to rescue a struggling MetroStars team after only eight games of MLS' inaugural season in 1996. The MetroStars were 3-5 (one one win was a three-win victory) and five points. Despite being a foreign coach, Queiroz acquitted himself quite well the rest of the season, guiding the club to a 13-12 mark (there were no draws in those days) and a playoff berth. The MetroStars took D.C. United to the final game of a three-game Eastern Conference semifinal series, losing late in the third match.
Imagine how MLS history would have been different had the MetroStars prevailed and United failed to win the League's first championship.
Charlie Stillitano, then the MetroStars general manager, wanted Queiroz back for the 1997 season and offered him a generous $500,000 contract. Queiroz opted for a better deal from the J-League's Grampus Eight.
Querioz, 56, who had turned down the US National Team post in 1995, helped write the Project 2010 report that mapped out US Soccer's plans for the new century. He also has coached the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, and Manchester United (as an assistant coach) before taking over the reins of the Portuguese National Team. He directed the team into the World Cup, winning a playoff series with Bosnia.
Portugal was drawn with Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea in Group G, also known as 2010's "Group of Death."
Carlos Alberto Parreira
After losing one Carlos, Stillitano tapped his international connections and brought in Parreira for the '97 season. Parreira directed Brazil to its fourth World Cup championship in 1994, and first in 24 years. However, Parreira did not fair as well as his predecessor, trying to figure out the rules and regulations and the then $1.3 MLS salary cap. Despite having the likes of Roberto Donadoni and recruiting former Brazilian World Cup standout Branco, and with U.S. internationals Tony Meola and Tab Ramos, the MetroStars finished at 13-19 and out of the playoffs.
Parreira earned $500,000 to coach the MetroStars. When he was hired, he said "It's not the money. I am financially independent." It was money that lured Parreira from the MetroStars at the 1998 World Cup draw in December, 1997 to coach Saudi Arabia -- some $3 million. However, the Saudis lost all three games and Parreira was axed after the team's second defeat. It was believed to be the first time a coach was fired during the group stage of the World Cup.
The 66-year-old Parreira's tenure with South Africa has been a curious one. He was named coach in August 2006 but had to step down in 2008 due to his wife's illness. His successor, Brazilian Joel Santana lasted until October when he was given the pink slip. Parreira relieved him and he faces a major challenge, trying to avoid having South Africa become the first host country to miss the second round.
Parreira has coached at five previous World Cups -- Kuwait (1982), United Arab Emirates (1990), Brazil (1994), Saudi Arabia (1998) and Brazil (2006).
South Africa was seeded in Group A and will play Mexico, France and Uruguay in the opening round.
Bob Bradley
Bradley enjoyed great success with the Chicago Fire. At the helm of an expansion team in 1998, Bradley directed the Fire to the MLS Cup title and US Open Cup crown. He tried to duplicate that success during his tenure with the MetroStars from 2003 to 2005, but failed in his quest to turn the team into one of the League's best sides.
The MetroStars reached the playoffs in Bradley's first two seasons, but were eliminated in the opening round. Bradley was in reach of a third playoff when then club president Alexi Lalas fired him with three games remaining in the season. His assistant Mo Johnston took the team into the post season.
From there, Bradley joined Chivas USA and quickly turned the League's worst team into a playoff side in 2006, finishing third in the League in goals scored. However, Bradley's stay with Chivas turned into a short one as he was named interim coach of the U.S. National Team on December 8th, 2006 before taking on full responsibilities on May 16th, 2007.
Since then, the 51-year-old Bradley has guided the US to the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup title, runner-up in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, and to the 2010 World Cup.
For the record, Bradley's MLS coaching record was an impressive 124-94-54, while his numbers with the MetroStars were a mediocre 32-31-26.
The US was drawin into Group C and will take on England, Algeria and Slovenia.
Bora Milutinovic
At the international level, Milutinovic forged a reputation as a miracle worker, given his incredible success coaching World Cup teams. However, with the MetroStars, Bora was an absolute disaster during the end of the 1998 and entire 1999 season, after he was brought in to replace the first Alfonso Mondelo (who had succeeded Parreira). The team went 4-27-4 and accrued only 16 points during his tenure, registering only two regulation wins.
Milutinovic's problems with the MetroStars included his inability to communicate fully with his players or to the press in the most important media center in the world. During the depths of one of the worst seasons in league history, Stillitano refused to fire Bora because the MetroStars would have had to eat the remainder of his annual $175,000 contract (that included several bonuses and incentive clauses). Bora and the MetroStars finally came to a parting of the ways on October 29th, 1999. Stillitano hired Octavio Zambrano before he left the club, which helped start a major team revival for 2000.
The 65-year-old Milutinovic's rep is secure at the World Cup level. He directed host Mexico to the quarterfinals in 1986, first-timers Costa Rica to the second round and two first-round wins in Italy in 1990, the host US to a second-round finish in 1994, Nigeria to the second round in 1998 and China to its first World Cup appearance in 2002. The Chinese were the lone Milutinovic-coached team that failed to get out of the opening round.
Serbia was drawn into Group D with Germany, Australia and Ghana.
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