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Monday International Friendlies: Your Running Commentary

RooneyReuters

By AVI CREDITOR

Two of the United States' chief rivals will do battle at Wembley Stadium, as England and Mexico meet in an international friendly (3 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel) that Fabio Capello scheduled in order to get a better look at CONCACAF competition. 

The match is part of a nice slate of international action, as nine of the 32 teams that have qualified for the World Cup take part in friendlies.

One of the other appealing matches takes place in Bueons Aires, as Argentina hosts Canada (3:30 p.m., ESPN3.com/ESPNDeportes) in a World Cup tune-up for Diego Maradona's side. 

If you will be watching any or all of Monday's games on television of live Internet feed, please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. JoseM,

    Hardly! Show a little class and refrain from personal attacks. I am beginning to think that I hit a nerve.

    Reply
  2. Brian K-

    You are an idiot!

    Just because you were handed the easiest group in the WC does not make you or the USMNT a soccer powerhouse. It will be utterly embarassing if you don’t make it out of the group stage.

    And as you probably know much less than you think about this game, there is no way you would have noticed that Mexico played (once again) with a lineup that had NEVER played together before, including Rafa Marquez as midfielder, and that those goals are not typically scored vs. Mexico. The first was just idiotic, the second had been a fantastic save by our “crap” goalkeeper that was scored by Crouch in a crystal clear offside. The only one with merit is the third.

    As for Hush-

    It’s obvious that you are a Mexico hater and that you can’t put things into perspective. It’s also obvious that you must be like thirteen years old and are getting a testosterone rush.

    If you watched the game there is no way that the three you mentioned would be your pick for “rusty”. But my guess is you did not!

    ESPN’s futbol picante…NO MAMES! Check any BBC blog or any Blog on the MARCA or AS papers from Spain and you’ll find that most readers agree that Mexico outplayed England, and with minor adjustements will be a dangerous team.

    Your comparison with the Toluca game is sophomoric. Santos lost because they missed a penalty NOT because they had more ball possesion!!!

    Having said that, I am enjoying the USMT evolution as a team, curious about what they learned from their last Czech encounter and supporting them as a CONCACAF team in South Africa!

    Reply
  3. JM,

    I will repeat just for you,…Mexico are small and weak but I will concede that their looks nice when they jump around the field. (Paul Gardner really enjoys watching them play.) Their GK is crap and they have difficulty beating good GKs.

    Enjoy the WC Jose.

    Reply
  4. I think the scoreline flattered England a bit. They played better in the 2nd half, and that beautiful Glen Johnson goal kind of took the wind out of Mexico’s sails. But overall, Mexico looks like a pretty decent team.

    Reply
  5. He played a lot of bad defense for them didn’t he?

    He’s the guy who made bad clearances leading to opposition goals wasn’t he?

    Who else do you blame?

    If you guys are going to say Bradley deserves no credit for the good play of the US in the Confederations Cup run cause it was all about the players, why do you not blame the players when West Ham has a crap season?

    If the team doesn’t do well it’s mostly because the players aren’t playing well. It’s not all their fault but Spector didn’t exactly cover himself with glory. If he were English you wouldn’t be defending him so much.

    Reply
  6. Technically, the North American Continent includes any country north of the Panama-Colombia border. This includes the countries in the Caribbean.

    The tecnical definiton of Central America, a subset of North America runs from South of the Mexican Border to the aforementioned Panama- Colombia border.

    These definitions are largely informal. In many parts of Europe the Americas are considered as one entity.

    Also regarding Gringo here is the best definition I could find:

    “Gringo is a slang Spanish and Portuguese word used in Spanish-speaking and Portuguese countries, principally in Latin America, to denote foreigners, often from the United States or the United Kingdom. The term can be applied to someone who is actually a foreigner, or it can denote a strong association or assimilation into foreign (particularly US) society and culture. The term is often encountered by people from the US traveling abroad to Spanish-speaking countries.[citation needed] The American Heritage Dictionary classifies gringo as “offensive slang,” “usually disparaging,” and “often disparaging.”[1] However, the term can also be used to simply identify a foreigner and does not always carry a negative connotation.[citation needed]

    The word was used in Spain long before it crossed the Atlantic to denote foreign, non-native speakers of Spanish.[2] Although it has various anecdotal etymologies, and various connotative or interpretive meanings, its ultimate source appears to be “griego”, the Spanish word for “a Greek person” that serves, in some countries, as a colloquial shorthand for any foreign (non-Spanish) person .”

    There is enough ignorance and stupidity on this site. No need to add to it. But feel free to continue waging what is basically a semantics war.

    Reply
  7. Get off it. England slapped the Mexicans around with their second team. Mexico tries to schedule as many friendlies as they can in too narrow a timeframe and you’ll see that it won’t end up building any confidence. They play Holland on freaking Wednesday!! How does all of this help them before the WC? Fitness, getting your team to gell? Getting your fan base excited, buying jerseys? Yeah, all of those can be done with 2, maybe 3 home friendlies before You take off for SA. The Mexicans are famous for doing their world tours, trying to get results against big teams who could care less.

    Nobody is going to buy into Mexico over in Europe just because they had great possession vs Eng and took a bunch of shots against their second and third keepers. Sure they have a good chance of leaving the group. That’s because as it stands the best team in that group is Uruguay! That said, I’ll continue to enjoy their preWC friendlies. Viva Mejico…or something

    Reply
  8. Don’t buy into it. Walcott is a threat, but then again Lennon is even more of a threat. I like to think that USA won’t concede goals like those in the WC. We’ll find a way to shut down Crouch and Tim Howard would have saved that last goal. If they score three on us, at least 2 will have to come from golazos like Rossi’s last summer. Mexico totally played into England’s gameplan, just like Inter beat Barca and then Bayern.

    Reply
  9. Everyone makes this mistake about Crouch. He is only average in the air especially when you consider his height. However he has deceptivlly good ball skills.

    Rather than talking about how TALL he is you need to think about his LENGTH. Long arms and legs. It means, for example, that he can shield a ball on the ground really well. I’m 5’9″ and used to play against tall, long guys like him and if they have any ball skills, that’s a lot of arms and legs to go through to get to the ball. At certain times in the penalty area, then, it gives them an extra second or two to get their shot off.

    This is what they mean when they talk about Crouch being an awkward situation for defenders.

    Reply
  10. I saw that and on Telemundo the commentators were saying that the fans were proabably “making an association with Mexican fiestas”. Sure. Jolly good, chaps, the English.

    Reply
  11. EEEEEEEEEERRRR -Wrong!! Gringos are any northerners not speaking any Spanish. In some countries it stems back to the presence of US soldiers in Latin America, many of which weren’t white.

    Reply
  12. Well, the same story repeats itself for Mexico. They dance around the ball for 90 minutes trying to make their game and hair look pretty, but can’t execute. They are the Brian Ching’s of soccer!lol I’ve always said it doesn’t matter how much possesion you have, it’s the goals that count. Just ask Inter or Toluca on why possesion is overated.

    Vela, Gio, Franco, looked to damn rusty. Yet, Aguirre starts bench warmers over players who have had rythem through out the whole year. I think the only Mexican’s that get this is the boys over on ESPN DEPORTES, EL PICANTE. They continue to ask why do both Vela & Gio get the notch over players who are in full form. Too bad for freddy Adu that he is not Mexican, otherwise he would have his own statue in the Azteca since he gets more minutes than both of those little girl bums put together.:)

    The U.S vs England will be a great match. Both of these teams play the same style of futbol. It will be a chess match I tell you! I’m not worried.

    TEAM AMERICA!… F%^k YEAH!

    Reply
  13. HAHA Calm down man. Mexico has only beaten a Brazil team that consist of sub 20 players. That confede win in 99 in the Azteca was against a Sub-20 Brazil team. C’mon! When has Brazil ever taken a full squad to copa America, guy? Hardly ever. Pure fact! Toumba is right on the money regarding Mexico’s ego. When they start to respect other teams and admit that they are not Brazil or Argentina, maybe then they will see a bit more success.

    Reply
  14. The US created Latin America to kick Mexico out of North America, so they’re no longer part of North America according to the US government. Also Gringo means someone from the US, it has nothing to do with race. I’ve only notice Anglos-Americans claiming it relates to someones race.

    Reply
  15. Better finishing by Mexico and this game gets interesting, but it is true that all of Mexico’s keepers have some problems and that the team gets killed in the air.

    Vela, Gio, Juárez, Aguilar and Barrera are all pretty young, so if Mexico fills a few holes they’ll be interesting in 2014. Maybe even this time, who knows.

    Reply
  16. You do remember Mexico is part of North America, right?

    “”Gringo” is a pejorative term usually used to refer to white U.S. citizens, though it can also be used in good humor.

    Reply
  17. I bet crouch doesn’t play v US. We’ll happily let him play wide. His feet sent that good. Gooch has trouble against pace and through balls. We’ll see someone with wheels up top.

    Reply
  18. Yeah Ok we get it-

    Your comment is not so incisive that it deserves two posts OK?

    1) “Maza” Rodriguez is 6’4 and about 190 pounds, Rafa Marquez is close to six feet and neither Franco, Torrado, Hernandez, Salcido, Moreno or Juarez are in any way shape or form “weak”.

    2) That will not be the GK in SA, and he is far from being crap.

    3) Eleven of these players DO NOT play against keepers in the Mexican League because they DON”T play in Mexico!!!

    4) You are annoying!

    Reply
  19. Betamale,

    This was typical Mexico. Beautiful soccer,…nice little passes,..nice little dancing in the mifield,…BUT 1) they are small and weak; 2) their GK is crap; and they have trouble beating a quality GK, the caliber of which they don’t see in the Mexican league.

    Reply
  20. Betamale,

    This was typical Mexico. Beautiful soccer,…nice little passes,..nice little dancing in the mifield,…BUT 1) they are small and weak; 2) their GK is crap; and they have trouble beating a quality GK, the caliber of which they don’t see in the Mexican league.

    Reply
  21. Betamale,

    This was typical Mexico. Beautiful soccer,…nice little passes,..nice little dancing in the mifield,…BUT 1) they are small and weak; 2) their GK is crap; and they have trouble beating a quality GK, the caliber of which they don’t see in the Mexican league.

    Reply
  22. Who would have thought England would concede on a corner to Mexico. Brits better watch out for the teams who actually have some height.

    Reply
  23. Torres on Mexican TV is called Gringo Torres to distinguish him from the other Torres on squad. I guess Gomez, and Bedoya playing in Mexico could also be called Gringos. So that’s the three I’m talking about.

    Isaac, “Because I’m pretty sure Gringos means white people if I’m not mistaken…”

    Not the way I interpret the usage. It appears that Telemundo and Univision etal are using Gringo to mean North American.

    Reply
  24. would say the USA has exposed Mexico’s issues with set pieces for a decade at least, and thanks for making the point about possession SCORE…and I’d rather win whatever it looks like 🙂

    Reply
  25. lol at the starting lineups of the canada/argy game…they had some hot broad in a dress singing oh canada and all the stadium director showed was her!

    Reply

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