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 News from Around the Americas | February 2007 
For U.S., No Handshakes - or Respect - from Mexicans
 Luis Arroyave - chicagosports.com
| | (AP/Damian Dovarganes) |
Exhibitions are an opportunity for a coach to learn about and make decisions about his team. At the same time, they also spark more questions, especially for fans.
Here are some questions soccer fans might be asking after the United States' 2-0 exhibition victory over Mexico on Wednesday:
Did it mean anything?
The victory was a big first step in the World Cup healing process. It's often easy to dismiss an exhibition triumph because a star player or two from the opposing team may have been absent because of club commitments. That wasn't the case in Wednesday's match. The United States faced the best Mexico had to offer and made a statement even though the team was without Oguchi Onyewu and DaMarcus Beasley, among others.
Not only that, most of the U.S. players are currently in their off-season. They were dealing with rust, unlike many of the Mexicans who are in season with the Mexican League. Mexico did look like the better team, but the U.S. players deserve a lot of credit--even if many of the Mexican players didn't want to give it to them.
Just how bad was Mexico's sportsmanship on Wednesday?
The Mexican players left the field without shaking the U.S. players' hands and refused to exchange jerseys with their opponent as is often the custom. But that isn't what has U.S. fans and players fuming.
After Landon Donovan scored the United States' second goal, Eddie Johnson went to congratulate him and nearly was taken down by Mexico goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, who attempted a cleats-up, sliding tackle. Donovan said after Wednesday's game, "It would be nice if [the press] talked about it because [Mexico's sportsmanship] is really poor."
He's right, but is Donovan the one who should be making this claim? After all, he's the same guy who urinated on the sacred Jalisco Stadium field after a practice and said, "I don't regret it. You gotta go, you gotta go." He's the same guy who followed the United States' 2-0 victory over Mexico in September 2005 by saying "They [stink] . . . hopefully that will shut them up for the next three or four years."
If the United States wants to see more class in the rivalry, it needs show some itself.
Does the Mexican national team respect the U.S. national team?
When asked this question Tuesday, Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez responded, "The U.S. national team is improving at a rapid pace. They're definitely a team we need to worry about."
After Wednesday's game, Sanchez said, "The result was unjust. This is a unique game in that you can deserve to win and still lose. We deserved to win and they did not."
This was common sentiment from much of the Mexican team. Little credit was given to the United States. Instead, most Mexican players said they had beaten themselves and dismissed the importance of the United States' victory.
Before Wednesday's match, Mexican forward Francisco Fonseca said, "My teammates and I have talked about how this game is a friendly, but really, it isn't a friendly at all."
After the loss, backup Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa said, "Everybody is calm. It's a friendly, a practice game."
Can Bob Bradley start ordering "U.S. head coach" business cards yet?
Before Wednesday's match, U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said the result of the game "is not going to lead to a direct decision as to who the national team coach will be." Even so, the result was exactly what the U.S. interim coach needed to help convince Gulati, and U.S. fans, that he's the man for the job.
It's likely Gulati wants Bradley to be his coach over a big-name foreign coach because he's cheaper and there's less chance of a power struggle. But he still has some convincing to do. And if Gulati took his sweet time with the coaching search after the World Cup, it's even likelier he will do the same this time around.
Where does Fire forward Chris Rolfe stand with the national team after Wednesday's performance?
Rolfe went under the radar for most of the match, which is something U.S. fans don't want out of their forwards. His runs to the goal often ended with him getting fouled or coughing up the ball. His teammates didn't find him in the right spots, but can Bradley give him a second straight start based on that?
Fellow forwards Eddie Johnson, Taylor Twellman, Brian Ching and Kenny Cooper will be gunning for a starting forward spot against Ecuador on May 25.
With Johnson again showing his insistence in taking it to the keeper against Mexico, as he did against Italy, Bradley may be tempted to give Johnson a closer look next time around.
larroyave@tribune.com |
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