Sadly I couldn't watch live due to needing to sleep for work (really hoped for the noon start time) Checked the highlights and it definitely looked like an amazing game. Wanted France to win, but happy it looked like a great final for once.
Probably the best World Cup I have ever watched, from the group stages thru the knockout rounds. Todays final only cemented that in my mind, congratulations Argentina and Lionel Messi you earned this title.
This was a landmark WC and Final. Many years from now your grandkids will be asking you about The Messi World Cup. In that spirit I am posting the attached YouTube vid about his youth play and upbringing. Early in the vid you will see him as a 4 year old practicing by himself. That part is short but he is practicing a move that I never saw an American 4 year old do. In the vid homage to his grandmother, his inspiration, is given. I saw that after the Final hundreds of Rosarians went to the house she lived in and paid homage too. I like that. Another thing I learned is that his first appearance for the Barca Senior team was in Porto, Portugal at the opening match of Estadio do Dragao in 2003 against FC Porto. Estadio do Dragao happens to be where I saw my first soccer match in Europe, in 2004. And FC Porto continues to this day to be my favorite non-RSL team. Anyway, the footage of young Messi is amazing. I watched in awe. Enjoy!
I was hoping to be able to watch the replay without really knowing who won but that did not happen. Although I didn't know the final score when watched the replay. Damn. That was some pretty amazing soccer. France was a kick save away from winning at the death and both teams had chance after chance to put the game away in their favor. Happy for Messi but was really rooting more for France but it was an incredible game regardless. Also, lets hear it for the officiating. I didn't watch all of the games but did catch most of the them and only the England v France match was the only one that suffered from sub par officiating but in the end didn't actually have a negative impact on the outcome of the match. The officiating in the final was stellar. Ismail Elfath and the other refs from PRO really did a great job. Nicely done.
Too busy celebrating to post. Man the foot traffic on Avenida 9 de Julio is just insane. Honestly, my blood pressure is probably still high from those two quick goals by France in the second half and that last France breakaway in the dying seconds of extra time.
Let's be honest. People in France, win or lose, still get to live in France, a country on many people's "places to visit" bucket list. How many people put Argentina on their travel bucket list? I would venture not many. Answer the question why for yourselves but, needless to say, for many Argentines, futbol is all that they have that has the potential to be positive in their lives. I am happy for them (and Messi). Yes, I realize this is a generalization and that some people have it bad regardless of where they live, but I would venture to guess that the average Frenchman and the average Argentine live very different lives.
No discussion on this yet?! https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...-berhalter-domestic-violence-incident-sources Love all the Twitter comments, ranging from "We've finally made it as a soccer country" to "Soccer parents are the worst" and everything in between. I do feel sorry for the kids/family not involved. They were supposedly very close families.
Respect how Berhalter stepped up and addressed the issue. Imagine your entire life being defined by a incident when you were 18 years old. Not to mention the fact that the incident involved your wife and mother of your children. Stuff like this does not need to be rehashed.
I absolutely respect Berhalter in this. It's a shame he had to put it out in public, but that's his only option in this situation. He has to be transparent to show that he's not the bad guy in this. What are the Reyna's thinking? Was it really worth a lifetime friendship? Does Claudio lose his job? Does Josh Wolff (Berhalter's former top assistant) want to be in Austin if Reyna still in charge? I'm not usually one for drama, but this is too good.
A different take(its’s me after all): 30+ years ago Berhalter makes a big mistake when he was 18 y.o. His friends never say anything publicly about it. In 2022 their son and Berhalter family friend makes a big (but lesser) mistake as a 20 year old. Family friend Berhalter, whom they protected for 30+ years, then publicly rolls him under the bus. He absolutely disrespected their trust and loyalty. That’s what this is about. He’s an unhonorable hypocrite! And, yes, he is to blame for this blowing up like it did.
I'd emphasize that it was most definitely not public. The Chatham House Rules are almost always followed by participants, who know their participation in such events is contingent on following them. I've hosted a handful of this type of session, and I am unaware of any breaches of confidentiality. In this case though, the host of the event inexplicably sent out a summary of the presentation. Not the guests who maintained confidentiality; the host! And while even those notes omit Reyna's name (edit to add, because Berhalter never used it), it's obvious from the context from the tournament itself that it was Reyna. You can certainly debate whether he should have discussed any of it in any context; I am on the fence about it (I can see why it would have been done in the specific context of the leadership conference but as a fan it rubs me wrong). But it wasn't public.
I came on a bit strong in my earlier post. I apologize for that. But I’ll stand on the hill that he is the cause of this blowing up. Even if Gio’s name was never used, he disrespected the families’ friendship by indirectly bringing attention to the incident in front of an 3rd party. Even if it’s in a forum with a history of privacy. I mean surely he can conjure up other examples of leadership given his vast experience. Were the Reynas responsible for escalating it? You bet! But they wouldn’t have gone there if Berhalter had exercised discretion and loyalty.
I thought Berhalter’s leadership example story was responding to a specific question about the Gio incident during the meeting that was supposed to remain behind closed doors. Did he bring it up on his own?
If he is intelligent, he could easily have deflected that. Even I could have. I’ve deflected tougher questions in front of state legislatures; and I’m no genius. In essence, yes, he did bring it up on his own. He could have given a dozen other examples of leadership…yet he chose one that any nincompoop in the audience would know what he was referencing.
No, it was (reportedly) during a leadership conference session on motivating recalcitrant employees, so the example was apt and on topic.
Further to this, the entirety of the USMNT fanbase wanted Gregg's head for his lack of playing Reyna. At the very least they wanted justification for it. When said justification was given - and lets be honest, it's nothing scathing of a 20-year-old soccer player with potential - suddenly he's in the wrong to let that out? I don't see how anyone looks at this situation and says "well, yeah, Gregg owns some of that". Just no. The guy isn't the best of coaches - he's fine, nothing amazing. This whole thing is egg on the Reyna family collective face. The Reyna's going to an incident some 30+ years as some type of equivalency was already on shaky ground. To then compound it with being a domestic abuse type situation is just moronically dumb. It also speaks to just how little the friendship meant that the Reyna's were willing to drag THAT type of event in front of a public audience because "god forbid my baby doesn't play more at the world cup!?" ******** right off with that whole thing. Rosalind Berhalter didn't deserve this nonsense for sure. Hell, Gregg didn't either. The Reyna's look and act like the world should revolve around them.
I don’t feel as passionately about this as you, but I agree that this is a Reyna problem and not a Gregg problem. The real bizarreness is how the Gio stuff got leaked, as Ismitje pointed out.
My passion is purely for Rosalind Berhlater. The story is a dime a dozen soccer drama in this country until that part comes up. That is not the Reyna's story to share, at all.
Strong signals that Berhalter won’t be retained Cindy Parlow Cone: “We would like to have our new Men’s National Team coach in place by the end of the summer.”#usmnt— Alex Calabrese (@amcalabrese12) January 26, 2023
The Gregg Berhalter investigation report was released today and it's a doozy. There are some quality quotes in it but I don't think it helps anyone's case. The Reyna's come out looking like the worst kind of soccer parents, and while the Gregg is absolved and cleared to be a candidate for the coaching position, there is evidence that the domestic violence incident should've been reviewed before he was hired. My big question is what happens with Gio after the fallout? Does he keep getting brought in for future camps or games, or does the future coach look at this and say "I'm not dealing with those parents."?