Laurent Dubois's Blog, page 98

America’s Team

The USA Men’s Soccer starting lineup for its World Cup qualifier vs. Mexico on Sep. 10, 2013. The USA won 2-0, clinching a World Cup berth.

America’s Team. Fans across the country lay claim to this label for their favorite sports team. As a result of this dilution, this moniker largely has lost its meaning. So if you’re still searching for the real America’s Team, look no further than the USA Men’s Soccer team. As you no doubt know by now, Tuesday night it clinched a World Cup Birth by beating arch-rival Mexico 2-0. This is America’s Team.

We like to celebrate the U.S. as a melting pot, a place where people of myriad races, ethnicities, cultures, religions etc. identify as one nationality: American. Nowhere is this more apparent than the lineup for USA Men’s Soccer games (see image above). Eddie Johnson, who is black, headed home the game’s first goal from the corner of Landon Donovan, a white player who is perhaps the team’s most famous. Donovan also tapped in the USA’s second goal, thanks to a low cross from Mix Diskerud, who was born in Norway. The USA’s defense alone is a microcosm of the melting pot. In defense, the USA fielded Jermaine Jones, who is black and grew up in Frankfurt, Germany, as well as the Texan Omar Gonzalez, DaMarcus Beasely, an African-American from Indiana and Fabian Johnson, who also grew up in Germany.

Blacks, whites, Hispanics, immigrants — the USA Men’s Soccer lineup reads like a Census report. This team paints a more accurate picture of this country than any other of its national teams. The USA Men’s Olympic basketball squad, the Dream Team, is probably the nation’s most well known national team. Led by Duke’s own Coach K, featured thirteen blacks and one white players. Blacks might be racial minorities but that lineup is not diverse.

Unsurprisingly, given the demographics of the national team, the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport gave Major League Soccer an A+ for its players’ racial diversity in its 2012 Annual Racial and Gender Report Card. Professor Orin Starn often used to say during his Anthropology of Sports lectures, “What you play is who you are.” When it comes to America’s Team, USA Men’s Soccer is the real deal.

Too Darn Hot

 

For the first time in its history, the FIFA World Cup is set to be held in a country in the Middle East; the  2022 tournament will be held in Qatar.  The federation’s awarding the bid to Qatar was seen by many as bold and forward-thinking– as Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s president, pointed out, “It was time to go to the Arabic world”, as soccer is a game played “not only in Europe, but around the world.”  If we’re operating under the idea that soccer is the true lingua franca, we should act like it.  But symbolic changes bring with them technical ones as well; there are distinct differences between a global tournament being held in Qatar and one held in Switzerland, the most glaring (sorry) of which would be the heat.  The summertime temperatures in Qatar often reach 120 degrees; it poses a very real safety risk to the players to force them to play through such conditions.  And so a number of a FIFA officials, headed by Blatter, have floated the idea of a November-December Cup, when the weather would be all but ideal with a range between the mid 60’s and 80’s.

Yet Blatter is facing substantial opposition, primarily from critics who object to the scheduling conflicts such a move would create.  Shifting the Cup from the summer to the early winter would mean changed TV schedules, professional schedules; in other words, a shift could threaten profits for the television networks (namely Fox and Telemundo, who’ve paid a combined 1 billion USD for the rights), the clubs, and the players as well.  All for a competition which, for all the bragging rights winning confers, is not as financially profitable as typical club play. There’s mumbling about contradicting tradition as well, but that argument has less ultimate validity when you juxtapose it with the image of strikers fainting like schoolgirls on the pitch.

And yet in all the objections raised, it seems the wellbeing of the players has been completely lost in the shuffle.  Sports is a business like any other– but like any other business, neglecting workers is both morally reprehensible and ultimately counterproductive.  Assuring that a club’s best players are only barely recovered from heatstroke before beginning their regularly scheduled season doesn’t much help their bottom line.

This is hardly a problem unique to soccer; you need only look to the NFL’s most recent settled class action on the TBI’s of thousands of its players, or Joe Nocera’s columns on the abuse of NCAA athletes , to know that treating players like chattel is a sports-wide problem, an odd contrast with the immense monetary value our society tends to accord them.  Hopefully, in this small instance at least, the incidental fact that soccer players happen to be human won’t be forgotten.

Trending Down?

Five days ago, before the September qualifying games in the CONCACAF region, soccer fans everywhere were fairly confident that no matter how each of the last six teams finished their last four games, Mexico would easily qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.  Either Mexico would finish as one of the top three teams in the region, or they would settle for fourth and play a one game playoff against New Zealand from the Oceania region, which they would be heavily favored in.  Jumping forward to the present, here’s how the CONCACAF standings look:

Country
MP
W
L
D
GF
GA
GD
Pts.


USA*
8
5
2
1
10
6
+4
16


Costa Rica*
8
4
1
3
11
5
+6
15


Honduras
8
3
3
2
10
10
0
11


Panama
8
1
2
5
7
9
-2
8


Mexico
8
1
2
5
4
6
-2
8


Jamaica
8
0
4
4
3
9
-6
4

 

With the loss to the United States that occurred a few hours ago, Mexico has now fallen into a tie for fourth place with Panama in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying standings.  Even worse, Mexico is currently losing the tie breaker to Panama due to the difference in the amount of goals scored by each team in the fourth round of qualifying (Panama: 7, Mexico: 4).  So Mexico is actually in 5th place out of a total of 6 teams.  True there are still two games left, and yes Mexico is only 3 points (1 win) behind the third place Honduras, but I’m still not inspired by Mexico’s recent play to be confident enough to predict that they will finish in the top three, finish fourth and then beat New Zealand, or even finish in the top four of this region.

 

There are three main reasons for why I believe Mexico is going to have a tough time qualifying for the 2014 World Cup:

1.) Recent firing of head coach

2.) Lack of wins in 4th round

3.) Lack of passion

 

1.) The firing of their past head coach Jose Manuel de la Torre was probably much overdue, but the fact that this decision occurred with only three qualifying games left can not be good for the team.  Although Luis Fernando Tena, a previous assistant, has been named the interim coach, the team currently is going through an identity crisis.  Tena is unsure whether to continue following Torre’s previous gameplan or to make alterations.  Either way, I’m guessing that the team is fairly confused on what Tena’s plan is and may actually lack confidence in Tena’s ability to lead the team.  Even though Tena’s confidence has not faded away, his lack of experience with the national team may be Mexico’s downfall.

 

2.) From looking at the FIFA world rankings of the teams in the CONCACAF region, it appears on paper as Mexico should be fairly dominant in these qualifying games.  However, these games are played on the field as Mexico is not living up to expectations.  Sure Mexico isn’t actually losing the majority of these games, but the problem is, Mexico isn’t winning enough games.  Through the first eight games, Mexico has only won one game, which was Jamaica.  Although Mexico is currently ranked 20th in the world, they have tied and lost to the 43rd ranked team (Honduras), tied the 40th ranked team (Panama), tied the 42nd ranked team (Costa Rica), and tied the 76th ranked team (Jamaica).  Although they have two very winnable games left (vs. Panama and @ Costa Rica), there streak of not winning these types of matches is up against them.  Two more ties, which is fairly probable at this point, and Mexico is certainly not qualifying for the World Cup.

 

3.) Which brings me to my last point.  Mexico’s passion on the field is almost non-existent.  It almost appears as if the team is solely going through the motions.  This lack of enthusiasm limits the amount of energy on the field, thus limiting the amount of quality play by the Mexican team.  Mexico hasn’t looked like intimating team that dominates CONCACAF region year after year.  If this low quality of play keeps up, Mexico will at best tie there last two games, causing them to watch the 2014 World Cup at home.

“Dos a Cero”

Eddie Johnson (Scoring opening goal)
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2...

Etant élevée par parents mexicains et ayant vécu à la frontière des Etats-Unis avec le Mexique, j’ai toujours entendue la presse mexicaine jurait que « cette année et l’année du Mexique » c’est à dire, chaque 4 ans les mexicains vraiment croient que cette fois le Mexique gagnera la Coupe du Monde. Malheureusement, cette année, il est tellement probable que le Mexique ne qualifiera pour la coupe. Si cela se produit, ça sera la première fois depuis 1982 que Mexique n’a pas qualifier pour la coupe du monde.

Ce soir je n’ai pas vu l’équipe mexicaine qui est connue pour jouer avec le cœur. A mon avis, ils on dominé le premier 20 minutes du match, mais après je n’ai pas vu ni senti le vrai esprit mexicain.

Si le Mexique n’arrive pas à réussir et à qualifier pour la coupe il y aura milliards de mexicains qui souffriront. J’ose dire que la Coupe du Monde est meilleur avec « El Tri » et que le monde entier souffrira une grande perte pendant la coupe du monde si le Mexique échoue, car il n’y a aucune pays qui a de meilleurs supporteurs que les mexicains. Ils contribuent une énergie spéciale à la coupe du monde. Même si le destin de l’équipe mexicain n’est pas sûr, ce soir les américains avaient le droit de crier en espagnol « dos a cero » car c’était une victoire bien mérité pour les américains.

Struggles of the Frenchmen

Patrick Viera. Thierry Henry. Zinedine Zidane. The list goes on and on, but these are a few of the more recent bastions of French football that have brought glory to the streets of Paris and the beaches of Marseille, players who were widely considered to be some of the world’s best. Viera’s power and guile coupled with Henry’s wit, agility, and clinical finishing dominated the Premier League at Arsenal, while Zidane dazzled fans, opponents, and teammates alike while climbing to global superstar status at Juventus and Real Madrid, the most storied clubs in Italy and Spain respectively. A World Cup victory in 1998 and Euro Cup glory in 2000 marked the peak of modern day French football. Euphoria stemming from those victories was ephemeral; a disastrous 2002 World Cup, which saw France finish bottom of their group, was cause for warning. The following two snapshots, however, best capture the inception of their decline:

 

Although France may have vaulted back into relevance during the 2006 World Cup, in part made possible by Zidane’s emergence from retirement, the renowned midfielder’s vicious, albeit provoked, head-butt of Marco Materazzi shown above rather succinctly quelled any momentum they may have gained by reaching the finals against an Italian side in Berlin, Germany. Since that moment in time, the French national team has underperformed while being marred by such controversies as Henry’s deliberate handling of a ball, directly responsible for preventing the Republic of Ireland from World Cup qualification while booking the French side’s tickets to South Africa, the dismissal of Nicolas Anelka from the team during a dismal 2010 World Cup performance, training boycotts, further suspensions to stars such as Samir Nasri, Jeremy Menez, and Yann M’Vila for various immature infractions, etc.

Today, France is on the verge of a critical World Cup qualifying tie with UEFA lightweights Belarus. Although not entirely pivotal in terms of securing second place behind a dominant Spanish side, but more so as a morale boost, the French team is desperately in need of a resounding victory. Les Bleus will likely dispose of the last place team in UEFA’s Group I, but France’s goal drought is more than concerning. Real Madrid striker, and France’s number 9, Karim Benzema has not scored an international goal in 14 months, while the team itself has failed to score in 479 minutes—more than five games. These stats are astounding from a team that fields the likes of Franck Ribéry of Bayern München, recently named 2012/2013 UEFA European player of the year, Samir Nasri of Manchester City, the aforementioned Karim Benzema of Real Madrid, and various other stars that are more than capable of turning the tide of any game.

Perhaps there is more unrest in the player ranks. It would not be the first time a French team failed to fulfill its potential due to an unruly dressing room. Or maybe the players have failed to grasp debutant manager Didier Deschamps’ footballing philosophy. More alarming is the prospect that Deschamps’ philosophy could well fall short altogether. Club success, at Olympique de Marseille in Deschamps’ case, of course does not automatically translate into triumphs at the international level. Tomorrow’s game against Belarus will provide some limited insight into these issues. Whatever the problem is, France needs to start scoring goals if it expects to compete in UEFA’s second round of World Cup Qualifying, which includes eight runners up from the first round of qualifying, likely talented sides such as Croatia, Greece, Sweden, and Montenegro, among others.

As a completely biased Arsenal fan, I say Deschamps should include in-form Olivier Giroud in his starting XI. This listless French side is desperate for change. Utilizing both Giroud and Benzema in a 4-4-2 could prove fruitful, as Giroud’s hold up play, ability to win headers, and neat flicks and touches ideally would dovetail with Benzema’s running off the ball. If that doesn’t work, Les Bleus can always call on the classic covert handball to goal strategy. It worked for Maradona:

and Henry demonstrated his best impression. Not ethical by any means, but where would the beautiful game be without a little controversy?

How much are footballers worth?

As an avid Arsenal football fan, I was thrilled by the recent transfer of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid. Despite having the highest number of assists in Europe in the last few years, Madrid’s new manager Carlo Ancelotti deemed Ozil surplus to its squad with the arrival of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur. Although Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger is known for his frugality in the transfer market and desire to develop players as opposed to spending large sums of money, the acquisition of Ozil was too enticing to pass up. Perhaps this change in attitude from Arsenal signals a larger trend in the need to spend for squad improvement. Player development can no longer make up for purchasing top quality at the club level.

It should not be surprising though that Madrid took the approach of player marketability over footballing ability. When the club purchased David Beckham during Florentino Pérez’s presidency, it sold French defensive midfielder Claude Makélelé to Chelsea. Zinedine Zidane himself lamented the loss of  Makélelé stating, ”Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?”. In fact, Zidane, the once most expensive transfer in the world from Juventus to Madrid at one point, also recently added that it is incomprehensible that football clubs are willing to pay so much for players. He even went on to say that he was not worth his own transfer fee as he stated in the past.

While Ozil arrives at Arsenal with proven quality at the club and international level with Germany, Bale joined Madrid for over double the transfer value of Ozil. Bale has shown flashes of brilliance in the English Premier League, but it would be difficult to justify that he is worth more as a footballer than Ozil. This begs the question of the recent trend of inflation in transfer values in football spurred on by clubs such as Madrid and Manchester City. What should the value of footballers be in the open market? Can footballers ever justify their expensive transfer fees? These are interesting questions to the latest series of events in the transfer market.

 

 

Brazil putting the Bonito in Joga Bonito

In the midst of World Cup qualifying season, international friendlies are often neglected, regardless of how beautifully a team plays.  My role here is to bring light to the team I have loved for as long as I remember.  My childhood and adolescence are filled with memories of watching Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Dida, and Giovanni take the pitch and put on the most magical show on earth.  Despite the level of French culture prevalent in my family and the fact that Zinedine Zidane was always my favorite player, I was sick to my stomach when Brazil fell 3-0 to France in the 1998 World Cup Final.  Prior to their Confederations Cup victory and recent successes, the seleção fell out of the top 20 FIFA World Rankings, though the way teams are ranked almost never reflects their performance in crucial matches.   Nevertheless, they took the pitch against Australia over the weekend and showed why I hope and believe they’ll earn back their crown as champions of the soccer world.  With many flashes of individual brilliance from Neymar and Ramires as well as the team-wide display of beautiful passing and ball movement, the Brazilian squad dominated and thrashed their opponents 6-0.

Brazil v. Australia 6-0

 

Costa Rica’s Revenge on the US

The US Men’s National Team fell 3-1 against Costa Rica during their qualifying match this past Friday. Many have drawn comparisons to when the US lost in Costa Rica in 2009. Both were World Cup qualifiers, both 3-1 defeats, and both saw Costa Rica take an early lead and hold it throughout the match.

I am drawn to consider how the more recent match in March of this year may have impacted Friday’s match: the World Cup qualifier played just five months ago in Colorado. Costa Rica protested the US 1-0 victory, saying that the snowstorm had compromised the “physical integrity” of the players and officials. Here is a quick reminder of the conditions they were talking about:

Their appeal, however, was rejected.

Fast forward five and a half months and the US is traveling to Costa Rica for a qualifying match, and the resentment is still fierce. The team was forced through public customs lines to be derailed by the local fans. Practice locations were shuffled around. The US was denied a practice ball of the same kind to be used in the match. Taxi drivers slowed the team down on their progress to the field. The crowd volume in the stadium was even measured at an earth-shattering 96 decibels! These are not ideal conditions for the US team and clearly gave Costa Rica the home field advantage. The US was shaken and it showed on the pitch. Costa Rica got their revenge, taking an early lead and showing that the location of a match and the crowd can truly influence the results.

US Women’s Soccer is Returning

Soccer may be the most popular sport in the world, but women’s soccer is far from that. However, the ESPN Nine for IX documentary “The 99ers” brought us back to the pinnacle of women’s soccer in American history, and reminded us of the pioneers of the women’s game here in the United States. Until the most recent 2012 Olympic gold medal victory, soccer for women in the US lacked a noticeable presence.  Could it be possible that the tides have turned recently? With the rise of the new professional league, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the sport at least has a new chance at a life in this country, and the ESPN documentary last month brought it back to the forefront of female athletics.

Here is a video preview of the documentary:

The Duke women’s soccer program also has a special connection to the ’99 World Cup team through head coach Carla Overbeck. More details on this relationship can be seen through my eyes here on the ESPNW blog.

The Goal that Qualified Honduras for the 2010 World Cup

Honduras stunned Mexico last night with a 2-1 victory in the legendary Azteca stadium. It was only the second time Mexico lost a qualifying game at home, and placed Mexico 4th in the current CONCACAF rankings. If they remain there, they will have to compete for a slot in the World Cup in a game against New Zealand, the top-ranked team in the Oceania Federation.

With this victory, Honduras are pretty close to securing themselves a berth in the 2014 World Cup. Their road to South Africa in 2010 was a bit more dramatic. In the end, the goal that made the different was not scored by a Honduran player, but rather by Jonathan Bornstein of the US Men’s National Team, in RFK stadium, on October 14th, 2009. The tight competition within CONCACAF meant that the goal differential in the two final games (between Honduras and El Salvador on the one hand, and between the U.S. and Costa Rica) made the difference. You can see the critical goal, and hear the response of commentators, here.

Honduras had not qualified for the World Cup in 27 years, and people flooded into the streets in celebration.

It had been a long and difficult year in Honduras, where a coup overthrew the president in June 2009. And both sides in the ensuing political crisis tried to use football, and the victory of the Honduran team, to their advantage. As Joshua Nadel wrote here a few months ago, the years since that coup have been difficult ones in the country.

In nearly clinching their second trip to a World Cup, meanwhile, Honduras’ national team has also secured a reputation as one of the region’s most formidable players.