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If there's one edict that U.S. National Team coach Bob Bradley has established since taking over the reigns from Bruce Arena at the end of the 2006, it's that if a player wants to be included in the U.S. squad he'd better be playing for his club team. U.S. semi-regular left back Heath Pearce found this out the hard way when he was left off the 23-man roster for the upcoming crucial qualifiers against El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago since he was out of contract and without a club to call home.
Pearce, who fell out of favor at German club Hansa Rostock and was released at the end of the Bundesliga season, was heavily linked to a move to MLS with FC Dallas the likely destination.
Wednesday it came out that Pearce won't come to the States, rather he signed on with Turkish club Bursaspor. Talk about coming straight from left field.
As it stands with any U.S. would-be international with intentions of playing in next summer's World Cup (assuming the U.S. qualifies), it all boils down to regular playing time for Pearce. You'd have to figure that Bursaspor made some time of assurances to Pearce, otherwise why would he sign with a club pretty much off the American soccer fan's radar.
Pearce, who's been capped 28 times since 2005, has had ample chances to fully claim and establish ownership of the left back position, a position that's been historically thin for the U.S. (Witness Eddie Lewis attempting a crash course to learn the position ahead of the 2006 World Cup.) That said, Pearce has blown hot and cold over his appearances in the U.S. shirt and clearly isn't locked into a starting role even though he featured regularly at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in July.
In the end Pearce's National Team fortunes for 2010 are probably tied to whether Bradley elects to continue playing Carlos Bocanegra at left back with Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit paired in the center of the defense. It doesn't exactly bode all too well for Pearce that he was omitted from the most recent U.S. roster when Onyewu is suspended for Saturday's must-win match against El Salvador in Sandy, Utah.
Still, Pearce has time to establish himself in Turkey and convince Bradley he's the best left back the U.S. has at its disposal. He just better make sure the Turkish word for "bench warmer" isn't part of his vocabulary.
