Let's just get the own-goal talk out of the way.
It's not like Jeff Agoos isn't used to hearing about it. And he will always hear about it long into his retirement. But, hey, if you're going to score an own goal, you might as well hit a blinder like the one Goose hit past Brad Friedel.
On the day of his retirement from professional soccer, it's time to look back on his misfortunes over in Asia at the last World Cup and realize that:
A. His gaffe against Portugal did not change the result of the match. The U.S. held on for a 3-2 victory.
B. The penalty kick he was responsible for (saved by Friedel) and missed mark against South Korea in a 1-1 tie did not end up hurting the U.S. in the long run. Despite some anxious moments in the loss to Poland, Bruce Arena's side got through.
So Bill Buckner he is not.
Some tribute article thus far, huh?
What will be forgotten about Agoos regarding the 2002 World Cup is how he was the best defender for the Americans and one of the top three or four players for Arena throughout a very tough year-plus of qualifying in 2000-2001. Along with Earnie Stewart, they were the only players to take part in all 10 matches in the final round of qualifying in '01. On a team without many leaders, and certainly without vocal type of leaders, Goose was able to organize the U.S. back four and serve as an extension of the coaching staff on the field. Many of the current players have quietly mentioned how the backline had to go through a transition period once Agoos was no longer in the mix to right the ship.
While Agoos probably would have been on the cover of several magazines highlighting his errors in the World Cup had he played for a national team in a different country, he also would have been celebrated for winning five MLS Cup titles as the Major League Soccer's version of Bill Russell. He'd have had the obligatory photo of him wearing all the rings standing next to a young, ring-less teammate like Eddie Gaven or Mike Magee with a "Listen to Me" headline and the whole bit.
The fact that Agoos was a part of more MLS Cup championship teams than any other player that has passed through the league the last 10 years is no accident. He was not just some innocent bystander who rode the coattail of others. On the great D.C. United teams of the '90s, Agoos wasn't the player who you came to see or left talking about it. Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno and a host of others fit that bill. But there wasn't a more valuable player on the team. His command in the back and ability to help bring the best out of a young Eddie Pope was something Arena cherished. He knew he could rely on him, too, after coaching him for four years at the University of Virginia and watching him serve as a UVA volunteer assistant in 1995 before MLS started.
Arena would probably tell you that it was one of the thrills of his in 2002 to see his former player finally take part in a World Cup. After being the last player cut by Bora Milutinovic in 1994 and not seeing the field under Steve Sampson in 1998 despite being such a big part of qualifying the year before, having Agoos as part of the starting lineup to open the World Cup in '02 seemed to right a few wrongs from the past.
"It has been difficult for him," said Arena three days before the start of the competition. "But he has had unbelievable longevity with the national team program and has 130 caps to date. He has played quite well in his career with the national team and his greatest quality that he brings to our team has been his consistency. I think wherever we have played him, he has been consistent throughout the years. I think that has also been one of his qualities in MLS, with every team he has been with he has been very steady. He generally brings a lot of quality to the field and certainly some experience as well, with our group."
He also brought the biggest set of calf muscles this country has ever seen and a ponytail that always made him look a lot more like a hard-hitting loose cannon than the cerebral and soft-spoken player that he was.
When picking my Best XI for the first 10 years of the league, I anguished over which midfielders and forwards to include and leave out. But when picking the backs, it was fairly easy, since the list of great backs over the course of the league starts and end with Agoos and Eddie Pope. Only after those two does it start getting debatable.
Hopefully, over time, that is what soccer fans in this country remember when they think of Jeff Agoos.
Marc Connolly writes for several publications. This column runs each Tuesday on MLSnet.com and Marc can be reached at marc@oakwoodsoccer.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
