ONTD FOOTBALL

what happened:
Last Saturday’s Gold Cup final between the United States and Mexico got awkwardly political after a post-game rant by U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Following his team’s 4-2 thrashing in front of a largely pro-Mexican sell-out crowd at the Rose Bowl, Howard blasted tournament officials for allowing the awards presentation to be done in Spanish.

Emcee Fernado Fiore, of Spanish-language TV channel Univision, spoke Spanish throughout the ceremony, but interspersed English on certain occasions, including the handing out of silver medals to the U.S. squad.


what howard said then:
“CONCACAF should be ashamed of themselves. I think it was a [fucking] disgrace that the entire post-match ceremony was in Spanish. You can bet your [ass] if we were in Mexico City it wouldn’t be all in English.”

It never ceases to amaze me, all that stuff.”


what howard said in a statement:
“First, I would like to apologize for my language,” Howard’s statement read. “I am the father of young children, and I certainly do not believe profanity is appropriate in public comments. I was caught up in the heat of the moment.

“In any important international match with postgame ceremonies, you would hope the tournament organizers would make sure that the primary language of each participating team is used so that the participants can understand what is being said,” the statement continued. “To fail to do this is, in my opinion, disrespectful to the players.

“When this occurs on your home soil, it is particularly insulting. We, as American players, were asked to participate in a postgame ceremony at a match in Los Angeles and we are standing there trying to show good sportsmanship and yet the ceremony is going on and we are just looking at one another struggling to understand a word.

“It was, to be honest, humiliating, and I firmly believe the tournament organizers should not have put us in that position.”


source 1. source 2 source 3. a great analysis by from a left wing.


thoughts?