Saturday, February 17, 2007

Cash grab

It seems sometimes that the Mexican federation is interested in making money over anything else. How else can you explain their upcoming friendly against Venezuela? The game is scheduled for Feb. 28 in San Diego. I don't know exactly when it was decided but I do know the date had been discussed as far back as December which likely means it was well before that. The Copa Libertadores teams were not set yet but the federation must have known that possibly three Mexican clubs would be involved and the chances of midweek games were high.

As it turns out, Toluca will host Bolivar on Feb. 27, Necaxa will host Audax Italiano on Feb. 28 and America will host Libertad on March 1. Oh yeah, then there is the Marquense-Pachuca game in Guatemala and Chivas-W Connection in Guadalajara on the 28th as well.

That will take up half of the regular Mexican national teamers. This should be a good opportunity for some who don't normally have the chance to shine and play for their country. Fernando Arce comes to mind. Maybe Parejita Lopez. Or maybe even Juan Pablo Garcia. These guys aren't exactly young - mid-20s all of them - but Hugo's options are limited.

I don't think there will be many expectations from the game; it likely won't be a preview of the Gold Cup squad, for instance. But there will be some players fighting for spots that otherwise would not have had the opportunity.

I just don't know that I would pay $25-150 for that.

No comments: