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Tuesday, June 13, 2006
The day after is little better
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The smoke had barely settled in Gelsenkirchen before the Yanks were back in Hamburg Tuesday, and Bruce Arena met with the press.
Naturally, the likelihood of lineup changes for the Italy match topped the list of questions. He had some more sharp words for Beasley, and even cracked a joke or two. Here’s the MP3 file of his comments.
When asked whether the Italian match-fixing scandal was a distraction for the upcoming opponent, Arena scoffed. “They’re used to scandals, they’re playing right through the scandal, they’ll be fine. I think we need a scandal.”
Other than the scandalous way the Yanks played, that is.
No U.S. players were made available to talk to the media. I know I’ve said a lot before that Arena runs a tight ship, so get over it, but this is Mickey Mouse. The day after a hugely disappointing loss, and the players openly scolded, some by name, are muzzled. These aren’t college athletes whose every moves and utterances are calibrated by control-freak coaches who can revoke their scholarships. These are adult, professional athletes. And this is the World Cup.
It’s rich for Arena to suggest that if Beasley’s any kind of a man, he’ll admit he played poorly. Why can’t he be a bigger coach and let his players speak about the game, beyond the heat-of-the-moment quotes Tuesday that didn’t make anybody look good?
SI’s Grant Wahl has his own take on the debacle, and reveals that Beasley was kept away from the press in Hamburg for several days before the Czech game because he grumbled about not knowing Arena’s lineup plans for him. There shouldn’t be any mystery about that any longer.
Wahl also questions Arena’s sincerity on Tuesday when he said he would take all the blame for the loss, especially since he had just taken some of the same players to task, again: “That’s what he said, at least. Does he believe that? I doubt it. But was it something that he probably should have volunteered earlier? You bet.”
What Grant said.
South Korea came up with a big second half, taking advantage of a man advantage, and rallied to beat Togo 2-1. Dutch coaches seem to work wonders with Korean players. Last time it was Guus Hiddink, whose Aussies pulled off a magnificent win Tuesday. Now it’s Dick Advocaat who expertly pulled the strings after the African minnows took a 1-0 lead in the first half.
In Stuttgart, Switzerland held France to a 0-0 tie as the World Cup scoreless streak continued for Les Bleus. The dying minutes of the ‘98 final win over is the last time France scored a goal in this event. While Zidane still has some of the magic and Henry is superb, this isn’t a great French team. Where is the next generation of French players promised since they won it all eight years ago?
And surely the biggest question in France for coach Raymond Domenech will be: Où est Trézéguét? He never got off the bench, with Saha and Dhorasoo favored instead of the Juventus striker, and neither of them made much of an impression.
Even Brazil didn’t look all that swift in beating Croatia to open up its title defense, but the Balkan side is a rugged one and did some respectable attacking at times. Just not enough times.
Big blow for Mexico: Borgetti may be sidelined for the rest of the group stage with a thigh injury. There is a lot of firepower still there with Bravo, Zinha and Fonseca, but Borgetti’s experience and his danger in the air will be missed.
There will be no big screen BBC TV screenings in Liverpool and London for the rest of the World Cup: It got too rowdy.
