With World Cup qualifiers on the horizon, two U.S. Men’s National Team regulars had a heated exchange on Saturday evening.
Following the Philadelphia Union’s 2-2 draw with Toronto FC, Union midfielder Alejandro Bedoya stated his displeasure with a penalty kick awarded to Jozy Altidore and TFC.
“Knowing Jozy, he tends to go down easy in the box, so let’s just leave it at that,” Bedoya told reporters following the match. “I didn’t even see it, but from what I hear it was definitely not a penalty.
“I thought was it was a make-up call for them.”
Video of Bedoya’s comment offered some important context, as he made the remark with a smile on his face, suggesting his words were a light-hearted dig at a friend.”
Altidore didn’t have the benefit of seeing video of Bedoya’s comment, and responded with a not-so-subtle criticism of his USMNT teammate.
The tweet has since been deleted, but not before Bedoya was able to exchange and olive branch to the TFC forward.
It's a shame quotes get taken out of context. All love man. Congrats on your goal and see you soon bro. https://t.co/jPMM5V0z9M
— Alejandro Bedoya (@AleBedoya17) March 12, 2017
The USMNT returns to action for World Cup qualifiers against Honduras on March 24 and Panama on March 28.
Goodness I hope I don’t see either of these guys with the USMNT again but sadly I expect to for awhile.
Ale said it as a joke and had no intentions of being a dig at him. Jozy didn’t even see Ale say it, he was told it and so he got mad. They texted and cleared it up and they’re both fine again. This is nothing
it’s a shame when these types of things are making headlines and not their play on the field. I seems like Bedoya is under the impression he’s getting a call up if you really parse the end of his tweet apart but i don’t think he’s a guaranteed call up. In my opinion, a lot of players have passed him on the depth chart but Bruce does like experience so that may win out at the end of the day!
Altidore responding with some deep-seated vehemence. Sounds like Bedoya has a reputation for this behind the scenes?
With all the time together on the Nats I think they’re buds (see Bedoya’s tweet), but they’re competitive.
I don’t dislike Bedoya, but dude really has no business being on the national team these days.
If Jozy didnt go down easy in the box, he wouldnt have gotten so butt hurt about this and wouldnt have taken to twitter to cry about someone on the opposite team saying he goes down easy. Hopefully neither of them get called into camp.
Call him up and talk it out not put it on social media.
SMH at this drama
When does bedoya make any headlines without his mouth
When the Eric Wynalda decides to make headlines about how his hairstyle translates to his ability on the pitch (that’s not hyperbole either – he actually did this).