The June soccer marathon is a week old, and I can say I’ve survived, just barely.
Between work and family commitments, I’ve seen all or parts of a dozen games on TV in the past five days: U.S. Cup ’96 on ABC and Telemundo (U.S. Soccer’s new Spanish-language network), MLS on ESPN, ESPN2, Univision and SportsSouth and Euro ’96 on RTP, the Portuguese network, and Azteca Television out of Mexico, both available on satellite.
The contrast between these competitions has been remarkable.
MLS games have been wide-open affairs, chock-full of goals. Indeed, the attacking spirit that most MLS teams have adopted is what has made the new league such a surprising hit. Of all the games I saw this past week, the most entertaining was an MLS game: New England vs. Los Angeles, featuring two tremendous goals by the Galaxy’s Cobi Jones and Mark Semioli.
After watching MLS all spring, I find it increasingly difficult to swallow the defensive posture most teams have taken at Euro ’96. It’s easy to see why there have been so few goals scored at Euro ’96: nine in the first six games vs. 40 in seven MLS games this past week.
Most teams always have six or more players behind the ball — the Scots, for that matter, seemed to have six players camped in the six-yard box in an attempt to hold off the favored Dutch — with two or three players swarming the ball handler at almost every possession.
Somewhere in between were the two U.S. Cup games. To be sure, USA-Ireland and, to a lesser extent, Mexico-Bolivia were more exciting than the Euro ’96 games, but they were ultimately disappointing. All four coaches are using the tournament to experiment with tactics and personnel, so play has suffered.
by Soccer America Managing Editor Paul Kennedy