KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt Besler is not ready to use the word “mainstay.” Not just yet. But if U.S. men's national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann considers him one, Besler will not object.
“A mainstay? I don't know,” Besler said on Thursday, during Sporting Kansas City's weekly news conference. “You'll have to ask Jurgen.”
But after Besler's most recent international stint, making four starts in five appearances and turning in three full-90 efforts as the U.S. went 3-0 in World Cup qualifying play, he and the LA Galaxy's Omar Gonzalez appear to have the center back spots locked down for the Hexagonal leaders.
“It's still a bit of a work in progress,” Besler said of their partnership in central defense. “We're not there yet, but it's getting better with each game.”
So is Besler's stock with the national team. He made his debut in January and already has seven caps with five starts, four of those in Hex play. And in those four qualifying appearances, the Yanks are 3-0-1 and have conceded just once.
“That's a big part of the decision-making approach at that level,” Sporting KC manager and former U.S. international Peter Vermes said earlier in Thursday's news conference. “You can have a good performance, but if every time I put you on, the team doesn't get a good result, that doesn't help me continue to put you on there. What does is if you play well and the team gets results.”
Even with his record of solid performances so far, Besler isn't banking on an invitation to join the U.S. squad in Brazil once the Americans clinch their inevitable spot in the final field of 32.
“I haven't thought about it,” he said. “I won't let myself think about it yet. I've still got work to do to qualify, and I've still got individual work to do as well. A year's a long time. A lot can happen.”
In fact, Besler is still processing the fact that he, like Sporting KC winger Graham Zusi before him, has become a regular on the national team – not because he's intimidated by the label, but because he has fit in so well.
“My college buddies have been calling me, texting me and asking me how it is,” he said. “'What's it like playing with Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey, and Timmy Howard behind you?' I can't really answer that. I guess I just view them as teammates, as colleagues. I just try to play my best with them, and try and win games.”
Now he's focused on doing that with Sporting KC – starting with Saturday's match at FC Dallas, as Kansas City try to end their three-match winless streak in league play.
“I don't really think about the next call-up,” he said. “All I really worry about is playing well, and I think I've done that. I'm comfortable with where I stand.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @SteveBrisendine.
