August 25, 2005
MLS Officials, Not Players,
Responsible for Madrid Disgrace
As the MLS Select team got pounded, 5-0, by the galacticos
of Real Madrid on Tuesday, I couldn’t help but
think of it as a good thing. Maybe now the officials
responsible will start to realize that sending a random
group of players, of whom most have rarely been on a
field together, on a meaningless trip to Europe is not
such a good idea after all. I mean, did you really expect
this selection of players from 12 different teams to
steal a draw, let alone a win, from the well-oiled Real
scoring machine?
Sure it could have been a great day for American soccer.
Imagine our guys had played fearlessly, taking players
on and showing 60,000 Spaniards what a great league
they play in. Even if they had lost by a goal or two,
they could have still earned a lot of respect in one
of the world’s most soccer-loving countries. Here’s
what’s wrong with that sentence, though. The way
the League’s best were outplayed by their world-class
opposition left absolutely no doubt that there was never
even the slightest chance of competing with Real Madrid
in the first place. MLS officials should have known
that.
So instead of great advertising for American soccer,
what they got was the League’s top goalkeeper,
Matt Reis, conceding 4 goals in one match and an intimidated
Landon Donovan getting swallowed up by the opposing
backline. All the blame should not be on these two,
however, as none of the MLS players seemed capable of
threatening the Spanish giants at any point. To be fair,
Frankie Hejduk showed a lot of activity and Jeff Cunningham
actually took on defenders a few times, but it just
takes a hell of a lot more to earn the respect of Beckham,
Zidane and Ronaldo, let alone their fans.
MLS has quite a few players of international caliber,
no doubt. But sending a random selection of those players
on a trip to take on Real Madrid in the middle of a
stressful season, with hardly any time to practice together,
is one thing and one thing only—pure madness.
With a significant gap in quality already obvious, MLS
officials had to know that the circumstances would make
it absolutely impossible for their players to survive
in front of a hostile Bernabeu crowd. Yet, as many times
before, the wrong decision was made, and what was planned
as a great day for American soccer turned out to be
the nightmare that any true expert could have easily
predicted beforehand.
In addition to the poor showing for MLS, the game
in Spain now forces several of its teams to do without
some of their key contributors in important upcoming
matches. Since open criticism of the League’s
officials is punished with severe fines, we can only
imagine what Peter Nowak must be thinking as his team
tries to advance to the semifinals of the U.S. Open
Cup without the services of Nick Rimando and Jaime Moreno.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Wizards will be without two
of their key defenders, Jose Burciaga and Jimmy Conrad,
and four more quarterfinalists will each be missing
one player due to the pseudo high-profile battle on
the other side of the Atlantic.
I just can’t believe MLS is still wasting time
and money on completely irrelevant friendlies instead
of finally making a major effort to become part of truly
prestigious competitions, such as the Copa Libertadores.
I mean, think about it. A team like DC United, with
its players knowing each other’s runs and passes
by heart, visiting Boca Juniors and coming up with a
hard-earned 2-2 draw. Now think of the League’s
Select team traveling to Spain and getting clobbered,
5-0, by European giants Real Madrid. What will the future
look like, MLS? .
Gunnar Berndt, Contributing Editor, 90:00™
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