Covering international soccer games are cool and a change of pace from MLS games. I like Galaxy and Chivas USA games but the occasional Mexican league game, USMNT match or Tricolor contest is also enjoyable.
However, one of the least enjoyable aspects of that is the mixed zone. Whereas in MLS, if I want to talk to, say Brad Guzan or Tyrone Marshall, I can walk right up to them in the locker room... after they've put on their pants at least. But in international soccer games, you can't. Us media types need to wait in the mixed zone, which means we have to fight for spots (if the number of us media types is large), be on our toes in case the person we want to talk to suddenly appears before us and have some luck. Players don't have to walk over to you and talk to you. In MLS, if a player doesn't want to talk to you, at least he has to tell you to your face. Here, they can just ignore you.
After the America game, Cuauhtemoc Blanco did his best to avoid all of us. Amidst shouts of "Temoc!" and "Cuauhtemoc!" and "Unas preguntas" he walked by as if nobody had said a word.
I think he was the only one who blew people off. Among the interviews I jumped in on were Juan Carlos Mosqueda, Duilio Davino, Memo Ochoa, Luis Fernando Tena, Manuel Lapuente, Walter Gaitan and Javier Saavedra. Lapuente stopped to talk and he's a busy man and he doesn't even have to but Blanco can't stop and say a few words?
That's Blanco walking up there past us media. Notice how far he is away from us. I guess it makes it easier to ignore us if we're not right in his face.
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