Nice too see Marco is still in the coach's plans... http://www.soccernet.com/global/news/2002/0813/20020813boliviasquad.html
Interesting that Etch was chosen for this friendly. I wonder if Moreno was even considered, that is before his recent injury probs.
Man I would love to see this game and see how Marco teams up with Castillo. And only one player from The Strongest!! What's up with that? Anyways, I think Marco is setting the foundation for coaching the National team in the future.
Well that's interesting. I thought Etch was well out of the Bolivian National Team picture. Anyone know when the last time was he played for his country? (Chico13, maybe you know....???)
Well it's been awhile. Maybe as far back as the qualifiers for the 98 WC. I really believe that the FBF wants him there to evaluate all the young talent they'll be taking to Venezuela. Soria has said he won't be there after this game and they need to plan ahead for Copa America. Expect to see Joselito Vaca get called up before to long as Marco is very high on him.
Actually looking back, I'm pretty sure he played with the National side after we won MLS Cup 99. The qualifiers for 2002 were getting underway and he played for Oriente in the offseason. He played a couple of qualifiers and came back to DC to find out we had cleaned house.
Vaca was not called up, interestingly enough. Whatever happened to all those grand plans MLS had with the famous Bolivian academy? Sachin
I think Vaca wasn't called because Soria loaded up the roster with players from his team Bolivar (Yuck..The Strongest's biggest rival).And I think those plans are still somewhat in place because Tahuichi dosen't just put out Bolivian players, they put out many different nationality players including Americans.
Marco was talking about wanting to coach the Bolivian National Team some day ... this looks like a great opportunity for him to get the feel for the team from the inside. Class thing to do as well. For the record, I was totally in favor of Preki's call-ups to the USMNT during qualifying. I think the veterans add a lot of psychological positives to the team in addition to their eminent skill. Kudos to the FBF for bringing Etch in for a friendly. -Tron
From United's website: http://www.dcunited.com/index.cfm?section=main&cont_id=120849 Etcheverry last appeared for Bolivia in a September 3rd, 2000 World Cup Qualifier against Brazil.
You are right about that Chico, I remember being excited about that when we drafted him and thinking about how Marco and he would be speaking the same football language. Oh well.
Any thoughts as to whether this is a lead in to Marco working on the Bolivian coaching team?? Or is this just a farewell type appearance for him as a player??
Getting rid of Lisi is definitely in the top two or three biggest boneheaded things this team has done in ages.
And that's saying something, considering the vast number of bonehead moves we've made recently. Sachin
I definitely think the wheels are in motion for that. I think Marco will want to play one more year and then take over the reins from the FBF. Like I said earlier, he probably got called up for this game to see the the young talent assembled first hand. I will definitely ask him his impression of Castillo. This kid led the league last year with 44 goals at age 19!! Might be nice to see him in a United kit one day.
I know very little about Bolivar or Bolivian football more generally, but I'm surprised that they can't fit Vaca in somewhere. If you caught the Dallas-Chicago game on Saturday, you would have gotten an eyeful from him. Parenthetically, I thought Dallas' midfield play in that game was outstanding: organized, efficient, purposeful, aggressive. What I wouldn't give to see United form up for attack like that.
Actually, one thing I saw from Vaca is that he holds the ball for too long. He tries to take one or two extra touches when he needs to play quicker. Specifically, in the first half, Kreis backheeled the ball to Vaca who received it at the top of the box about 16 yards out. Vaca is totally unmarked but didn't take the first time left footed shot. He dribbles and allows a defender to cut him off and then passes awkwardly across the box, the pass is intercepted. Vaca's unwillingness to play quickly ended a serious goal chance. (Sound familiar?) Reminded me a lot of DC United's attack... But don't get me wrong, Vaca has great skill and vision. If he can just improve his speed of thought, he'll be a world class player.
Well this being a friendly, I think there will be plenty of time for Vaca to show his stuff. I would imagine he'll head back to Bolivia after the MLS season and play for Oriente (or hopefully The Strongest). Marco is very impressed with his game. And no doubt after the first year of injuries and homesickness, Joselito has really turned it up this year. Not to re-hash an old argument, but it would be great to see him run our attack once Marco steps down. Sigh......
According to an article in last week's El Tiempo Latino, it seems as if he really wants to play again. Here's the hilarious translation courtesy of babelfish: LA PAZ (AFP).. The Bolivian steering wheel Etcheverry Frame, of 32 years, announced its desire to return to be contained the short cassock of the Bolivian selection of soccer, after a short retirement, according to declarations carried out from Washington to a local channel. The ' Diabló showed that "I must verify that being in the selection and playing I will feel equal of good". Excited by a good performance in the ' Party of the Eestrellas' of the MLS and a goal of good invoice, Etcheverry it trusted that "if one occurs, if I see that I can, I am arranged to play an eliminatory one more". After a bad gust of wind of three years of injuries, the ex- steering wheel of the Colo Chilean Colo announced that "now completely I am recovered". Creator of an unpublished Bolivian classification to the World-wide one of States Unidos-94, Etcheverry did not hide his desire of a quick call the national selected one, that he will dispute in front of Venezuela a party of blank next the 21 of August in Caracas.
Yep. I can honestly say that Babelfish's command of the spanish language is nowhere near as goodly as mine