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Canales Daily: Worst 2008 Soccer Moments In U.S.
It's doubtful that any American soccer fan will get nostalgic for these moments in U.S. soccer over the past year. Instead, most will wince at recalling the various events.
Jan 1, 2009 1:21:52 AM
By Andrea Canales
Sometimes what makes looking to a New Year a pleasant thing to do is the fact that all the negative events of the previous year can be officially relegated to the ever-distancing past.
With that in mind, an official “Good riddance!” list is in order for the U.S. soccer events that would count as low points.
Here’s my take, given out in no particular order, on the events American soccer would be happy to close the door on in 2008.
Abby Wambach breaks her leg before the Olympics: Though tall, strong and more of a bruiser than a ballerina with the ball, Wambach was the Mia Hamm of the new generation women’s soccer team and by far the squad’s leading scorer. They counted on her. In the final warmup match for the Olympic tournament, Wambach battled hard for a ball and broke her leg in a collision with a Brazilian defender. There was a sickening crunch, and Wambach was on the ground, her tibia and fibula in her lower left leg both broken.
Orozco’s Olympic red card: In the do-or-die match for group advancement, U.S. defender Michael Orozco tangled with a Nigerian player and threw an elbow, earning an automatic red in the third minute of play. It didn’t help that the U.S. had been unable to hold off the Netherlands in the final minute of the previous match, or that Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley had earned unnecessary yellows in that game, but playing a man down so early in an important game because of Orozco’s exit doomed the Olympic hopes of the American men.
Adrian Serioux’s tackle on David Beckham: It wasn’t just that Serioux’s tackle from behind on Beckham came late in a game that FC Dallas had no chance of winning, or that the tackle that upended Beckham could have possibly seriously injured him. But Serioux saw fit, even as he was receiving a red card, to tell Beckham, “Welcome, baby.” This followed letting the press know, upon the announcement of Beckham’s arrival, that he intended on “going after him.” The whole incident basically announced to the world that not only did Major League Soccer have some thuggish players, but some stupid thuggish players.
SuperLiga advancement mixup (if Chivas Guadalajara had lost by nine goals instead of two, they would have advanced): Most tournaments around the world advance teams from group play based on goal differential. The SuperLiga tournament, however, had different rules, which made head-to-head results the decider before goal differential. In a game in which their starting goalkeeper broke his arm, Chivas realized too late that a loss to Atlante would eliminate them from the tournament, unless they lost so badly that the Houston Dynamo would lose to Atlante based on goal differential. All in all, the rules and the results equaled less and less respect for a competition still trying to attract fans.
Blanco’s headbutt of D.C. official: The moment where one of the MLS’s biggest stars, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, lost his temper and allegedly head-butted a game official trying to lead him away from the field after being red-carded wasn’t televised, or it would be in perpetual YouTube rotation. Still, the story of the incident did the league no favors.
Ruud Gullit’s tenure with the Galaxy: It wasn’t bad enough that Ruud Gullit didn’t seem to want to be bothered with details like scouting opposing teams or looking for club reinforcements in the college ranks before the annual draft. It was that he was so eager to tear down the league and American culture and prophesy doom for soccer in the U.S. at every opportunity, even after his resignation from the club after a long losing streak. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising, then, that Galaxy players spoke after Gullit’s departure about a lack of respect from their coach. Before he left, he was receiving millions of dollars from the club. Bad deal.
Toronto fans booing the national anthem: During the MLS All-Star Game, which had been granted to Canada’s franchise despite the artificial turf of BMO Field, a loud number of fans booed the U.S. national anthem when it was played before the match against West Ham United. Canada’s anthem followed that one in the place of honor, but that didn’t appease many in the crowd. Boos were also heard during the introduction of all the MLS players who were not Canadian. All in all, a bad scene.
Racial epithet at Columbus Crew match: After a New England Revolution player scored a penalty kick against the Crew, a fan in the stands at the game shouted a racial epithet at him. Players should never be subjected to such abuse. Though the incident is an unusual one in U.S. soccer, it is still a sad shame that it ever happened.
Neven Subotic choosing to play for Serbia instead of the U.S.: Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic left the U.S. Soccer Federation a lump of coal this Christmas, informing the organization that despite having played for American youth national teams at the under-17 and under-20 levels, he would be applying for a one-time FIFA switch to play for his father’s homeland, Serbia.
Drug suspension of New York players: Two New York Red Bull players, defender Jeff Parke and goalkeeper Jon Conway, were suspended by MLS for 10 games each after they tested positive for two performance-enhancing substances: androstatriendione (ATD) and boldenone metabolites. Both players claim that they ingested the banned substances unknowingly from an over-the-counter nutritional supplement. It was the first drug suspension in the history of the league.
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com USA
Discuss U.S. Soccer in the forums!
Sometimes what makes looking to a New Year a pleasant thing to do is the fact that all the negative events of the previous year can be officially relegated to the ever-distancing past.
With that in mind, an official “Good riddance!” list is in order for the U.S. soccer events that would count as low points.
Here’s my take, given out in no particular order, on the events American soccer would be happy to close the door on in 2008.
Abby Wambach breaks her leg before the Olympics: Though tall, strong and more of a bruiser than a ballerina with the ball, Wambach was the Mia Hamm of the new generation women’s soccer team and by far the squad’s leading scorer. They counted on her. In the final warmup match for the Olympic tournament, Wambach battled hard for a ball and broke her leg in a collision with a Brazilian defender. There was a sickening crunch, and Wambach was on the ground, her tibia and fibula in her lower left leg both broken.
Orozco’s Olympic red card: In the do-or-die match for group advancement, U.S. defender Michael Orozco tangled with a Nigerian player and threw an elbow, earning an automatic red in the third minute of play. It didn’t help that the U.S. had been unable to hold off the Netherlands in the final minute of the previous match, or that Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley had earned unnecessary yellows in that game, but playing a man down so early in an important game because of Orozco’s exit doomed the Olympic hopes of the American men.
Adrian Serioux’s tackle on David Beckham: It wasn’t just that Serioux’s tackle from behind on Beckham came late in a game that FC Dallas had no chance of winning, or that the tackle that upended Beckham could have possibly seriously injured him. But Serioux saw fit, even as he was receiving a red card, to tell Beckham, “Welcome, baby.” This followed letting the press know, upon the announcement of Beckham’s arrival, that he intended on “going after him.” The whole incident basically announced to the world that not only did Major League Soccer have some thuggish players, but some stupid thuggish players.
SuperLiga advancement mixup (if Chivas Guadalajara had lost by nine goals instead of two, they would have advanced): Most tournaments around the world advance teams from group play based on goal differential. The SuperLiga tournament, however, had different rules, which made head-to-head results the decider before goal differential. In a game in which their starting goalkeeper broke his arm, Chivas realized too late that a loss to Atlante would eliminate them from the tournament, unless they lost so badly that the Houston Dynamo would lose to Atlante based on goal differential. All in all, the rules and the results equaled less and less respect for a competition still trying to attract fans.
Blanco’s headbutt of D.C. official: The moment where one of the MLS’s biggest stars, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, lost his temper and allegedly head-butted a game official trying to lead him away from the field after being red-carded wasn’t televised, or it would be in perpetual YouTube rotation. Still, the story of the incident did the league no favors.
Ruud Gullit’s tenure with the Galaxy: It wasn’t bad enough that Ruud Gullit didn’t seem to want to be bothered with details like scouting opposing teams or looking for club reinforcements in the college ranks before the annual draft. It was that he was so eager to tear down the league and American culture and prophesy doom for soccer in the U.S. at every opportunity, even after his resignation from the club after a long losing streak. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising, then, that Galaxy players spoke after Gullit’s departure about a lack of respect from their coach. Before he left, he was receiving millions of dollars from the club. Bad deal.
Toronto fans booing the national anthem: During the MLS All-Star Game, which had been granted to Canada’s franchise despite the artificial turf of BMO Field, a loud number of fans booed the U.S. national anthem when it was played before the match against West Ham United. Canada’s anthem followed that one in the place of honor, but that didn’t appease many in the crowd. Boos were also heard during the introduction of all the MLS players who were not Canadian. All in all, a bad scene.
Racial epithet at Columbus Crew match: After a New England Revolution player scored a penalty kick against the Crew, a fan in the stands at the game shouted a racial epithet at him. Players should never be subjected to such abuse. Though the incident is an unusual one in U.S. soccer, it is still a sad shame that it ever happened.
Neven Subotic choosing to play for Serbia instead of the U.S.: Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic left the U.S. Soccer Federation a lump of coal this Christmas, informing the organization that despite having played for American youth national teams at the under-17 and under-20 levels, he would be applying for a one-time FIFA switch to play for his father’s homeland, Serbia.
Drug suspension of New York players: Two New York Red Bull players, defender Jeff Parke and goalkeeper Jon Conway, were suspended by MLS for 10 games each after they tested positive for two performance-enhancing substances: androstatriendione (ATD) and boldenone metabolites. Both players claim that they ingested the banned substances unknowingly from an over-the-counter nutritional supplement. It was the first drug suspension in the history of the league.
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com USA
Discuss U.S. Soccer in the forums!
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