By AVI CREDITOR
The list of candidates to be the next coach of the Mexican national team is down to one.
Monterrey coach Victor Manuel Vucetich withdrew his name from consideration, leaving Jose Manuel De La Torre as the only remaining candidate for the position. According to the Associated Press, owners of Mexican clubs must complete the final vote to determine whether De La Torre is fit for the position or if the search should continue.
De La Torre's brother, Nestor, is the former director of the national team who imposed fines on players for hosting a party after a recent friendly. Jose De La Torre is currently the coach of Toluca.
Here are a few more stories happening around the soccer world:
FIFA BID SCANDAL CONTINUES
The investigation into the World Cup bidding bribery scandal has grown to include bids for the 2022 World Cup in addition to those for the 2018 tournament.
Last week, The Sunday Times (UK) reported that two members of FIFA's Executive Committee – one from Nigeria and one the president of the Oceania Football Confederation – asked for payment in exchange for their vote.
Amos Adamu of Nigeria reportedly asked to be paid specifically to endorse the United States' bid, according to The Sunday Times' report.
The 24-person FIFA committee will reveal its decisions for the 2018 and 2022 hosts on Dec. 2.
ITALY REFUSES SERBIA REPLAY
The Italian Football Federation has refused to accept a rematch against Serbia after their initial Euro 2012 qualifier was halted after seven minutes in Genoa last week.
Serbian fans threw fireworks and flares onto the pitch, causing the match to be stopped. UEFA's disciplinary panel is expected to come to a decision about the situation on Oct. 29.
ARSENAL TRIO FIT FOR CL TILT
Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas is reportedly fit after dealing with a hamstring injury and will feature for the Gunners in their UEFA Champions League match with Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
Fabregas hasn't played in a month, hurting himself in Arsenal's match against Sunderland on Sept. 18 (when he scored this outrageous goal).
Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner are also expected to be included in Arsene Wenger's squad after both were on the shelf with injuries.
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Do you think De La Torre is a suitable candidate for the Mexico job? What do you make of the FIFA bid scandal? Do you think Italy should have to play a rematch with Serbia? Think a (closer to) full-strength Arsenal can win the Champions League?
Share your thoughts below.
Josh, not to question the talent of this new generation, but having a team party with prostitutes and alcohol does not speak well about their maturity and professionalism. I don’t expect the athletes to be saints, but having a national team event of that nature takes it to another level. The new head coach will have his hands full.
USA: Wait, we didn’t have anything to do with the sting operation!!!!
FIFA voter: I was misinformed.
“Pay it, Uncle Sam. You paid it for him so you can pay it for me.”
“But boss . . .”
“Pay it!”
Unfortunately, by the time they see problems in Russia, they’ll have already awarded 2022. I have to believe our only competition is the Aussies. Japan hosted too recently and Qatar can’t be a serious contender.
“If you don’t take this bribe, you’re going to regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tommorow, but soon and for the rest of your life!”
Usually the English Press are trying to sabotage the English Bid, so this is was quite refreshing.
Of course that’s assuming he would actually use the money for fields and not to line his pocket.
You know, I don’t think I blame the president of the Oceana region for trying to get money from potential hosts. The guy said he wanted $800,000 to build four artificial pitches in his region. Oceania is such a weak confederation and their vote might be the only thing they ever have of value to FIFA.
Our best hope to host the games is if Russia wins the 2018 bid. After seeing SA, Bra, then Russia all in a row needing lots of construction I’d bet that the thought of a smooth US 2022 bid would be improved. If England gets it, FIFA will have their smooth cash cow already.
Except he has never revealed a fix BEFORE the fix went down. If he would do that one time I’d be more incline to look the other way when he doesn’t give his sources.
If Mexico has the proper coaching, then they could steal the “real” CONCACAF Gold Cup from our grasps and dominate World Cup qualifying. Their new generation of players are legit.
The FIFA accusations are news to me. This could throw a serious wrench into the USA bid if the allegations are true. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jack Warner was involved. But is the Sunday Times a reliable source?
So the new manager for Mexico is Joe Torre?
Yeah I’m just hoping this doesn’t eff over our chances
It´s time to dissolve the OFC.
FIFA won’t “punish”the USA, but this does make ya wonder whether FIFA voters will be a little less willing to expose themselves to suspicion by voting for the USA bid.
I”m sure the Sunday Times’ reporters weren’t trying to sabotage the USA bid, but I also bet they wondered about the fallout and weren’t losing any sleep about the possibility.
Jose Manuel “Chepo” de la Torre IS Mexico’s new coach!
Why the hell would fifa punish the US they didn’t even do anything.
I Lol’d. The New Casablanca-Now with Soccer-Specific Subplots! Tagline: “Of all the World Soccer Governing Bodies, in all the towns, in all the world, some English reporters posing as corrupt American businessmen walked into theirs.”
Yes, because soccer in America is transparent and fair for all. Sorry, the worlds game is also a highly political pyramid scheme. Is anyone with money or power honest now adays?
How much you wanna bet that Blatter punishes the English, because the Times exposed this corruption, and the US, because for some odd reason the English chose to pose as Americans. Why’d they do that to us? I’m not counting on the WC in 2022. In fact, we’d be better off, not lining the corrupt FIFA’s pockets by making them a boatload of cash. We need FIFA to implode, replaced by a true non-profit interested in the betterment of the game.
There is apparently a censor for certain keywords.
F it. I say pay ’em 😉
If you want to learn about corruption in world soccer read “The Fix” by Declan Hill. It really is shocking stuff.
It wasn’t us. It was Englishmen pretending to be us. Or rather, Englishmen pretending to be American business men who would want America to host the 2022 World Cup for financial reasons.
I hope Walcott shows the form he was showing early in the season.
Which country was bribing?? THROW THEIR BID OUT!
Oh it was us?
“I am shocked — shocked — that there is bribery going on here at FIFA.”
“Here is your bribe, sir.”
“Oh, thank you.”
With apologies to Claude Rains.
Double-foot stress fractures SUCK.
Question — why is the coach wearing booties and walking with a cane? Just wondering…
Corruption in FIFA?
Say it ain’t so!
Hmmm…a UK newspaper reporters pretended to be lobbyists for a consortium of American companies.
Why didn’t they just pretend to be lobbyists for UK companies or Australia or Qatar? Something smell fishy to me.
Was just thinking the same thing.
why do we expect FIFA to do anything?
if anything, the USA will get blamed for some reason…