Heath Pearce's stock rising; Oguchi Onweyu's stock falling for U.S. World Cup spot

Would it be a stretch to say that Heath Pearce has a better chance than Oguchi Onyewu to land on the U.S. men’s national team 23-man roster for next summer’s World Cup?

You betcha. That would be more of a stretch than to say Nic Cage is still making good movies. (I mean, The Wicker Man? What, Captain Corelli's Mandolin wasn’t crappy enough?)

But there’s no denying that Pearce has done something recently to improve his standing while Onyewu has done something that threatens, at least, to send his stock and form into slow decline.

Pearce has signed on with MLS, now doing his defense-for-pay at Pizza Hut Park with FC Dallas. Is MLS the best place to hone your skills to a concertina wire sharpness? Maybe not … but it’s not bad.  And it’s probably just as good as the 2. Bundesliga, where Pearce spent the last two years with Hansa Rostock. 

Pearce admitted he was coming off a pair of "up and down" years in Germany and that he "needed to get his career back on track and be playing regularly again." The California native said he had other options, but that MLS was the best one – and that living in the States once again was a boffo bonus on the whole thing. 

"I didn’t feel forced into it," Pearce said Thursday after a rainy training in suburban Dallas, referring to the possible transfer to Turkey that appeared to be his first choice, but which fell through. Talking about his long-set goals for ongoing career development, Pearce said, "I left the doors open as to which path I should take to reach the goals I want to reach. This was an opportunity that came up that I saw as a good opportunity to advance my career and to take my career to the next step."

Obviously, he said improving his ranking in the national team pecking order was a consideration. Pearce’s last competitive action was in the Gold Cup final; the Gold Cup was essentially the U.S. B team, which means that if the World Cup were today, he wouldn’t be part of it.

He understands that his only way to elbow his way back up the ladder is reaching a destination where he’ll participate regularly.

Meanwhile, we have Onyewu, who was left off his team’s 18-man roster for matches not just once this week with AC Milan, but twice.

Onyewu will remain the team’s first-choice center back for the time being. But like all players, he best when he’s confident. And like all players, he probably can’t be confident it he’s not on the field. Look what happened to Benny Feilhaber as he languished on the bench at Derby County.

So, we’ll see what will happen.

Where will Pearce play in Dallas, a club that recently acquired Colombian left back Jair Benitez?

Pearce played some left-sided midfield at Rostock. Mostly, he played at left back, but he did train as a right back and occasionally as a right-sided midfielder in Germany, in addition to getting a few matches at that left midfield spot.

"I went through four coaches there," he said. "A few thought I was more of a midfield player, a few thought I was more of a back."

FC Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman said he could see Pearce playing any of those positions. He also mentioned defensive midfielder, a spot that Pearce once played for FC Dallas assistant John Ellinger with the under-17s.  Center back? Possibly, but it doesn’t sound like that’s a spot with which Pearce is very comfortable, as he has never spent time there in a match.

First he has to get fit, of course, as that Gold Cup final (his last match) was in late June. He’s doing extra running after workouts, but he’s not there yet. (And as Dallas is coming off a three-goal road win, Hyndman seems unlikely to alter the lineup.)

How long is his MLS contract? Good question. Pearce declined to say, although he did allow he was signed through at least next season, so it’s likely a standard MLS two-year deal with two, one-year league options.