April 3, 2001

Today's postcard is from midfielder ... DaMARCUS BEASLEY Height: 5'7" Weight: 125 Born: May 24, 1982 Hometown: Ft. Wayne, Indiana Club: Chicago Fire (MLS)

This qualifying reminds me a lot of Jamaica and qualifying for the Under-17 World Championship. Thankfully we got off to a better start here than we did in Jamaica. Tuesday's game against Trinidad & Tobago was huge. We knew going in that if we won it essentially clinched our spot in Argentina. And that is what we have been training for for so long. That is what is so great about qualifying tournaments, that it all comes down to what you do in a five-day period, nothing else matters at that point. And we have done well.

The game against T & T was a great game, and a real fun game because the crowd was really into it. I thought Landon and I had a real good game. We combined on several of the goals and I think we showed how well we play together. We know each other pretty well and I always know what kind of a run he is going to make, and he knows what I am going to do. We play off each other pretty well and I think it helps that we are roommates. I like rooming with Landon. We have known each other for a long time now, and we always room together. On the field we are able to put things together and I enjoy playing with him. The only thing is he sings all day. When we go in to the final match against Costa Rica we won't have Landon. He got called in to the full team camp and left early Wednesday morning for the team's training camp. We are going to miss him, but we are a solid, deep team that will be able to do fine. And now I have my room to myself.

I really enjoyed the game against Trinidad & Tobago. Not just because we won 5-1, but the way we played, the goals we scored and the atmosphere with the crowd. Even though we were playing the home team, the fans still cheered for us. They just seem to like good soccer - or good football. They like exciting soccer, they like a lot of goals and we have given that to them the last couple of games. After the game I had some kids ask for my autograph and two kids that I talked to after the last game came up and talked to me again. They are good kids. And it is great to see kids in other countries looking up to U.S. Soccer. That seems to be a big change from the past. And I think that this team can continue to bring U.S. Soccer to the top and change some attitudes about the game in the States.

I felt that we are definitely a good team and we definitely have a good chance of doing well in Argentina. Until then, I'm just thinking about the final match here. But regardless of what happens in that game, we have had a successful run and I've enjoyed playing here.

DaMarcus was named the Silver Ball winner at the 1999 World Under-17 Championship as the tournament's second MVP. He was recently named one of World Soccer Magazine's "Top 100 Rising Stars" and was one of the 10 youngest players on the list.