"One: Cut a hole in a box…"
Posted on July 10, 2009 7:05 am
(UPDATE: According to ESPN the reason Perez had to be stretchered off the field was because he was “struck by a missle” from the stands. Added photo below)
I’m having a very hard time resisting the temptation to call JOHN JAGOU this morning.
I don’t want to wait until this afternoon to get his take on Mexican Coach Javier Aguirre’s send off last night during El Tri’s match against Panama.
I mean sure, maybe Sven Goren Erikkson didn’t exactly get the job done down there but in the “credit where credit is due” department he never kicked an opposing player in the junk, either:
According to Aguirre, using the now-familiar Mexican team player-and/or-official non-apology format, the problem was of course not that he was guilty of doing something stupid; rather, he was simply defending the integrity of the game, serving as sort of an auxiliary referee:
“I didn’t have good conduct in those two or three minutes, that in my opinion, were brought on by a waste of time by part of the opponent that tried to defend a ball when the referee had called a throw in. The Panamanian player kept on playing outside the pitch.”
And here I thought that things like time wasting and such were supposed to be handled by a referee with a whistle, not an opposing coach with a size 10 wing tip:
“I wanted to stop the ball, there is contact with the player, inevitably because of the momentum that the player had. I lifted my foot too much and I regret that.”
So, incidentally, does “the Panamanian player”:
I think Mexico’s problem is that they need to find another Confederation to play in. CONCACAF simply has too many unskilled players who keep “running into” various Mexican appendages.
For the record, I think sending the Panamanian (Phillips) off was wildly unfair.
His reaction to the attempt to turn him into a soprano is, to me, pretty controlled. You can’t quite tell but it doesn’t appear that he ever laid a finger on Aguirre. He would have been well within his rights to waste him on the spot.
The fun starts at about the 1:50 mark. Judge for yourself:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCWeHfABLbk"]YouTube – Mexico Vs Panama RESUMEN FINAL Copa Oro[/ame]
As for the rest of the game, let’s let the AP describe the action:
Referee Joel Aguilar ejected Aguirre and whipped out a red card to give to Phillips as fans littered the field with cups of beer and other objects.
Phillips was escorted off the field by a swarm of police — and pelted with beer as he ran into a tunnel — and after about 15 wild minutes, play resumed.
A fight then broke out between two fans in the front row across the field from the benches and Houston police officers moved in to separate them. Police handcuffed at least two fans in the area.
…Perez was injured on the field in the 90th minute and medical staff brought out a stretcher. As Perez was carried off the field, Mexican fans unleashed another barrage of cups and beer bottles and Perez fell off the stretcher.
The game ended about five minutes later and the Panamanian team lingered on the field to let stadium officials drive off the fans.
In other words, this was just another day in the life of the Mexican National team. Hey, it’s all in the spirit of sportsmanship.
If somebody has John’s phone number, would you mind waking him up?
UPDATED: ESPN says: “… Blas Perez, scorer of the Panama goal, was struck by a missile from the crowd in the final minute. After receiving treatment, he was hit again as he was being stretchered off.”
Nice write-up.
Typically classless from the Mexicans. ‘Ardido’ in its purest form.
I can’t wait to see how this team behaves at Azteca against the US.
To be completely fair (I know, it’s Mexico, but still):
Blas Perez is a first-class tool. He took a cheap shot on Ochoa on an early cross that was CLEARLY headed out of bounds (15th minute or so) – when Perez didn’t get carded for that, I knew this game was going to end badly. And if he was “injured” in stoppage time, then Reliant Stadium was full for Guadeloupe-Nicaragua.
The Panamanian strategy was very clearly to dive, hack, stall, and throw Mexico off their game by sheer aggro. Bully to them; it worked splendidly, and Mexico completely fell apart emotionally as the game got away from them.
But nobody – not Panama, not Mexico, not Stempel, not Aguirre, not the referees, and certainly not that crowd of thugs that wanted to throw anything they could get their hands on at anyone in a white shirt – comes out with any credit from that train wreck of a match. I wish there was a way for Guadeloupe and Nicaragua to knock both teams out of the group on Sunday. Absolute trash.
Spot on analysis. I feel dirty for having watched. I feel sad for the human race which will eat dust while the cockroaches thrive. That was the ugliest game I’ve seen in recent memory.
Aguirre will go Woody Hayes on a bitch. Of course, it’s not throwball, so he couldn’t use his hands.
Neither Panamanian player deserved to get sent off. They were innocent victims of typical Mexican douchebaggery.
The thought did cross my mind…at what point might the referee abandon the match? And would the result have been a tie, no result, or a forfeit to Panama?
Agree with the Perez-Ochoa comment. That was a completely deliberate attack on the keeper and deserved a yellow at minimum.
Stay classy Mexico
The deterioration of any National side begins with the lack of discipline. Mexico is indeed on the path of decline.
This was a physical match no doubt, but more importantly, Mexico has almost self-destructed its chances to advance in the Gold Cup.
Aguirre has to serve at least one match (if not more) for his “momentary indiscretion”. (see Didier Drogba ban)
The mounting pressure on the August 12 match-up with the “Gringos” looms heavier than ever.
It may just be prident to play the game at midnight (with the lights out) at Azteca. At least there will be an excuse for Mexico losing their grip on Concacaf.
If Aguirre doesn’t get a hefty penalty / suspension from FIFA, I’m calling shenanigans. And you wouldn’t like it when I call shenanigans.
It’s hard to take a writeup like this seriously when you seem to be focusing on others writeups as well as a few pictures. While the ball stomping was absurd on Aguirres part, the reason for the frustration is absolutely valid in my opinion. Who wouldn’t get pissed off if their players were getting hacked throughout the whole game. Ochoa getting decked was completely unnecessary as was a few first minute tackles that were barely called. The ref let the game get out of control by not calling anything and that led to the crowd losing control. “Typical Classless” is a BS comment to say the least.
Mexico has a long long way to go but they were working at something in the first 15 minutes but sadly let the overly physical nature panama was using get to their heads.
The Panamanian strategy was very clearly to dive, hack, stall,
Dive, hack and stall….yeah Mexico has never been known to do any of this.
Drogba yelled obscenities into a camera. Aguirre kicked a player in the nads from the sideline. There is a world of difference here. A somewhat more accurate comparison is Barthez spitting on a Moroccan player in a friendly, an offence for which he received a six month ban. Aguirre should feel lucky if he keeps his job, and anything less than what Barthez got would be a disgrace. Of course this is Mexico and this is FIFA, so a disgrace is exactly what I’m expecting.
At some point, the overall quality of reffing in our region must improve. I mean, sure, a ref can only do so much when a game has gotten to the point where a manager decides to try to stop a ball that is rolling on the ground by raising his foot and “accidentally” kicking a player in the junk. But the tone was set much earlier in the match and not by Mexico.
you know i would agree with the classless crap if the panamanian players from the bench did not do anythng wrong.
Memo ochoa, gio, torrado all controlled the crowd and pleaded to stop throwing beer. Then the panamanian back up keeper began throwing crap back and all hell broke loose, I honestly do not known what was shown on TV but I saw all of the action up close, I was very dissapointed at this ref he let this game go.
Enough with the excuses for Mexico, please. They, the team and it’s fans, are truly out of control and classless.
I fear for our players in the match in August.
Regardless of what happened before or after, the sending off Phillips is a complete injustice. You cannot touch another on the field in that manner (or any manner). That oversteps a huge boundary. What was he supposed to do? If you get hit on the field with a cup thrown at you by a fan, are you going to be sent off for throwing that cup off the field in a violent manner? Because from the games perpsective, there are 22 players (minus the send offs) and the everything else is an outisde object, whether a bottle, Mexican coach, stray dog, or Vespa. The only difference is the Mexican coach can be punished.
What a disgrace.
Not that I necessarily think it was fair, but in the interest of having the facts out there correctly, Phillips did shove Aguirre fairly hard after having his twig and berries jingled.
In fact, that’s the only thing I saw the first time around and my (Mexican) wife and I let out a simultaneous “WTF?”. Then they showed the replay and a simultaneous “ohhhhhhh” ensued.
I think this action is completely justified. You’ve got enough to worry about on the field much less some jackass on the bench.
Well it’s not. The USA deals with EXACTLY the same crap when playing these teams but you never see the same kind of cheap shots and you’d never see Bob Bradley pull a stunt like that.
Mexico just needs to grow up and act like men.
aguirre is a loser..he din’t learn nothing in spain..
mexico is going down..every day..down and more down..
jajjaa. LOS MARIACHIS CALLARON!
Team Mexico is not only losing its seat to the US, but to the rest of CONCACAF as well. And on the way down, its players, coach, and fans will throw nasty playground-like tantrums because that’s what they do. I just hope they compensate FIFA via exorbitant fines for their behavior.
If you watch the replay again, you will see that Aguirre actually GETS shoved by the Mexican assistants more than he shoved the Mexican coach.
I am not a CONCACAF supporter, so as a neutral observer I would say that Mexico clearly has shown themselves to be a team of poor sportsmanship very, very frequently. Last night was typical Mexican sportsmanship we have seen from their national team. I know this is not a national trait because Mexicans are very friendly people. Must be a football thing.
Totally agree.
Mexicans are the friendliest people in the world. Great neighbors and wonderfeul friends. But when you put them behind the wheel of a car or close to a soccer field, they seem to go completely whacko. I’m not sure why that is.
Thanks for the new sig. Bill! Of course, I’ll cite the source.
Very long bans are in order for Aguirre and the Tri. They should probably be tossed from the Gold Cup, and play in empty stadiums for a while.
Also, they suck at soccer.
In contrast to the posters of some of the comments here, I didn’t get my opinions about this from reading articles or watching YouTube videos that only show a portion of what happened, but from watching the whole match live. I tried immediately afterward to summarize what I think I saw here and here. Based on that, there are a few things I want to emphasize, because I see posters here already drawing conclusions that last night’s facts don’t support:
1. the referees come out of this looking bad, the folks responsible for security at Reliant Stadium come out of this looking bad, Aguirre comes out of this looking bad, and some Mexican fans come out of this looking bad;
2. also, many players on the Panamanian team come out of this looking bad. If you had watched the match, you would have been appalled by the Hanson Brothers-style play they exhibited. A blind-side full body check when the ball is in a different zip code?
3. in contrast, the Mexican *players* (not the coach, but the *players*) come out of this match looking fine (well, their *play* was bad; but that’s not what we’re talking about here). They took a tremendous amount of absurd abuse from Panama, particularly in the first half, and responded with restraint. At the end of the ten-minute-long Aguirre/Phillips fiasco, MEX GK Ochoa actually escorted Phillips to the tunnel himself, in an effort to minimize the amount of stuff thrown by fans. When Perez got hit from stuff thrown by the fans, Torrado went over to try and calm the fans down (and got stuff thrown at him by his own fans in reply). People here have been making sweeping statements about “typical Mexican sportsmanship” etc. — they don’t apply to the Mexican players at this game. The Mexican players responded well. Their coach, and some of their fans . . .that’s another matter.
Strong post. Many thanks.
I can only add that the referee, Joel Aguilar of El Salvador, is one of the game officials who have been forwarded for the 2010 World Cup.
God help us all.
Stay classy mexico.
I felt so bad for my dad, who loves his home country, was embarrassed by the whole thing. We were there.
this was the fight across the pitch. I guess the mexican fans were heckling the panamanian…and the panamanian being a moron stood up and talked shit to the mexican crowd surrounding him. well this was the result.
i can’t figure out how to embed youtube on this site…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERBBNlLeX6Q
Correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s not some huge Panamanian population in Houston to be fighting with the Mexicans. This was Mexicans fighting themselves???!!!???
The coach and the fans are absolute basura. The players actually kept their cool pretty good.
Plain and simple, the Mexicans should be banned from the tournament based on the actions of their fans and coach. They need to be dealt with instead of swept under the rug. It’s out of control.
Lol…no there isn’t.
in the video there is a shirtless guy with red shorts..he was Panamanian.
a second Panamanian is in a white long sleeve shirt against the barrier.
It was 2 guys against like 10-15 Mexicans.
Yeah, ‘typically classless’ just about sums it up.
Aguirre’s actions were totally wrong, no question and he should lose a couple paychecks as well as see some sort of ban but as others have stated, Perez’ attack on Ochoa inside the goal and his not receiving any kind of card was ridiculous. I can’t f’ing stand Mexico but the Panamanian team played like a bunch of punk b!tches out there taking hacking to a whole new level. If they got pelted by some scumbag Mexican fans, well then, karma is a batch.
I can’t wait to see the U.S take apart Mexico in front of their dirtbag fans in Azteca.
Keeping in mind that this opinion is based entirely on watching 30 seconds of the linked clip, and nothing else, here’s my .02:
Someone not on the field of play cannot, ever, in any circumstance, take the game into their own hands as Aguirre did. I don’t care how bad the officiating might be, or how on-field thuggery is not dealt with by the officials. You threaten to pull your team off the field, you scream at the 4th official, but you can’t touch a player involved in the game. Period.
Failure to sanction Aguirre (and possibly El Tri as a whole) severely opens up the possibility for anyone on the bench (player, coach, assistant, waterboy) to take out a opposition player that a team has an issue with.
I’m not sure what to think of the Phillips red. A player should always maintain their composure and control their actions during any anticipated activity during a game. But I think normal expectations go out the window when you take a foot in the family jewels from the other team’s coach.
I definitely feel sorry for Phillips’ kits and kaboodle, but not really anything else.
Mexico has no class. None.
Now maybe the rest of the world knows why the rest of CONCACAF hates their guts.
I’ve officially changed my previous stance. I usually root for all CONCACAF teams in tournaments vs. other confederations.
No more. I’ll never root for Mexico.
Old Comment
Nice write-up.
“Typically classless from the Mexicans. ‘Ardido’ in its purest form.
I can’t wait to see how this team behaves at Azteca against the US.
Posted Today at 06:24 AM by autogolazzo”
_______________________________
If the fans behaved so rudely in yesterday’s game, I fear the worst at Azteca. The USMNT actually as a decent chance to come away with 3 points there. Can you imagine the response to that? My guess is that the refs will make sure the US team gets an early red card to minimize the chances of a US victory. They would do this, not because they are corrupt, but as a matter of self-preservation.
The first Panamenian got red carded because he tackled Giovani from behind and then prevented him from getting to the ball, after the foul was already called, by bearhugging him. Noriega shoved him aside and both of them were sent off.
The other two Panamenians were red carded because of their involvement in the brawl.
If the ref cards Perez for his cheap shot against Ochoa, none of the ensuing mayhem would have taken place.
It’s really that simple.
Aguirre, you’re a tool.
The Woody Hayes rule. For those who don’t know. Sorry about the music. Turn down your speakers.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEVJyf0ft3I"]YouTube – Woody Hayes[/ame]
He was fired before the teams plane landed after the game.
Excellent points, Bootsy Collins. I quite agree. Panama set out to hack their way into an MMA match. The ref didn’t put an early end to things and b/cm ineffective. Aguirre lost it. A large batch of fans at this one game were idiots/jerks and the stadium security did not cover themselves in glory. If the Mexican players on the field had retaliated and/or lost their cool, things would have gotten much worse.
seriously? classless? hmm we should all learn from your beloved donovan then huh, pissing on the azteca pitch… yup i would call that pure class…
and you fear for your players come august? man up homie or maybe you want them to play a friendly against the womens national team instead
no excuse for aguirre or for the moron fans throwing garbage on the field, but what do you expect when you have a salvadorean ref, he let the game get out of control plain and simple. I also have to give credit to the host nation for being so organized and prepared for situations like this.. oh wait thats right it was a complete disaster, how do you really expect to host another world cup if you cant even contol a crappy copa de oro…
How DID I manage to miss this????
I am having a problem with this situation. How come the stadium wasn’t under control? Seems like when there are other events such as NFL, people in the stands that go crazy are usually kicked out right away. If I go to a baseball game and start throwing stuff on the field, I would be pointed out and kicked out in seconds. Where was the security and/or police. They shouldn’t have restarted the game until all perpetrators where thrown out. Geez maybe their where too many crazy fans. This was ugly for the mexican fans and team. Go USA
Get your facts straight dude. This never happened. He pissed in some bushes at some other field in Mexico.
Shades of Woody Hayes!
thanks for clearing that up and standing up for your boy toy donovan, so if you are correct and provide some evidence i will gladly withdraw my comment… i will however stand by what i said earlier in regards to the ref and USs terrible hosting job…. oh and aguirre is trash.
after reading all these comments about how classless mexican fans are and so on i really cant wait for the wcq in august, lets face it guys no one really cares about the copa oro, its a complete waste of time and our players end up with injuries by playing against the primitive teams that the concacaf is made up of, the US and Mexico and maybe canada being the only exceptions… so lets save all our trash talking for the WCQs since thats what really matters…
What about the Legion?
For the record, Donovan was filmed urinating on Chivas Guadalajara’s field (I believe it’s called Estadio Jalisco, but I’m not going out on that limb.
This would have been after Luis Hernandez told him during the 2002 World Cup match that he was going to “find your mother and kill her” and also after Mexican fans had chanted “Osama, Osama” at an Olympic Qualifier in 2003.
Back to you, classy.
Mexico just simply can’t compete ………………… they can cheat, they always cheat !
Soon we gonna have mexican soccer players standing outside of sports stores trying to get on pick up games !!!!!!!!!
Get your facts straight retard. Donovan never did that.
I don’t fear us playing the filthy mexican players, it’s the thousands of classless, rabid fans that I fear after we trash their horrid team.
I’m sorry, but I don’t have a lot of faith in Mexican “peace keepers”.
OK, OK, enough. What do you guys get out of trashing Mexico? Does that make you feel better about yourselves. YOu talk about lack of class. Tell me what is it that you saw yesterday from the Mexico players that show lack of class? I am not talking about a few stupid fans throwing objects on the field (something that happens at some U.S. soccer stadiums in the MLS) or Aguirre’s 5 second stupidity, which he apologized for right away. What did the players do? Stop the attacks. You guys sound ridiculous.
I am not impressed by Aguirre’s phony apology.
You almost blew up BigSoccer, there aint room round here for sound judement or reasonable arguments.
Agreed with questioning of “classless” team. A lot of the lack of class is from the older crowd, especially Oswaldo Sanchez. This younger crowd has much more respect i.e. Vela Gio Guardado Ochoa. Sure Gio had a slight drinking issue in England but these kids grew up with the US no longer being a push over, so while the goal is to always win, it’s always important to go balls out against the US. Where is the lack of class in that?
It’s not really an attack. Everyone is looking at the evidence (from the last performance and many others) and stating the obvious. If Mexico is going to uphold their stereotype of being dirty, idiotic & classless on the field, then their opponents definitely have the right to talk about it without it being an attack.
OK, let’s talk about this last performance. Please describe how the Mexican *players* acted in a classless fashion last night. Thanks in advance.
Do you REALLY want to have a discussion based on the actual head to head performance of our respective national teams?
Just walk away man, just walk away.
As many posters here from the US side have pointed out, the issue was not the players last night (and as someone else correctly pointed out the players who are the issue are the Sanchez/Hernandez old guard, more than the young players like Gio). Sadly for you (a fan), the issue appears to be… wait for it… the fans. Congrats on that.
http://i.tsn.com/i/photos/20090710/118865.jpg
I like how the cop in the top-right of the picture is laughing while Perez got hit again. :/ So classy, it puts Tri Color to shame!
The Mexican coach and fans behaved like imbeciles last night… hence this discussion…
No one is saying that based on player performance in last night’s game alone, that El Tri players are classless… There’s already a long prior history to support that claim (episodes that don’t need to be rehashed here)…
Mexicans should be less worried about what Americans or other nations think and be more concerned about what their federation can or can’t do to fix their national team’s (and fan’s) piss-poor reputation… and whether you like it or not, it’s a well-deserved reputation unfortunately…
And what about the literally thousands of people in the stadium whom Aguirre did NOT kick in the balls? Why is no one talking about thaAAAAAAAAAA *head explodes*
Once I saw Ochoa get nailed on that out of bounds cross – I knew this game was going to get out of control.
I’m not a big fan on Mexico. Aguirre should lose his job though – he shamed Mexico doing that. If anyone else did that – I don’t think they’d be around.
That was out of control the game was out of control. Oh well.
Once I saw Ochoa get nailed on that out of bounds cross – I knew this game was going to get out of control.
I’m not a big fan on Mexico. Aguirre should lose his job though – he shamed Mexico doing that. If anyone else did that – I don’t think they’d be around.
That was out of control the game was out of control. Oh well.
I knew it coming… I am not surprised. You cannot blame this decent into chaos on refereeing, that goes more to the character of the teams and spectators than anything else.
You can’t be serious to imply that the referee allowing too much physical play was the cause of a human being on a stretcher being hit by beer cups thrown from the stands.
Maybe they ought to be told (like children, unfortunately) that they will be fined/prosecuted/whatever in case they throw crap on the field directed at players/coaches or at other fans (things that can hurt, obviously) Once before the game, then at halftime, and also at the end of the match …. En espanol too, just to make sure…Good thing lately many stadia have camaras to record stuff… Crap, we know for a fact not much else has worked…..plus nothing stopped them before from throwing stuff at US players as well in the past…. (and i mean for these warning to be given here in the US… where authorities have actual jurisdiction)
If authorities make an example of one or two people who are rowdy and make sure to publicize how much $$ /jail time (likely days) they had to spend , MAYBE that’d work as deterrent…. Other that that….
Yeah, and a butterfly’s wings don’t cause storms on the other side of the globe. (*whoops*) C’mon, USSFRef – the referee’s actions are supposed to manage the play, for the good of the game, for the entertainment of the spectators, and for the enjoyment of the players. If the ref fails at that, it is certainly a contributor to the ensuing chaos.
Pretending oitherwise is a disservice to all the referees who take those responsibilities seriously.
Go ahead and add deported to the list of consequences….
I saw the match report with 4 red cards, including one to Aguirre.
I went to youtube, picked a highlights video, saw the Perez play on Ochoa and said “no wonder”. That was a clear red and no doubt contributed enormously to what happened later.
Sadly the fans and players were all too happy to throw responsibility away and blame everything on the ref. Poor refereeing, but much, much worse from everyone else on the field and from those in the stands.
That cop laughing in the background is classic.
How scared are they going to be of prosecution after seeing pictures like the one of the cop laughing.
While I may not have been clear enough in my writing, you are reading too much into what I said. I did not blame the ref for the crowd’s actions. That they threw stuff at their own players indicates their level of jerkdom. Stadium security also had a subpar evening. I do think the on-field events helped create the climate with an increased potential for fan stupidity. The ref was part of that on-field action, even if others deserve more blame for their individual actions.
The ref greatly influenced the aforementioned climate. I do feel the ref lost control of the match, allowed far too much physical play by Panama early in the game, and bears some responsibility for the increasing physical stuff on the field.
Do you think the ref did a good job? Were you an assessor, would you give that guy a good eval for that game? Do you think that the actions of a ref have no impact on players’ responses to each other or him?
There’s no question that Aguirre showed a real lack of control and that the players were too emotional and the fans showed a complete inability to hold their beer. The saddest thing for me is that with this being a game between national teams, it gives all you racist pigs an excuse to chalk this up to “typical Mexican douchebaggery…and classlessness.” When Ron Artest and company went out into the stands and beat up a white fan, how many of you chalked that up as typical black thuggery? When black fans started beating up white fans at the Bowe-Golota fight, I don’t remember any news reports about this being typical black conduct. Truth is, whether it be soccer as the excuse, or immigration, there is some serious anti-Mexican sentiment out there, and since there’s no history of slavery (even though there is a significant history of discrimination) you whites don’t feel “white guilt” in the same way you do about blacks. So it’s ok to bash Mexicans and immigrants. Classlessness, thuggery, douchebaggery, and all of the aforementioned “Mexican” qualities are prevalent in all cultures. Leave the racist stuff out of this.
Dude, it has nothing to do with Mexicans as a whole. It’s about Mexican supporters and in this case, the coach and the older players on the team. The fact is that for whatever reason, Mexican fans do behave without class at soccer matches, particularly at the US. While I don’t deny the anti-Mexican sentiment, you are reading way too much into this. You might want to put away your racist victim card for a little bit, and actually read the responses.
I was actually pretty impressed with Gio dos Santos, and am still trying to figure out how he has no place in Tottenham. He looked from the highlights like he was the only player actually playing the game out there.
There is a significant difference between the meanings of each of:
“was the cause of”
“was responsible for”
“is to blame for”
“was a major factor in”
“could have prevented if”
etc.
In no way do I think the referee was to blame for fans’ behavior. The fans are not mindless automatons, responding in ways behind their indvidual control to inciting stimuli. No way. At the same time, it’s also true that the referee for this match allowed deliberate, organized physicality at an incredible level, and that for the first 45 minutes that physicality — those uncalled studs-up tackles, blind-side body checks nowhere near the ball, etc. — was being delivered fairly one way. That being the case, the fan fury boiling over was as predictable as the sunrise. Every single person I’ve talked to that actually watched the match has said that they expected the match to explode at any point. That doesn’t excuse the fans’ behavior, by any means; but nobody is suggesting it does. What is being suggested is that if the referee had done his job well, many of the disgusting events of late in this match would almost certainly not have occurred. Put as simply as I know how: people acted like imbeciles, but they did so in an angry mood; if they weren’t angry, they likely wouldn’t have acted like idiots. That’s not letting anyone off the hook for their own bad behavior or passing the blame to the referee; it’s simply indicating that he played a contributing role in this debacle.
just love the cop laughing! I tried to get in touch with Chief of Police and Mayor’s office in Houston. No links online to complain!!!! Fire the puerco!!!
I won’t comment on the referee’s performance, except for one thing… when the crowd begins pelting match participants with objects en mas, the match should be terminated.
1. At some point you can’t look at how poorly a referee did and suggest that it causes this sort of behavior. That comes from the character of the individuals involved in whatever behavior they take to.
2. The perception of a poor performance is not reason or justification to behave this way, which I think we can all agree with.
3. This referee’s performance is not indicative of all referee’s in CONCACAF. It’s funny because every competiton says the same thing… “MLS refs are crap, EPL refs are crap, UEFA refs are crap… the standard really has to improve.” Well, we’re constantly striving to do better as individuals and organziations, but short of any miracles, what you see is what you get.
I have a number of Mexican friends and hold no racist beliefs…
but, c’mon… you guys got a BIG problem where soccer, your national team and fan behavior are concerned… and to pawn it off as americans being ‘racist a-holes’ shows how much in denial you are…
Will you be back a month from now after your fans pelt our team with projectiles and beer in Azteca saying the same thing and sticking your head in the sand??… Hey, maybe your fans can even get another stadium-wide ‘Osama’ chant going…
If your national team fans don’t want to be called “classless douchebags”, then they shouldn’t behave like “classless douchebags”… it’s really that simple…
I accept your argument, it is lucid and well thought through.
I might have something to say about the fact that beer sales were permitted at this event, which made angry people angrier and stupider (sic).
And I sometimes wonder if there are matches that are truly, “uncontrolable.”
Could it be many of the fans have not earned the right to get into the United states, get free health and educational services and this is a result of a group of people who think they are above the law because it has never applied to them?? Just a thought?? We all know when companies give out free things at events and masses act like animals to get a free water bottle!!!!! U smell!~
I’m reading this in combination with everything, including the fact that Libertadores games are still being played in Argentina even though they have a significant threat of H1N1 and when the games were to be played in Mexico, no one would even dream of it. Call it a victim race card or what have you, but the truth is the truth. I completely agree that the group of fans at last night’s game were straight up third-world, but anti-Mexican sentiment is a very real thing and it’s sad to see it come through on these boards. But oh well. I’d better stop playing vicitm. Mexicans aren’t allowed to do that like other races.
so your saying it was all panamas fault???
Man this is getting funnier by the minute.lol
What a bunch of wankers. All of you.
Remind me of the Repubs and all their morality high horse shit they ran on for years and now they are mired in scandal after scandal.
Bite me.
You are right, no one likes you! Get over it!
I know that to be true in most of South America!
Racist!!! hahahahahaa It really is that simple! Good job!
They are beneath douchbags!!!!
As the spouse of a LEGAL immigrant from Latin America, I have to agree with the “free ride” argument. I have been to games in Mexico where there is much less trouble in the stands than you see at Mexico games in the USA. It seems that the problems with “Mexico fans” in the USA may have something to do with the “above the law” attitude of many of the fans in attendance. The fan behavior at games in Mexico is good natured (for the most part) while the fan behavior at games involving Mexico in the USA is too often disgraceful.
could not agree more
Mexicans should be less worried about what Americans or other nations think and be more concerned about what their federation can or can’t do to fix their national team’s (and fan’s) piss-poor reputation…
It seems to me that U.S. fans are far more worried and emotionally spent about what Mexico is doing, how they are playing, antics, etc… Why does it bother you so much that Aguirre did what he did? If I remember correctly it was Mexico v Panama on the field. This concern and anger is so ridiculous that it almost points towards admiration and respect. You don’t say much about Granada or Haiti even if their players are very dirty, right? the reason: you feel superior soccer-wise and have no need to trash them.
I must disagree with the above poster, All no mexican latinos in the Us HATE YOU TOO, its not just south america and central america. its not because your mexican but,,wait it actually is.
Here is something for you…
If you show no respect to other people (non mexican) then you will get no respect from people. SIMPLE AS THAT, thats why so many other Latinos have been able to fit in the US, while the majority of mexicans have a hard time doing so. Your country is not as great as you think it is, if it were you would be there. No one is holding a gun to your head to stay here and ruin this country like last nights incident.
The actions last night is just 1 thing that pinpoints why congress has a hard time passing a pro-imigration bill. If things like that and others not mentioned did not happen, Im sure congress would pass it in flying colors, because we can’t argue the fact that most latinos including mexicans are hard workers.
sorry to the mexican or mexican-americans that were not involved, i know there are some that don’t act like this, buts it in the minority. Something ALWAYS happens at a Mexican game, club or country.
I thought this game was cool! Maybe this will wake up Mexico and they will start playing old school again. Mexico will win this gold cup to the surprise of many.
In other news, all other games have been boring that I’ve just started watching baseball.
Dude, it has nothing to do with Mexicans as a whole. It’s about Mexican supporters and in this case, the coach and the older players on the team. The fact is that for whatever reason, Mexican fans do behave without class at soccer matches, particularly at the US.
Really? I am a Mexico supporter, I have been to about 10 U.S. v Mexico games in the U.S. I have never thrown anything, never insulted anyone, never been in a fight, congratulated the U.S. fans when Mexico lost. So please don’t generalize.
On Feb 11 at Crew Stadium I saw about 5 fights, two of them next to me, initiated by U.S. fans screaming obscenities at Mexico fans. About a month ago an MLS game at Crew Stadium almost got suspended when fans threw glass bottles at a player who was going to take a corner kick. My point: stupidity is not cultural…it happens everywhere. Don’t generalize.
If only our fans, team and coach should be so exempliary…
Your right – I’m jealous and feel threatened by Mexican soccer superiorty…
Oye, Chanclas: Commenters here aren’t racist, they’re just reacting to a pattern of behavior that Mexico’s seleccion and its fans have demonstrated time and again. Pointing out consistent bad behavior is not racist, as much as you want it to be. Your country loves to blame others, in general, for all of your societal ills instead of working to improve yourselves and your underperformance (pinches gringos). But that’s another topic.
US fans get to watch Mexico here a lot, and fans are chronically boorish, often raining down missiles on opposing players. It is the norm.
Also, can a Mexican side lose graciously, EVER, without turning it into the WWF (see Rafa go psycho on Cobi or Timmay)? How can this bad sportsmanship not spread into the stands? For once, I’d like to see Mexicans lose like men, shake the opponents’ hands and not make petty excuses for the loss. And this comes from the top down: Look at the “example” of Paco Ramirez attacking Hedjuk after yet another American defeat, and now Aguirre’s meltdown. How was Paco’s assault handled by FMF brass? The Mullet was promoted to lead Mexico’s flagship franchise.
Yes, the Ardido is getting old. It just means “I can behave like a total A-hole because I am Mexican.”
a little racist are we? and you apparently have a problem with retards too since you use the word as an insult. anywho heres some advice, instead of just being a racist prick go learn a little about this sport and then you can come back and post. Also remember that your team sh*ts their pants everytime they step on the azteca pitch so we’ll see if youre still mr badass after the match.
Fact is it’s something in the culture. From youth soccer to adult sunday leagues, inevitably, when it’s not going well for a Mexican team, the resort to kicking, and turning the game into a fight instead of a game. I recall several abandoned matches, and ugly incidents through the years when facing Mexican teams. Too many to count.
Even so, you are still generalizing. Just because almost every Mexican does those things doesn’t mean they all do it.
Which goes back to your statement earlier about how the match arguably should have been terminated when stuff started raining down. When Perez was hit on the sideline, all four referees spent several minutes in close discussion on the opposite sideline (the one with the technical areas) with well-dressed types carrying handheld radios. I guessed then, and guess now (but absolutely do not know), that they were discussing whether to do just that; and I suspect their fear was that crowd control issues would only get worse if they simply called the match right there. Again, that’s purely speculation; it just looked like that kind of a conversation to me.
That’s very possible but if I absolutely had to bet the mortgage on it I’d say the were on with Chuck Blazer, who is the Chairman of the Tournament and I know for a fact that he was there in person.
What’s more, he was in all probability sitting in a box with the head of the Mexican Federation, Justino Compeán Palacios and possibly Guillermo Caneda White, a Mexican TV Executive and a very close ally of Jack Warners. His father and Jack stole….um, i mean made a lot of money together and he’s also a CONCACAF Vice President and Executive Board member.
I understand that in theory a FIFA referee has the last word and all of that but in the real world if these guys want to keep working soccer games they’ll do exactly as Blazer tells them. There’s no way they call a game – particularly one where he’s sitting right there – without his OK. No way in hell.
Put more simply, I don’t believe the decision was really up to them.
I thought this game was cool! Maybe this will wake up Mexico and they will start playing old school again. Mexico will win this gold cup to the surprise of many.
In other news, all other games have been boring that I’ve just started watching baseball.
Last i checked this was a mans sport, if youre scared of a little roughness then go do something else… all i am hearing are a bunch of possible excuses that you will use later after we win the wcq in august, “oh the fans were too mean” “oh they were playing dirty just like vs panama” just man up its a soccer game not a f*cking sweet 16
So, does that mean the Mexicans are going to start acting like men now? Or are they going to persist with their childish tantrums?
what mexican player did you see throwing a tantrum? answer me that…
Which time?
also guys take into consideration that the fans yesterday were not normal mexican fans, they were playing in HOUSTON which means they were americanized mexicans, therefore like a good ol american they THINK they can get away with anything,(see iraq) so combine that with being brown and proud and you have yourself a problem
typical mexican. always making excuses.
Dickhole, the arguement about Azteca is so lame. It is the only thing you have left to argue about to still feel superior in soccer to the USA! All the games in the USA are home games for the *Mexicans* and you still loose! Maybe if Mex federation was not so greedy, we could play more than once every four years en DF!! Get more friendlies in Azteca and the wins will come! I would hardly call 1-0 and 2-1 shitting our pants as those were the last two final scores in Azteca!! TWAT!!! Could it be the only reason we shit our pants is because it is so sanitary in DF!! Mamon!
Not americanized, it is because they think they are above the law because the laws did not apply to many of them or parents to get into our country! We in the USA and most other countries follow the laws! So the lawlessness mentality translates into circus animals!!!!
That’s what happens when a team resorts to kicking the opposing players in the face, while the refs does nothing. This Cup is complete and utter garbage, and Mexico should refrain from attending this worthless, meaningless circus–I mean cup.
The Panamanians deserved to get shot for the crap they pulled yesterday. But we would have to be American fans to shoot opposing team fans.
frijoleros? lol oh great another racist prick…
dickhole, twat and mamon…man you really brought the good stuff today, get over yourself homie its not my fault the US cant win in the azteca, and you say thats the only thing that still makes Mexico superior to the US? lol man oh man do you have alot of catching up to do, so here start with this, how many overall tourney cups has the US ever won? until you guys actually win something i will still hold you in the same ranks as canada… so relax little one you have a long way to go no need to get mad
haha i like how you used the term “WE” and “our country” hahaha like i said get over yourself homie you have alot to learn
Enough…
Everyone simmer down. There are now people on both sides calling the other side racist, while simultaneously making racist statements themselves. It is getting beyond ridiculous.
Sports fans are passionate. The fans at the game last night let the passion get to their heads and it was an ugly scene. This could happen at ANY stadium, with ANY group of fans.
I love the Mexico/USA rivalry. It has definitely provided us with great entertainment, complete with heroes and villains on both teams. It is alright to be passionate. It is enjoyable to make fun of the other team. But that is where we need to DRAW THE LINE! Please stop (both sides) with the racism and cultural supremacy.
And now on to something we can all agree on…. is Aguirre out of his mind???
Yes. We can agree on that and that the obvious troll is obvious.
I’m reading this in combination with everything, including the fact that Libertadores games are still being played in Argentina even though they have a significant threat of H1N1 and when the games were to be played in Mexico, no one would even dream of it. Call it a victim race card or what have you, but the truth is the truth. I completely agree that the group of fans at last night’s game were straight up third-world, but anti-Mexican sentiment is a very real thing and it’s sad to see it come through on these boards. But oh well. I’d better stop playing vicitm. Mexicans aren’t allowed to do that like other races.
Sounds like there are two issues here. One has nothing to do with the topic at hand, the other does. First of all, I’m totally down with the overblown H1N1 thing. Lived in Asia when SARS was a big deal, similar story. But this has nothing to do with the topic at hand, the trend of Mexican football supporters, coaches and players behaving poorly at football matches. Not to mention you’re poor assumption that I think that other people are allowed to play the race card too.
Back to the topic at hand. The simple fact is that Mexican supporters, players, and coaches have a verifiable history of acting terrible at soccer matches, and this is another example of it. It has nothing to do with being Mexican, other than the fact that Mexican’s are acting dumb. If Americans were doing the same thing on a consistent basis, then I would say the same thing. Just like England used to have huge problems with goonery and ultras and the whatnot, Italy does today, so on and so forth. It’s not just a Mexican thing, but Mexicans have a habit of taking part in it. Saying so doesn’t make me anti-English or Italian, just as saying Mexicans have historically been on poor behavior at international matches doesn’t make me, or anyone else, anti-Mexican.
im not sure if anybody has pointed this out yet, but check out the cops face in the photo of perez falling off the stretcher, some class there.
aguirre does need to be sacked… hey did anyone else notice that moron sabah almost missed! lol he didnt even look up when he shot hahaha man do i hate that guy
The operative question becomes, what steps can be taken by the FMF and CONCACAF take to eliminate this reputation, deserved or undeserved? Instead of placing the blame on anti-Mexican sentiment, real or imagined, what can be done to reign in unruly crowds and poor behavior by players and coaches during matches? Even if you think that there is some racism or whatever at play, what would you do to stop it if it were someone else’s federation in trouble, i.e. Italy in the last several years?
Anyone else noticed the Mexican cop in the last picture laughing his ass off?
How do you know he was Mexican?
I’d be laughing to if I was at that farce of a sporting event. Both sets of fans, coaches, and players should be embarrased today. Beautiful game?
I think everyone is in agreement that the fans (not all but enough to make a difference) acted like idiots last night and the stadium did a horrible job with security. It isn’t really going to make a difference though because 20,000 more fans showed up last night than any game so far including the US games which are supposed to be “home” games. Reliant Stadium can do whatever they want because they bring in fans/money. This is after all a business. From where I was sitting I felt safe but had I been 10 rows lower I would have been covered with beer. (as were the elderly and babies in that area).
It’s hard to say how US fans would have acted last night had there been 44,000 of them and 2,000 of the opposing team/country. At some point a mob mentality takes over and people get caught up in the moment. (again, not all but enough to make a difference)
Plus, in all honestly the whole “you’re a racist” bit is pretty played out, isn’t it?
Why not just substitute “poopiehead”? Has about as much relevance.
I don’t blame the fans for becoming impatient with Phillips. The guy needed to man up and leave once red carded, instead the idiot delayed the game (big time) which only fueled the hell out of the crowd. Add to this that Panama was looking for any little reason to delay the game having fools like Blas Perez dropping dead on the field when he never anything wrong with him to begin with.
Nothing makes me angrier than players dropping using dirty tactics to kill some time.
Of course, this is all Mexico’s fault right? lmao
More evidence of these wreckless Tri supporters.
IF
IF
IF…
YOu know how many crap refereeing one soccer fan gets to see over the years? Does it excuse the behavior of the players? Heck, what could even ET Collina have done to “prevent” the utter reprehensible act by Aguirre? It happened outside (!) the field by someone who should have NEVER been a participant in this play (ANY PLAY) in the first place!….. And all hell broke loose from there… Furthermore, this behavior, by SOME fans is just not a new thing, and needs to be dealt with more forcefully, if current measures are not working……….which is why i say warn everyone beforehand (in English and Spanish) , so that no one can justify ignorance for the consequences of their actions……