MLS and the Mexican Federation: A Beautiful Friendship

Rafa Marquez and his mates play as many games in the US as on Mexican Soil these days/ Photo from esmas.com

Many I speak to wonder sometime quietly why the Mexican National Team seem to play all its friendlies on US soil and not in its home country. These same people wonder what affect this has on the US National Team, as their big rival often plays to bigger and more vocal crowds. The truth is that the Mexican National Federation (FMF) and Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the marketing arm of Major League Soccer have a complex marketing agreement.

Many times in the last few years on the very same day the United States National Team plays in front of half empty stadiums somewhere else in the USA, the Mexican National Team is playing in front of a ruckus full stadium. That alone should not be alarming: After all the Mexican National Team rightfully enjoys more support in the United States than does the US National Team. This is due in large part to the massive Mexican-American population in the states. What should be alarming is who markets and makes a big profit off the gate at these matches: Soccer United Marketing, aka MLS. What’s even more interesting is that the Mexican League, arguably the best in the world outside of Europe determined two Copa Libertadoras spots not on its league table or playoffs but on a two week tournament held at MLS venues marketed by MLS, known as Interliga. Most Mexican coaches and players rightfully dislike the event. It takes place in between the Clausura and Apertura tournaments, when the players of the Mexican clubs should be resting and recharging their batteries. But the tournament is a great boon financially both to the FMF and MLS. Interliga takes on a significance it should not since the tournament is not even played on Mexican soil. For whatever reason FIFA and COMNEBOL have allowed Mexico to use this sham of an event which simply is designed to help fill MLS and FMF coffers to determine participants in the world’s second most prestigious club competition.

Major League Soccer’s marketing relationship with the Mexican Federation is from what I can tell unique to the world of Football. Can you imagine the French Ligue Un entering into a similar relationship with the Mali or Algerian Football federation both of whom have large immigrant communities in France. Or how about the German Bundesliga entering into a similar relationship with the Turkish Federation due to the massive Turkish population in Germany? How about the Premier League entering into a relationship with the Australian or Indian Federations to promote those national teams on UK soil?

The obvious answer to this is that MLS is not as financially healthy as they claim. From my vantage point Major League Soccer was struggling with bad attendance and an even worse perception between the contraction year of 2001 and the signing of David Beckham in 2007. The result was the need for MLS to branch out and stay afloat in some manner. The shrewdness of Don Garber cannot be underestimated. His business and marketing smarts have kept MLS in business. But as time goes on and MLS is more established as a business entity, the relationship becomes more extensive and worrying. As mentioned above Mexico has not played a friendly at home in some time: in fact the last home Mexican friendly not held on American soil was prior to the 2006 World Cup. In addition, the concocated Superliga Tournament between FMF and MLS sides has netted decent TV ratings and entertaining football but has found itself to be little more than a cash grab. At the same time MLS due to this tournament is forced to play right through qualifiers involving the US National Team, in some cases playing matches at the exact same time. Now this for certain would not be tolerated in any other country on the planet. For example, last year as the United States began Copa America play, MLS was kicking off a match on ESPN 2. Last September as the US played Brazil at Soldier Field, DC United and New England were playing live on Telefutura. Most recently, The United States played a qualifier against Barbados while DC United and San Jose did battle on Telefutura. MLS’ schedule is not flexible for international dates because its top teams take more than a month off from MLS competition because of Superliga, an entertaining tournament no doubt, but one that is proving to be merely a cash cow.

A strain between MLS and US Soccer has been reported in some place. Others tell me the relationship is fine. One thing is for sure: MLS, the US/Canadian domestic league has a stronger more developed relationship at least outwardly with the Mexican Federation than with its own federations. While the need to keep MLS afloat dictated the forming of this relationship at this point its more counter productive from my vantage point to US Soccer and the success of the US National Team long term. Moreover, as the relationship becomes closer and closer at what point do FIFA and CONCACAF become alarmed. It’s not unusual for clubs to partner with other clubs across national boundaries. But from what I can tell this is by far the most established relationship between a national federation and a domestic league in another country. The simple motivation is money for both parties. What a beautiful friendship.

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Superliga 2008: Some Thoughts

Photo by Thomas Shea from Superliga 2008 website

As we enter the knock out stages of Superliga 2008 let me state that while the intensity level was as high for these matches last year the football has been much better this year. No offense to anybody but an LA Galaxy side featuring Alan Gordon and Edson Buddle as starting forwards and an injured David Beckham would not have advanced to the knock out stages of this year’s tournament. That having been said MLS has a lot to live up to in the performance of the Galaxy in last year’s knock out stages. David Beckham’s free kick to sink DC United was a thing of beauty, and Chris Klein’s stoppage time bicycle kick was the type of magic that MLS sides have rarely if ever produced in a critical moment of a match of international significance. Had the Galaxy won the pk shootout that moment would have been etched in stone as one of the greatest in the history of Major League Soccer. I still a year later feel a tinge of sadness that the Galaxy did not win that match. That night they were a credit to MLS and to the game of football even if too often last year they were simply a traveling circus without an effective ring leader.

Alas, the Galaxy did not win the tournament the year FMF sides used the competition as a pre-season warmup. Now the event is being taken seriously, and every participating side came to play, and came to win. Atlante was humbled 4-0 by the Houston Dynamo in the first match but manager Guadalupe Cruz told Telefutura after the match that his side psychologically had been beaten down and he wouldn’t let that happen again. The match which was the first decided by more than one goal in Superliga history actually provided the impetus for the Cancun based side to play some of the best football of the tournament in their next two matches sweeping away DC United and Guadalajara.

For the second consecutive year , CD Guadalajara (Chivas) needed only a draw against a fellow FMF side in the final group match to advance to the knock out stage of the Superliga, and for the second consecutive year Chivas got beat and saw their opponent celebrate advancement. But this year Chivas looked more willing to take chances against Atlante than they did last year against Pachuca and tried to make a game of it. But the reality was Atlante was just too good, and Chivas’ backline suspect. When you consider that Guadalajara got some great breaks like facing Houston with Franco Carracio as the main scoring threat two days before he was waived while Dwayne DeRosario severed a suspension and having three DC United shots hit the post in their victory at RFK Stadium, any whining about not going through to the semifinals despite having a superior goal difference than Atlante should be spared here. Atlante showed the character that allowed them to win the fall Mexican Apertura in their first competition since picking up and leaving Mexico City for Cancun by crushing Chivas in the winner take all match.

In addition, Johnny Magallon who is Mexico’s starting central defender surely did not impress Sven Goran Eriksson who has taken in many Superliga matches with his poor display of positioning and defending. Eriksson who took in many of the matches in person during this competition had to be impressed however with Edgar Castillio and Fernando Arce of Santos Laguna, who could feel hard done by only achieving a draw in a tournament where they seemed to lack the type of luck that Guadalajara received.

However when it comes down to it Pachuca is still the team to beat in these competitions. An indifferent Clausura season in Mexico has not prevented the defending champions of this event from coming to the USA and playing some outstanding football. Despite my pre tournament concerns about the age of Pachuca’s midfield, they have not only held up thus far but essentially controlled the bulk of the two of the teams three Superliga matches. They next face a familiar foe: Houston

We’ve seen Pachuca take care of Houston on two previous occasions at this stage of a tournament including last year’s Superliga. While Houston will have revenge on their mind and will no doubt play lights out to win the semifinals would it be smart to actually pick against Pachuca at this stage against an opponent who completely lacks confidence when facing the likes of Christian Gimenez, Gabriel Cabbalero and others? Not having Stuart Holden, the leading goal scorer in Superliga 2008 who is currently with US Olympic Team preparing to face the world in Beijing is not going to help the Dynamo’s cause.

New England has been outstanding in this tournament. Mexican teams are getting a dose of what it’s like to face a disciplined, tactical European side when facing Steve Nicol’s team which features Shalrie Joseph and Steve Ralston in the midfield. In addition, the speed of Nyassi, Mansallay and Dube gave both Santos Laguna and Pachuca fits. The Revs use patient buildup instead of the frantic going forward without rhyme or reason style many Mexican sides play to break down their opponent and achieve results. Atlante has been outstanding in their last two matches but again having watched New England in this tournament who’d bet against them?

Chivas USA’s performance was a credit to their manager Preki and to the determination of Ante Razov who even at 34 is probably the best striking option for the US National Team. Razov scored in all three Superliga matches and has in fact scored a goal in six consecutive competitive matches for the Goats. However, no other Chivas player has scored during that stretch and in this tournament Sacha Kljestan, another US Olympian was frustrating. He mixed moments of absolute brilliance with moments of stupidity while his team mate Pablo Nagumura, normally steady seemed reckless in this tournament. Chivas was good, but not good enough in a tough group.

That leads us to the one team that hasn’t been discussed in this post to this point. The one team that doesn’t deserve to be discussed, DC United. The performance of United who entered the tournament never having once lost a match to an FMF side at RFK Stadium and three days later had two losses to FMF sides defies all explanation and logic. Sure Marcello Gallardo and Gonzalo Peralta were hurt and Tom Soehn seemed to aggravate Santino Quaranta’s injury by playing him when the team was desperate for a result against Atlante. But the red and black have historically always had a standard in these competitions you could count on regardless of who dawned the jersey. But this week was certainly forgettable in the proud history of DC United, and was culminated by a smashing defeat at the hands of Houston in front of one of the smallest weekend RFK Stadium crowds I can recall going back to 1996. DC was in a word embarrassed and whether or not you take Superliga seriously, their effort didn’t bring any credit to themselves or to MLS.

The TV coverage for these matches on Telefutura has been outstanding. Like last year, the network is utilizing a two man booth and sideline reporter at the matches as well as a studio host. This pales in comparison to the typical Telefutura MLS broadcast that is done at the low end with commentators calling the matches of a TV monitor, and not providing much in the way of pre game or post game analysis.

Superliga is a big event when you base it on how Telefutura covers it compared to its weekly MLS or FMF matches. Only in the Mexican playoffs do their production quality or overall game packaging approach that of Superliga. Then to add the HD component which Telefutura has offered for these matches in selected metropolitan areas (including Miami where I reside) and Superliga 2008 has been slam dunk event for the viewer. Let’s hope this continues in the knock out stages.

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Atlante: A Hollywood Stroy?

This summer when I visited the Yucatan Peninsula, I got a mild shock to my system. I was told Atlante, a traditional Mexican power who has fallen on hard times lately was coming to the region. I politely asked if we were talking about the same Atlante, the club that has so much success in Mexico City? Yes, the same club and Necaxa was bailing on the capital as well I was told. That left me in utter shock. For me Mexico City had always been the epicenter for football south of border. Sure Chivas was from Guadlajara but for me an interested but disconnected fan of Mexican Football, the capitol was where it all happened, or so I thought.

But with the emergence of such clubs as Pachuca, and Toluca as bona fide powers to rival the traditional powers from the two largest cities, the idea of moving far afield into states and regions with fewer teams has become appealing. Atlante for its part was having trouble even making Estadio Azteca appear one quarter full the past few seasons while Club America with whom Atlante shared the stadium had no problem filling the place. Cruz Azul and UNAM Pumas also have their followings, a hard core fan base both in the capital and throughout the states. Despite tradition Atlante and Necaxa felt they had leave the capital city to keep afloat.

As I mentioned earlier Necaxa the one time club of Dominic Kinnear (See, I found a way to tie this post to MLS and US Soccer after all) bailed on the capital this season after an unsuccessful run the past few seasons. Necaxa’s move improved attendance but not the quality on the field. They failed to make the Apertura Playoffs. Atlante on the hand is in the finals facing one of the three remaining big clubs from the capitol, UNAM Pumas. What is amazing is the Yucatan Peninsula is from my perspective the least football friendly region of the country partly because of the influx of foreigners as tourists and partly because of its disconnect culturally and economically from the rest of the nation. Yet in spite of this Atlante has made a go of its new home and is a weekend of football away from its first league title since 1993.

Mexican football is always compelling to me because inspite of the predominance of big clubs, smaller teams like Atlante and of course Pachuca (who we now think of as a big club but they really aren’t) seem to break through more often than in any other historically strong league in the world. The two leg Apertura Final will be on Telefutura Thursday and Sunday this weekend.