Under-20 Tourney Gets Ugly Between Northern Ireland And Mexico

((HT: Youtube/BBC Sport Ireland))

The Milk Cup is a tournament played in Ireland on a yearly basis and this year's tourney will only be remembered for this brawl that broke out between the two nations in the box.

Especially, after what the Mexico national player does at the end of the scrum


Northern Ireland won 2-1, but four players were sent off after the two fights and the match was called four minutes early by the lead official because of all the stuff going on.

Northern Ireland manager Stephen Craigan told the BBC:

"It was not nice. There were young kids here from around the world. They were here to watch a football match; they do not expect to see that. Mexico did it last year - they had a man sent off for punching. They have a history of it. I have to be careful what I say, but I would like to think Mexico will not be back at the Milk Cup."

The Mexico squad has since apologized...

Sunday From Brazil: Dutch Come Back On El Tri, Ticos Advance to Quarters

((HT: ESPN/FIFA))

It will be one of those questions for the Dutch, now, moving forward...

Did it galvanize you or did it take too much out of you...???

Mexico had their way with the Oranje for 80 minutes or so, but head coach Louis Van Gaal made a van Persie substitution count for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for the conversion of a late PK and a 2-1 stoppage time win to advance to the final 8.

And, yes, Arjen Robben flopped for the avail on the penalty kick
Here's the analysis


And it appears that Mexico head coach Miguel Herrera would like to blame the officials for calling the Robben dive


Univision should sign Herrera for the remainder of the tournament as an analyst right now...

In the night cap, Costa Rica had the lead and was fighting off an anemic Greece offense for 20-plus minutes before a late equalizer and penalty kicks themselves. Navas came up big in net and Costa Rica advances to their first quarterfinal ever.

The whole idea of him being off his line is out the window, apparently...
All that effort from Costa Rica as they were a man down...

Mexico Advances Over Croatia: Herrera Smash...

((HT: ESPN/FIFA))

Mexico has had to do it the hard way for this trip to Brazil. It all started with having to qualify against New Zealand in a home-and-home just to even get in the door.

And the surprise of the tournament- outside of Costa Rica (or CONCACAF in general)- has been El Tri.

They took care of business earlier today- beating Croatia to move to the Knockout stages


But the sight of the day was current head coach Miguel Herrera and his reaction on the sidelines as his team's fate was incrementally sealed...
((HT: Goooooal's Vine))


And here...


But just think if the two calls in the second half that were not called for Mexico led to a loss...

All hell would have broken loose and the stadium would not be standing.

Of Course... FIFA Dropped The Mexico Gay Slur Case

FIFA's disciplinary panel has decided that they won't take any action against the Mexico football federation after the "investigation" of fans using a chant against the rival team's goalkeeper in previous matches this tournament in Brazil.

The chant, which (once again) the HQ will not print, is used in Mexican leagues as a tradition- calling the keeper (loosely translated) a male whore when he executes a goal kick...

FIFA says the chant "is not considered insulting in this specific context"- whatever in the blue hell that actually means.

The president of the Mexican federation, Hector Gonzalez, was interviewed by ESPN FC's John Sutcliffe who (along with national coach Miguel Herrera) didn't think the chant was all that bad in the first place when the issue first came up...
((HT: ESPN))


The HQ would like to congratulate FIFA in reinforcing who they actually are to the rest of us..

Mexico Futbol Director Defends Indefensible Racist Chants

((HT: ESPN))

Earlier today, ESPN's John Sutcliffe interviewed Team Mexico's Director of National Teams Hector Gonzalez about the FIFA investigation of racist chants raining down from fans of El Tri in the Cameroon match.

The investigation centers around the use of the word "puto" - a gay slur that you'll have to look up yourself.

Gonzalez actually defended its use in stadia


Not to be outdone, team coach Miguel Herrera agreed- to ESPN:

"About the chants, we don't have anything to say, we are going to concentrate in working hard, that is what corresponds to us," Herrera said. "We support our fan base. They just do it to put pressure on the other goalkeeper.

"That chant was invented in the Mexican league by one team and all the Mexican fan base has adopted it, therefore I don't think it is something that serious.

"I think for us there is more important stuff to solve than a chant that is just an expression to put pressure on the other goalkeeper that has been taking place in Mexico since a long time ago."

The Mexican Federation is ultimately responsible for fan behavior and it looks like FIFA may come down hard if they can prove the words were used.

Or, to be more accurate, if FIFA want to find the evidence...

Brazil And Mexico Had A Staring Contest For 90 Minutes

And solved absolutely nothing:

Both keepers, Guillermo Ochoa (who had the game of a lifetime) and Julio Cesar parried everything and punched it all away for the match of the tournament in Brazil. And, yes, it proved that a goalless draw can be exciting...

And saves like this at the last kept it scoreless
((HT: Matt Clapp's Vine))


And, the HQ will reinforce that (no offense to the folks over at the four-letter) the only way to watch a game like mexico-Brazil is to watch our Spanish-speaking counterparts over at Univision.

Absolutely out of control...

And The Soccer Officials Are Consistent- 2 Games, 2 Bad Calls (UPDATED: Maybe Three)

((HT: ESPN/FIFA))

Cameroon and El Tri are playing in a downpour in Natal to start Day 2 of the games in Brazil...

And we have another instance of an official missing a call- completely...

9th Minute and Giovani dos Santos gets robbed on an offsides call


Cameroon may have been just as robbed in the 20's with some pinball action in the Mexico box, but the first half is more Cameroon trying to drop nine and take advantage of set plays while Mexico looks like they're pressing...

And it appears that a call in the 30th minute, fans of El Tri had another chance to yell off a corner kick and goal that was disallowed as well with dos Santos in the box...

Here's Clay's Vine on that one


Should make for an interesting second half...

So, Which USMNT Team Do We Believe In...???

((HT: ESPN))

The one where Michael Bradley showed what he does is world-class and Chris Wondolowski is back being an offensive force or the one that had the gaping hole directly in front of Nick Rimando for Rafa Marquez...???

The USMNT was up 2-0 at the break in Glendale last night, but gave up two in the second half to only leave the friendly with Mexico with a 2-2 draw.

Here's the highlights...


Now, Mexico travels to New Zealand, but will have to play without Chichirito on yellow accumulation...

Dos A Cero Round Two Gets USMNT Closer To Rio (UPDATE: They're In)

((HT: Univision))

The US Men's National got one step closer to making it to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after knocking off El Tri in front of a lottery-drawn 24,000-plus at Crew Stadium in Columbus.

The game could have filled a good part of the Big House over at tOSU, but the intimacy of the rowdy crowd gave the red, white, and blue their position at the top of the ladder in an automatic qualifier spot in their CONCACAF group.

Eddie Johnson ruled the air as the USA found their rhythm in set pieces and capitalized here...


There were a lot of concerns with injuries and cards taking hold of the XI- especially with Bradley missing at the back...

Diskerud hooked up with Donovan for the 2-0 lead and only Clint Dempsey airmailing a PK in stoppage time kept "Dos A Cero" at that score.

So, here was the scene in the locker room as the #USMNT was waiting for a Honduras-Panama result...
((HT: ussoccer Instagram))


A Wilson Palacios goal put the home team up 2-1
((HT: beinSportUS))


Panama scored in the first minute of stoppage time for the 2-2 draw on a great scoop shot from an overlapping Chen...
But that was the final and the US qualifies for World Cup 2014... their 7th bid...

So, the HQ guesses there's only one thing left to say...

An International Incident In The WBC

And, no, the HQ isn't talking boxing...

Canada and Mexico were playing in the created-event World Baseball Classic...
And part of the problem with the tie-breaker system in the WBC is runs scored...

So, as a result, there's the tendency (a very un-baseball-unwritten rule kind of thing) to do things that you normally wouldn't do- like bunt in blowout situations...

Which is what Canada did and Mexico took exception...

Here's the full version...