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Canales Corner: Columbus Crew Provide Important Reminder
Sure, it wasn't a big crowd watching the first MLS action of the season, but the Crew provided the magic that matters in the beautiful game.
Mar 10, 2010 2:09:00 AM
By Andrea Canales
I don't think any European team is ever going to show up with a big money offer for Columbus Crew forward Steven Lenhart.
Defender Gino Padula isn't ever going to be capped by Argentina's national team.
And Emilio Renteria definitely looks like he's carrying some vacation weight into Major League Soccer's preseason.
Doesn't matter.
See, it's not always about the Champions League, or the World Cup or the dazzling new starlet of the game.
Sometimes, it's about getting together with buddies to grab some brats and beer at cozy Columbus Crew stadium. There's usually room in the corner where the most fervent fans hang out, waving their Crew scarves and cheering their team on in person.
Even from watching them on TV, I could see that that these supporters, as enthusiastic as they seemed, were chilly.
I'll bet the cold bit harder when their team managed to fritter away some solid chances they put together in the first half. Crew midfielders Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers both showed flashes of quality, but also revealed reasons why the pair are on the national team fringe, not the core.
Toluca, a crafty Mexican squad led by naturalized Brazilian Antonio (Zinha) Naelson, took advantage of the Crew's defensive breakdown on a couple of counterattack opportunities. League champions of Mexico in 2008, Toluca was making a determined effort to efficiently eliminate their MLS rivals from the CONCACAF Champions League. An away win for Toluca in the first leg of their match-up would practically nail down the Crew's coffin, as it is notoriously difficult for American teams to win in Mexico.
After two goals by Toluca, the outlook for the Crew was bleak. The supporters still in the stands wouldn't surrender hope, however, exhorting the players to keep fighting.
Finally, the Crew put it all together. They made it, like nearly all puzzles when correctly completed, look easy, even. A series of quick passes culminated in a Lenhart goal.
Suddenly the volume in the stands went up several notches.
It exploded, however, when Renteria's incisive pass found Lenhart in the box to set up a second goal. At that point, I'd bet not a single Crew fan present felt the cold.
That's the magic of the game. To be out there in the open air, to see your local players representing the team with pride, pumping fists to the loyal fans when anything worthwhile happens - that can't be replicated on a screen. People who attend matches see things at a game that the camera never shows.
I've been to Crew Stadium, and it's an efficient, sturdy little structure. It's not the fanciest stadium in MLS by a mile, but it's got an unassuming charm and is a great place to watch the action on the field.
From almost every seat, gamegoers can watch a play build, can see the coaches pacing, can feel the excitement building, can notice a million little details that don't exist for people not actually present. It's in the stands where people hear the obscenities when the players can't help themselves. It's where the game becomes interactive theater - where players chuckle at a clever chant by supporters or let the boos and jibes get to them and result in a poor performance.
I've yelled at a TV screen before, but I know that has no effect on the match. It's not that way when people go to games. Opponents hear very clearly the invectives issued by the Columbus supporters - and it can't be a coincidence that the home record of the Crew is formidable.
One can find plenty of soccer on television, especially in a World Cup year. This year with the labor disagreement growing ever contentious, some have said that perhaps, it's not a big deal for MLS players to strike. They reason that many wouldn't miss MLS if it was cut down to half a season.
What fans in Columbus, Ohio, deserve is what they got that night from the Crew - a valiant effort to do justice to the game and to those supporting it.
Would that the owners, the players and the new mediator assigned to the issue could make as courageous an effort to end the dispute and give all MLS fans their league again. An entire season, delivered safe and sound, is the ideal gift package.
Because there simply isn't any substitute for the thrill of being there.
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com North America
Become a fan of Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page for all the latest news and insight into everything the related to the beautiful game!
Defender Gino Padula isn't ever going to be capped by Argentina's national team.
And Emilio Renteria definitely looks like he's carrying some vacation weight into Major League Soccer's preseason.
Doesn't matter.
See, it's not always about the Champions League, or the World Cup or the dazzling new starlet of the game.
Sometimes, it's about getting together with buddies to grab some brats and beer at cozy Columbus Crew stadium. There's usually room in the corner where the most fervent fans hang out, waving their Crew scarves and cheering their team on in person.
Even from watching them on TV, I could see that that these supporters, as enthusiastic as they seemed, were chilly.
I'll bet the cold bit harder when their team managed to fritter away some solid chances they put together in the first half. Crew midfielders Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers both showed flashes of quality, but also revealed reasons why the pair are on the national team fringe, not the core.
Toluca, a crafty Mexican squad led by naturalized Brazilian Antonio (Zinha) Naelson, took advantage of the Crew's defensive breakdown on a couple of counterattack opportunities. League champions of Mexico in 2008, Toluca was making a determined effort to efficiently eliminate their MLS rivals from the CONCACAF Champions League. An away win for Toluca in the first leg of their match-up would practically nail down the Crew's coffin, as it is notoriously difficult for American teams to win in Mexico.
After two goals by Toluca, the outlook for the Crew was bleak. The supporters still in the stands wouldn't surrender hope, however, exhorting the players to keep fighting.
Finally, the Crew put it all together. They made it, like nearly all puzzles when correctly completed, look easy, even. A series of quick passes culminated in a Lenhart goal.
Suddenly the volume in the stands went up several notches.
It exploded, however, when Renteria's incisive pass found Lenhart in the box to set up a second goal. At that point, I'd bet not a single Crew fan present felt the cold.
That's the magic of the game. To be out there in the open air, to see your local players representing the team with pride, pumping fists to the loyal fans when anything worthwhile happens - that can't be replicated on a screen. People who attend matches see things at a game that the camera never shows.
I've been to Crew Stadium, and it's an efficient, sturdy little structure. It's not the fanciest stadium in MLS by a mile, but it's got an unassuming charm and is a great place to watch the action on the field.
From almost every seat, gamegoers can watch a play build, can see the coaches pacing, can feel the excitement building, can notice a million little details that don't exist for people not actually present. It's in the stands where people hear the obscenities when the players can't help themselves. It's where the game becomes interactive theater - where players chuckle at a clever chant by supporters or let the boos and jibes get to them and result in a poor performance.
I've yelled at a TV screen before, but I know that has no effect on the match. It's not that way when people go to games. Opponents hear very clearly the invectives issued by the Columbus supporters - and it can't be a coincidence that the home record of the Crew is formidable.
One can find plenty of soccer on television, especially in a World Cup year. This year with the labor disagreement growing ever contentious, some have said that perhaps, it's not a big deal for MLS players to strike. They reason that many wouldn't miss MLS if it was cut down to half a season.
What fans in Columbus, Ohio, deserve is what they got that night from the Crew - a valiant effort to do justice to the game and to those supporting it.
Would that the owners, the players and the new mediator assigned to the issue could make as courageous an effort to end the dispute and give all MLS fans their league again. An entire season, delivered safe and sound, is the ideal gift package.
Because there simply isn't any substitute for the thrill of being there.
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com North America
Become a fan of Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page for all the latest news and insight into everything the related to the beautiful game!
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