that game last night was awesome. both teams played thier hearts out. it was very physical. those mexicans are a bit dirty though. Our boy eddie, scoring the game winner with seconds left in injury time. it was a storybook game. One thing bothered me though. more than half the crowd was cheering for mexico, and the game was played in the US. Is there any stadium where the US can have a REAL home field advantage? somethings got to be down about this. if you live in the US, then cheer for them. show some support!
Couldn't agree with you more on all counts! Next time let's play the game in Columbus or Colorado. Then maybe we could actually have a home-field advantage that actually felt like one. I was up at one of the Gold Cup games last summer and when the US played El Salvador, if I didn't know better it could have very well been an away match. I'm all for heritage, but if you're living here, root for us. Simple as that. Hey, I'm German, but guess who I was rooting for in the semifinals in 2002....I'll give you three guesses and a hint...it wasn't Germany...
US fans have been trying to convince Mexican Americans to root for the Nats instead of El Tri for decades. You just can't convince someone for whom they want to root. They're going to make up their own minds. Some of these people became avid Mexico fans while Mexico was good, and the US was not so good 20-30 years ago. Until '89-90, rooting for the US meant rooting for a team that sure didn't seem like it had a great chance to make the World Cup. Although that's not how I make my rooting decisions, some people do think that way. The only thing you can do to make sure that US fans outnumber Mexican/Honduran/Salvadoran fans when those countries show up for qualifiers is buy a ticket. Get on the US Soccer mailing list for advance orders, and you can lock yourself up a nice block.
US Soccer sold 45,000 tickets last night. That's probably twice as many as were sold for US - Denmark and US - Haiti combined. Relax, last night was a friendly, the result didn't matter all that much. Don't get me wrong, it was nice, real nice, to win, but the point of the game was to test our guys against a strong opponent, and to make some money for US Soccer. The reality in this country is that, if we play certain opponents in certain parts of the country (i.e. Mexico in Texas), most of the crowd will be for the visitors. Maybe things will change someday, but that day is still pretty far off. Accept that. In fact, make the most of it. I like to think that our guys are, in a sense, more prepared for big games because we're probably the only country where a good number of the national team's home games, along with all of the road games, are played before hostile crowds. Hell, playing Mexico in South Korea in WC 2002 was probably a lot easier than playing them in L.A., or Dallas.
On this subject, Bruce Arena was quoted this week in a Houston newspaper saying: "One day, I'd like to convert the Mexican-Americans to U.S. soccer fans," he said. "Our Guatemalan, our Salvadoran fans, etc., etc. That's how our country was formed. It's a melting pot for many different people, so that's OK. "But one day, I want to make the (Hispanic) fans that are here (tonight) cheer for the U.S. team, because this is their country. "We give them the opportunity to raise families here and make a living. So they should one day, hopefully, want to support the U.S. team and become citizens." http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/soc/2535717
If every Hispanic soccer fan living in New York and New Jersey started rooting for the Metros, the proposed Harrison stadium would be too small. It would be crazy not to hope that someday they'll all root for the Nats and for local MLS sides.
1. Colorado would provide the same pro-mexican vibe 2. I'd always assumed that these Friendlies w/mexico were intentionally held in Texas to condition the boys to playing big games with the crowd going against them? I was surprised that they only put 48k in the stands. Last spring's match up with Mexico at Reliant had quite a few more than that if memory serves. Well done Eddie and here's to Jonny too. I'm really pleased that he's getting these call ups.
A good thing about holding these games against Latin American countries in CA and TX is that even if the crowd is not pro-American, at least U.S. Soccer is able to make a lot of money based on the larger crowds. If you hold a meaningless friendly in Columbus the best you get is less than 30K in attendance unlike last night's 40K+. Wouldn't it be nice for U.S. Soccer to have a budget similar to that of Brazil (Nike) or England?
The US v Denmark game only had about 10,000 at it. There were definately more than double the last two games. But then again it was against Mexico. You can't go anywhere in the US without finding a strong Mexican backing except for maybe New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. Even though the US wasn't playing with their full first team, they looked really good. The just need to learn how to finish a little better. It's good to see some of the younger players getting an opportunity to show what they have and how we might look in the future. The one bad thing about having Cox DVR is that if you select a program and it has a pre-planned time like 5:30 - 7:30 and the game ends 2 minutes after with a goal scored, you'd really be bummed. Thank God for FSW showing it again 2 hours later or I would have missed the goal.
Did have the same pro-Mexico vibe. I was at Mile High in April 2002 for US vs Mexico in one of the last tune-ups before the 2002WC. About the same crowd as in Dallas, 45K and probably 5:1 supporting Mexico. They had to watch Mathis poach a 2nd-half goal for the same scoreline as yesterday. I have to say, though, the atmosphere was electric. It sure would be something if those folks ever decided to root for los Estados Unidos.
the same here in germany. germany - turkey in berlin would have more turkish than german fans, cause there are a lot turkish people in germany and they are very pride and they would do everything to see the national team live.
I totally agree on this. Let's face it, these countries in Central America have a lot of support here in the US. But as the US continues to defeat them in their own soil and win here in the US, they will start thinking that the US is the team to root since their country of origin isn't doing as well. Just 10 years ago, US was a team comming to a world cup as an underdog. They defeated my native of Colombia and soon there after have continued to progress. Ever since then, I started to follow them and have become a supporter for the US. Now, I barely know who plays in the Colombian national team. Now with MLS, I even have a greater respect and support for the team. Just makes me exicted when I hear the names like Howard, Mathis, Walker and Pope and others when they play together because I know every single player. So yeah, it will take time. But if they build it, they will come.
Prices were quite steep for this game, particularly for a friendly.with many if not most of the tix in the $40-$50 range. If prices had been lower I suspect attendance would have been higher, though of course that's just speculation. As it is, U.S. Soccer made a helluva lot money on Wednesday regardless.
I went to the US v Denmark game and paid about $50 per ticket for center field seats. It would have been worth it if the US and Denmark brought better players. I realize this is just a friendly, but the Denmark team had 2 players with more than 1 cap and the US was split. I might wait in the future to see who gets announce to the squad before I buy tickets. The only downside is that they might not be as good of seats. At HDC you really can't lose, all seats are pretty good. Hope they bring a qualifier back to SoCal. Dave P.
I had this discussion about chearing for Mexico over the USA with my mother-in-law. She was born in Mexico, but was raised in Texas (she's an American citizen). She has lived in the US the vast majority of her life, but she has olive skin and she speaks Spanish. Thus people identify her as being a "Mexican". In turn she cheers for the Mexican team. I don't think it's so much that she cheers for the country of Mexico, but rather for La Raza. My wife, who is half hispanic, could care less about cheering for Mexico. I think it will take one or two more generations before the recent imigrants will cheer for the US over Mexico or some other Latin American team.
I was born in Ohio, My parents in Mexico. They didnt teach me spanish as a kid. I lived in Mexico for a while and learned it. I have a love for the people and the country. I love Soccer and I will cheer for la Seleccion everyday even against the US. I dont think because I live in the US, I have to cheer for the US team. I will cheer for what I like. I will definitely root for the US in all games vs everyone in the world, but Mexico is my team of preference. I cheer for mexico for reasons of "La Raza", for the representation of the Country of Mexico, because the people in Mexico love soccer. I used to love playing in the streets soccer with kids and then watching the Games on TV with the whole family, even the women cheering for their team. I am glad the US is doing good in these matches, so as to improve popularity in the US, which is a good thing.
here's my 2 cents AGAIN.... I was born in the US, but my ethnic background is 50% Italian, and the rest a combination of Irish, British, and German. NO MATTER WHAT, I would always cheer for the US, even against those countries I just named. WHY? Because i am a US citizen. I was born here, and will probably die here. I'm proud to be an American, and will always root for the Red, White and Blue. But i guess some people, could care less about national pride and would rather just live here (maybe illegally) to make money. I feel its as if those people are turning their backs on the country that is creating a better life for them. IRONLUNG - i hope you are right about latino immigrants cheering for the US in a few generations. But I hope its much, much sooner than that. And another thing, way off the topic. But as you mentioned, your grandmother has lived the majority of her life in the US. But you said she speaks spanish. I hope she also speaks English. Does she? I know if i moved to another country, I'd try to learn the language as fast as i could. Not only out of respect, but also so i'd have an easier time getting by. (Not trying to start a fight or anything. its just a pet peev of mine.)
Most of these Mexico fans are first or maybe second generation immigrants. I'm guessing you are fifth or sixth generation American. It makes a difference. I'm five-eighths Irish, but I'm like a sixth generation American, so that doesn't really mean anything to me. If I was a first or second generation American I would probably still have a meaningful connection to my country of origin.
Citizen's got a great point there. Consider this: I'm a NY Yankee's fan. If I move to CA, I'll still be a Yanks fan, but if I then have kids out there, there's a good chance that my kids will like the Angels or Padres. It's almost (but not exactly) the same. All in all, I'll settle for having people cheer for their country of origin (for the time being), as long as they'll always cheer on the US in every other match. In time, their children will see the error in their ways and cheer for the country they live in. I mean, if everyone cheered for their country of origin, no one would be cheering for the US! (with the exception of the Native Americans.)
I wouldn't worry. I've been to countless US games in the last six years and I can't begin to count the number of times I've seen a 40 year old dad wearing the club or national team jersey from latin America and his son wearing a USA jersey. The hostility that was evident at USA/MEX games in California was not there in either Houston last year or Dallas last week. In fact, the Houston crowd was actively cheering for both teams during the final half hour. It was apparent that they wanted a goal, and weren't too particular which team provided it. As the US continues to garner results on the field, the respect in the stands will follow.