By Andrew Rogers

It didn’t go unnoticed in my mail bag that many fans of the US MNT are clamouring to see Jay DeMerit get a chance as a starter, after some strong performances when he has been given minutes. It does make sense that he be given an opportunity, and it was disappointing he was the only player not to get on against Switzerland.

The bottom line is 2010 is a long way off and a lot can happen, DeMerit will get his opportunity and his career thus far proves he is an important leader and a natural winner, qualities only truly discerned on the field not in training.

Watford were stalling on his contract and only Aidy Boothroyd stopped the Green Bay native taking up offers from Middlesborough or Everton. It’s very difficult for some to appreciate his ambition and competitive instinct for the very pinnacle of football, because his path into the game is new.

Three years ago DeMerit was an early twenty something amateur he is now has EPL and Copa America campaigns under his belt. Boothroyd understands his trajectory and is nervously hoping his defender is out for only 2 weeks instead of the projected month, after his side collapsed when he was sidelined at the weekend.

The point being DeMerit has only been on the international scene for 5 months, and has an uncanny knack of putting together a footballing case for is inclusion that cannot be ignored. Fans would do well to remember words Wilmer Cabrera told me on the training ground a few years back: “In football you always have more time than you think.”

Andrew Rogers can be reached at andrewrogers@optonline.net