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The SBI Show: Episode 80 (Recapping the night the USMNT saved Mexico, and more)

US Men's National team vs. Panama

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIPhotos.com

By IVES GALARCEP

The U.S. Men’s National Team finished off a record-setting World Cup qualifying campaign with yet another victory on Tuesday night, but their win against Panama was made even more special because of the fact it helped save arch-rival Mexico’s qualifying chances.

In Episode 80 of The SBI Show, we break down the wild and crazy night in CONCACAF, and take a look back at the U.S. players who stepped up and took advantage of the opportunity to impress Jurgen Klinsmann.

Co-host Garrett Cleverly and I also discuss the rest of CONCACAF qualifying, and discuss Egypt’s ugly qualifying loss to Ghana, which has left Bob Bradley and the Pharaohs looking destined for elimination.

Give Episode 80 of The SBI Show a listen after the jump:

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What did you think of the show? Starting to feel good about the USMNT’s saving of Mexico? Which U.S. players impressed you the most on Tuesday?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Here is the translation from the Mexican announcers:

    GOOOOAAAAAAL, GOOOALLLL OF THE US….

    “We love you! We love you forever and ever! God Bless America! The USA puts us in the playoffs!

    “It is because of the USA that we are being placed in the playoff … because of them, not due to you! Not any of you in the green shirts. It was them! Not you! They did it, not you!

    “Remember this forever. Keep this clearly in mind for the rest of your lives. You do nothing for the shirt, you do not put any effort for the team, you have not placed us in the World Cup, you would not have kept us alive.

    “It was the US, not you! Not you and your arrogance, not you and your infamy, not you and your punks.

    “It is a failure … and undeserved. We had no arguments to earn the playoffs. The USA, with subs, with many subs as the visiting team, shows us once against what the USA is all about … how to play this game with dignity, how to approach the sport.

    “Mexico is a horror, just terrible. A failure.

    “GOOOOOOALLL [Johannsson scores the winning goal for the US]! GOOOOOOALL of the US! We are in the playoffs! The US did it so we can keep criticizing [Mexico]!

    “So we can say that the US has surpassed us. They are better than Mexico in soccer. They even have the luxury of playing their subs and keeping us alive … I hope our coach wears the pants and resigns. He has failed as a coach in the national team.”

    Reply
  2. Mexico deserves to be criticized for their performance. The team is a shambles. But the criticism from the fans comes from a grounded expectation that the talent is there to do more. Mexico isn’t Spain or Argentina, but the performances over the last year fall way below their potential. That is what is so frustrating, as a Mexico fan, to witness.
    A perfect storm has rolled in and thrown everything into disarray. The 4-2 performance at the GC final or the Olympic final hasn’t been replicated. The inevitability of a comeback that we felt even while being 2-0 (dos a cero) down to the U.S. in that final is nowhere to be felt. But it is way to early for this group to start writing them off or speaking of Mexico in the past-tense. Their morale might be shot, but teams rebound. And there is still an opportunity to come together against New Zealand and, hopefully, before the start of the WC in Brazil.

    Reply
  3. Man, Ives was straight salty in the Q&A this week. I wonder if people are going to ask any more questions, with such a high risk of getting called out for being stupid… (to be fair, they were pretty dumb questions… LA lacking youth? Bob Bradley failing? Though the forcing rivalries thing… in certain cases, I understand where the guy was coming from.)

    Also, can someone enlighten me here – where exactly was Ives going with that? What’s the deal with Santa Monica/Newport peninsula?

    Reply
    • C’mon mannnnn.. Ives gets to be a lil’ salty if he wants here… LA area probably are the deepest team in MLS when it comes to youth development.. Bob Bradley had a terrible draw with Ghana, who, let’s be real, are the best team in Africa… Get them away from us this WC.. for once.

      Reply
  4. You have a wonderful show.
    Regarding Bob Bradlley, if he does not get the Australia job, what about Ireland? The FAI got rid of Trappatoni and have a caretaker manager now. Trapp cost them a lot of money, so they won’t be going for top shelf international coaches. They won’t be going to Brazil but it gives Bradley a window into British clubs…does this make sense?

    Reply
    • This is a very good suggestion because all Bradley has to do is to teach the very fast and talented Irish players to use better strategy by using shorter passes & ball control versus the long-ball English style. They lost 3:0 against Germany in their last WC qualification game and got TOTALLY out played.

      Reply
  5. Hey Ives, please do us (me) a favor and do live Q&A soon. It was the best part of your website and now its gone. These Podcasts are swell and all, but its an hour commitment. Your Q&As were easy to look and follow at work and in school. I could do other things while tuning in. This podcast does not really let me do that. Not saying to stop the podcasts, but I am disappointed the live Q&As stopped.

    Reply
    • Ives could just have one of his staff people transcribe the full show, or the Q&A part at least, so that you can read it too. I actually much prefer the podcast. He’s able to flesh out his insights more. And there’s always some time in the day when I’m walking around or driving or on the train that I can pop in my headphones and catch up on the latest SBI Show.

      Reply
      • I am not trying to create competition between the two ideas, its just when the podcast started the live Q&A stopped so I figured they were connected. The Q&A was more interactive with the visitor (IMO) because we could come up with questions on the fly and could see what others are thinking and how Ives reacted to that over the course of like two to three hours some times. I just think it was something few other websites had and made SBI special. Other websites had podcasts but not a direct interaction with its followers.

  6. I know it sounds convenient because our Coach and some staff are German, but are we not resembling the German National Team is terms of play?… I see many parallels… and it would make sense.

    Reply
    • This brings up an interesting point. Ives, how about getting Klinsi to be your guest and interview him about his plans for the WC in regards to US team strategy, main players he is counting on, MLS vs European player talent on the US team, his own German WC experience, US soccer & academy development, etc.

      Reply
      • yeah, I’m just finishing the podcast, read this comment and thought, “When was Ives whiny & condescending?”

      • Disclaimer: I’ve listened to a lot of these and I’ve been reading this blog for YEARS. I’m totally cool with you being passionate about the sport (obviously). Also I know no one will give a shit about what I have to say right now.

        The way you answered the fan tweets was like you’re talking to children. Also when you start raising your voice and the pitch starts to get high just sounds straight whiney.

      • Sorry if that’s how you take it. People ask me questions because they want to hear my take. if I drop some knowledge in an emphatic and confident way, that’s just me. Don’t really think you grasp what the word whiney means. So tell me, is that me being whiney? LOL

      • Glad you enjoyed your stay in sunny and beautiful Portland and just ignore the whiney comment(s) by the above poster which didn’t make sense to me either.

      • Around 49 minutes. Seemed a little critical of the question and came off a little condescending. Honestly was a dumb question.

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