Commentary
Marcelo Balboa on Hex crunch time, U.S. complacency, implications of missing out
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Sep 29, 2017
(@ridgemax)
Marcelo Balboa has carved out a pretty busy life since retiring as a player in 2002. The former U.S. international (127 caps, 13 goals) works as an analyst on the Rapids regional broadcasts, in English, and provides commentary for the Spanish-language Univision channels on U.S. national team games and other selected assignments. He’s also head coach of the Rapids U-14 team.
He is sixth on the all-time U.S. list in appearances and during his national team career (1988-2000), he competed in three successful qualifying competitions that got the U.S. to a World Cup. For the first time since 1989, when it won its final qualifier in Trinidad & Tobago to earn a spot in the 1990 World Cup, the USA goes into its last two games against Panama and T&T with its fate undecided.
U.S. status heading into its last two Hexagonal qualifiers. “It’s crunch time. Who will step up?”
“After the first two games, you kind of knew it
was going to come down to the last two games. It is what it is. When you struggle at the beginning you’ve got to find a way to bounce back and the U.S. has bounced back, but unfortunately they
didn’t play well against Costa Rica and didn’t get the result they needed.
"Now it’s the same thing. Welcome to World Cup qualifying. Now the pressure’s really on.
It’s crunch time. Who will step up?”
Poor reaction once Costa Rica took the lead. ‘You had plenty of
time’
“I was just disappointed in the performance. I wasn’t expecting 2-0, not at home, not one bit. When you make simple, little defensive errors, you get in
trouble. You had plenty of time to bounce back against Costa Rica. Who really had a great performance? Who on the U.S. really took that team and led it? They didn’t have that.”
Complacency affecting the U.S. against Costa Rica. ‘A little bit of overconfidence.’
“I don’t think they were ready. Maybe there was a little bit of overconfidence because we had beaten them a few times.
“I go back to ’94. Colombia had beaten us seven
times in a row [actually six], I believe it was, before we played in the World Cup, and we surprised them. I look at it that way. You beat a few team a few times and you think, ‘It’s not
going to be that hard.’
“Costa Rica, give them credit. They had a good plan, they stuck to it and they capitalized on the mistakes. When a forward like [Marco] Urena
got a chance, he buried it, and that’s his job. I knew he was good, I didn’t know he was that good. He surprised me, I’ll be honest with you."
The last two qualifiers. “If Panama finds a way to get a result … “
“You play Panama in
Orlando, where it’s hot and humid, like it is in Panama. If Panama finds a way to get a result, holy crap. Now you’re playing for your life against Trinidad in Trinidad.
“We’ll see who he calls in and we’ll see who steps up. This is where the veteran guys – the Michael Bradleys, the Jozy Altidores, the Tim Howards, the Geoff Camerons –
they have to step up.”
What missing the World Cup would mean. “A crushing blow.”
“That’s a great question and I couldn’t tell you, because it’s been so long since we didn’t.
We’re so used to qualifying and being in the World Cup and being one of the top two in Concacaf, this is a weird situation for everybody.
“It’s not the image we want and
what we’ve been building in U.S. Soccer for the past 30 years, trying to put American soccer on the map. To have a hiccup like this would be a crushing blow.”
Implications of failure on MLS. ‘There will be questions.’
“For me, the biggest thing is people are
going to question MLS. They’re not going to question the national team. They’re going to question whether some of these players regressed in MLS and that’s why they didn’t
qualify.
"For MLS, does it mean, ‘These guys are playing in MLS, they didn’t qualify for the World Cup, does that mean the level has dropped?’ Is the MLS level not good
enough?’ That’s going to be questioned. Should the players on the national team be in Europe? There will be questions about whether MLS is competitive enough for players at the
national-team level.”
How MLS has helped other Concacaf nations. ‘No one’s
scared’
“I think we’ve helped every other country, because no one’s scared about Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, because they see them
day in and day out and playing against them every weekend. They know how to play them, so the intimidation factor went out the window.”
Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Matching the intensity of Concacaf rivals. ‘It’s like a final.’
“Let’s be honest: any time
you play the United States, there’s extra motivation and any time you play Mexico, there’s extra motivation. Everybody in Concacaf wants to beat the United States. So you look at the
[U.S.] players and you ask: Were they ready to beat Costa Rica at home? Every time we played Mexico, we wanted to beat Mexico and they wanted to beat us. It’s that rivalry.
“So for the other Concacaf teams, the games against the United States and Mexico are their biggest games of the year. Any time you play the United States, even if it’s a friendly,
it’s like a final.”
What the team needs in the last two games. ‘The national team is against the
ropes.’
“You have to have a leader on that team, someone who’s going to step up and bite, scratch and yell. Like a boxer; he can only take so many punches
before he has to fight back or he gets knocked out. The national team is against the ropes and has been punched twice now. Costa Rica hit ‘em pretty hard and even Honduras hit ‘em pretty
hard.
“So now, will they bounce back? Will they fight back against Panama and Trinidad? That’s going to be the important part.”
I believe Lalas covered much of the same, in a more bombastic way. Marcelo is a great guy and was a quality defender for us. For me, we have lacked real field leadership for several years. I know the stated Arena/USSF goal is to get to Russia and that's all well and good, but before then we need an infusion of different. This preliminary run up will not get us out of group.
Marcello brought up a good point questioning the quality of the MLS. I realize in his position he needs to watch his criticism but I'm sue, in private, he would have a lot more to say. Like the foreign players we bring in to spruce up the MLS quality level, we need to start thinking about bringing in good coaches or rather great coaches. Atlanta United brought in the former Barcelona coach(I"m hoping for big SA interview with him and some of his players about what they are learning) which was an excellent move, for he will bring in a higher level of thinking and experience. Nick Devarese had suggested for the league to approach Ancelloti who just got fired from Bayern. He was not only a good player for AC Milan but also has had great coaching experience. Bringing in good quality coaches from abroad would be another input in building a good soccer DNA in America. After Man City, the USSF should approach Guardiola to come. This would all benefit the league here. This is much better than having some former MLS player whose attained some rediculous USSF coaching license to coach, at best let him become an assistant to these types of coaches, for he'll much more from them than from some USSF coaching course. THe difference is that as an assistant he'll learn more of the finer details of the game.....
Marcello brought up a good point questioning the quality of the MLS. I realize in his position he needs to watch his criticism but I'm sue, in private, he would have a lot more to say. Like the foreign players we bring in to spruce up the MLS quality level, we need to start thinking about bringing in good coaches or rather great coaches. Atlanta United brought in the former Barcelona coach(I"m hoping for big SA interview with him and some of his players about what they are learning) which was an excellent move, for he will bring in a higher level of thinking and experience. Nick Devarese had suggested for the league to approach Ancelloti who just got fired from Bayern. He was not only a good player for AC Milan but also has had great coaching experience. Bringing in good quality coaches from abroad would be another input in building a good soccer DNA in America. After Man City, the USSF should approach Guardiola to come. This would all benefit the league here. This is much better than having some former MLS player whose attained some rediculous USSF coaching license to coach, at best let him become an assistant to these types of coaches, for he'll much more from them than from some USSF coaching course. THe difference is that as an assistant he'll learn more of the finer details of the game.....
Apparently their is a glitch in this new format for my comment is repeated.....
No problem. It is to the point and worth repeating, altho I doubt that Guardiola would come here.
How is bringing in great coaches to coach MLS teams (who's paying their salaries btw?) going to fix problems with our developmental system?
Will Orlando City FC be better than Red Bull New York in bringing more of the USMNT fans into the stadium? or will we see more Panama fans attending the game? If the US fails to qualify, US soccer will share the blame for the places they chose for World Cup qualifiers.
Orlando is a ridiculous choice of venue for this critical match. Better a venue in a cooler climate, more favorable to the US. And possibly a venue with fewer people who immigrated from CONCACAF countries. Wouldn't it be nice for once to see the crowd favorable to the USMNT at a Hex qualifier in the US.
But I guess that money from gate receipts wins out over actually qualifiying for the World Cup? Orlando????? With all due respect to people living in the Orlando area, a MIND-BLOWING choice of venue. Sunil? Are you on auto-pilot?
MLS is good enough to make Costa Rica and other COCACAF teams better but, not the U.S. ? How does that work?
The USMNT has played a little too soft lately I'm my opinion. I have also felt that, it is a mistake playing Panama in Florida. Portland or Seattle would have been a better choice. They really need to win their last home game since they have already lost two home matches!
MLS as it relates to USMNT is a knotty problem. The players brought into MLS from CONCACAF countries often become key contributors to their MLS teams. By contrast, MLS does not provide the environment to develop elite American players. The key word is ELITE. Yes, MLS players are selected for USMNT, but few, if any, belong in the elite category capable of playing regularly on top-ranked national teams. Compared to the European leagues, MLS play is helter-skelter and less technical, so Schweinsteiger, Pirlo and Villa (to name a few) can step onto an MLS pitch and have an immediate impact on a slower and less technical game to which they have been previously accustomed. Their presence, too, means fewer opportunities for Americans to play in the highest level US-Canadian pro league.
Once again, I do not want to get into the hodge-podge US player development non-process beneath MLS. We have a long, long way to go before the US has a true system to develop top-level players.
Time to update your rhetoric. Pirlo can't get off the bench at NYCFC.