Your Coach Remembers
It's not supposed to happen like this! Usually, the way it happens is that someone taps me on the shoulder and says: "Hi Coach! Remember me?" Nowadays, it is usually a young man or young lady in their late teens who often towers over me. I seldom remember their names but I always remember their faces. Most of the time, I can identify their unfledged features in their maturing bodies. I can always redeem my awful memory for names with a funny anecdote about our times together on the Soccer fields. Usually, some chit-chat ensues and I learn about their current lives and maybe their new sports.
Youth Soccer is very competitive in Southern California; Most of the kids never make it into their High School Soccer Teams or loose interest in Soccer altogether after they get to High School. I don't dwell on this fact. I have two teenagers at home that have not kicked a Soccer ball in years. But they now have other passions: Lacrosse, Water Polo, Surfing, etc.. You adjust; You play catch with your son while you glove an old mitt and he uses a Lacrosse stick; You show up for the beginning of the Water-polo season, father-son game and try not to drown. You ask questions about the new twin-fins and the swells at Trestles. You find new things do to together or you just simply show up at their games and cheer. But not too loudly because they don't want you to embarrass them.
I think that for all those kids that played Soccer when they were younger, it often turns out that is the one sports experience that they seem grateful for; They played sports for a real Team. They dressed up in neat uniforms. They were cheered every Saturday by their parents even if there was not much to cheer about. At the end of the season, they always got medals and sometimes a nice trophy. They always got pizza and party favors. They were heroes! That all changed when they got to High School!
The way it happened this time is that I recognized his name in a newspaper article describing a horrible car accident that happened just a mile from my current residence. I'd heard the police helicopter and emergency vehicles when it happened. I saw all the people in grief who visited the accident site over several days and set up a temporary shrine to a young life disintegrated in a fraction of a second. That made me curious and I wanted to know the whole story. That is when I recognized the name of the dead young man!
Parees Ghassemian was not a great Soccer player but he gave me other reasons to remember him. He had good foot skills and a powerful kick but at the time, he was a little overweight and that always hampered his game. I remembered his name because he was one of those kids who really wanted to be a great Soccer player. Always trying new skills and asking questions from Coach. Staying after practice just to play a few extra minutes. Always demanding more challenges even if we both knew that he would have a hard time scoring against a better opponent. Always being the type of kid that makes a Youth Soccer Coach forget all the disappointments. Always trying! Always playing! Parees loved the game! I dare say Parees loved life!
¡No Way José!
Image courtesy of
adidas soccer
adidas soccer
What about the statistics for this World Cup? I think that is better left to the pro's but I have to record my favorite goals and favorite matches. So here they are: Favorite Goals: You have to separate these into individual vs. team efforts;
- For personal brilliance I have to start with Ronaldo's goal in Brazil's win over Ghana (3:0). Ronaldo bolted from the Ghana's defense, then beat the goalie and made a shot after beating a final desperate defender. The goal was even more amazing when you consider that it was Ronaldo's 15th in a World Cup breaking the all-time record.
- Then there is Beckman's goal in England's win over Ecuador (1:0). Beckman knows how to bend it!.
- Zidane was flawless in taking a couple of penalty shots that were crucial for France's wins. But Zidane's goal in France's win over Spain (3:0) was spectacular and showed that old Zidane could still mix it up with the youngsters.
- All the sports pundits agree, the best 2006 World Cup goal was Maxi Rodriguez goal in Argentina's win over Mexico (2:1). In a goal that defined the game, Maxi stopped the ball with his chest and while the ball was still in mid-air kicked a long-range bullet that totally surprised Mexican goalie Sanchez.
- For team efforts, I begin with the goal that Cambiasso scored after a tricky "taquito" from teammate Crespo in Argentina's trouncing over Serbia & Montenegro (6:0).
- A perfect example of a goal that involves team effort with personal talent was Torres' goal in Spain's win over the Ukraine (4:0) The goal was scored by Torres after teammate Puyol received a pass from another teammate and with a header passed it to Torres who scored a great shot.
- Klose was the top goal scorer at the 2006 World Cup. One of his best goals was scored in Germany's win over Ecuador (1:0) He was perfectly positioned and got a perfect pass from his teammates to finish it in an unstoppable cross shot.
Favorite Matches:
- Obviously, the final championship match between Italy vs. France (1:1)(5:3) there was enough drama in this game to keep the 2006 World Cup after-glow going for a few weeks.
- The semifinal between Portugal vs. France (0:1) was boring! The only goal was a penalty shot by Zidane, but this was one of the best matched teams in the World Cup. Both teams knew their adversaries and played with great respect for each other. How wonderful to see two great stars, Zidane and Figo sharing what was to be either one's last game. They had been teammates at Real Madrid for a number of years and they both had been named FIFA World Player of the Year, Zidane in 1998, 2000 & 2003 and Figo in 2001 with a second close to Zidane in 2000.
- The round of 16 match between Argentina vs. Mexico (2:1). Argentina was the favorite and Mexico had just squeaked in past the first round. The Mexican fans were not happy and the fact that their Coach was suspect Argentinean La Volpe made for a match full of intrigues. Argentina won but not easily, Mexico gave a valiant fight.
- The round of 16 match between England vs. Ecuador (1:0) How exciting to watch underdog Ecuador on its first ever World Cup battle it out against one of the all-time greats. Ecuador played fearlessly and almost advanced to the quarter-finals had it not been for an amazing goal by Beckman.
- The quarter final match between Germany vs. Argentina (1:1) (4:2). I think this would have been the dream championship match of the 2006 World Cup. How perfect if the host country Germany would have been in the final and how perfect if the final would have been between an European and a South American team. Argentina's was clearly better than Brazil in this World Cup. The game was closely disputed and ended in a 1:1 tie. Germany won the nervous shootout because of the coolness of its great goalie, Lehmann. In soccer, it doesn't get any more classic that that!
Just as in the Super bowl, add campaigns during the World Cup were great! Since I have been watching mostly the Spanish language TV coverage, I have seen mostly the very funny adds targeted to the US Latino market (Think Bud & Chevy!) But there were also a number of interesting add campaigns put on by soccer equipment manufacturers. Soccer equipment manufacturers? Soccer is a simple game played with what should be a simple ball. So what other equipment is there? If you are a poor kid from Africa, Asia or Latin America, there is none! Not so fast, there are shoes to be made and dreams to be sold! And the main selling is being done by the big three in soccer shoes and apparel: Nike, Puma & Adidas.
Video courtesy of nikesoccer.com via YouTube
Video courtesy of adidas soccer via YouTube
Video courtesy of adidas soccer via YouTube
The World Cup is over! What to do now? I wonder if there is some other "quirky" sports event, taking place in Europe, with some great American athletes that almost no one in the US knows or cares about?
Don't give up on the World Cup
Image courtesy of
FIFA
FIFA
For starters, did you know that the USA team was ranked fifth coming into this year’s World Cup? Did you know that the USA got to the World Cup by classifying first in CONCACAF and winning games in the final round against other World Cup qualifiers such as Costa Rica, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago? Did you know that one of the reasons that soccer has advanced in the US is because there actually is a professional soccer league? MLS no longer stands just for the Real State Multiple Listing Service it also stands for Major League Soccer!
Maybe, you think that soccer does not have a US tradition like other American sports. But did you know that at the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930 the USA Team was there? And they finished third in the tournament right behind powerhouses Argentina and Uruguay. And did you know that the USA has pulled some amazing upsets over the years in World Cup matches? Like the upset against England in 1950 that was misreported as a 10-1 English win by the British media and a win against dark-horse favorite Colombia in 1994 to advance to the second round (An infamous game I was lucky to witness at the Rose Bowl accompanied by some rabid Colombian friends who had to share the Stadium with a crowd of mostly Mexican-Americans rooting for the USA team)
Of course, your last recourse is to claim that soccer is a boring game with low scores, slow play and stupid rules. Well, I got you there too! If you think that it is only because you suffer from the same sports malady that affects all people who have never played a sport they criticize. You never played the sport as a youngster so you don’t understand how difficult it is to score a goal and how talented you must be to be a striker. Or the level of endurance and intelligence that is necessary to be a mid-fielder. Or the level of mental and physical toughness it takes to be a defender or a goalie. As for the rules, they may be stupid but they are fairly clear; the difficulty stems from their interpretation and enforcement by the referees. Soccer is one of the few sports where the conduct and expertise of the referees does determine the final outcome of the game. For the knowing soccer fan, referee performance is just to be as closely watched as that of the teams.
Maybe you did not play the sport in your youth but I have seen you at your children’s games. I have seen you kick the ball back and forth with your daughter. I have seen you screaming at the top of your lungs when your son almost scored a goal. I have seen you console your goalie after a tough loss and I have even seen you questioning the occasional off-sides and penalties.
So why have you shown lack of interest in the World Cup? Because the English language coverage sucks! The drowning, serious monotone may work for the NFL but what we need are characters like the great announcers of Baseball and Basketball. It’s interesting to watch Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda and Julie Foudy on EPSN doing the side-kick analysis. These guys and gal were in a couple of World Cups as part of their USA teams so they know what they are talking about. But what we need is a guy that screams Goooooool! for 30 seconds or his current counterpart who prefers a long cannonade of Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol!
That is why I watch the Spanish language coverage and that is why I am thoroughly enjoying this World Cup. I get to watch the pre-game silliness of TV hosts dressing up and cheering for Mexico one day and for Ecuador, Brazil, Costa Rica or Spain the next. I get to watch some goofball pull silly tricks at the German venues and get the fans into a state of frenzy. I get to listen to a game narrated by guys with passion for the sport and I get to listen to comments that I do not hear or read anywhere else.
While watching the Brazil vs. Japan game, I already knew that Zico , a great Brazilian player, had closed his playing career in Japan and has been the coach (“Director Tecnico”) for Japan since the last World Cup. What I didn’t know was that Santos , the left winger was also a Brazilian born, Japanese citizen. I also learned that Scolari , better known as Felipão in his native Brazil is now the coach for Portugal. And Saudi Arabia’s coach Paqueta is also from Brazil. The coaches for Tunisia and Ivory Coast, Lemerre and Michel are both French. Iran’s Coach Ivankovic is from Croatia and will probably be sacked after Iran’s lackluster performance. Coach Suarez from Colombia is loved by his Ecuadorian team and the nation as a whole, since he has been instrumental in getting Ecuador into the World Cup for the first time. La Volpe the Argentinean who coaches Mexico has had a tenuous relationship with his team and things will not get better after Mexico’s elimination by Argentina. It probably does not help that New Age La Volpe has tried to use hypnotism and Feng Shui to improve his reluctant Mexican team, that he left beloved Cuauhtemoc Blanco off the team and instead included Argentinean born Franco and Brazilian born Zinha.
You probably already knew that some of the best soccer players in the world now playing for their national teams ( Ronaldo, Robinho, Roberto Carlos & Julio Cesar from Brazil; Zidane from France; Beckman from England; Casillas & Raul from Spain) happen to be teammates for what is considered the best club team in the world, Real Madrid (I hope no one from Barcelona reads this post!) But do you know who el conejo, el ratón, el payasito, el gringo, el pato, el apache, el borrego and la pulga (The rabbit, the mouse, the little clown, the gringo, the duck, the apache, the ram and the flea) are? These are all nicknames that I heard during what has to be one of the best matches of the World Cup, Argentina vs. Mexico. The Univision announcers know the players so intimately that they give them nicknames! I can’t think of a single USA player that has a nickname!
So who is my favorite to take the Jules Rimet cup? As I watch what I think should be final World Cup game, Germany vs. Argentina I have to go back to the team I have been rooting for since watching soccer on a black and white TV as a child in my native Venezuela. Being from the only South American country not totally crazy about soccer (Beisbol rules!), I have to root for Pelé’s team.
By the way, do you know what the US Spanish language TV calls the USA Team? "El Equipo de Todos" (Everyone's Team!) And that is why I'm truly disappointed that the USA did not advance past the first round!
PS: My friend Adam took me to task because I posted about the World Cup and I did not mention Ronaldinho, best FIFA player for the last two years. I did not want to do that because I would have to list all the Barcelona players in the World Cup. Here it goes: Ronaldinho from Brazil; Brazilian born Deco from Portugal; Marquez from Mexico; Messi from Argentina; Puyol, Xavi & Iniesta from Spain. After what transpired in this match, I think the most interesting instance of club teammates playing for their national teams has to be Manchester United's Wayne Rooney from England and Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal.
