`MOOCH' WAS ONE OF THE BEST.

Byline: SCOTT FRENCH SOCCER

American soccer is again reeling from the death of one of its most prominent figures.

Last March it was Doug Hamilton, the revered Galaxy general manager who at 43 suffered a heart attack on a flight home from Costa Rica.

Today it's Glenn ``Mooch'' Myernick, 51, who died Monday, four days after a massive heart attack felled him while on an afternoon jog with a neighbor in Thornton, Colo. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, and two children.

Myernick was one of American soccer's enduring figures, a top player and coach whose pioneering career was pivotal in soccer's rise from utter obscurity to something that's truly starting to matter.

``He was a special person,'' said former U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena, whom Myernick assisted with the 1996 Olympic men's team and at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups,on Monday afternoon. ``He brought a very interesting perspective to the national team program. ... He was one of the original pioneers of the national team, and he took so much pride in the advances we made.''

Testaments poured in from around the soccer world:

``Whether it was family, friends or soccer,'' said U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, ``Mooch was the kind of person that embraced everything in life, loving every minute.''

``His passion, spirit and sincerity will never be forgotten,'' MLS Commissioner Don Garber said. ``Mooch will be dearly missed.''

Myernick was a star defender, winner of the 1976 Hermann Trophy as college soccer's top player while at then-powerhouse Hartwick, an eight- year North American Soccer League veteran (with the Dallas Tornadoes, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Portland Timbers), and a key figure on the U.S. national teams of the late 1970s, making 10 international appearances and captaining the squad in 1978.

He was a U.S. Soccer staff coach from 1992 to '97, assisting the U-20 team at the 1993 World Youth Championship, guiding the U-17s at the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship and working with Arena before and during the Atlanta Olympics. He guided Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids for four seasons, then rejoined Arena as top assistant and head coach of the U-23 team for the 2004 Olympic qualifiers.

Through it all, he was an inspirational man, funny and gregarious, energetic and thorough, one of the best in a sport that, at least on this continent, is rife with good guys.

``First and foremost, Mooch was a good man,'' said Chivas USA coach Bob Bradley, who worked with Arena and Myernick with the '96 Olympians. ``I always came away with respect and, really, admiration for his character, for the fact that as much as he always worked hard, there was always time to laugh. ... I have so much respect and admiration for the man he was. That's plain and simple.''

Arena, Bradley and Myernick lived together in an apartment near the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista before the '96 Olympics. ``It was below ground,'' Bradley said, ``and we called it `the cave.''' Myernick's endearing approach to life rubbed off on both of his roommates.

``What I remember is not only his competitiveness, his thoroughness with regard to soccer, but the little things beyond that,'' Bradley said. ``I always admired that Glenn still had an appreciation for the little, finer things I think sometimes I don't do a very good job with. ... He's always been a guy who works very hard, is the ultimate competitor, but he made sure there was time to laugh and enjoy the little things.''

Myernick was involved with nearly everyone in American soccer over the past 30 years; his experience was unparalleled, his abilities venerated.

``Without question,'' Bradley said, ``his contributions to the game in this country the last 30 years have been really up there with anybody's, but I think anyone who knew him goes back to the point where he just in all ways was such a good man.

``A good soccer man. A good family man. Just a good man.''

Beckham seems perfect for `Pele' role

David Beckham isn't among the world's 10 finest players -- better, off the top of my head are Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lionel Messi, Robinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Michael Ballack and John Terry -- but there could be no better ambassador for Major League Soccer.

Beckham, who at 31 remains the game's finest crosser and free-kick taker, gets it. He understands what soccer can become in the U.S., is passionate about the role he could play in its advancement -- and he's remarkably down-to-earth for so revered a figure.

Reports last week filtered from England that Beckham and his ``Posh Spice'' wife, Victoria, would be heading to New York next year, the Red Bulls apparently dangling a $100 million contract. All contingent, it would seem, on contract talks with his current club, Real Madrid, falling apart, which isn't out of the question -- Beckham spends more time on Real's bench these days than on the field, and the club's president, Ramon Calderon, has said the midfielder will retire in two years, which Beckham quickly denied.

New York is the likely destination for two big reasons: The Red Bulls' Austrian owners are ready to pour a fortune into the club, to make it successful on the field -- and as a marketing tool for their famed energy drink) -- and, to the rest of the world, New York is America.

Pele, whose galvanizing impact in the long-gone North American Soccer League set the foundation for soccer's rise in the 1990s, also played in New York, with the Cosmos. (Actually, the Cosmos called and Red Bulls call New Jersey home.)

Don't be surprised if the Galaxy enters the picture. Philip Anschutz, whose holdings include L.A.'s first club (and who sold the Metro Stars to Red Bull), reportedly is behind the offer to Beckham, whose U.S. youth academy is based at Home Depot Center. And Victoria Beckham, anxious for a greater presence in film, television and music, supposedly favors L.A.

None of this might happen. The report came from a British tabloid, The People, and is thus suspect. What is certain is that American soccer can only benefit with an association with the game's reigning idol.

Mexico or the U.S.?

The U.S. has made a ``serious'' offer to Juergen Klinsmann to become national team coach, his adviser Roland Eitel told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, but the Southern California-based mastermind behind Germany's third-place World Cup finish also is weighing an offer from Mexico.

Mexico is seeking a successor to Ricardo Lavolpe, with Hugo Sanchez, Necaxa's coach and Mexico's greatest player, and Americo Gallego, Toluca's Argentine coach, frontrunners for the job.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Glenn ``Mooch'' Myernick, left, a former U.S. national team captain, was coach Bruce Arena's top assistant at the past two World Cups.

Timothy Clary/Getty Images

(2) DAVID BECKHAM

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