Compelling Soccer

Youth Served

-I checked out the opening game of the Under 20 World Cup yesterday, for no other reason than to see the future Soca Warriors go at it against Egypt's under 20 team. In theory your under 20 team doing well and making it this far, there are less teams in the Under 20 Cup than the actual World Cup, should be indicative of a bright future. It's not a moment too soon for Trinidad, who has gotten very old, very quickly and haven't found suitable replacements for the likes of Dwight Yorke, Stern John and Russell Latapy, or the quickly declining Dennis Lawrence.

The downside for Trinidad is that this game didn't provide much optimism in that department. I came away impressed with one player, Southampton's Jake Thomson, who looked to be one of the best players on the field. He was at RB, but he frequently pushed up the wing and was threatening while doing it. Thomson was able to generate chances for his side, created the lone goal with a brilliant pass through the legs of a defender after drawing nearly the entire Egyptian back line to him. He also managed to beat players one on one along the wing. The performance was Carlos Edwards-esque and makes me wonder what havoc the two could do if paired together.

Unfortunately, Edwards himself is 31 and likely will be on the downside by next qualifying. That highlights a big problem for the Soca Warriors going forward. This group may well have to be the replacement for the current squad and not a supplement. Some other players had moments, namely Khaleem Hyland (though he's already playing for the top side) and goalie Glenroy Samuel did his best to keep the squad in it with some brilliant saves. Goalie isn't a problem for Trinidad though, so it maybe a while before Samuel gets the call. Jean Rochford got the goal, but again, that was more Thomson than him. I suppose he deserves credit for finishing; when afforded the same opportunity in the second half substitute Juma Clarence put his chance off the post.

I'll be curious to check them out in their upcoming games, though they maybe just as brutal facing Italy and Paraguay next. Optimism can't be running high. But hey, being there is always better than not being there.

Also, under 20... I'm 26. It started when I was in college, but it's getting worse now. I'm at the age where a majority of the athletes are younger than I am. Mentally, that hasn't really processed yet. I watched all those kids yesterday but still didn't think of them as kids compared to me. I'm dreading the day the realization truly, truly hits.

DC> Marathon, Toluca>>>>? DC

So after openly questioning them because of their loss to a team that got smoked 7-0, I got to see DC United face off against Marathon Thursday night. And you know what? DC didn't look half bad, which does lead me to wonder how the heck Marathon did anything in this tournament thus far. They look like absolute garbage. On the other hand, they are a Honduran side and Honduras is in the middle of major political turmoil. It could be affecting them.

As for the game, I was in and out in the first half, but the second was DC domination. They scored three goals and could have three more, doing well with their possession. I would have loved to see more of it, but as I've said in the past, MLS teams seem to have an aversion to slower, patient, possession soccer. They weren't threatened often and took it to Marathon, showing they were the better team. Such efforts bode well for them as they are now up by six on goal differential. That has a great chance of being increased as Marathon sees Toluca next and United will face San Juan Jabloteh at home. One would expect at least a 2-0 victory for DC and Marathon will be lucky to get a point against a Toluca side that has already shown their class over them.

The downside of this one came late, as it degenerated into a dirty affair, with yellows and a red flying. There was one really poor challenge into a United midfielder's knee, spikes up, which got a yellow and probably deserved a red. DC's Jaimie Moreno later on threw an elbow which may or may not have made contact with it's intended target. Whether or not it did, it was right in front of the ref and he was rightly sent off, albeit after some deliberation. Another poor challenge led to an elbow to the head on a DC player that was whistled for a foul but no card was shown. Overall, Marathon's 10-0 combined spankings at the hands of Toluca and DC probably provoked a bit of frustration, which is unfortunate since you never want to see those types of plays lead to injury.

So DC did what they had to; they showed they were a better side than Marathon. It's exactly what MLS needs, to consistently outplay the non Mexican league teams in these tournaments.

Race Fail

-As I mentioned a few days ago, I've been a fan of El Hadji Diouf. But as it's become clearer and clearer that his charges of racism last weekend are false, I would hope some action is taken. Racism is a serious charge and anytime it's bandied about needlessly it makes it that much harder for real cases to be punished. As is there is a definite reluctance to accept rather overtly race driven antics continue to exist in society, (YOU LIE!) so when someone makes a claim that's fraudulent it gives all of the naysayers room to crow about how racism is nothing more than a crutch that minorities hold onto to play against white people at opportune times. That's not what is needed in these times. Racism remains a real problem and anything that hampers the efforts to stifle it as much as possible should receive some sort of action. Lying about it or wildly exaggerating the claims can prove quite detrimental to that effort, akin to the boy who cried wolf.

Is it possible Diouf was the victim of some racial slurs? Wouldn't surprise me for a second. But at this point it's water under the bridge when you throw out accusations of bananas being hurled at you. That exaggeration overshadows everything. And when they are pretty much shown to be false, then that becomes the only thing that matters.

So unless something dramatic changes here, I would hope that eventual action is taken against the Blackburn forward. Minority athletes can face an uphill battle by themselves, they don't need one of their own hurling objects that may or may not exist down at them as well.