Lack of Coverage
No wonder soccer is not taken seriously in the United States. Following the US victory over bitter rival Mexico Wednesday night in Glendale, Arizona there was not a sighting of the game on what is arguably the most important media outlet in the the country: ESPN.
No wonder soccer is not taken seriously in the United States. Following the US victory over bitter rival Mexico Wednesday night in Glendale, Arizona there was not a sighting of the game on what is arguably the most important media outlet in the the country: ESPN.
The leading stories during Sportscenter the next morning were: LeBron's miserable stats in a Cleveland win, the Duke-UNC game, Dallas hiring new coach Wade Phillips, and which college had the best football recruiting class. On the web site, there was nothing to be found. A story about the Italian soccer scandal beat out this story on the front page. Even on ESPN's soccer
site (soccernet.com), I had to drill into the US Soccer page to read anything about this game.
If this was such a meaningless friendly game that doesn't count for anything with the possible exception of trying out younger players why did both teams field most of their current national team players ? The Mexican team was essentially the team that lost to Argentina in last year's
World Cup in what one of the best games of the tournament. The U.S. had a number of new players headed by interim coach Bob Bradley.
The game got top billing in Mexico for what could be a number of reasons: Mexico is a true soccer crazy country, Mexico has a new coach in legendary player Hugo Sanchez, Mexico was playing on what continues to be 'home' turf even when they play in the U.S., Mexico hasn't been able to beat the U.S. away from Mexico in this century.
But the real reason that this game should have gotten top billing here in this country is that there is never such a thing as a friendly between Mexico and the U.S. Whenever these two teams play, soccer fans can expect to see a game played with a high level of emotion, a high level of passion, and more often than not, a high level of soccer as well. What more can a soccer fanatic ask for ? Apparently there were 62 thousand of these such fans that showed up for this "meaningless" game Wednesday night.
Looking at Bradley on the sidelines, there was nothing but seriousness reflected on his face the entire game. Contrast this to the seeming nervousness and sense of worry painted on the mug of Hugo Sanchez, who must have felt that he needed to win this game or possibly lose his job.
I didn't get the feeling looking at these two coaches that this was just a "friendly."
The two teams have become bitter rivals as the two clearly best teams in their World Cup qualifying region. There is the element of bad blood between the two teams. And because many more Mexican fans attend the game than their American counterparts, a U.S. game on homesoil has become somewhat of an oxymoron. So even though Mexicans playing in the U.S. tend to have more fan support, they can't seem to translate that backing into the win column as recent history attests to. Their loss yesterday extended not only Mexico's losing streak but also their scoreless streak north of the border.
This game also illustrated soccer's dictum that the best team doesn't always win. In the second half, the Mexicans played far and above better football than the U.S. They attacked the US goal in waves but were unable to thwart Howard. The U.S. keeper made some nice saves but it was Mexico's poor finishing which cost them dearly.
The U.S. for their part, parlayed their few chances into goals. Defender Jimmie Conrad scored on a header from a corner kick and Landon Donovan scored on a breakaway after an errrant pass went off the referee. Donovan showed off the kind of speed in beating the defense and rounding Oswaldo Sanchez that we were all hoping he would display at the World Cup last year.
The evidence of bad blood was apparent all night as this was a tough, hard physical game. On the Donovan goal, Sanchez made a late dive at US forward Eddie Johnson in what can only be construed as an attempt to trip him since the play was completely over. And afterwards, the Mexican players refused to shake hands with the Americans.
This result sets the table for future encounters that will mean something. The next CONCACAF Gold Cup and World Cup Qualifying will be even more fierce than this game was and the Americans better be ready. Mexico's sense of national pride has been wounded yet again by the recent American dominance in the U.S. and they will come back with a vengeance. The U.S. may not lose to Mexico much at home, but they can't seem to ever beat Mexico in their own turf either.
What's at stake is regional soccer supremacy and that is something that Mexicans take very seriously. Looking backwards to last year's World Cup, Mexico is the team that performed at a much higher level than the U.S. It is the U.S., not Mexico, which is in the process of trying to restore their national soccer pride. Last night was a great start.
What more importance could there have been to merit some attention from the American sports media ? If US soccer is ever going to become relevant, then games like this need need to get top billing.
site (soccernet.com), I had to drill into the US Soccer page to read anything about this game.
If this was such a meaningless friendly game that doesn't count for anything with the possible exception of trying out younger players why did both teams field most of their current national team players ? The Mexican team was essentially the team that lost to Argentina in last year's
World Cup in what one of the best games of the tournament. The U.S. had a number of new players headed by interim coach Bob Bradley.
The game got top billing in Mexico for what could be a number of reasons: Mexico is a true soccer crazy country, Mexico has a new coach in legendary player Hugo Sanchez, Mexico was playing on what continues to be 'home' turf even when they play in the U.S., Mexico hasn't been able to beat the U.S. away from Mexico in this century.
But the real reason that this game should have gotten top billing here in this country is that there is never such a thing as a friendly between Mexico and the U.S. Whenever these two teams play, soccer fans can expect to see a game played with a high level of emotion, a high level of passion, and more often than not, a high level of soccer as well. What more can a soccer fanatic ask for ? Apparently there were 62 thousand of these such fans that showed up for this "meaningless" game Wednesday night.
Looking at Bradley on the sidelines, there was nothing but seriousness reflected on his face the entire game. Contrast this to the seeming nervousness and sense of worry painted on the mug of Hugo Sanchez, who must have felt that he needed to win this game or possibly lose his job.
I didn't get the feeling looking at these two coaches that this was just a "friendly."
The two teams have become bitter rivals as the two clearly best teams in their World Cup qualifying region. There is the element of bad blood between the two teams. And because many more Mexican fans attend the game than their American counterparts, a U.S. game on homesoil has become somewhat of an oxymoron. So even though Mexicans playing in the U.S. tend to have more fan support, they can't seem to translate that backing into the win column as recent history attests to. Their loss yesterday extended not only Mexico's losing streak but also their scoreless streak north of the border.
This game also illustrated soccer's dictum that the best team doesn't always win. In the second half, the Mexicans played far and above better football than the U.S. They attacked the US goal in waves but were unable to thwart Howard. The U.S. keeper made some nice saves but it was Mexico's poor finishing which cost them dearly.
The U.S. for their part, parlayed their few chances into goals. Defender Jimmie Conrad scored on a header from a corner kick and Landon Donovan scored on a breakaway after an errrant pass went off the referee. Donovan showed off the kind of speed in beating the defense and rounding Oswaldo Sanchez that we were all hoping he would display at the World Cup last year.
The evidence of bad blood was apparent all night as this was a tough, hard physical game. On the Donovan goal, Sanchez made a late dive at US forward Eddie Johnson in what can only be construed as an attempt to trip him since the play was completely over. And afterwards, the Mexican players refused to shake hands with the Americans.
This result sets the table for future encounters that will mean something. The next CONCACAF Gold Cup and World Cup Qualifying will be even more fierce than this game was and the Americans better be ready. Mexico's sense of national pride has been wounded yet again by the recent American dominance in the U.S. and they will come back with a vengeance. The U.S. may not lose to Mexico much at home, but they can't seem to ever beat Mexico in their own turf either.
What's at stake is regional soccer supremacy and that is something that Mexicans take very seriously. Looking backwards to last year's World Cup, Mexico is the team that performed at a much higher level than the U.S. It is the U.S., not Mexico, which is in the process of trying to restore their national soccer pride. Last night was a great start.
What more importance could there have been to merit some attention from the American sports media ? If US soccer is ever going to become relevant, then games like this need need to get top billing.
