I have been reading some of the threads about this Giants Cup v2.0 thing (Superliga) and how is marketed to exploit the so called USA-Mexico rivalry. I won't deny that this rivalry exist, but I wanna say that here is much more smaller of what on this boards it seems to be. I watched many of the games today and none, I mean NONE, talked about the near USA-Mexico game in the games I saw... Ok, they had a little chat about how Borguetti's call might have helped him to his play today but that's it, the Cruz Azul-Pachuca game was by far more important. And this Superliga thing... the publicity and the hype is doesn't exist.
Agreed, the rivalry isn't so big here, most people just think about the World Cup, because we are basically qualified. Clubs are a whole lot more important here, and a large part of Mexicans would rather root for teams like Brazil or Argentina.
Funny thing was I watched a little of the US vs Denmark game and they kept talking about the game on the 7th.
Why would they it's just a pre-season tourney no matter how much the MLS and Univision try to spin it.
In reality, south-of-the-border fans right now are really not interested in playing vs. USA as much as they are interested in wondering how will hugo sanchez fare as coach. Really, the focus is not on the rival, but on the new coach. I saw part of that Denmark game and really, they could've just forgotten about the live game and just call it the "how we'll beat mexico and become world champions" show. On the other hand, I'm sure Argentinian or Brazilian fans look at us the same way.
The broadcast had too many voices yapping and eventually the match was only a backdrop for all the chit chat. We agree on that. The tone of looking ahead to Feb 7 was about Mexico being their usual formidable test, and how more answers would come from that match. I detected no swagger, and there should be none. Mainly they were glad for Bradley and feel his interim status is BS...make him the man and get on with it.
Said during yesterday's telecast: Wynalda - There's nothing like beating Mexico. Arena - We (USA) have clearly proven to be the dominant team in the region.
Beat me to it Coster, I can't imagine how unprofessional they will both be if they call the game on the 7th.
Well, Cruz Azul / Pachuca was the better show and I probably was watching that when these remarks were made. "Wynalda - There's nothing like beating Mexico." US proves nothing any more with wins on home soil. Until they win at Azteca Wynalda's eurphoric indulgence is a fool's game. Even a victory of such magnitude ought to be no more than a springboard for still greater aspirations. Wynalda needs to look for signs that US has not limited out, and to shut up until any of those signs are evident. "Arena - We (USA) have clearly proven to be the dominant team in the region." Even if that were true it only invites the temptation to overvalue the team's prospects on a global scale, and Arena is surely guilty of that. Good ridance to him.
ask mexicans in the U.S. who they'd rather beat, USA or i don't know Brazil, Italy, Germany,etc. ... I wouldn't be surprised if most said they'd rather beat the U.S. in Mexico it would be the other way around.
I watched part of the game, but didn't catch that. What I did catch is both Wynalda and Arena rip apart Landoncito, something about him showing up for big games instead of games against Denmark.
To the US, Mexico is their World Cup. What other team are they so enamored with? The standard is Mexico. If you ever go into the US mens threads, youll often see threads that revolve around Mexico even when a game isnt anywhere on the schedule. They love El Tri almost as much as we do.
Kind of reminds me of the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. Seemed like forever it was more of a one sided rivalry with Red Sox fans being more preoccupied with the Yankees than the other way around. But after they had that memorable comeback on them in the ALCS there was something for Yankee fans to get bitter about.
just gotta take a look at the forum here and compare it to the US forum when it comes to threads talking about the "rivalry"....
Taking Mexico as a model for their team is nothing new. The idea of a so-called rivalry was invented and propagated by US fans and their media to give their team a measure of legitimacy. Nothing like using the term "rivalry" to give the relationship between two teams the appearance of being at the same level. This whole concept exploded after their victory over Mexico in Japan-Korea, which for them was historical; again demonstrating their hunger for a legitimacy in world soccer which they are far from reaching. After that game, I remember headlines declaring that US soccer had finally come of age and such. Since the US team's frame of reference is Mexico, they make it a special mission to beat us even in inane friendlies; whereas for Mexico, beating teams like Argentina and Brazil in meaningful competition is usually the focus. Just take a look at the US forums, immediately after the announcement of the February 7 game, there was (and continues to be) a flurry of threads in which they basically beat their chests declaring supremacy in CONCACAF; if they really believed they are superior, they would not pay so much attention to Mexico. And now they want to spread that search for the legitimacy to the club level with the "superliga", again taking Mexico as their -to use their own words- mortal rival. The falsehood of this supposed rivalry becomes clear when you understand which country has the most to gain from this type of tournaments. The thing of it is, US fans have proven to be very ungraceful when they win and will frequently gloat and try to rub their victories on your face. Aside from the million dollar prize, Mexico has nothing to gain from this tournament.
I couldnt belive they were talking that trash !!! The nerve of those 2. Big gay arena and meric whine-alda. They love to start shit. I also remeber one of them saying "Well..i can bet u that most of the fans in the stadium will be rooting for the guys wearing green "..lol...they were all pissed, but i have to ask myself how they come to the conclusion of these statements ? BGA " the u.s have established themselves as the most dominante team in concacaf " really big gay arena ? Last time i checked the most dominant side actually qualified to the second round of the WC. Whine-alda, ''Nothing like beating Mexico " lol....because its the only win u have worth any merit. Is that all the spazzos care about ?
a while before I even thought of living in Mexico I was living in Spain, during the 2002 World Cup. I was fortunate there to have many friends, not just Spanish people, but people from all over the world, from a large proportion of the countries in the WC finals:- many footy fans, others not. In fact the night England lost to Brasil, I was a at party - hosted by German friends, with (amongst others) many Brasilian friends there. They, of course, were delighted, and we had some good natured joshing, but they were kind enough to tell me they hadn't believed they could win the cup until now, that they had beaten my country. Anyway, the upshot of this long tale is that of all these people, the only person throughout the competition who was ungracious, and got my back up at all was a seppo I knew. Which shows, I think, that they really can't understand or contribute to real international competition - the funny thing was he was actually a nice bloke the rest of the time-.
Honestly... this is one of the most brilliant posts i have seen on bigsoccer.com. mainly because it makes me think, and makes me realize that being a mexican in the US i am guilty of sometimes getting caught up in the this rivalry which only serves them, and results in me getting into futile arguments with USMNT fans who just seem to be in another world. in recent years, mexico has had a winning record against brazil, but i know that doesn't make mexico "better," for reasons which i could never quite put into words the way you have so eloquently stated regarding the relationship between the US and Mexico's NT's. so for that i thank you. never again shall i be guilty of placing importance on games that only serve to feed their hunger/ego, a result of athletic insecurity. I will think about your post next time someone tries to argue with me, and i will do the graceful thing and avoid the situation.