The Soccer Thread (V)

Jesus, Plaschke finds another sport he knows nothing about.

 

I have a good Mexican-American friend who said the same thing to me last night. "I love the country but can't stand the team."

I don't understand that. If the USA played Mexico that World Cup of baseball deal, I can almost guarantee, he would pull for Mexico there too. And it's not just pulling for Mexico. While my buddy respects US soccer (I remember him rooting for them in 2002 against Germany), most Mexican-Americans root against the USA, no matter the opponent.

 

River Plate relegated in Argentina:

 

Well, at least they took it well.

This is the equivalent of, what, Man United or Liverpool going down, right? Only times, like, a hundred.

 

Sort of, yeah. And it's a really strange system they use in Argentina. Their relegation was based on their performance over the past three years.

Hard to imagine a situation in any sport anywhere else where the team's fans are assaulting the players. (I assume that's because the notion of a fan is different in the River Plate situation and in a number of cases in Argentina; this seems more like a gang that identifies itself through a team, not what we think of as fan support.)

 

Can I offer a bit of a contrarian opinion?

How much does the Gold Cup actually matter anyway? I mean, it's the CONCACAF championship and all, but it's not like the US and Mexico haven't been the two best teams in the region for 15 years and basically trade it back and forth. Is that much being proved? What I guess I'm saying is that in a region as lopsided as CONCACAF is, there's really only one measuring stick, and that's three years away. Better to have our faults laid bare now, when there's time to fix them.

As for the ticket to the Confederations Cup, what does that exactly mean? A chance to play New Zealand in a half-finished stadium? I'd rather schedule some tough friendlies in Europe and/or South America.

Besides, that trophy is frighteningly ugly. Jack Warner probably painted a five-foot long megaphone, put wings on it and told everyone it was gold, then collected the money budgeted for a real gold trophy.

 

I'm with you. Who gives a shit about the Confederations Cup and the pablum Fox Soccer was spewing about how much it helped the US in 2010 WC. Really? Did it? I must have missed something because to me it looked like the U.S. "won" a weak group with a miracle goal against a vastly inferior team.
They put so much priority on the Gold Cup that they put out an abortion of a defense against Spain and got hammered 4-0 a week before the tournament. And then in the tournament, they were barely scoring a goal a game against third-world countries. I'm done with this pablum.

 

The same place the great center midfield playmakers are, Webster. In other countries.

Until we find them, develop them and nurture them -- along with true, reliable finishers -- we will be a (barely) second and third-rate player on the world stage.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but judging by what our U-17 crew is doing in Mexico (losing to Uzbekistan and tying the Kiwis 0-0), help doesn't seem to be on the horizon.

 

The Spain game was a money grab, but it was a profitible one.

The Confederations Cup is important, because it allows our A squad to play against good teams which are also bringing their best squads. We see what out weaknesses are and have a year to fix them. You also do get that bonding of the team playing together for a few weeks at a time.

Based on the weakness of CONCACAF, we spend far too much of our time playing against crap teams, even in the Gold Cup. So, if your goal is to qualify for and compete for the World Cup (and I think it is because the Gold Cup barely means anything), then you need to play the best.

 

Nigeria is a U17 power with three championships and three runner-up finishes. Burkina Faso, Turkey and Colombia all have finished in the top four in the last five U17 World Cups. U17 success sometimes, but not often, translates to success with the national team.

The USA U17 did advance to the second round and did thrash the Czechs 3-0.

 

Sounds like Arsenal may finally be ready to sell Fabregas to Barca for the right price:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/930642/arsenal-willing-to-sell-cesc-fabregas-at-right-price?cc=5901