Fulham winger Eddie Lewis had not heard of the Cottagers until shortly
before he joined them two years ago. Now Fulham appear not to have heard
of Eddie Lewis. So isolated has he become at Craven Cottage that it may
take a starring role by the winger for the United States in the World Cup
finals this summer for the club to remember that he is one of their players.
Despite being unhindered by injury, Lewis has not played for Jean Tigana’s
side for 15 months and has not even made the substitutes’ bench since
the club’s promotion to the FA Barclaycard Premiership last summer.
Yet since the turn of the year he has become one of the US’s leading
players, helping them claim the Concacaf Gold Cup and scoring the only goal
in the recent win over Ecuador in a friendly.
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Fulham winger Eddie Lewis
is a forgotten man at Craven Cottage but not in the States
|
|
| |
|
|
Lewis was the last player signed by Paul Bracewell before he was dismissed
as Fulham manager and replaced by Tigana, who did not include the American
in his plans as he set about an overhaul of the club. “In the United
States, new coaches can’t just come in and buy a new squad of players
because of things like roster size limits and salary caps,” Lewis said.
“I wish I’d known it could happen here.”
If the player appears to accept his demotion as a pitfall of English football,
he fails to understand why Fulham insist that he stays at Craven Cottage.
“I would have thought they would have been happy to let me go out on
loan considering I’m not involved in any of the games,” he said.
“They’re happy to keep me as a squad player, regardless of what
my best interests are.”
Fortunately for Lewis, he has a sympathetic national coach in Bruce Arena.
“At first he was very concerned about it (being overlooked by Fulham).
Like me, I don’t think he totally understood the situation. Then, when
I started to score hat-tricks in reserve games and I would do better and
better and things wouldn’t change, that’s when he started to realise
that it was not necessarily me, more the situation. In the last year, he’s
come to grips with that and given me the benefit of the doubt.”
Brought up just south of Los Angeles — “in the summer, when I’m
back, I try to go surfing as much as I can” — Lewis was encouraged
by his father to pursue a career in tennis and became serious about football
only in his early teens. “When I told my Dad I didn’t want to
be a professional tennis player, he promptly told me there was no future
in soccer, that there was no money in the game,” he said.
But a successful stint with San Jose Clash — now San Jose Earthquakes
— led to his move to Europe, when he was introduced to Fulham fans
as the American David Beckham because of his fine crossing ability, albeit
from the left wing.
That recollection brought an embarrassed laugh from Lewis and, if it was
slightly overstating his talent, the US are certainly appreciating his contribution
to their encouraging build-up to the World Cup finals in Japan and South
Korea. Beaten in all three of their group matches at France 98, the team
hope to reach the second round from a group that also includes Portugal,
Poland and South Korea.
“Going into the 1998 World Cup, they (the US team) were in a shambles
right from the beginning,” Lewis, who was not in the squad, said. “There
had been a massive blow-up between the coach and half the players. There
was a big divide and all sorts of problems. The team is a million miles
from that now. People are saying it’s the best team we’ve ever
had.”
Lewis believes that the US’s strong line-up means that they do not
rely on any individuals, but he names Claudio Reyna, of Sunderland, as the
most influential player and Landon Donovan, the 19-year-old striker, as
the newcomer most likely to make an impact.
“Landon is well beyond any American before him at his age,” Lewis
said. “I’m not sure he’ll be starting games, but he’ll
play.”
If only Lewis could say the same at Fulham.