Did I just learn why the negotiations over the collective bargaining agreement are so
contentious? Did I find out just how disrespected the Vietnam league is? Or did I discover that MLS
doesn't think he's worth it? There is plenty to learn from the professional path taken by Lee
Nguyen, but at present, all I have are questions.
TEN DAYS IN JOHANNESBURG: SPECTACLE v REALITY
Foreign children run amok in the tiny square that sits out front of my hotel, ringed with
upscale restaurants and shops, and within the security gates that make the Truman Show-ed
blocks of the artificially perverse Melrose Arch in Johannesburg safe for such shenanigans.
Do FIFA and its international tournaments really make a difference for the countries that host
them? Could they? Should they? And what responsibility must the host country take on? What if
instead of leftover stadiums host nations received fully integrated, brand new transportation
systems? Will that be what South Africa reaps beyond profits for those whose pockets are already
full?
In the last few years, I've spoken with Frank Dell'apa, Ray Hudson, Grant Wahl, Ives Galarcep,
Jack Bell, Bruce McGuire, Jeff Carlisle, Buzz Carrick, Mitch Peacock, Robert Abramowitz, Beau Dure,
and others, but it's been a while since I sat down with one of the flashlight bearers in this
little wilderness to get their story.
After hearing from a few people about the poor sound quality of the interviews on last week's
Waiting For Gaetjens podcast (sorry about that), I figured I'd transcribe the two interviews and
post them here. I normally wouldn't do this I hate the whole, I write the same thing that I Twitter
that I podcast that I Facebook, etc, etc, etc but I think Hugo Salcedo in particular offers the
most experienced knowledge of the movement of American youth players to Mexican club teams, while
Goal.
caught in the grip of the (soccer) city madness
-
A new Azteca. That's what it felt like the beehive atmosphere, the passion, the patriotism
albeit without the built-in American worry of being drenched with beer and who knows what else.
Though I'd take that worry for the game to have been U.
I think even less than 24 hours after the game, you've read enough about USMNT v England. And
really, if you're reading this website, you don't need someone else to tell you what you saw.
So simply here to help take you there...
Overheard in Rustenburg... "Don't call it a comeback. Or a miracle.
I think even less than 24 hours after the game, you've read enough about USMNT v England. And
really, if you're reading this website, you don't need someone else to tell you what you saw.
So simply here to help take you there...
Overheard in Rustenburg... "Don't call it a comeback. Or a miracle.
"Pity comes too late, turn around and face your fate: An eternity of this before your eyes!"
Last Saturday's draw felt like a win. Yesterday's felt like a loss, which isn't to take anything
away from the unbelievable comeback orchestrated by the USMNT against Slovenia.
It's just to say that when, after a wonderful date, a date that would go down as one of the
best, a mask removed reveals scars.
