41.  They should have realized early on that the defense needs more athleticism and variety, both in central defenders and defensive midfielders.

42.  They were not proactive enough to cause problems or to put the French defensive midfielders on their heels.

43.  This is the second Miami-Revolution deal in two weeks, as defensive midfielder Carlos Parra joined New England last week.

44.  Turkey presented a well-balanced formation, with two defensive midfielders supporting Yildiray Basturk and Hasan Sas, plus an excellent target man in Hakan Sukur.

45.  Vicevic, a defensive midfielder, moved to El Salvador to play professionally, then was recruited to the national team by former coach Milovan Djoric.

46.  With Brian Maisonneuve and Chad Deering hanging back as defensive midfielders, Claudio Reyna and Stewart have the freedom to go forward without restraint.

47.  A defensive midfielder, Armas played a key role in getting the United States to the World Cup.

48.  Against Bordeaux, Beckenbauer will be without international defensive midfielder Thomas Strunz, who is suspended because of two yellow cards.

49.  Another prominent addition was French international Bixente Lizarazu, who fills the gap left by the departure of leftside defensive midfielder Christian Ziege to AC Milan.

50.  Apart from Klinsmann, Vogts will be missing defensive midfielder Steffen Freund, who is also suspended.