1998, 2002 and 2006 -- and made 82 international appearances, scoring eight goals.
What impressed yours truly the most about Pope was the grace with which he performed. Sometimes you didn't realize he was there until he had to clear the ball or even foul an opponent to get the job done.
"At times, I have been the best defender and at times I have been the worst defender. That's what happens with defenders. I just try to go out and play." |
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<strong>-- Eddie Pope</strong><br>
Real Salt Lake defender
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"Eddie's steady," said Howard, who currently tends goal for Everton in the English Premiership and for the U.S. national team. "He's amazing. The things that he reads back there ... He sees things sometimes I don't even see. His style is great. He can defend a guy like Jeff Cunningham, who is very quick and he can defend someone like Brian McBride, who is very strong in the air. He's very versatile."
Pope was once asked what he thought of his reputation as the best U.S. defender.
"At times, I have been the best defender and at times I have been the worst defender," he said with a smile. "That's what happens with defenders. I just try to go out and play. I don't usually store things like that mentally. As long as I just try to go out and try to play hard, things usually go my way. Sometimes they don't and you deal with it."
While there has been little question the 6-foot, 175-lb., Pope has had the physical attributes to keep up with different types of forwards and midfielders, he felt the game comes down to mental toughness.
"At times you can look great and at times you can look bad, you can look horrible," he said. "But mentally you have to be strong enough to believe in yourself, to believe in your skills, no matter whether a coach thinks you're not any good or whether he thinks you're great.
"It is true that you are only as good as your last game. Hopefully, you are able to string together a lot of those good last games and to play well. When that bad one comes, and they usually do for every defender in the league, you take it with a grain of salt. More on, learn from your mistakes and get better."
If he had one Achilles' heel, it was injuries.
Pope has never played a full MLS season (he had played all nine RSL games entering the Dallas encounter). He started 29 out of 32 games for United in 1997. But he has averaged only 20.5 games a year due to World Cup and national team commitments and several injuries (left knee and broken cuneiform bone).
Yet, Pope considered himself fortunate because he never missed major competitions.
"They have certainly been speed bumps," he said. "The worst thing about it is that you don't have any control over it. There is absolutely nothing you can do once it happens, whether it's a freak injury or wear and tear, a long-term thing. For me, getting healthy for the World Cup made all the difference in the world for me. ... Missing something that big would have been horrible."
Not having Eddie Pope around for the past 11 seasons would have been worse.
Michael Lewis has covered every MLS Cup Final and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
