‘Gooch’ looms large for U.S.A.

Wide body is starting to make a name for himself on soccer pitch

? Things are looking up for Oguchi Onyewu – about 4 inches up.

At 6-foot-4, he towers over teammates on the U.S. soccer team. But in Monday’s World Cup opener against the Czech Republic, this giant might feel like a dwarf. He’ll likely find himself matched against 6-foot-71â2 Jan Koller, one of the tallest forwards in the world.

“Four inches taller?” Onyewu said. “Oh, oh, oh.”

At 210 pounds, Onyewu looks more like an NFL defensive back than a soccer center back. The size and strength he showed as a regular starter during the last two seasons with Belgium’s Standard Liege caught the attention of big European clubs, and a move to Middlesbrough of England’s Premier League appears imminent.

On a U.S. team that has lacked size at times in the past, he does stand out.

“Gooch is a big guy,” U.S. defender Eddie Pope said, pausing and then adding: “He’s also wide. And strong.”

Onyewu’s first name – Oguchialu – means “God fight for me,” but most of his teammates call him “Gooch.” The son of a Nigerian immigrant to the United States, he played every minute for the U.S. team that finished fourth at the 1999 FIFA Under-17 World Championship, and the Olney, Md., native spent two seasons at Clemson before turning pro.

He made his national team debut in October 2004 and few defenders have made such a quick impression. He got the winning goal by heading home Landon Donovan’s free kick in overtime against Honduras in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals last summer, and played tough defense against Mexico’s Jared Borgetti in the win that clinched a World Cup berth in September. That was especially satisfying because Borgetti got away from him earlier in the year to head in the first goal in Mexico’s 2-1 win at Estadio Azteca.

“He was always talented, he was always good in the air and he was always athletic, just a specimen,” said Donovan, a teammate on the Under-17s who is 8 inches shorter and much less thick. “I could use some of that.”

Team USA defender Oguchi Onyewu, center, runs with teammates during practice. Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 210 pounds, Onyewu brings rare size to the soccer pitch.

U.S. coach Bruce Arena, as always guarded about his lineup choices, says Onyewu has been “positioning himself to play.”

“Every step of the way, Gooch has learned from those experiences and gotten better,” Arena said Thursday. “You’ve got a guy with a lot of ability, a very bright player, a guy that’s very receptive to coaching and learns from his mistakes and his experiences.”

With his size, he can dominate. He started lifting weights at Clemson.

“I just wanted to get stronger. I wanted to fill out into my body. It just didn’t look right being so tall and gangly,” he said. “So I hit the weight room a lot.”

Onyewu’s European clubs consider his training habits odd.

“Typically in Europe, it’s not in their culture to go in the weight room all the time,” he said. “When I first moved to Europe, actually my French coach made me stop lifting because he told me that football is a game of the mind, not of strength.”

Actually, it’s both these days, which is why tall and strong players are prized.