U.s. To Host 2016 Copa America

[CatNYC]

Jeez. I ended up really torn while watching. At times I wanted Chile, and at other times Argentina. What a rough way to go out.

I was rooting for Chile again this year because I still adore Claudio Bravo, because they had to defend their title so soon after winning their first one, and because they did not have the home field advantage so by winning again they could prove they are the real deal.

I still would have cheered loudly for Argentina (especially Messi) if they had won. He is so amazing to watch and I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to see him play in person.

I just don't want it to end this way.

 

[mgarbowski]

Yeah, and now Aguero and Mascherano have followed him with reports that Di Maria, Lavezzi, Biglia and Higuain will too... Something's clearly not right in the Argentine camp.

Apparently the Argentine FA is a mess, so much so that FIFA is taking over.

 

[Keith Putnam]

He is so amazing to watch and I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to see him play in person.

I just don't want it to end this way.

Agreed. I really appreciate that I got to see Messi play in person, even if it was a poor match for him. But I'd hate to think I wound up seeing his final international match.

I have to think that after some time to cool down from the loss, and when his issues with the AFA come to some sort of resolution, he'll feel compelled to at least give one more World Cup a try.

 

[gbservis]

I feel bad for Messi. But at the same time it's always hard to feel bad for the best player in the world.

In most cases I would agree but this ones a bit different. The guy is an incredible talent, the best in the world and easily one of the best ever yet he gets no respect in his home country. Practically the whole country takes a but what have you done for me attitude towards him regardless of what he accomplishes at the club level. Add in the fact that he lives in the shadow of a coke head, ego maniac, cheater that accomplished less than half of what Messi has at the club level yet is still considered the greatest of all time in Argentina. Oh and Maradona still needs so much attention that comes out before every major tournament to throw Messi under the bus with quotes like: Messi will never win, Messi is not mentally strong enough the lead the country to victory. So much for supporting the next generation. Should we start taking bets as to how long it will take for Maradona to come out in the press and completely trash Messi for this defeat, or has it already happened?

If it's true that he's done I don't blame him. He would probably be better off just staying in Spain and being adored for the rest of his life. Or ideally leaving Spain for a few years to play for a certain team in NYC and then going back to retire in Spain.

 

[Ulrich]

Funny how pundits always say the USMNT is the most fit team at every tournament, with an emphasis on their scientific training methods, and then we see Chile run around non-stop hounding the opponent with serious effect - it's like 3 of them always collapsed on whomever had the ball. And then when they won it back the transition going forward was just as quick. The USMNT never has had the same spring in their step over 90.

 

[gbservis]

Funny how pundits always say the USMNT is the most fit team at every tournament, with an emphasis on their scientific training methods, and then we see Chile run around non-stop hounding the opponent with serious effect - it's like 3 of them always collapsed on whomever had the ball. And then when they won it back the transition going forward was just as quick. The USMNT never has had the same spring in their step over 90.

I'm convinced Vidal is not human. The guy controls the entire space between the boxes. Once he's done in Europe I would love to see us scoop him up. He can affect the game regardless of who plays around him, a very underrated asset for an MLS DP. Guys like Ronaldo and Ibra are bigger names but the players around them have to feed them the ball in the right spots, Vidal doesn't need anything but himself to start affecting the game in a considerable way.

 

[ferrarinycfc]

Absolutely crazy game last night, Phenomenal atmosphere. I was sort of hoping Argentina would win as they had the more fans !!

However, Argentina can only blame themselves though as they had their chances to win it. That Higuain miss was criminal.

Funny thing is I was behind the goals where they took the penalties and my brother and I both said Messi would miss.

He was so distraught though.

 

[SFphoto]

What a great tournament. I don't think anyone expected a lot out of it, but it was really fantastic. I got the opportunity to watch the game last night in the first row at the half line with the heads of several of the soccer federations involved. Great atmosphere. Argentine fans easily outnumbered Chilean fans 10 to 1, but it was the Chilean fans that were singing the full 90 behind the net.

 

[Lasker]

I got the opportunity to watch the game last night in the first row at the half line with the heads of several of the soccer federations involved.

That sounds amazing, can you say any more about how this came about, what it was like, etc?

 

[gbservis]

Absolutely crazy game last night, Phenomenal atmosphere. I was sort of hoping Argentina would win as they had the more fans !!

However, Argentina can only blame themselves though as they had their chances to win it. That Higuain miss was criminal.

Funny thing is I was behind the goals where they took the penalties and my brother and I both said Messi would miss.

He was so distraught though.

I think the Aguero miss may have been worse. Is he hurt? He looked awful.

 

[SFphoto]

That sounds amazing, can you say any more about how this came about, what it was like, etc?

I'm friends with the owner of the photo agency that works for US Soccer. So he'll throw a gig my way when something happens out in NYC. My assignment yesterday was to shadow Sunil Gulati (US Federation president) for the day and get some "day in the life" photos. It was an amazing opportunity. I have to say, Sunil is a stand up guy. I wasn't really sure what to expect with a federation leader, but he could not have been nicer. It was amazing watching him in action. I got to sit first row, behind the Argentine bench for the game. Got some really nice/sad shots of Messi after the PKs :/

 

[ferrarinycfc]

I'm friends with the owner of the photo agency that works for US Soccer. So he'll throw a gig my way when something happens out in NYC. My assignment yesterday was to shadow Sunil Gulati (US Federation president) for the day and get some "day in the life" photos. It was an amazing opportunity. I have to say, Sunil is a stand up guy. I wasn't really sure what to expect with a federation leader, but he could not have been nicer. It was amazing watching him in action. I got to sit first row, behind the Argentine bench for the game. Got some really nice/sad shots of Messi after the PKs :/

That is so cool.

I'm somewhere just below that SAP scoreboard !!

 

[ferrarinycfc]

I think the Aguero miss may have been worse. Is he hurt? He looked awful.

That was just as bad.

To be honest from where I was sitting it looked like Higuain and Aguero had both put on some weight.

Maybe one too many burgers whilst being here !!

 

[BxLio91]

I just can't figure how Argentina loses while being by far the most talented team in the tournament.

 

[RockShrimp]

What's the upside of playing for the Argentinian NT? Their fans are like Yankees fans. Wins are expected and not celebrated (really), losses are treated like a personal attack on the fans...

Apparently the Argentine FA is a mess, so much so that FIFA is taking over.

 

[Ulrich]

I just can't figure how Argentina loses while being by far the most talented team in the tournament.

Aguero sat on the bench most of the tournament. He's the type that needs to play to get into a rhythm. It seems like Argentina is a victim of their riches by having so many starters sit on the bench and then are out of sorts once they're on the field.

 

[TabascoDiva]

Yeah, and now Aguero and Mascherano have followed him with reports that Di Maria, Lavezzi, Biglia and Higuain will too... Something's clearly not right in the Argentine camp.

Agree. Messi's delayed plane tweet was certainly interesting. I sincerely hope his retiring was just said in the upset of the moment.

Most probably its a show of solidarity for Messi from his teammates , possibly to help alleviate the burden of guilt and sense of failure that Messi is feeling.
So far what I heard today on the Spanish media, that there is a campaign in Argentina for him to reconsider his decision and in El Diario from NY, all fans from all over the world and , media are not blaming him. In fact El Diario La Prensa blames Lopes (the referee )for ruining what could had been "La Final de New Jersey pudo haber sido espectacular , pero el arbitro Brasileno estuvo terrible y la arruino"
I unite my voice too
Señor Messi por favor vuelva a la selection de Argentina , sus fanes en el mundo entero lo aman.

 

[Keith Putnam]

Speculation not entirely original to me: rather than the Centenario being a dry run for a new hybrid Gold Cup / Copa tournament, it was in fact a dry run for a CONCACAF + CONMEBOL Champions League Of The Americas.

The thinking being: if the Copa can draw large numbers of South American fans to matches in the US, how successful could US appearances of the top CONMEBOL club teams potentially be? Certainly not quite on the scale of the Copa, but could attendance potentially be on par with (or bigger than) MLS for some kind of CLOTA?

 

[mgarbowski]

Speculation not entirely original to me: rather than the Centenario being a dry run for a new hybrid Gold Cup / Copa tournament, it was in fact a dry run for a CONCACAF + CONMEBOL Champions League Of The Americas.

The thinking being: if the Copa can draw large numbers of South American fans to matches in the US, how successful could US appearances of the top CONMEBOL club teams potentially be? Certainly not quite on the scale of the Copa, but could attendance potentially be on par with (or bigger than) MLS for some kind of CLOTA?

It would be interesting because I don't think there will be much US interest for a while, except for latin american immigrants. Even if an MLS team made it far, MLS doesn't have the pull that USMNT does and I think the stadia would be filled with visitors and immigrants. There's nothing wrong with that, but it seems odd to host a tournament in the one country in the hemisphere with the least amount of native interest. And despite that it could work. Let them try. It's not my money, and if it works I'll have more soccer watching options.

 

[Victors87]

I just can't figure how Argentina loses while being by far the most talented team in the tournament.

Chile played well. They played like a team, had great passes. They played with 10 men for while. Argentina relies to much on the individual (messi, and the rest of individual stars on the team). They were to individualistic. They sort of were playing in home crowd, yet they blew it. Chile was just better, much more like a team.