With J Hutcherson -- For me, the big takeaway moment from last night's All-Star Game was whether it was Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez getting his debut with Manchester United or Landon Donovan entering the game in the 63rd minute that got the biggest response from the Reliant Stadium crowd. Pick one, because the bigger point still holds. The next cycle of the USA - Mexico rivalry should be something.
Hernandez is the new hope for Mexico. The player who stepped up at World Cup level to justify the faith United had already put in him. Hernandez should be the star for Mexico over the next four years, the player other teams struggle to stop.
USA - Brazil on August 10th at new Giants Stadium and Mexico - Spain at Azteca the next day. Think of it as the reintroduction moment for the biggest clubs in CONCACAF. A statement of purpose for the next cycle.
Why so soon? The 2011 Gold Cup winner advances to the 2013 Confederations Cup. There's a narrow window to figure out new players and tactics to start the improvement process over the last World Cup cycle. Both teams don't have the luxury of waiting. So the friendlies start soon, with no layoff like the United States had after the 2006 World Cup ended.
For both teams, it also helps build on the increased profile they earned in South Africa. Though that sounds ridiculous with Mexico - a country where soccer is the sport and a team that remains the single biggest draw in the United States - Chicharito at Manchester United is huge. So is Rafael Marquez leaving another of the World's giants, joining the New York Red Bulls from Barcelona.
The point of all of this is simple. The next level for the biggest rivalry in CONCACAF. The players tell the story, and their club opportunities and chances for success push up the National Team rivalry. Since it's one already capable of filing stadiums and spiking ratings in both countries, this is serious business. The next big stage is the Rose Bowl on June 25th, 2011 when the draw should setup these teams facing each other in the final.
Moving on, the talk of extra goals aside Seattle got the job done in their first opportunity at CONCACAF level as a member of Major League Soccer. As coach Sigi Schmid said, they didn't give up a goal. Understanding away goals is one thing - actually preventing one or more is quite another. Seattle played like a team that knew precisely what was at stake. In that situation, they should be very proud of their performance. So should Toronto, who got their own 1-0 result on Tuesday at BMO Field.
Both got the professional result, an indicator of how they're approaching the tournament alongside an understanding of how it differs from League play. That's no knock against the Los Angeles Galaxy. They had enough on the field to expect to beat a lower division team. It didn't work on the night, plain and simple.
Feel free to try to turn that Galaxy loss into a broader critique, but it's not going to get you very far. They could've fielded an Open Cup-style team and expected to grind out a result. Instead, they went with a transitional lineup that caused them problems over those 90 minutes. That's also a professional result, even if it didn't go their way.
Comments, questions, solutions to problems that have yet to present themselves. Please, tell me all about it.
