Posted on 09/05/2017 9:54:14 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
No es como comienza, sino como termina.
"It is not how it begins, but how it ends." That's the rallying cry broadcast to their fans and the wider world by FENAFUTH, the Honduran soccer federation, this week via its Twitter account, ahead of a simply enormous World Cup qualifying clash with the United States that figures to have a huge influence on which of the two nations will reach Russia 2018.
This is the very definition of a "six-pointer," a match that both sides need to win, but neither can afford to lose. Los Catrachos and their yanqui visitors sit deadlocked in third place in the CONCACAF Hexagonal standings on 8 points apiece, separated only by the hefty goal-differential advantage the US national team built with their 6-0 thrashing of Honduras in San Jose, California back in March.
Tuesday's hosts may fancy their chances at revenge, given that they've turned San Pedro Sula into one of CONCACAF's most imposing away locales. A muggy afternoon kickoff under the tropical sun will crank the heat index up towards the triple-digits in Fahrenheit terms, while past occasions have seen a long, overgrown playing surface and large, loud crowds.
(Excerpt) Read more at lagalaxy.com ...
“There is not a “street soccer” cultures”
This can’t be stressed enough, I think.
“HOWEVER, I am NOT qualified to coach those very good players who have a real chance to go to the highest levels (for instance, there is no way that I can demonstrate how to drive a curving ball over a wall in a set piece.) In Europe, such players have multiple and convenient opportunities to train with low level pros and be coached by ex-pros, of which there are thousands. In the US, there is just not that pool of smart experienced ex-pros to coach and MENTOR those players on the cusp”
This is where I point the finger at the MLS and especially US Soccer. You’re absolutely right about how this is handled in Europe - almost entirely through the (professional) club system they all have set up. And while maybe we can’t be expected to be that far along in this area yet, we should definitely be better than we are in this area by now. I can only shake my head when I hear of MLS academy teams getting beat by some independent, local academy. US Soccer should absolutely be ensuring that the best players get to the MLS academies. Yet this clearly doensn’t happen.
Give me the heart and hustle of a Brian McBride all day long. Bruce needs to spark some of the 90's magic when our boys beat the turf and took on the world - it was grit over finesse, chasing down every ball, digging deep and leaving it all on the field. Bruce, let's get that mojo back in the team. No more primadonnas, no euro training programs, we go all-American, work hard, train hard, win big. we will see some of that Jordan Morris production today - this guy is hungry! Let's go USMNT!
Problem is, this isn't enough to make good players great. It also kills creativity.
I believe the soccer academy market is so flooded with ex-pros and "certified coaches" I'm seeing class-A and B coaches running u-9 teams! Crazy.
However this highlights a major contradiction in US Soccer: I suspect we spend many times more on training and development than most countries, yet we struggle to produce world class talent. Like oldplayer, I love the game and played/coached many years. The last decade has been bad for US Soccer. I expected more from Sunil and the leadership team. I had high hopes for Boca, but I have not seen any significant change in our youth system. While the sport is growing in numbers, we struggle with quality. Youth drop-off rates have not changed -- girls bail at age 9-10. Boys hit another plunge at 17. Perhaps I am wrong here.
And let’s no forget the current impact that the high cost of college tuition (and the belief that everyone has to go to college) has on people as well.
Many of those academies are money making schemes by these coaches that lure middle and upper-middle class kids in with inflated promises of “exposure” to college coaches/scholarship money.
“Give us $2,000 now to join our academy and you’ll save tens of thousands later when junior gets that scholarship to Duke/UCLA/etc.”
Part of the problem is that our country is BIG. We have MLS teams coast to coast, but not “just down the street” for most of our kids. Clint Dempsey and his parents are the very rare exception of a kid from a rural area getting to learn big time soccer.
I am currently coaching a 16-year old girl with exceptional speed and talent whose parents are faced with the same three hour drive that Dempsey’s folks faced. They just can’t make it happen, so I am filling in. We know that this arrangement is probably only good enough to get her a decent college scholarship. She is an exceptional prospect, one of three or four I have seen up close in 45 years of coaching. She is being shunted aside because of no other practical options. If she lived in Chelsea or Reading or Cardiff or London, she’d have all the opportunity in the world. You can multiply this situation by many thousands across the country to see the scope of the problem.
By the way, I don’t charge kids for coaching or advice. (Perhaps you get what you pay for!) I’m retired with the time and physical ability to still coach for the love of the game. Our rural high school plays metro schools loaded with players from private elite leagues. It’s fun to win some of those games with kids who couldn’t even kick the ball two years earlier. Some kids come from other sports and make a real contribution just from grit and toughness.
I have told many parents if their plan is to have junior earn a college scholarship, a better plan is to stop the academy league and save that money for tuition.
We need more like oldplayer that give back for the love of the game.
“....metro schools loaded with players from private elite leagues. It’s fun to win some of those games”
I bet! And, certainly not taking anything away from your team’s effort (or your coaching!), but I’m sure a good number of those kids from the elite leagues suffer from just those problems we’ve being talking about today (over-coaching, no “street ball”, no commitment, etc.).
Treptower Park and Plänterwald Bicycle Ride 1/2
Treptower Park and Plänterwald Bicycle Ride 2/2
Incessant horns remind me of the South Africa World Cup.
Down 1-0.
They’re toast.
No es como comienza, sino como termina.
Maybe those fag jerseys weren’t such a great idea.
puto
Honduras looks taller on average by half a head.
Noticed the Honduran substitute that just came on has a first name of “Boniek”. Must be named after the great Polish player.
Yay Goal!
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