The question posed will likely only be asked to one player on Bruce Arena's 23-man roster.
"Are you concerned about all the new talk on yellow and red cards (at the World Cup)?"
Hint: It's not John O'Brien.
There's a quick pause, followed by a devilish smirk. Only then, do the few reporters present at the U.S. national team camp decide it is OK to join in and share a laugh with Pablo Mastroeni, knowing full well that he's a perennial winner of the "Most Likely to Get a Yellow Card" superlative ever since he started playing for the U.S.
Mastroeni's smile quickly turns serious, as he reflects on the issue of his notorious receipt of sanctioning, including the red card he received for two hard tackles during Colorado's 5-2 loss to Houston in early April, and how he's been trying to tone down some of his tackles as of late.
"I think the great thing about sport is that there's always another game," he says. "Even going through that first game in MLS against Houston and getting red carded, you're always learning something. I've always tried to take something from every game. I think that since then I've made a conscious effort to not only be able to go into an international and stay card-free, but even in the last four or five games in MLS.
"For me, it's a state of mind. At this point of my career I've been able to -- for the most part -- maintain my aggressiveness and my tenacity in a positive way, and to avoid cards at any expense."
OK, now that that's out of the way, do not think for a second that Mastroeni is giving up his "enforcer" label. Every team needs a player who adds a bit of bite, especially in the center of the park. Saying that the veteran midfielder's biggest contribution to the U.S. side is breaking up tackles is selling him short. (U.S. assistant coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick once said that no one in the entire U.S. pool knows how to cut down angles and essentially cover two people at the same time in the way that Mastroeni can.)
But, when the time is right, and a message-sending tackle has to be made, the other 22 players know who they can look to.
"Our team is a thinking team and a talented team -- Pablo has all of that," says striker Josh Wolff. "And he certainly brings a little more bite than the other players on the team. I think that's important on any team, but especially at the international level. He's pretty relentless in how he plays. He plays with a lot of passion and a lot of energy. And you know he'll do anything and just die on the field for you.
"Whoever he's in there with, you know what you're getting out of him. He's reliable and consistent."
Mastroeni is a student of the game and one who watches matches from all over the world. He knows that getting cards is part of the game, and he fully admits that he doesn't mind being the one that has to take one for the good of the team. So he says he'll be studying like a college kid for finals as to how the officials are calling the action during the opening three days of play before the U.S. takes the field against the Czech Republic on June 12. That way he'll know how close they are following FIFA's mandate to "clean up" the game this summer.
It's the silly fouls from behind when his team has a healthy lead or when he's already sitting on another yellow that he says no one should worry about when he comes to him.
"There's a fine line between those," he says, adding that any cards for dissent or for getting into an altercation away from the play is what he stays away from. "No one wants you to have yellow cards, but it's inherent at my position and something you need to do."
What's interesting about Mastroeni is that he's a very different player than the other two men -- John O'Brien and Claudio Reyna -- who have experience as a holding midfielder. Both O'Brien and Reyna serve as fulcrums to the attack, and are players who are counted on to thread needles with passes, find the forwards and set the tempo of the game. Mastroeni, on the other hand, is expected to cover more ground, make life a living hell for the opposing team's schemer, and quickly get the ball out to the Reynas, the Donovans and the Beasleys of the team as quickly as possible to kick-start a counterattack.
Having him on the roster gives Arena different options as to how he configures his starting XI. He could opt to play Mastroeni is tandem with either Reyna or O'Brien behind someone like Donovan, or he could decide to bring him off the bench to give the side a different look in the midfield during the second half of a match. No matter what Arena decides for that first match against the Czechs, it's hard to imagine a scenario that the Rapids midfielder won't play a big part for the U.S. this summer.
"There's no doubt in my mind that I'll play in a game or two," he says. "I don't have any expectations as far as playing in every game or trying to be a star. My role is the same. I'm just trying to get in where I fit in and make the most of it."
Knowing he'll see the field is something that was hardly the case four years ago going into the team's opener against Portugal when he was the least-capped player (with nine) on the roster.
"I was just out there, for the most part, trying to push the starting team," says Mastroeni of his time in training camp in May of '02. "I was trying to mimic and make it as hard as something they would experience in the game, and really get after them. A couple of times, we got into some altercations with John-O and Claudio. In the end, it worked out great."
Unlike what was the case back then, he's now a well-known entity to his teammates and viewed as a veteran. Never one to stay quiet on the field, it's not as though he's slowly turned into a more vocal leader over time (see: Eddie Pope). But he does have more of a voice now than he did in '02.
"It's almost a selfish thing, where I'm trying to make my job as easy as possible," says Mastroeni of his constant talk he brings to both the national team and to the Rapids. "By doing that, everyone is organized as well. That's kind of a staple of my game -- to organize and break up plays."
And, of course, stay off the misconduct summary whenever possible.
Marc Connolly is the managing editor of ussoccerplayers.com and regularly writes to MLSnet.com. Marc can be reached at marc@oakwoodsoccer.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
