Sour Grapes or Valid Gripes?

If you haven't heard by now, the Gold Cup has been rigged by CONCACAF to be a showcase tournament for the US and Mexico, with the rest of the tournament's teams there just for show and to provide some speed bumps before the pre-determined final between the Americans and Mexicans.

At least that's what seemingly every other team in the tournament is saying after a week filled with questionable cards and bad officiating that didn't do much to hurt the US team or Mexico.

From Costa Rica coach Hernan Medford to several members of the Panama team, there was no shortage of opinions that the Gold Cup was rigged.

"We all know what went on here," Panama captain Felipe Baloy said after his team's loss to the US. "CONCACAF just wants the United States and Mexico to play again and it shows in the decisions you have seen in this tournament."

Medford expressed similar sentiments after seeing three of his players red carded during Costa Rica's 1-0 overtime loss to Mexico.

What do I think? While I agree that the officating and organization of the tournament has been terrible, suggestions of an outright conspiracy to have Mexico and the US are misguided. CONCACAF can barely run the tournament, do people really think region officials have the skills to rig it?

You don't need a conspiracy to have bad officiating, you just need bad referees. You can't help but feel some pity for a team like Panama, which should have left this Gold Cup feeling confident about its chances in the next round of World Cup qualifying, but instead walked away feeling cheated by the whole experience.

What do you think? Share your thoughts on the Gold Cup below.

Comments

[Jay]

I haven't seen any of the Gold Cup games that didn't involve the U.S., but Baloy was lucky to see the second half of his team's game against the Americans.
He should have been tossed to an intentional handball right before the half.
I understand why these smaller countries are frustrated when they lose to the U.S. or Mexico, but in most cases it is because the better team won out.

[Tony M]

The three worst offside decisions I have ever seen all occurred in the first USA game and all cost the US excellent scoring chances. If this is the way they rigged it to support the US, CONCACAFF sucks at cheating, too.

[Brian]

I didn't see the whole Mexico game, but when I left for dinner they were 1 goal down (1-0). It is quite unusual for 3 red cards to be handed out; even in concacaf, where physical play often is used to slow things down when teams are overmatched.

[northzax]

of course CONCACAF sucks are cheating, they suck at everything else, after all. (sure, there are games on over the air TV now, so that's good, if en espanol, which is fine) but come on. this tournament is embrassingly bushleague, all in all. I mean has anyone seen the CONCACAF website? awful.

[greene]

that is insane...if there was a conspiracy it was against the U.S.

The linesman in the T&T game robbed U.S. (eddie johnson would have had 2 legit breakaways). The U.S.-Guatemala game was also a joke. How the U.S. got called for more fouls and yellows then Guatemala - when we controlled possession and Guatemala's sole objective was to make it a "chippy" game, is beyond belief.

Panama's behavior toward the end of the U.S. game was appalling. Baloy should have been sent off for a deliberate hand-ball.

The officiating has been a joke and CONCACAF needs to figure out how to make it better.

[chris]

i don't believe in a grand conspiracy theory, but i do think that the officiating in the last two mexico games has been horrible. and lets face it, the mexico games bring in more revenue than others.

[Andrew]

This complaining is falling on deaf ears with me. No team in CONCACAF can compare to Mexico or the US when it comes to the abundance of skilled professional footballers that these two countries have. But boo hoo there's a conpiracy??? The only conspiracy here is that no one told Costa Rica and Panama and any other complaining soccer federation that didnt get through the quarterfinals that their teams stink compared to us.

[brucio]

not to mention that the panama defender who "american football tackled" donovan was the last defender and should have been automatically red carded
he didn't get a yellow for that thing

[Fuego Fanatico]

The complaints by any team not named USA are hilarious. If anything, it has looked like the refs were clearly rigging the matches AGAINST the U.S. and not for the U.S.

The U.S. and Mexico are the class of the confederation and I think Canada is going to be the regular #3 team from now on with Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago and Honduras trying to win that 4th spot.

[Harry]

Medford's team certainly suffered some bad calls on Sunday, but conspiracy? Not to me. And Panama needs to pick itself up and grow up (and calm down) on the field, or the talent they are developing is going to be hidden behind a red mist and they won't even make the hexagon for WC qualifying. Bad officiating is a problem everywhere, even in the biggest leagues, much less CONCACAF.

Two classic comments already: Ives' " CONCACAF can barely run the tournament, do people really think region officials have the skills to rig it?" and Tony M's they "suck at cheating too."

[Kenobi]

If your entire strategy consists of whining and diving your way into scoring opportunities, you shouldn't complain when you lose. The refs have been bad, but so has the majority of play from any team that didn't make the semis.

[Felix]

First from the beginning of the tournament the whole thing was set up to make sure US vs Mexico Final. Forget grapes, just imagine if Baloy would have made the PK vs Cuba and you would have seen USA vs Mexico in the quaters and that would been a blow to the Gold Cup. Yes Ives Baloy should have gotten a red card and booted and Panama got a break. Yes US soccer is better than Panama and give credit to Panama for making it this far for a team that was put together before the tournament with no friendlies before the Gold Cup. Yes Panama got sloppy at the end and got enough people booked, but the game overall showed a lot of weekness in the US defense with a opponent with solid striker and good flankers. This Gold Cup has shown us the good and bad of CONCACAF and when it's all said and done the final would be Mexico vs US. I know Hugo wants the US bad and Donovan loves to score against Oswaldo. Mexico and US still powers of the CONCACAF and now countries like Canada, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and T&T have to go home and search and see to put the best team together to get ready for the 2010 World Cup qualifying games. Yes the officiating is bad and the only team that has gotten the most breaks in this tournament is Mexico and that is the only team/coach that has disrespected the tournament, field, CONCACAF and opponents. Panama played the two powers in two games and played good and after wathcing both games, they sure got stiffed in the Mexico. The only thing they did bad in the US game was get sloppy and a little dirty at the end of the US game

[EssEff]

Oh man, all those shouting players surrounding Terry Vaughan in the first half of Mex/CRC was too much. That guy had his hands full. And when he went to the AR to confirm that it was, in fact, that guy's second yellow...and the tv camera caught his notebook. That was too funny. Maybe his tears smeared one of the jersey numbers he jotted down.

I must say, I know like 20 words in Spanish, but that commentating is so much better than a Max Bretos. When are they going to toss that loser?

[EdTheRed]

Maybe the second red against Costa Rica was a bit of acting by Maza Rodriguez, but who do you blame there, the guy who cheated, or the ref who he fooled...and that final red was about as legit as they come; anybody who would complain about an attempted boot to the face (studs out) drawing a red has about as much credibility as a Bush administration spokesperson...

[Squard]

When Costa Rico played Mexico, El Tri was diving left and right and the Ticos had to take bull5hit red cards over it.
I can't blame their coach for saying that thinking its a conspiracy.

[Allen]

Normally I'd poo-poo sucha thing but anything's possible when Jack "I've got the account numbers for all my off-shore bank account memorized" Warner is involved.

[josh]

One thing that I find frustrating is that, although we as US soccer fans feel like the scrappy underdog, to the rest of Central America, we are still big bully USA. So their managers know they can get traction with blaming their lack of success on some USA conspiracy theory, regardless of what happens on the field. Which just creates more hostility for American soccer, which is entirely misdirected. If there is one group of native-born Americans who have embraced the latin influence in our counrty, it is soccer players. We play pick up games with latinos, learn some spanish to communicate on the field, and talk soccer. All of which breaks down walls. But then some whining manager starts pointing fingers at us, and we are the bad guys again.

Yeah, the refs suck. But they suck for everyone.

[EssEff]

Anyone know how much those home defibrillators cost? I hope the cost has come down, because I'm going to need one during WC qualifying away matches. Maybe I'll luck out and we'll get South Africa's Cup when they bail out. Hmmmm...do guest WC hosts still have to qualify?

On another note, anyone else think that Salcido looks like a vulcan? Maybe it's the haircut.

[inkedAG]

It seems like officating has been at an All-Time TERRIBLE! Call it the Curse of WC '06!

[inkedAG]

It seems like officating has been at an All-Time TERRIBLE! Call it the Curse of WC '06!

[brentmcd]

i've watched most of this gold cup. officiating has slanted in favor of mexico, but not the usa.

a word of warning to teams playing mexico. i'm a white guy who has played soccer against mexicans my whole life. they do not like getting beat by gringos; thus they tend to play physical or even "dirty." when you respond in kind, that's when they start complaining to the refs and flopping. it's no different with the national team. the usa should recognize this ahead of time and not respond to their baiting. you only hurt your own game when you sink to their level of play.

for the record, this is not racism -- i grew up in houston, have lived the last 15 years in southern california, traveled all over latin america, and speak good spanish. i know what i'm talking about.

[dhines]

bottom line, no matter the tourney the USMNT gets the shaft. 2002 WC the no handball call against Germany, 2006 WC penalty called against gooch vs Ghana, and it continues. how many bad calls were their in this tourney? take your pick . . . that is why i had to laugh when the panamanians were saying the US was favored. but i will say without a doubt mexico is favored . . . they always have been and always will be. bottom line is having Mexico alive in the tourney means big $$ to all involved. that cannot be said for the US or any other team in the tourney. call me crazy, but it is the norm. I can hardly wait for the day when the USMNT is so good that no matter how baised the refs are against us, it won't matter.

[Jeff]

I have to agree that officiating has been very slanted for Mexico. In particular their star players seem to do no wrong and get the call with every flop they perform And they flop a lot.

[papa bear]

Baloy...that's rich. Guy was lucky to have seen the second half of the match.
The officiating was terrible, and I have to admit the calls against Costa Rica were particularly horrible, but I haven't seen anything that even remotely would suggest a conspiracy. Gooch having 50 yellows 4 games in suggests otherwise (yes, I know that number of yellows is impossible, hyperbole people, hyperbole. )

[AnewRevolution]

Just by having the tournament in Chicago a predominantly Mexican - American City and the continual placement of the tournament in the US shows how much it is a showcase for the two teams. But you do have to recognize the significant difference in skill level between some of these teams. I think the officiating at the World Cup was far worse and only settled down in the semifinals. Australia - Italy anyone??? Also many of the US games saw the worst officiating. Another example was the game where the ref gave out three yellow cards to the same player, Come on.