Seventeen-year-old Eddie Gaven is in his second season with the MetroStars. He recently became the youngest player ever to start an MLS All-Star Game.
Hey guys. Sorry I'm catching up with you a little late, however this has been a busy week. It started off on a bad note, but hopefully we can fix that tomorrow.
Sunday's loss to the Dallas Burn can be summed up with one word - frustrating. As a team, we had been playing so well and were getting into the groove of winning games. But Dallas had other plans. We were missing some key guys on Sunday, which is not an excuse. However, to give up such a late goal against the Burn makes that match a tough loss. It was tough to not even get a point out of the game, but we have a great team and I feel our luck will change on Saturday vs. the Rapids.
After Sunday's game, my week got really exciting. I was called into the U.S. men's national team camp in preparation for our World Cup Qualifying match Wednesday against Jamaica. We trained in Miami prior to heading out to Kingston, Jamaica, which was fun. My hotel room in Miami was awesome.
I was so excited to be on the bench during Wednesday's match. Although I was not named to the final 18-man roster, being there was so exciting. I had an interesting conversation with Brian Ching prior to the match. I told him I had a feeling that if he was to enter the match, he would score. Imagine my excitement when he scored the equalizer. He came up to me after the game and was very excited because my prediction came true. Ching is such an awesome player and he's been performing so well. To tie that game in front of a very loud, sold-out Jamaican crowd was a feeling I cannot begin to describe.
Heading into tomorrow's match I feel that we will be successful. We have Eddie Pope and Amado Guevara back which is cool. I think that we will have a good match tomorrow. We still are in first place and we don't want to lose our grip on it. This is a perfect opportunity for us to increase our lead.
I have been getting some great questions from you guys:
Alysia Remaley and Catherine Ker from Ocean City, N.J., asks:
"Is there any one player that would intimidate you if you were to go up against him?"
Actually, no. There are many great defenders in the league and I respect them, however I am not afraid to go up against anyone. I go out on the field and do my job regardless of whom I am being faced against.
Marco from Madison, Ala. asked:
"Who was your idol growing up and who do you think is the best player in the world?"
Well, Marco, I never had a particular professional soccer idol growing up. However I have to say that most of what I know about soccer came from my father and my older brother, Jim. I learned so much from them and consider them to be significant factors on getting me to where I am today. I think that Zinedane Zidane is the best player in the world right now."
Ok, guys, I have to get running, the bus is heading to the airport now. I hope all of you our watching us tomorrow night when we face the Rapids. If anyone has anymore questions please send them to MetroFan@MetroStars.com.
Take care and God bless,
Eddie Gaven #24
