Rob Gentry
Arlington, Va.
I’m having some trouble finding any information about the CONCACAF tournaments for league and cup winners from the member nations. I realize that these have almost no tradition in the U.S., but do you have any information about them?
Ridge Mahoney and Paul Kennedy: Believe it or not, CONCACAF has yet to conclude the 1995-96 tournaments. It stages a competition for league champions and cup champions, but scheduling problems have caused the delay.
In the 1995-96 tournament, Necaxa and Cruz Azul of Mexico are through to the final four, along with Comunicaciones of Guatemala. The fourth team has yet to be determined. The CONCACAF bracket has the winner of the series between Transvaal of Surinam and the New York Fever (the old A-League team) facing the Seattle Sounders. The finals are to be hosted by Comunicaciones in June.
For more information, call CONCACAF: (212) 308-0044
Also, do you know which tourney D.C. United will play in, since they won both titles in the U.S. last year, and then who would play in the other? Who and when will they play?
RM & PK: United wishes to play in both, but probably won’t be able to because of scheduling. CONCACAF wants to hold an eight-team tournament next fall in Washington, with three teams from North America, three from Central America, and two from the Caribbean. A Meeting is scheduled for March 15 in Guatemala City.
Finally, is there going to be some rhyme or reason to the selection of MLS teams to play in the U.S. Open Cup 97, for instance three highest points at mid-season plus D.C. United as defending champs?
RM: Sorry, at this time, MLS has not committed its teams to playing in the U.S. Open Cup. Theoretically, all 10 teams would be included, but MLS has not revealed its plans.
Bob Pankratz
Fenton, Mo.
As official timekeeper, how much discretion does the referee have in determining the end of a half or the end of a game? I can’t recall a game ending in the middle of a scoring threat, or during a corner kick… it seems they always wait until the ball has been booted out to the middle third of the playing field. Does this mean a referee keeps only a “soft” time, as a guide, unlike other sports that use a dictatorial stadium clock?
Duncan Irving: Brazil-Sweden in World Cup `78. Referee Clive Thomas blew for fulltime just as Zico was putting the ball in the back of the net. Referees are supposed to use their discretion regarding blowing for time, but “the Book” on this occasion did not.
Nor did French referee Michel Vautrot of the Italia `90 semifinal, whose first half of overtime between the host and Argentina clocked around 25 minutes —
could it have been the we-play-until-the-home-team-scores factor coming in to play?
So yes, it’s a soft clock, which, like most soft things, is easily open to abuse. To counter this, in Portugal, the fourth official flashes an illuminated sign, informing all present the amount of additional stoppage time.
Keith Copeland
Lakewood, Colo.
What Is the possibility of a World Cup qualifying match being played in Denver? Bringing sea-level Central American teams to Mile-High stadium, particularly if the weather is cool, say late fall, could be a real advantage to the U.S. In addition, Mile High is a great facility, and Denver is central to the U.S. and has low air-fares to most cities. Also, Denver has only hosted two exhibition games against low-interest teams, Uruguay and Scotland, drawing 32,000 and 20,000. Shouldn’t U.S. Soccer spread some of these games around, rather than continually going back to the same places all the time? The recent U.S. vs. Mexico attendance of 31,000 in Los Angeles should tell them something. When these games are rare and special, the locals will be inspired to attend. It would be good for soccer in the U.S. for places like Denver, or even Salt Lake City, to host a game and it sure wouldn’t hurt the Rapids either.
Ridge Mahoney: Not much chance, Keith, because of the Rapids’ poor MLS attendance and the scheduling. The U.S. would only have an advantage if its players could train there for 10 days or more, which is difficult during the MLS season, and the weather is too cold for anybody in early spring and late fall.
Also, Mile High is a much bigger stadium than U.S. Soccer wants. The biggest game would be U.S-Mexico, and there are more than 200,000 Mexican-Americans living in the Denver area. And, every time I look up air fares to Denver, they aren’t cheap in the summer.
Eric Adams
San Mateo, Calif.
The U.S. soccer team — bigger determent: lack of one-touch skill or poor defense? I would like your thoughts.
Mike Woitalla: Skill is everything. You can’t have a good defense in modern soccer if you don’t have skillful defenders. The United States needs more defenders who can attack, or at least hit good passes to teammates, after they win the ball.
What good is winning the ball if you return it to the other team?
If I were Steve Sampson, I would call up a player like the L.A. Galaxy’s Danny Pena, who defends fiercely, but possesses great skill as well.
Eric Oddo
Wilmette, Ill.
Why does MLS not pay transfer fees for domestic players? That’s so stupid! A Second Division club gets a great player, then loses him and doesn’t even get money. All other countries pay. Do MLS teams pay money for a player from another MLS team? I hope they are allowed to.
Ridge Mahoney: Under the MLS agreement with the USISL/A-League, MLS can obtain lower-division players by paying a fixed amount for all such transactions. Last year, it paid about $250,000 to have access to USISL players; this year, it will pay about $500,000 for all loans and transfers with A-League or USISL teams. The exact compensation amounts are determined by the A-League and USISL. A player on loan for a couple of weekends might not merit any payment, whereas a player who moves into an MLS starting spot and signs an MLS contract would command a significant fee. So MLS is not paying a team directly, but a team would eventually receive some compensation.
Most MLS players are traded, not bought and sold, as is the case in most American pro sports transactions. Instead of cash, a deal often includes “future considerations” if the teams can’t agree on players, draft picks, etc.
David Coughlan
Riverview, New Brunswick
I have Two questions:
#1 — Why do we not encourage our players, especially at a young age to “take players on”? I find this one of the biggest differences between North American and International soccer.
#2 — What role will technology play in developing both the player and coach in the future?
Paul Kennedy: #1 — I don’t think it’s a matter of not encouraging players to take other players on. I believe the fact that most players never get the chance to play on their own with a few friends, as has been the historical development of players abroad, really hinders them. Yes, millions of kids are playing soccer in North America. But all too few of them are playing spontaneously, where they learn little tricks and come to love beating opponents with their new moves.
#2 — The use of computer technology to analyze team and individual play is becoming much more common. Coaches now have access to computer information almost instantaneously. All you have to look at is shots of coaches on the sidelines with their computers to know it is being used. How effective it is remains to be seen. It may spot meaningful trends, but it can only lead to greater coaching influence.
Brian Smith
Fort Calhoun, Neb.
I really like the trades and acquisitions that the Kansas City Wiz has made in the offseason. Having Steve Pittman and Richard Gough is really going to strengthen the defense. Also, although trading Mike Sorber hurts because I really liked him, it gets Matt McKeon into the midfield and Damian Silvera could work nice on the outside. What do you think of these players? Where do you think they will play? What are the Wiz’s chances?
Ridge Mahoney: Right now, the WIZARDS are the No. 2 team on paper in the West behind Los Angeles. They’ve made some good moves. McKeon is a bit cumbersome and temperamental, but has some talent. I like Silvera, but I don’t know if he’ll start.
Mike Gyomber
Wyomissing, Pa.
Where is the Jules Rimet trophy today?
Duncan Irving: Brazil won it for the third time in 1970 and was allowed sole possession. The original trophy was later stolen — probably melted down — and disappeared. The replica is with the CBF.
Tom Weidner
Mission Viejo, Calif.
I saw somewhere that there was a world-wide viewing audience of about 250 million for this most recent Super Bowl. I recall seeing something about a world-wide viewing audience of about 2 billion for the final game of the 1994 World Cup. Are these figures accurate? How do they determine world-wide viewing audience figures?
Ridge Mahoney: FIFA and its sponsors compile the viewing audiences from various countries and parts of the world to come up with an aggregate figure, but a lot of foreign countries don’t have the technology to accurately compute such figures. I don’t really trust those numbers generated in the U.S. either, since they are tallied from an extremely small sampling of the audience. In many foreign countries, there are far fewer televisions, but large groups of people often watch a single television set or large-screen. Example: U.S. Soccer stated its match with China would be watched by an audience of 500 million in China, which is roughly one-half of that nation’s populations. There are far fewer than 500 million TV sets in China, so they must calculate an average of how many people watch a TV set for a major sporting event and extrapolate the figures. So, I consider those figures a reasonable guess.