| | Europe's humiliation continued this weekend with an embarrassing
performance in Brazil by Manchester United, further giving credence to the view that despite the big money flowing into Euro leagues, Euro performance isn't all that it could be. But that wasn't the only warning issued this weekend from the FIFA World Club Championships: the lack of attention paid to this tourney in Brazil eerily echoes the African Championship's failure in South Africa just four years ago.
What began as a packed house to see local heroes Vasco da Gama quickly evaporated into a crowd of less than a thousand by the time the second match -- an easy win for Necaxa against an outclassed South Melbourne -- began. This home-town favoritism isn't unprecedented, or inexplicable; it is however, troubling for those in Zurich who would like the world to believe that the sport is universal, not local.
Oddly enough, this tourney is managing to make one of the more
poorly regarded footballing nations look miles better: France was pilloried
before the start of the 1998 World Cup by a combination of British-fed
virulence and a sober reading of what is admittedly a second-class league
structure.
Yet there, the matches were filled -- in stark contrast to the 1990 World Cup in Italy, which has long been regarded as a superior footballing nation in every aspect of the term. Brazil, which enjoys a similar soccer legacy, can only be embarrassed by this poor showing in the stands, especially as it clings to spurious hopes that it could host the 2006 Cup. In fact, England -- which has performed embarrassingly in this tourney -- must take cheer that its bid, all of a sudden, looks really, really good.
Now, will FIFA recognize this, or will they play politics again and
continue to provide hope to the bid from South Africa, which is based solely on the personal magnetism of its executor, Danny Jordaan, and the sympathy the world feels for the decades of apartheid the country endured? One should hope not: the fact is that South Africa, Germany, Morocco and Brazil cannot guarantee the crowds or the reception England would give to the 2006 Games.
Of course, England should show that they can do better in international play than they have in this tourney: Manchester United's first-half performance was nothing less than a startling display of a lack of pride. Looking flat from the get-go, Man U embarrassed itself by making two key defensive errors in the space of two minutes in unforgivable fashion. When Man U finally began to play the match in the second half, it was too late -- despite the fact that they did have a clear goal disallowed.
Their perfomance was thrown into even more shocking relief by the way scrappy South Melbourne handled themselves. Here was a team that you wouldn't even room with Necaxa, much less set up a match against. Yet they moved the ball well, acquitted themselves with pride, and managed to steal a goal on a neat set piece. How strange that their 3-1 loss seemed so much more valid than Manchester United's.
Charles out; Heinrichs in?
Here's this week's hot rumor (take with a grain of salt). Ready? Clive
Charles, who is the U.S. Soccer Federation's leading candidate to get the women's national team coaching job (forget about Lauren Gregg -- the USSF doesn't believe she can handle it, and they want to cut out the DiCicco connection) may not be willing to leave the cozy confines of Portland. So, who's the well-chosen stop-gap? None other than April Heinrichs, who has had a long and feisty relationship with the federation.
Were I her, I'd be insulted that I'm viewed as a second-best castoff, but
then again, this is the USSF, which has a long history of insulting people.
Just a feel-good organization all the way around, huh? ... Marla Messing, the WWC honcho who collected a hefty bonus for staging the Cup, is now on the short list for an Olympic position. Will the whispers about her cashing in on the tourney at the expense of unpaid Major League Soccer labor keep her from getting the job? Nah.
Jamie Trecker, editor of Kick! magazine, writes regularly for ESPN.com. You may e-mail him at jamie_trecker@go.com; while he guarantees he will read all letters, he regrets that he cannot guarantee a reply because of overwhelming volume. | |
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