Guatemala your national team is a disgrace
16 Comments Published by Cardillo on August 21, 2008 at 1:37 AM.
Don't blog angry. Don't ever blog angry.
Sorry, but I have to break this cardinal rule in the middle of the night. Sue me.
Sitting on my couch it's hard to recall a time where I was as infuriated watching a game as tonight's USMNT 1-0 victory over the no-class, dirtbags on the Guatemala national team. Coarse language, sure, but the Chapines deserve it -- and worse. (Actually, this reminded me of the 2006 World Cup game with Italy on a lot of levels.)
I wish I could have reached through the screen and channeled by inner Ricardo Clark and smashed Carlos Ruiz and the rest of his mates in their head.
What Gustavo Cabrera did to Eddie Lewis doesn't even belong in an UFC Octagon. Flying in with a loaded up Lex Luger elbow is not in the spirit of the game. Maybe the crimson mask Lewis wore immediately after the collision was worse than it was. Doesn't matter. Contreras could have killed him. This isn't a whiny American either. That was a bush-league play and sadly it appeared coach Ramón Maradiaga encouraged this play. (Really, does Guatemala pull this crap with anyone else? Who condones it?)
If CONCACAF President Jack Warner doesn't get off his ass and suspend Contreras for the duration of qualification an inquiry needs to be filed. A one-match ban is hardly enough. Then again, considering Warner's track record, the Surinamese official will likely earn an accommodation. Or at least some free tickets.
In fact, can we petition to have Guatemala's FIFA license revoked? Dirty two-foot tackles and feigned injuries have no place in the game -- unless you want to be known as the Italy of the Western Hemisphere. Christ, Ruiz kicks Howard in the head directly in front of the incompetent referee and Howard gets the yellow card? AM I ON CRAZY PILLS?
I've been pretty down on the whole USMNT program lately, but a game like this has me fired up. Like Costanza, I'm back baby!
How dare you try to pull this crap with our guys? I'm issuing a call to arms for the good people of Colorado to make Guatemala's trip to Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Nov. 19 a living hell. Nothing violent, but dirty tricks outside the hotel are fair play.
Maybe surviving through a grade-A example of anti-football masked a pretty putrid performance by the U.S. Doesn't matter tonight. The U.S. SHOWED SOME GUTS for a change and came away with three points in a game where they were both outplayed and brutalized.
Carlos Bocanegra, bless you, I actually clapped when your unmarked header found the back of the net for maybe the first time since the 2007 Gold Cup. Everything else wasn't pretty, but it was three sacred points on the road.
Let's just hope and pray Guatemala doesn't advance to the final round of CONCACAF so we don't need to see them again. Next time the U.S. heads to Guatemala City they ought to bring body armor and pepper spray. I could stay a lot worse, but I'll air on the side of discretion.
I'm mad as hell, but happy as hell too with three points in the bank.
Other stuff:
** Once again, the Dempsey-Donovan combination doesn't work. It's Gerrard/Lampard across the pond -- albeit with slightly less tabloid ink. Slightly.
** Tim Howard, take a bow. Wonderful performance between the shot-stopping and leadership from the back. He cleaned up a lot of messes and took a pounding, which I'm sure David Moyes would be delighted to see.
** Discipline? What discipline? After the meltdown in Beijing, wouldn't staying away from dumb fouls have been talking point one from Bob Bradley? In fairness, Steve Cherundolo got a really, ticky-tack foul for slamming the ball down -- which is pretty mindless considering how the rest of the match played out. His second yellow? Dumb. But the Guatemalan player oversold it with a Hogan-esque flop. Overall, the U.S. got beat up, but did its best to stay out of the muck.
** Seriously, has Bocanegra ever had an easier header in his life? (Great that it came via the second free kick chance on a tipped away header from Onyewu that came courtesey of a Guatamalan player being too close to Donovan's original spot. Poor sentence. I know. I'm tired. Bottom line, Guatemala paid for its "gamesmanship.")
** Not to throw cold water on this, but what exactly was the U.S. offensive game plan? To be as offensive as possible?
** I wasn't going to kill Glen Davis' job behind the mic because I thought he was in the Bristol Memorial Broomcloset. Yet he kept mis-identifying players -- and he was in the stadium. I'll let it slide, because it was extremely ancillary to the action tonight.
** ESPN had a solid halftime show with highlights from the friendlies across the globe. Too bad the anchor (Scott Reese?) had no clue and didn't do his homework.
** Heath Pearce dodged a huge bullet when a ball deflected off his hand in the box. Overall, if Guatemala actually practiced things like, say, kicking the ball instead of kicking their opponents, the U.S. would have been in some serious trouble.
Closing thoughts:
Aside from Howard, nobody really stood out for the U.S. Tonight, it doesn't matter much. This match was part of the climb to South Africa 2010. Style points don't matter. Three points do.
Guys, have an Aleve on me tomorrow morning. Hope you can walk.
Guatamala, I hope you can live with yourselves.
Sorry, but I have to break this cardinal rule in the middle of the night. Sue me.
Sitting on my couch it's hard to recall a time where I was as infuriated watching a game as tonight's USMNT 1-0 victory over the no-class, dirtbags on the Guatemala national team. Coarse language, sure, but the Chapines deserve it -- and worse. (Actually, this reminded me of the 2006 World Cup game with Italy on a lot of levels.)
I wish I could have reached through the screen and channeled by inner Ricardo Clark and smashed Carlos Ruiz and the rest of his mates in their head.
What Gustavo Cabrera did to Eddie Lewis doesn't even belong in an UFC Octagon. Flying in with a loaded up Lex Luger elbow is not in the spirit of the game. Maybe the crimson mask Lewis wore immediately after the collision was worse than it was. Doesn't matter. Contreras could have killed him. This isn't a whiny American either. That was a bush-league play and sadly it appeared coach Ramón Maradiaga encouraged this play. (Really, does Guatemala pull this crap with anyone else? Who condones it?)
If CONCACAF President Jack Warner doesn't get off his ass and suspend Contreras for the duration of qualification an inquiry needs to be filed. A one-match ban is hardly enough. Then again, considering Warner's track record, the Surinamese official will likely earn an accommodation. Or at least some free tickets.
In fact, can we petition to have Guatemala's FIFA license revoked? Dirty two-foot tackles and feigned injuries have no place in the game -- unless you want to be known as the Italy of the Western Hemisphere. Christ, Ruiz kicks Howard in the head directly in front of the incompetent referee and Howard gets the yellow card? AM I ON CRAZY PILLS?
I've been pretty down on the whole USMNT program lately, but a game like this has me fired up. Like Costanza, I'm back baby!
How dare you try to pull this crap with our guys? I'm issuing a call to arms for the good people of Colorado to make Guatemala's trip to Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Nov. 19 a living hell. Nothing violent, but dirty tricks outside the hotel are fair play.
Maybe surviving through a grade-A example of anti-football masked a pretty putrid performance by the U.S. Doesn't matter tonight. The U.S. SHOWED SOME GUTS for a change and came away with three points in a game where they were both outplayed and brutalized.
Carlos Bocanegra, bless you, I actually clapped when your unmarked header found the back of the net for maybe the first time since the 2007 Gold Cup. Everything else wasn't pretty, but it was three sacred points on the road.
Let's just hope and pray Guatemala doesn't advance to the final round of CONCACAF so we don't need to see them again. Next time the U.S. heads to Guatemala City they ought to bring body armor and pepper spray. I could stay a lot worse, but I'll air on the side of discretion.
I'm mad as hell, but happy as hell too with three points in the bank.
Other stuff:
** Once again, the Dempsey-Donovan combination doesn't work. It's Gerrard/Lampard across the pond -- albeit with slightly less tabloid ink. Slightly.
** Tim Howard, take a bow. Wonderful performance between the shot-stopping and leadership from the back. He cleaned up a lot of messes and took a pounding, which I'm sure David Moyes would be delighted to see.
** Discipline? What discipline? After the meltdown in Beijing, wouldn't staying away from dumb fouls have been talking point one from Bob Bradley? In fairness, Steve Cherundolo got a really, ticky-tack foul for slamming the ball down -- which is pretty mindless considering how the rest of the match played out. His second yellow? Dumb. But the Guatemalan player oversold it with a Hogan-esque flop. Overall, the U.S. got beat up, but did its best to stay out of the muck.
** Seriously, has Bocanegra ever had an easier header in his life? (Great that it came via the second free kick chance on a tipped away header from Onyewu that came courtesey of a Guatamalan player being too close to Donovan's original spot. Poor sentence. I know. I'm tired. Bottom line, Guatemala paid for its "gamesmanship.")
** Not to throw cold water on this, but what exactly was the U.S. offensive game plan? To be as offensive as possible?
** I wasn't going to kill Glen Davis' job behind the mic because I thought he was in the Bristol Memorial Broomcloset. Yet he kept mis-identifying players -- and he was in the stadium. I'll let it slide, because it was extremely ancillary to the action tonight.
** ESPN had a solid halftime show with highlights from the friendlies across the globe. Too bad the anchor (Scott Reese?) had no clue and didn't do his homework.
** Heath Pearce dodged a huge bullet when a ball deflected off his hand in the box. Overall, if Guatemala actually practiced things like, say, kicking the ball instead of kicking their opponents, the U.S. would have been in some serious trouble.
Closing thoughts:
Aside from Howard, nobody really stood out for the U.S. Tonight, it doesn't matter much. This match was part of the climb to South Africa 2010. Style points don't matter. Three points do.
Guys, have an Aleve on me tomorrow morning. Hope you can walk.
Guatamala, I hope you can live with yourselves.
Labels: carlos bocanegra, guatemala sucks, Soccer, USMNT, world cup qualifying
I agree completely. The waste of life who went after Eddie Lewis should be banned from football forever.
Carlos Ruiz is the scum of the Earth.
Heath Pearce is not the answer at left-back.
Donovan cannot play out on the right. He was invisible for ages.
Dempsey had another pathetic game, I don't see what he brings to the table.
3 points away from home is three points away from home, it should be celebrated.
I'm actually surprised that I would have anything good to say about anyone playing on that abomination of a field. It looked like a cow pasture.
Also, ESPN's picture quality for this game looked like an And-1 mix tape.
Lastly, I'll give the announcers the pass on id'ing players as their booth was miles above the pitch.
I actually spent part of the evening trying to figure out a way to put out an MLS bounty on Ruiz's head. Seriously, tell me developmental player making less than $20K wouldn't take $2,000 to punch him in the kidney. Just sayin...
(I need to go back to bed)
Don't blog angry. Don't ever blog angry.
I swear to you that I almost un-retired from blogging last night until I thought, "Cardillo will say everything that I'm thinking."
You've done that.
Guatemala is a disgusting spectacle but, as you alluded to, I don't expect anything to change.
Nice, gutsy win last night. Unpretty, to be sure, but gutsy.
Agreed.
However, isn't this par for the course that is the back-alley slobberknocker that is CONCACAF? I know we don't have Collina, or even Poll as the ref...but sheesh.
If UEFA:WWE, then CONCACAF:UWF, with USA being either Steve Williams or Ted DiBiase? (Other acceptable answers include: CONCACAF:World Class Championship Wrestling, and USA = Kerry Von Erich)
Anyway, agreed that last night was an ooogly affair salvaged that we got 3 points. I'm also ready for Timmeh to spike Ruiz somethin' good when they have the return match in the states to give him a li'l taste of the Barclays.
Also -- the title of your post could also pass for the title of a Morrissey b-side.
Keep up the rage.
Latin American football. Love it or hate it, nice to see the US not just cower the night away.
Donovan was there last night? I thought he missed the plane or something.
Agree with everything you said, with one additional thoughts. Dempsey needs to pull his head out his own ass, the way he pouted his way onto the field at the end of the game while everyone else was celebrating was really classless. Eddie Lewis almost gets decapitated and he throws a little hissy because the coach has to make adjustments and sub in a defender for him. Did he want to play right back?
I agree, he's bringing nothing to the team. That midfield spot he's wasting needs to go a guy that's going to try and do something with it like Adu, Edu or Kljestan.
I watched most of the Honduras Mexico match and that match was 10 times more exciting and sharper played. My only question is at what time in the next two years does Bradley use the new generation and not Eddie Frankie and Brian Ching on the road in a meaningful game. Jozy and Freddie need to play in harsh environments someday.
along with Howard, I thought Boca had a greatgameand not just because of the goal - he made up for Pearce's weak game many times
Howard did stand out but I also thought Demarcus did a great job in bolstering that left side. Lewis' smashed skull aside, he wasn't really getting it done with his lack of pace. Beasley was a step ahead as soon as he got in and never let up. He was the only creative field player I saw out there, and others around him (Pearce, Ching, and Edu) seemed to improve from his playmaking.
Was it just me or did the whole right side of the stadium not have any lights? I can excuse any player misreads for that. I know they also talked about how they were commenting from a tower in the sky - they showed it at half time. Regardless, Harkes made some good points. At least I don't get embarrassed when he opens his mouth.
Maybe I'm crazy, but I actually thought Onyewu was the best American on the pitch, but credit goes go out to Boca and Howard. The US midfield and attack couldn't have been worse. Ching is the only guy who should start the Cuba game--sit Landon, Clint, Bradley, Mastroeni. And the left side of the field for the US was absolutely destroyed throughout the game. You've have to go back to the Czech Republic game to see a performance as bad from the national team last night.
The turning point in the game was when Lewis was nearly killed. Just a stupid and brutal play all around by Orlando Cabrera's younger brother. Guatemala was in compete control of that game and up a man... then they threw it all away.
Three points is three points, but the US had no business tying, let along winning last night. That should have been a 3-1 or 2-1 victory for Guatemala. Thankfully, the Guatemalans can't finish.
Oh, and I agree with what everyone else is saying for the most part.
I was disgusted by the play of the Guats. How did Ruiz stay on the field last night? He should have walked for that first elbow/forearm to the face on Pearce. Then he should have walked for his shot on Howard. If I was Edu, I'd pay one of my old teammates in Toronto some of my new GBPs to knock him out in practice.
The easiest thing to do for this game is to mention players who belong on the field for the next game. I think there about 4 of them, Boca, Gooch, Timmy and Ching. I thought Ching was anonymous for the first 60 minutes but once the US went ahead he was great with ball possession. I thought Edu and Beasley were good in their short time on the field.
I think it's time to say goodbye to Mastroeni, Lewis and any other guy that age. We have the replacements in younger players who aren't going to improve if they don't play. 2010 should be the World Cup year for Adu, Jozy, Edu, etc. so they might as well get the playing time in tough conditions now.
I'm a huge US fan and am excited with the win although they could have played much better. But, I disagree somewhat with your take on Guatemala's play.
I think Cabrera deserved the red, but I don't think you describe the play accurately. From all the slow motion replays, I was convinced that he hit Lewis with his head, not his elbow. He did have his elbow up, but it was his head that hit lewis. Also, he wasn't that far from the ball.
With Ruiz, it was definitely deserving of a card to kick at the ball after Howard wrapped it up. But, it looked to me like he kicked him in the arms and not the head. Although I'll allow that maybe his follow-through grazed Howards head. I know Ruiz has a long history, but how do you compare this to Adu kicking the Nigerian keeper in the head?
Phillypride, I thought that Howard was kicked in the arms, as well. I was a little disappointed with Tim for milking it like that, and then throwing a loose ball into the six yard box.
I thought Howard played great, but thats a cardinal sin for keepers. I don't care if you're bleeding from the eyes, you hang onto the ball.
The elbow on Lewis was unjustifiable. On replay, Howard did milk it from Ruiz who probably just got him in the arms. Still a dirty play.
I thought there was no elbow on the Lewis play. Or at least no intentional elbow. But a dangerous play, nonetheless. It looked like as much head as elbow.
I can't blame Howard. And I think the ref handled that call well. There was no kick to the head, it was incidental contact as Ruiz went flying past.
That was some knock down drag out shit. I have been unable to post my US soccer thoughts on the interwebs since the Netherlands tied the US U-23's in extra time. I've been crushed since then. Fucking Sibon.
The Guatemala game was fucking brutal. That was some Flyers/Canadiens beef from the late 80's. My lord was that game physical. I am thrilled that the US got a result, on the road, against a beyond chippy home team. I was expecting Eddie Lewis to take a bag of exploding urine to the face as he walked off the field. The US showed some big ol' balls in this game.
In addition to technical superiority - see Bocanegra's winning header and the associated piss marking by the Guats - the US showed $500 worth of pudding testicles. They had the testicular fortitude to stay with it and win a game, down a man, on the road, in a qualfier.
They had zero sustained attack and still managed to get a result. The drama was outrageous. They hung on for dear life and escaped with a much needed 3 points. Nothing pretty about it, but the boys in blue showed some elephantitis of the balls.
Good on ya.