USA Vs Mexico Pregame Thread The US women will play Mexico on Sunday, November 2 at 4 PM EST, 3 PM CST at the cotton bowl in Dallas, TX. Coverage will begin at 3:55 PM EST, 2:55 PM CST on ESPN 2. What are your thoughts on this match?
That's a prediction but I wanted general comments about this upcoming game, what do the USA need to do to win this game, etc.?
Press release about USA/Mexico game http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=44094&itype=113&iCategoryID=0 BTW this is THE thread to talk about this game so please feel free to post. Also going into this game, the US is ranked 2nd in the world with 2166 points, Mexico is in 31st place with 1674 points Source: http://fifa.com/en/rank/w/index.html BTW: FIFA Rankings are based on matches played up to 10/19/2003
Mexico is a MUCH weaker team than Italy so even a repeat of the pathetic display in the last game should result in a 4-1 or so US victory. However a simple win is NOT what the US should be striving for: THey should look to STOMP Mexico early and score often and make the ladies from the south look like the third level team they are. If the US has any pride (We know April doesn't but the team still could) left this game should look less like a match and more like a slaughter. Of course April’s careful tutelage may have convinced these great ladies that it is OK to loose and that half effort is OK. She has definitely taught that loosing is to be expected. Mexico only has about three players that are international caliber so that should not be a problem. A victory by any less than three goals should be considered a loss.
3-0, 5-0, 8-0, whatever, if the current game plan of strickly indirect and kick and run continues we're still in the same boat. I'm thinking that the same strategy will prevail and some folks will be lulled into a false sense of secrurity. I invite April to prove me wrong - PLEASE!
Here is the roster: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=45659&itype=113&iCategoryID=0 Why are B-Chaz, Hucles and Parlow on this roster even though they are injured? I realize this is pretty much a meaningless game, but why not call in three other "newbies" in for this match?
In the best of all possible worlds, this game would be the first for the USAs new coach and the tribute game for Foudy, Lilly and Millbrett. Part of me actually wants us to lose, so that the "Fire April" chants get louder.
I'm gonna play devil's advocate..... I haven't read any articles that say that the players have been unhappy with Heinrichs, but I'm wondering if perhaps some of these players would...ahem....not play up to their potential with hopes that this would reflect badly on Heinrichs and that a change be made. Yeah yeah I know....all these players are pro athletes and would never do something like that. In fact, I think I would lose some respect for 'em if they ever did do that. But I just wonder...... Ahhh...the best example of player mutiny I could think of at the moment is what happend with the University of Arizona football team this season and last season.
Head Coach: April Heinrichs (Gainesville, Va.) Goalkeeper Coach: Phil Wheddon (Monroe, Ct.) That's it for the coaches. What's happened to Bill Palladino? He was also missing for the Italy match. Is he needed more at UNC or no longer April's assistant?
Where is Dino? Based on the style of play that he and Anson teach at UNC, he's probably severed his ties with the USWNT for good. I know if I were an assistant and had any pride [also read any knowledge of the game] at all, I would have jumped ship right after the WWC. It's too bad that he probably didn't read US Soccer and Dr Boob into his dissatisfaction with Ape, her right-hand shrink and screwy coaching methods. I guess he just didn't want to sit beside Ms. Fabulous for any longer than he had to. After all, he had to keep her in stock with pens/pencils so she could take copious notes during the course of each game. Isn't that what Lauren Gregg did for Tony? Hmmm.
No. The best example would be the UNC men's bball team. They went to the AD and got their coach fired. The UA isn't far behind though. Not that I care. I spent 5 years down there and never went to a football game.
Re: Where is Dino? Yeah, but that couldn't have been much of a job -I don't think she takes many notes And, at the risk of stirring-up the muddy Lauren Gregg waters, I think those notes might have sank-in with Lauren while she was taking them and she may have filled-in some gray areas herself rather effectively. (no offense to Dino) It seems to me that the Lauren Gregg threads had kinda' the same basic tone as the April threads. I'm not gonna' say it but there is a commom denominator.
Useless game. If the US wins 5-0, who cares? That's the same score that we hung on Mexico in the WWC tune-up. If the team wins by a narrow score or gets a worse result, it's a complete and utter embarrassment. So why play this one? Any reason the USSF won't schedule friendlies that can actually aid in developing the national team?
The truth is... This venture is all about USSF making money for itself... Mitts has been added to the roster. If we llok back a couple months...the KC and Dallas matches could have been viewed as a victory tour in those areas the WWC ignored...basically the lower midwest. What's realistically to be gained from these matches... Actually, Mexico benefits more, because it gives their players a chance to play against better talent and hence get better. For me, the day the the NEXT generation of players gets called in to play..then I'll pay serious attention to the friendly... what else am I going to learn from this group??
Regarding the question about why injured players are on the team and not three call ups...there is some sort of contract with Nike that requires a certain number of the WC NT players to be there. I don't know the details. Yes, these games were sort of a make up to these areas (that have huge youth soccer leagues). I think the corporations are still kicking themselves about how much money they could have made with this sort of "victory tour" in '99. As for the quality of the teams, isn't that up to the federation, not the team?
Another useless game to make USWNT(#2) and AH(Ms. Fabulous) feel good. USWNT(#2) will likely win, but I hope Mexico(#31 ) tries to score at least a goal this time. After winning this game, I bet US SOCCER and AH (Ms. Fabulous) will likely say that USWNT(#2) is improving since USWNT(#2) tied with Italy(#10) I wonder if the USWNT(#2) will add to their tally of 2 goals from last 7 games from run of the play?
Actually the team is/was chosen by AH (Ms. Fabulous) when only approved by the "The 4". Foudy, Hamm, Lilly and a 4th member. Bottom line, the goal of US Soccer Federation is that USWNT(#2) move to be ranked as #3 by 2004, and make the record of losing 3 major tournaments in a row. I think their goal will be easily be achieved by 2004.
For those interested in attending Couple of quick things. First, while I don't know this for an absolute fact, my sense is that the 20K will be US fans. The negative way to look at that is most hispanic soccer fans aren't into the womens' game. The positive way to look at it is that there are a lot of young girls playing soccer in Texas. I know the Burn staff (who are working the game) have hopes of getting 30K. They may fall 2-5K short of that, but it will still be a good attendance. Second, if you're interested in joining Sam's Army for this game, you can contact Brett Marshall with the Burn. His direct number is 214 777 0206. While we are still trying to find the right balance, I think there is a way for Sam's Army to be a positive influence at WNT games. Anyone who has wanted to take a more active role in attending WNT games is encouraged to join us. If you have any other questions, feel free to email me privately. Thanks, Kevin
IIRC this game and the last one the US was under contract to field the same 20 from the WWC. So the only was their could be any deviation from tha is if a player is injured. That's why last game Mia had "some nagging injuries" and was replaced by Tarply.