Mexico vs. USA March 27 on ESPN2 [R]

SoccerPrime · 03-24-2005, 05:42 AM

Mathis released from USMNT
http://sltrib.com/realsaltlake/ci_2619936

Czar Jake · 03-24-2005, 12:50 PM

Wow I wonder what the deal is!! This will bring the Mathis-haters out in full force. He played well against Honduras, right? I wonder if we'll ever hear why he was released from the nats.

Hiddnfox · 03-24-2005, 01:58 PM

he probably pointed to his watch again :D

Jose Luis Luviano · 03-25-2005, 10:49 PM

On the way home, I listened to a little bit of Andres Cantor's show on 1640.

He said that the USSF has rooms reserved in 2 different hotels and there are 2 different flight schedules for the USMNT, each giving a different airport. (The USMNT might fly into Toluca, which is usually used for cargo flights. Insert joke here about how we much have called up Zack Thornton.)

On GolTV, there was an interview with Mexico's coach Lavolpe.

He predicted that the US will qualify for Germany.

He said that Mexico has to play in an orderly, intelligent fashion. He said that the USMNT is very accustomed to being the Visiting Team (sometimes even in the US itself. Actually, usually in the US itself) and that the Americans will not let the atmosphere get the better of them.

Rover · 03-26-2005, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jose Luis Luviano

On the way home, I listened to a little bit of Andres Cantor's show on 1640.

He said that the USSF has rooms reserved in 2 different hotels and there are 2 different flight schedules for the USMNT, each giving a different airport. (The USMNT might fly into Toluca, which is usually used for cargo flights. Insert joke here about how we much have called up Zack Thornton.)

What a great plan. I'm sure everyone at the hotels and at the airports in Mexico will keep our little secret.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jose Luis Luviano

On GolTV, there was an interview with Mexico's coach Lavolpe.

He predicted that the US will qualify for Germany.

He said that Mexico has to play in an orderly, intelligent fashion. He said that the USMNT is very accustomed to being the Visiting Team (sometimes even in the US itself. Actually, usually in the US itself) and that the Americans will not let the atmosphere get the better of them.

Lavolpe appears to have a very firm grasp of the obvious.

Jose Luis Luviano · 03-26-2005, 12:52 AM

Here's another thing about the GolTV interview:

They had some tape of recent US-Mexico games. And, of course, they wanted to show some recent Mexico goals.

But seeing as they have scored a grand total of 2 goals against us in the last 6 years, you got to see some tape of Mike Burns and Eric Wynalda wearing the old "Montreal Canadiens" uniforms.

Remember US Cup '96, and the Baby Blue uniforms? The ones that Alexi Lalas said that he would quit if he had to wear one ever again?

If they fly into Toluca and hire a bus driver from the Yucatan, the Gulf coast or the Northwest (all Beisbol-loving areas), maybe their plan will work out.

Czar Jake · 03-27-2005, 04:30 PM

Okay, I'll say it. The U.S. looked HORRIBLE! Score 2-1 but could have easily been 3-1, 4-1, or 4-0. Our defense was lost all game and if not for Keller (he is amazing) it would have gotten ugly. Every time Donovan passed the ball (with exception to the assist) he passed it straight to a Mexican.

After this game I am just hoping we can handle Guatemala. If we were playing IN Guatemala I wouldn't be optimistic one bit.

The U.S. looked absolutely terrible.

montgjules · 03-27-2005, 04:31 PM

Dang.

I guess statistics don't lie.

Jim Umber · 03-27-2005, 04:55 PM

It looks like they really didn't believe they could win in that stadium. It's hard to overcome negative beliefs. We all know they can whip Mexico, and they know it, but somehow they don't believe they can do it in THAT STADIUM.

Rover · 03-27-2005, 05:20 PM

Welcome to qualifying. It's ALWAYS like this.

Basically, in the overall plan we lost one point today. That's all. If we looked bad, then we looked bad. We looked bad getting brutalized by Poland in our last group game at WC 2002, and we all know what happened next (hint: Jeonju).

We will regroup, we will beat Guatemala on Wednesday, but it won't be a blowout. Blowouts are rare in WCQ, because points are too valuable to waste on. Teams don't play free-flowing soccer unless they have nothing to lose (or gain) by the outcome. Qualification games are usually unattractive, grind-it-out events that mess with your nerves if you're not used to it (and even if your are).

We were set up to lose this game, playing against Mexican players in mideseason form at their favorite opponent grinder. They also needed it more than we did, and they got it. But qualification is not over. It's one game, folks.

The key is that it's who finishes in the top three after ten games that matters, not who finishes first. And the games are rarely noteworthy--does anyone remember how we did against Jamaica in the qualifying for 2002? Didn't think so. It didn't matter, since we made it to Korea.

So go ahead, be disappointed, and please question why Arena still plays Berhalter and Cherundolo in the back. Question if Donovan has his head in the game with all the distractions surrounding him right now. Question why Josh Wolff and Cory Gibbs rode the pine and why Eddie Johnson looked so ordinary. Good questions that need answers from the coaching staff.

But don't worry about qualifying. I'll only worry if we can't win at home and we're lower table entering game eight. I doubt either of those will be the case.

Don't worry--it will all work out.

And it's a great time to be a soccer fan. Enjoy it! 🙂