Call Up Burciaga? Hell, Yeah! Wait...what?

For reasons better not elaborated upon, I kind of assumed that the Kansas City Wizards' Jose Burciaga Jr. couldn't play for the U.S. Men's National team (Yanquis). (Had I taken the time to read his official profile, I would have known about his past with some of the U.S. Youth teams, but, well, I didn't, so I didn't.)

MLSnet.com's piece from earlier this week on Burciaga's continuing aspirations with the Yanquis, had me whooping seconds to the motion. After all, if it weren't for Burciaga leading with the scoring, KC would have been even worse in 2006. As such, my first impulse was to assume the Yanqui coach Bob Bradley, as well as Bruce Arena before him, were simply crazy; seems like our team needs a steady (skillful?) left back about as badly as anything but a reliable goal-scorer.

The thing is, in my head, Burciaga's great - and, upon discovering he's eligible, I would have started the bandwagon to get him a spot (yeah, I know...Bornstein, but still...). But that same article passed on some criticisms on Burciaga's defensive game that escaped my notice:

"Although the lightning-bolt drives on goal and pinpoint crosses from set pieces that emanate from his thunderous left boot are well known, it's the sometime lapses on the defensive end that can cause coaches to yearn for improvement."

It's funny what you miss when you're not watching for it. Duly noted.

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