World Cup Day 2: May The Soccer Gods Be With Us
World Cup Day 1 gave us a colorful opening ceremony that even too much of Gianni Infantino's bald pate couldn't ruin, a not-so-convincing Mexico win marked by three dismissals, and as South Korea triumph over Czechia in Guadalajara.
My bullet points from Day 1 before we dive in to a massive Day 2 for American (and Canadian) soccer:
- Mexico's opening ceremony was beautiful, highlighted Latin culture, and served as a proper start for the festivities.
I could have done with more Puerto Rican influence (Colombian reggaetonero J Balvin was as close as we got and since there's no other way for la isla del encanto to get World Cup exposure...sigh...I guess it will have to do) but the mix of Maná doing some Latin rock, Danny Ocean and J Balvin doing their pop/Latin trap thing, and Shakira and Burna Boy finishing with Dai Dai fit the moment.
I'm pretending the Andre Bocelli, EJAE, David Guetta thing never happened.
This is more than a game. It's our DNA.
It's so bad.
Wait. The original version has a guest from Megan Thee Stallion? My gawd it somehow got worse.
- Mexico didn't impress, but that doesn't matter. The red card to Montes...might.
A couple things can be true at the same time. Things like: Mexico was the better team in their Group A opener, South Africa made it easy on El Tri by being very bad, and none of it really matters for Mexico's chances of winning the group.
All that matters is the 2-0 win Mexico secured with goals from Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez. "Performance", or the quality of one, doesn't matter a lick at the World Cup. All that matters is those three points.
It's a bonus that Javier Aguirre was able to get Gilberto Mora on the field in a low-pressure situation (up a goal and a man) to check a World Cup debut for the talented 17-year-old off the to-do list.
That said, I don't think Mexico entered the tournament good enough to much more than maybe win a Round of 32 game and nothing that happened on Thursday changed my opinion.
The questionable red card issues to centerback César Montes looks like a problem on paper (Aguirre clearly prefers the duo of Montes and Johan Vásquez in the middle of his defense) but does have a silver lining; with Montes suspended for match two against South Korea, Aguirre can turn to Edson Álvarez to deputize with Alvarez now second choice to Érik Lira in midfield.
- Hwang In-beom gave us the first great goal of the tournament.
Mexico scored twice in the first game of the tournament, but neither goal was much to look at. A mistake by South Africa punished by Quiñones and a cross headed home at the back post against 10 men by Jiménez.
After Czechia uglied their way to a lead with a goal from a long throw, South Korea finally gave us a goal worth fawning over: Hwang In-beom clever stop-and-chip finish in the 67th minute to level the game and give South Korea a platform from which they could go on to win.
South Korea went on to win 2-1. Oh Hyun-gyu's 80th minute goal put the Asian nation in front for good; if we want to read too much into it cosmically (and I do), Oh's winner was just reward for South Korea in a game in which Czechia was mostly focused on sitting deep and looking for set pieces.
Now on to Day 2 and the debuts of the other two hosts:
- For a guy so focused on Canada, Jesse Marsch sure can't stop talking about the USMNT.
Jesse Marsch is still hurt that US Soccer strung him along back in 2023 before ultimately deciding to re-hire Gregg Berhalter. We know now that the Fed made a mistake bringing back Berhalter (something many of us were saying at the time) but it's unknowable if Marsch would have been a better choice. For the record, I've enjoyed every conversation I've had with Marsch and I don't doubt his soccer chops.
And from what I've heard, Marsch has a good reason to be angry at his treatment.
At the same time, taking shots at US players 24 hours before taking the field against checks notes Bosnia & Herzogovina in the first home World Cup match in Canadian men's soccer history is kind of insane?
The 52-year-old continued: “Every one of these boys is incredibly Canadian and the pride they have in putting on the jersey, representing the country, hearing the national anthem … in the US sometimes we had to beg players to sing the national anthem … these guys belt it out to the top of their lungs because they want to show the country how proud they are to be here, to be Canadians and to represent what Canada is.”
They love Jesse north of the border and maybe his needling American soccer is part of why. But Jesse, you, and by extension Canada, aren't beating the Little Brother Complex allegations with comments like that.
As for the soccer? Despite Jesse's obsession and Alphonso Davies's absence, Canada should beat Bosnia in Toronto.
- I think Chris Richards starts, but I don't have much to back it up.
Mauricio Pochettino spent his final presser before the USMNT hits the field against Paraguay talking up his team's mental resolve and dismissing the need for a pregame motivational speech.
"I think now is the moment that they need to build a way to know to prepare in an emotional and mental way, and I think everyone knows how to be ready," he said.
"I think now they don't need an external motivation or inspirational speech. If you know the player and the mindset of the player, they need [that] before to get their best.
"They need motivational speech ... when they need to go to train and improve in every single area because then tomorrow is [too] late. If they are not ready, I can be the best in the way to motivate players with my speech. But if you aren't ready, sorry guys, it's impossible to perform."
I like the energy behind that message.
Pochettino also disclosed that as of yesterday afternoon the players hadn't yet been informed about the starting lineup, a decision that smacked a head games in the moment but probably came down to keeping the media from hounding players in a bid to get a scoop about starters in as big a match as the United States has played in decades.
Reading the tea leaves, I think Chris Richards will start.
- OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
There's roughly 12 hours until kickoff as I write this and I'm already a nervous wreck. IT'S THE WORLD CUP BABY. Prediction: USMNT 2-1 Paraguay.
PROGRAMMING NOTE
My guess is that by the time you read this, I'll have already logged another episode of Morning Kickaround. Go check it out and subscribe if you haven't already. We'll be talking about the World Cup, but a lot of American soccer (certainly the business of American soccer) isn't stopping for the tournament and we aim to cover those happenings.
There are a few hours left to listen to the last episode of The Best Soccer Show, recorded on Wednesday night in the aftermath of the positive update on Chris Richards. I talked to Jonathan Tannenwald, a man following the USMNT throughout their World Cup, to work through the news and answer a few other questions around Pochettino's lineup choices.
Jared DuBois also came by to give a USMNT thought or two and play a game. Get TBSS on Spotify or Apple. You can see our pretty faces on the YouTube version as well.
I'll be back on the radio tonight on SiriusXM FC at 9 PM ET with Luis Miguel Echegaray for Day 2. Yes, you read that right: I'll be cracking a mic on national radio at the same time that the USMNT is kicking off against Paraguay in Los Angeles. Come listen to see if I have a meltdown for a coast-to-coast audience.
One day down. Thirty-eight to go. See you tomorrow.
