Daniel Ridenhour (L) talking with locals in Uganda (photo: Daniel Ridenhour)

Daniel Ridenhour says that going to Uganda was an eye-opening experience for him personally. Having never been to the country before, he spoke with Winthrop’s two current Ugandan players, but he says, “they can tell you, but until you see it with your own eyes, it’s not what you think it’s going to be like.”

One of the first things that Ridenhour noticed upon arriving in Uganda was a very different attitude toward organization. Despite the fact that he had traveled thousands of miles, he arrived with Kampala with no “set schedule or set itinerary. You just know you’re going to watch games.”

Even appointments that were set while Ridenhour was there rarely began at the set time. When he went to see the Ugandan national team practice one day, the training session that was supposed to start at 9:00 kicked off at 11:15. The national team coach turned to him and said, “this is just Africa, it’s just how it is.”

In his two weeks in Uganda, Ridenhour spent most of his time watching high school games. Some of his time was spent looking at specific potential players for Winthrop, some doing general scouting and relationship-building. Ridenhour says that he was impressed by the skill he saw on the field – “talented, talented, talented kids” – even though the players often lacked equipment. One game he saw “half the kids [were] playing with shoes, half the kids [weren’t].” The fields were similarly lacking, and one match featured a very special pitch invader. “I literally watched one game and there were cows on the field. They’re not on the field the whole time but they’re just kind of passing through.”

Preparing for a pitch invasion (photo: Daniel Ridenhour)

Poor conditions did not damper the atmosphere at many of the games Ridenhour saw. He recalls one high school game in which 2000 students, almost literally, lined the field. “There was no net on the goal and … they were standing right on the field, a half yard off the endline behind the goalkeeper, egging him on. It was great.”

While in Uganda, Ridenhour sought to give something back to people he met. He gave clinics for local coaches and spoke with Ugandan officials who are working to put together a national coaching curriculum. Ridenhour notes that he often saw a lack of basic coaching knowledge, but no lack of enthusiasm to learn. “They were eager because they don’t get a lot of information.” Providing some information pleased Ridenhour. “It was fun to share,” he says.

Talking with local officials photo: (Daniel Ridenhour)

Ultimately, though, the purpose of Ridenhour’s trip was recruiting future players for Winthrop. Recruiting in Uganda is a difficult process, one fraught with difficulties that college coaches recruiting domestically don’t encounter. Although Division I Winthrop can offer scholarships, recruits from Uganda have to incur expenses that are prohibitive to many in the country. “They have to be able to support themselves when they get here, they have to be able to fly themselves over, basic expenses that they have to be able to afford. Being able to find out if a family can do that, that’s a hurdle unto itself because there aren’t a lot of families that can do that.” Daniel Ridenhour says he knows of examples of players whose expenses are being paid by a whole village in the hope that they will return and better the lives of villagers.

Then there is the potential hurdle of recruits getting student visas to enter the US. Winthrop has recruited players in the past, only to find out that their visa application has been denied by the American embassy. The process can be frustrating for all involved, says Ridenhour, but it is completely out of their hands and just one of the many hurdles involved in recruiting Ugandan players.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there is the matter of ensuring that potential student-athletes have the academic and sporting talents to succeed. Given the unique system in which sports are intertwined with American colleges and universities, coaches looking for players overseas have to keep in mind the full range of talents that potential recruits possess. In Uganda, Ridenhour says, there are “a lot of kids who, academically, can’t cut it, but athletically can. And there are probably quite a few kids who can do it academically, but not athletically.” Finding those who can succeed on the field as well as in the classroom is one of the biggest challenges Ridenhour faced on his trip to Uganda.

The two Ugandans currently playing for Winthrop have succeeded on and off the field at the South Carolina school. Ridenhour describes Stephen Nsereko, who has represented Uganda at the under-20 level, as a “fantastic little attacking midfielder” with a “big heart.” Defender Henry Kalungi has played in every position across the back for Winthrop. With both players, Ridenhour says, “you put them wherever and they’re going to perform the job.”

In the classroom as well, Nsereko and Kalungi have both excelled at Winthrop. “They’re here to do two things: they’re here to study and they’re here to play. And they’ll tell you that. They’ll say, ‘Coach, grades and football, grades and football.’ This is all they worry about.”

Henry Kalguni (#4) and Stephen Neserko (#5) in action for Winthrop (photo: WInthrop University/Rich Posipanko)

Ridenhour sees another benefit to having Ugandan players on the campus of Winthrop University. Their presence and their life experience can provide a unique perspective to the American students. Ridenhour believes that Winthrop’s Ugandan players can also help to open up the eyes of Winthrop students. He tells me that Nsereko and Kalungi “bring a different perspective, a global perspective that not a lot of kids have.” It’s that perspective, combined with their on-field talents, that has made the many Ugandans who have studied and played at Winthrop University over the years such a success.

Alexis and Amber Hernandez with Mexican youth national team coaches (photo courtesy of Hernandez family)

At just 14, Amber is a year younger than her brother Alexis. She was the first to be noticed by Mexican coaches at an ODP (Olympic Development Program, which, in theory at least, is the pathway to the US national team) tryout in California in 2007. After watching Amber in action, the coaches sought out her father, Esmaldo, and said they were interested in bringing Amber to Mexico to try out for the U-17 national team. Amber says she was surprised. “I’ve always wanted to be a professional soccer player,” she says, “But as soon as I heard that I was surprised because I didn’t think it would happen to me so soon.”In February of last year, 13 year-old Amber headed to Mexico City to try to win a spot on the team. The tryout, she says, was “really hard and exciting at the same time.” The altitude of the Mexican capital was a particular challenge for her, but young Amber showed a mature attitude, saying simply that she “had to push herself through everything.” Push she did, and Amber won a spot on the U-17 team.

Amber says one of the most memorable parts of her time with the U-17s came after the games themselves. “After games the fans would come down and ask for autographs and pictures.” Amber says it was exciting, but a bit surprising to the 13 year-old. Afterwards, all she could think was, “Oh god, they asked me for my autograph.”

The Mexican U-17 girls team (Amber is in the middle row, second from the right)

Amber’s achievements alone are incredible, but less than a year later her brother matched them. After taking part in the Copa Chivas, a youth tournament hosted by parent team Chivas Guadalajara, Alexis impressed Mexican youth national team coaches enough to earn a tryout with the country’s U-17s. Like his sister, Alexis was surprised to get this call-up from the Mexican federation. “With my sister, they called her and we thought it was a prank call. I thought it was going to be the same for me.” But the Mexican federation was serious and before long Alexis was making the same trip his sister had just months before, flying to Mexico in an attempt to earn a spot on the country’s U-17 national team.

The team was training in Acapulco and when Alexis first joined them, some of the other players did not take kindly to him. “They didn’t think I was that good at first, when they heard there was an American player coming.” That changed, Alexis says, “when I showed them I could play. Then I got respect from all of them.” He earned a spot on the team and played for Mexico in several games.

Alexis with Mexican youth national team boss Jesus Ramirez

It’s been quite a journey for Amber and Alexis. They have lived most of their lives in Porterville, California, a small city in the largely agricultural and poor Central Valley. Both grew up playing AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization), which supports soccer that is more for recreation and generally less competitive than leagues affiliated with USSF (United States Soccer Federation). Both quickly outgrew this level of competition and joined the South Valley Chivas Academy. This academy, begun by their father Esmaldo and his brother Gilbert Hernandez, has helped both to develop, and in Alexis’ case, enabled him to play in the Copa Chivas tournament that showed him off to the Mexican national team.

It can be hard for players in areas like the Central Valley to get noticed, says Esmaldo Hernandez. Money keeps a lot of players from joining organized teams (he says that there are many orange pickers in the area with buckets of talent) and those that they do join are not the elite clubs to which the US national team program has traditionally looked for players. Hernandez says he’s been frustrated to see his kids go through the ODP program, but never reach the national level. “What we noticed is that they made it to state, to regionals, but that’s as far as they would go.” He wonders whether politics may have played a role, as the ODP coaches already knew players from the elite youth clubs.

The lack of interest from the US youth national teams may be about to end, though. Soon after Alexis returned from Mexico, Chivas USA coaches called to let him know that the US was now interested in bringing him for a tryout for their U-17 national team. Alexis will travel to Florida later this month to try to impress the American coaches.

Alexis has another major tryout coming up this spring. In May, he will travel to Guadalajara to try to earn a spot with Chivas. He has impressed coaches there in previous trials and this is the final cut, which will determine whether the team will offer him a contract. Playing for Chivas is a goal of his, especially because everyone in his family supports the team and he grew up watching them. (Alexis’s father says that some people have called Alexis a “Padilla,” referring to Jesus Padilla, the player whose American birth recently caused a stir in Guadalajara, but that Alexis is not resentful. Alexis met Padilla on his recent trip to Guadalajara – he describes him as a “nice guy” – and says that he is a bit anxious at what type of reception he might receive as the latest American-born player, but his love of Chivas overwhelms any concerns.)

Amber’s aspirations are less focused than those of her brother, though in no way less lofty. She is currently training with the Mexican U-17s, preparing for World Cup qualifying. Reaching the tournament is a goal of hers, Amber tells me, but not the only one she harbors. “I hope to go to the World Cup someday. After that, I hope to get a scholarship to university and to play pro. But I also want to be a pediatrician.” (Her father tells me later that her career goals all “depend what day you catch her on.”) Having a set career path is not something expected of most 14 year-old girls, and in this way Amber is no different from her peers.

But in so many ways, both Amber and Alexis are unlike most American teenagers. They wake up each day at 5:00 to run 5 miles on the treadmill and finish with a 2-mile nightcap (there is, of course, school and soccer practice sandwiched in between). If the Hernandez siblings don’t achieve their goals, it will not be for lack of effort.

Stories like those of Alexis and Amber Hernandez are becoming more and more common. Mexican-American players are increasingly showing up on the rosters of Mexican club and national teams, including Michael Orozco of San Luis, Jose Francisco Torres of Pachuca, Edgar Castillo of Santos, and several others. Esmaldo Hernandez is simultaneously proud of his kids – seeing their development gives him “joy, a lot of joy” – and perplexed that they were noticed by Mexican youth national teams before those of the US. “How could another country pick up on a kid that should have been given a shot here?” he wonders.

But Alexis and Amber are happy to play for either national team. Amber says that if she had the opportunity to play for the US, she would “have to make a big decision,” but she’d be happy to represent either country. When asked the same question, Alexis laughs, pauses, and answers: “Well, it would be good if I could play for both.”

Major League Soccer officials have just one hope for England’s friendly against France on Wednesday: that David Beckham does not get hurt. They are less concerned with Beckham earning his 100th cap than they are with ensuring that he return for Saturday’s LA Galaxy season opener injury-free.

The bubble of hype that Beckham’s arrival in LA inflated was popped by the injuries that kept him out of most of last season. Some fans who had purchased tickets to see Beckham complained - many teams forced them to buy multi-game packages to see the Galaxy come to town - and MLS officials were forced to explain that his injuries were genuine and there was nothing they could do. The off-season has given Beckham time to recover fully, leading to his England recall and a nervous few days for MLS officials.

David Beckham, the face of MLS? (photo: The Offside)

But to say that Beckham is all MLS has going for it is to ignore a maturing and increasingly competitive league. The league began in 1996, hoping to build on the legacy of the 1994 World Cup. In the 12 years since then, the league’s long-term survival has occasionally been in doubt, but the past few seasons have undoubtedly been the best, both on and off the field.

MLS is run on a “single-entity” structure in which all teams and players are owned by the league. This structure is intended to avoid the irrational exuberance that led the NASL, America’s previous professional league, to go under in 1984. Slow and steady growth has been the goal this time, although for several years it was more slow than steady. In 2001, the league was forced to eliminate two of its teams and in 2004 there were reports that it had lost $350 million.

From this low point, MLS has begun to move toward profitability. The league signed a 10-year, $150 million dollar sponsorship deal with Adidas in 2004 and in 2006 inked its first television rights deal (it had previously been paying to put games on TV). Last season was the first in which MLS teams sold shirt sponsorships, proving that Americans are behind Europe in at least one aspect of capitalist excess.

Much of the success in recent years can be attributed to teams building their own “soccer-specific stadiums.” After years of being forced to rent American football stadiums, teams with their own stadiums now reap higher matchday revenues. They have also sold the naming rights to these stadiums, which explains why the LA Galaxy play home matches at the Home Depot Center (named after an American home improvement store), and will open the MLS season at the home of the Colorado Rapids, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (nickname: The Big Dick).

The Big Dick (photo: dickssportinggoodspark.com)

This surer financial footing has given MLS the confidence to begin expanding. This season sees the resurrection of the San Jose Earthquakes, a team that was unceremoniously moved to Houston and renamed the Dynamo in 2005. A Seattle team will join the league in 2009 and Philadelphia will bring the league to 16 teams in 2010.

The Philadelphia team has received a fair amount of publicity for its preemptively-formed fan club, the Sons of Ben. This group is part of a trend of increasingly numerous and boisterous MLS supporters groups, including DC United’s Barra Brava and Chicago’s Section 8. These groups are truly grassroots, and have sprung up in a league that was, until recently, more focused on attracting soccer moms and their families than reaching out to knowledgeable fans. MLS increasingly recognizes the importance of soccer-savvy fans and has eliminated many Americanizing gimmicks, such as keeping the official time on the stadium clock and having it count down, using hockey-style shootouts to avoid draws, and naming the Kansas City team the Wiz (though their current nickname, the Wizards, is only a slight improvement).

The standard of play in MLS has risen dramatically since the league’s inception. Early on, skilled foreign players often complained about the excess physicality and lack of skill in the league and hotfooted it back to where they had come from. Foreign players arriving today are just as likely to say that the level of play in MLS is above what they expected.

But high-profile foreign players like Beckham are the exception rather than the rule in MLS. Or, perhaps more accurately, they are the result of the so-called “designated player” rule, which allows teams to sign players at salaries that exceed the league-mandated salary cap (around $2 million per team per year). Former Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel and USA captain Claudio Reyna went to New York and Mexican legend Cuaumtémoc signed with Chicago on this rule last season. This year’s designated player signings are Argentines Marcelo Gallardo and Claudio Lopez, who will play for DC United and Kansas City respectively.

But perhaps the biggest on-field shift in MLS in recent years has been the emergence of young American players. The most promising talent at the moment is New York’s Jozy Altidore. Born to Haitian parents, the 18 year-old striker has the rare combination of size, skill, and poise in front of goal that has led Real Madrid to take an interest in him (and to top it all off, he also writes a weekly column on the New York Times website). When Altidore does leave, he will join a growing list of former MLS players in Europe, including Brad Friedel, Brian McBride, and DaMarcus Beasley. Less well known, though just as promising, is 20 year-old Michael Bradley (son of national team manager Bob), whose 16 goals from defensive midfield at Heerenveen in Holland have attracted interests from teams across Europe.

A more worrying exodus is the increasing number of players headed for leagues whose level of play is in no way superior to MLS, but whose salaries are. Beckham’s millions aside, salaries in MLS are relatively low. As a result, many players have taken more lucrative offers to play in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Austria in recent years. The loss of these players is bound to lower the quality play in MLS and worry league officials, especially as new teams thin the talent pool.

This season begins on Saturday with teams looking to knock back-to-back champions Houston Dynamo off their perch. Steve Nicol’s New England have come close to doing so, but have lost in the playoff final both years (like other American sports, MLS determines its champion in the playoffs, not in the league). DC United turn out consistently strong teams, though their hopes this year rest on how well playmaker Marcelo Gallardo adapts to the league. Chicago hope to build on the success that Mexican Cuauhtémoc Blanco inspired at the end of last season.

Cuauhtémoc Blanco (photo: Last Kick)

Unfortunately for MLS, teams in the two biggest American markets have experienced little success. Red Bull New York (the team was purchased by the energy drink company in 2006) boast the dangerous strike tandem of Juan Pablo Angel of Jozy Altidore, but the club have always struggled. Chivas USA, the American offshoot of the eponymous Mexican club, were the better of the two LA teams last year, beating the Galaxy 3-0 twice. The Galaxy failed to make the playoffs last season and real questions remain about the team going into this season. New coach Ruud Gullit has promised to bring sexy football to LA, but his team have few quality players outside of Beckham, US international Landon Donovan, and Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz.

At the outset of its 13th season, there are two ways of looking at MLS. Pessimists will claim that it has failed to break into the American mainstream and can’t match the quality of top European leagues. But optimists will point out that MLS has achieved a degree of financial stability and raised the level of play on the field to a point many doubted it would ever reach. David Beckham may be the icing on the cake, but at least there is cake to be iced.

After the 2006 World Cup, Sanchez got his wish and was named national team boss. He stuck with his promise not to select naturalized players until earlier this year when he called up one of Lavolpe’s favorites, Antonio Naelson. Sanchez retreated from his previous statements and relied on the same constitutional rationale that Chivas officials recently employed to justify Jesus Padilla’s spot on their team. “The doors are open for all Mexicans, and the constitution says that they are Mexican,” said Sanchez.

Hugo Sanchez has not been as revolutionary as he promised to be (Photo: FMSite.net)

Hugo Sanchez has a completely different set of problems today. As boss of the Olympic team, he recently failed to get out of a qualifying group that also included world heavyweights such as Canada, Guatemala, and Haiti. The cases of Chivas and the Mexican national team indicate that Mexico is a country currently working to define what it means to be Mexican.

Halfway across the globe, Qatar’s oil wealth has, for years, allowed its clubs to bring in talented foreign players (admittedly, slightly past the peaks of their careers). Gabriel Batistuta, Frank Leboeuf, Jay-Jay Okocha, and Romario have all spent at least some time in the Q-League. Despite these big names playing in the domestic league, the Qatari national team has achieved very little.

Recently, Qatar has begun to naturalize foreign players so that they can represent the country’s national team. This might seem to be controversial, but unlike in Mexico, there has been very little criticism of Uruguayan-born boss Jorge Fossati. Why is this the case? Just as in Mexico, political economy largely explains this phenomenon. Critiques of using foreign-born players (of Mexican descent or otherwise) in Mexico are rooted in a conception of Mexican identity originally promoted by Jose Vasconcelos, and shifts in this conception are now occurring largely because of the economic situation that has led to large numbers of Mexicans living outside of the country. In Qatar, foreign workers are an integral part of the country’s development. In a country accustomed to this reality, non-Qatari born soccer players representing the national team may not be such an, um, foreign idea.

Jorge Fossati is named Qatari national team boss in 2007 (Photo: FIFA/AFP/Karim Jaafar)

Like many countries in the Middle East, Qatar has, in recent years, brought in thousands of foreign workers. The US State Department reports that foreign workers are 52% of Qatar’s population and 89% of its labor force. In addition to native Qataris, Indians make up 20%, Filipinos and Nepalis 10% each, Pakistanis 7%, and Sri Lankans 5% of the 900,000 population of the gulf state. Foreign workers are employed in many industries and are the labor engine that is firing Qatar’s economy.

With half of the population made up of foreigners, Jorge Fossati has a limited pool from which to name his squad. He told FIFA last month, “You mustn’t forget that this is a country with a population of only 250,000, which makes it very hard to select a national team using only players born and bred here.” Just as bosses of Qatari industry have done, Fossati has looked for labor abroad. Michael Cockerill wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald last month of this plan:

After a string of frustrating failures at both World Cup and Asian Cup level, it dawned on the Qatari authorities that they were always going to struggle to make a splash in international football unless something radical was done. There are roughly 850,000 people in Qatar. Only one quarter of them are actually Qatari citizens, and only half again are male. To create a competitive national team out of such a limited talent pool was clearly a pipe dream. So Qatar began “buying” players from Africa, South America and other parts of Asia who hadn’t yet played for their own national teams. By accepting the lure of tax-free petro-dollars in the Q-League, they had to also declare their allegiance to the Qatar national team. For most, it was a no-brainer.

Qatar’s earlier attempts to lure relatively high-profile players such as Ailton and Dede to represent their national with promises of cash were shot down by FIFA. Instead of giving up on the idea of naturalizing foreign players to make them eligible for their national team, the Qataris simply looked for lower profile players. In a thread snarkily titled International Gathering of Failed Foreign Players in Qatar aka Qatari National Team, on the aliraqi.org message boards, user Al-Kazwami has detailed the foreigner players (and their country of origin) who have represented the gulf nation recently. They include Lawrence (Ghana), Wissam Rizk (Palestine), Talal Al-Belushi (Kuwait), Mujeeb Hameed (Sudan), Qassim Burhan (Sudan), Ali Mejbel Fartous (Iraq), Majdi Sidiq (Sudan), Ali Nassir (Yemen), Hussein Yasser (Egypt), Majeed Mohammad (Sudan), Sebastian Soria (Uruguay), Abdulah Koni (Senegal), Mohammad Saqr (Senegal), Fabio César Montazine (Brazil), and Marconi Amaral (Uruguay).

Qatar’s Uruguayan-born forward Sebastian Soria, in white (Photo: FIFA/AFP)

That this gaggle of foreign players representing Qatar has not caused more of an uproar in the gulf nation is not unconnected from the number of foreign workers in the country. Qataris accustomed to foreigners working in industries seem content to let them move into the sporting arena. The contrast with Mexico – a country with little history of immigration– is clear, and it is no surprise that bringing in foreign players for El Tricolor is more controversial. The controversy in Mexico is coming as a result of the high levels of emigration and the increasing number of talented foreign-born Mexicans like Jesus Padilla has forced Chivas to change its “Mexicans born in Mexico only” policy. Indeed, Hugo Sanchez and future Mexican national team bosses may begin to field more and more American-born Mexicans (New Mexico-born Edgar Castillo was part of the unsuccessful U-23 team). The team selections of Chivas, El Tricolor, and the Qatari national team are being drastically affected by global political economics.

Jesus Padilla (photo: Mexsport/mediotiempo.com)

The revelation about Paddilla has forced Chivas to alter its long-held policy. The club says that it will now follow the definition of citizenship laid out in the Mexican constitution, which states that “those born in a foreign country of Mexican parents; of a Mexican father and a foreign mother; or of a Mexican mother and an unknown father.” On the face of it, this shift seems like a purely sporting matter. But it is not. In fact, definitions of Mexican identity are shifting in society as a whole, profoundly affected by the numbers of migrants leaving for the United States. The case of Jesus Padilla is simply one example of how Mexico as a whole is being forced by massive demographic shifts to change its notions of what it means to be Mexican.

Ideas about what it means to be Mexican are complicated and long in the making. Few people can be said to have had as strong an influence on shaping Mexican identity as Jose Vasconcelos. The Mexican lawyer, philosopher, and presidential candidate is best known for his 1925 book La Raza Cosmica (The Cosmic Race). Vasconcelos’s work was a response to some who claimed that the Mexican “race” – a mix of indigenous, European, and African people – was inferior. Vasconcelos sought to turn the argument on its head, claiming that this mixture was precisely what made Mexicans unique.

Jose Vasconcelos (photo: Arikah.net)

Vasconcelos’s work was used as part of a nation-building project in Mexico that sought to unify the country after the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. During those 10 years, fighting between Mexicans of diverse backgrounds racked the country. Governments immediately following the Mexican Revolution latched on to the idea of la raza (to which it was shortened), promoting its message that all citizens are united by the “race” they share. Vasconcelos’s ideas have continued to be important in shaping Mexican identity and the relatively high degree of nationalism in the country is not unconnected from them.

There is no evidence that Chivas implemented its “Mexicans born in Mexico” policy to directly appeal to this strong strain of nationalism. But the club’s decision to do so has led to it having one of the strongest fan bases in Mexico. Chivas USA defender Claudio Suarez, who played nearly 150 matches for Chivas Guadalajara in the 1990s, told Andrea Canales that many fans’ support for the club comes from its Mexican-only selection policy.

Chivas fans (photo: redchivas.com)

The national pride promoted by Vasconcelos’s ideas and taken advantage of by Chivas has had to be reconsidered recently, especially in the face of high levels of emigration from Mexico. The millions of Mexicans and their descendants now living in the United States have presented a challenge to conceptions of Mexican citizenship and identity. Is someone who moves to the US a Mexican? What about someone born to Mexican parents who live in the US? What about the child of Mexican-born father and an-American born mother of Mexican descent? This is exactly the scenario in which Jesus Padilla was born.

Having so many of its people living outside of the country has forced Mexico to reconsider ideas about who is Mexican. It was this that led to citizens living abroad being given the right to vote in Mexican elections for the first time in 2006. The contradiction between the constitutional definition of citizenship and the reality that millions of Mexicans were being disenfranchised could no longer be sustained.

Jesus Padilla’s situation also presented a contradiction between the club’s stated policy and the reality that there are millions of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans living in the United States. The club would undoubtedly like to take advantage of this potential pool of players. Indeed, they were already been doing so with Padilla as well as Los Angeles-born youth player Carlos Borja. The realities that the demographic shifts of the past several decades present are affecting Chivas’ selection policy just as surely as they are voting rights for Mexicans living abroad.

In announcing the decision to recognize foreign-born Mexican players, Chivas vice president Nestor de la Torre acknowledged these new realities in words that could just have as easily come from the mouth of a presidential candidate courting votes in Los Angeles. “In Mexico, because of the social reality, there are many countrymen who have to go work in the United States. Does that need and the accident of someone’s birth in another piece of land that’s not Mexico take away his values, customs, and Mexican race?”

Luis told me that being Hispanic gives him a unique perspective in covering American and Mexican soccer. And being a journalist gave him the ability to see things from the point of view average American sports reporter (i.e. non-soccer fan):

I can relate to how my parents grew up in their culture (they are from Mexico) and especially their love of soccer. I see how soccer can appear to press people who don’t know or understand the game. So I can see it from both sides. I think that’s helped out. If nothing else, my familiarity with the Mexican league and the national team [has helped out]. Long before I ever thought I’d be a journalist, I was watching games with my dad.

When asked about the popularity of soccer in LA, Luis told me that the sport “huge.”

It’s kind of strange in that teams like the Lakers and the Dodgers … Chivas Guadalajara probably has as many fans as they do here in LA. … It’s not true that people don’t care about soccer in LA. Because people speak a different language, they don’t read the LA Times, they don’t watch ESPN. the assumption is that it’s just Lakers and Dodgers in LA. But it’s not like that at all. There are communities here that are mostly Hispanic and [soccer] is their passion.

Despite the popularity of soccer in Hispanic communities in LA and elsewhere, few Hispanics represent the US national team. Luis told me that this is a problem in getting potential Hispanic fans to support the US.

Last year I think there were 3 [Mexican-American] players and they had more than 50 players on the US national team. The only ones who had any Mexican descent were Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein and Herculez Gomez. Gomez was more filler than anything, Bocanegra and Bornstein are solid first-choice players. So I think to capture that market, especially with young kids who are just starting to become fans, I think if they had some guys named Hernandez or Suarez, they might relate to them more.

When I asked him how this was possible, given that Hispanics are the largest minority group in the country and many are more into soccer than the average American. He said that until recently, he didn’t see US Soccer taking the issue seriously.

I heard Steve Sampson once on a conference call when he was coach of the Galaxy say something like, “Oh, all Mexican-Americans support Mexico.” If that’s the attitude of the former US national team coach … That’s not to say Sampson hasn’t done a lot, he actually has. … If any American coach knows about Hispanics, it’s him. Yet it kind of surprised me. Why would he say that? Does US Soccer feel like that entirely? Does Bruce Arena? Bob Bradley? Do they see the importance of it or are they just saying, “Well, we’re just missing this whole wealth of talent.” We don’t know. There could be the next Landon out here, the next Altidore. We don’t know since it’s something that’s never really been explored.

When I asked Luis how MLS could attempt to reach out to Hispanic fans, he told me the league would be well advised to target those born in the US.

I think they need to target more Mexican-Americans than Mexicans. I always use the comparison of my dad. My dad’s a big Chivas Guadalajara fan, but I don’t know that he’s ever watched a Chivas USA game. When I told him that they signed Claudio Suarez, he was like, “Oh, this is about his speed. He couldn’t play down in Mexico any more so he came up here.” I think that’s a common perception. But if you get American-born children of Mexican parents who follow Chivas or whatever club, I think those are the ones who are more apt to watch MLS games.

With the arrival of Chivas USA, I have long wondered how the 2 teams have become identified within LA. I asked Luis if he thought there was any danger that the Galaxy would become the “white” team and Chivas the “Mexican” team. He agreed that this is a danger, noting a fight between supporters of the two teams at the end of last season. But even more than that, Luis told me that the Galaxy roster may indicate a shift in how the team is seen in LA.

When you look at the players, there’s Carlos Ruiz and, um, (laughs). It’s kind of funny to think about it. In LA, how is that possible? I talked to Mauricio Cienfuegos last year when they didn’t have a single Hispanic player on the roster. … The perception is really there, though, that the Galaxy is the “white” team. I would hope that’s not really how it goes.

My interview with Luis focused on about ways in which US Soccer and MLS are reaching out (or not) to Hispanic players, fans, coaches, etc. The write-up of that interview with him will be up on TIAS in the near future.

The transcript of the full 50-minute Q&A with Andrea is up now on TIAS. Here are a few quotes to whet your appetite before you head over to TIAS to read the entire thing.

Andrea was born in Michigan (although she says people in LA constantly think she’s saying she’s from the Mexican state of Michoacan), but lived in Argentina for a couple of years growing up:

In Argentina I learned to play a little soccer. When you’re that young you don’t know that girls don’t usually play soccer because I had always grown up doing whatever my brother did (he’s 2 years older). And so, it was a small town we lived in and they wanted to have enough players to have a team so I was allowed to play with the boys. I didn’t know that was unusual.

Talking about some of the places her career has allowed her to travel to:

I feel really lucky, by and large, to have had the opportunities I’ve had. I could go to the [2006] World Cup, I went to Peru for the [2005] Youth World Cup. That was actually kind of fun because there are a bunch of players who have transitioned to other things, like Jozy [Altidore].

On the stories she’s written that she’s most proud of:

I guess I’m proudest of the stories I’ve gotten a lot of flack for, but I feel like were valid points. I wrote one about Bruce Arena and that I thought he should move on after the 2006 World Cup, but I wrote that before the World Cup happened. There were so many people that were like, “Oh, Arena’s great, maybe he should just be coach for life.” … And of course, after the 2006 World Cup … I got exactly one email saying, “You know what? I remember you wrote about Arena needing to move on and I think you were right and I just wanted to tell you because I remember I wrote you a negative email.” I was proud of having a little foresight there.

On being one of the few female soccer reporters:

I have had a couple of other reporters say, “Okay, I’m standing next to you in the mixed zone because I know the players will stop to talk to you.” I’m not sure that’s true because I’ve gotten blown off plenty of times by players who don’t want to talk to anybody. That’s [the other reporters’] viewpoint anyway, but maybe they were just teasing me. I’m kind of gullible that way.

I did put on the blog an incident I had with a player. It’s kind of depressing to think about. … but I do think it’s part of the reality of being a female soccer reporter. The simple fact is that you get people who come from different cultures and that means they’re not used to the US style of doing things. … To me, it was just being fair. I have no problem with a mixed zone. It’s not like I want to be in a locker room, but that’s just the way things are done in American sports. If other reporters want to give up locker room access and do a mixed zone, then that’s fine. But that’s not the way professional sports want to build an audience. … [Players] can’t try to order me out of the locker room so I can’t talk to anybody else.

On whether soccer is the sport of the Internet:

I’d have to say a qualified sort of yes. What I think is that soccer, more than other sports, creates a dividing line experience here in the US. I think if you follow basketball, no matter who you are, you’re watching the Lakers. If you follow soccer, if you’re an expat in Santa Monica, you’re watching the EPL early in the morning at the King’s Head Pub. If you are Hispanic, you’re reading La Opinión and other papers that focus on teams back in Mexico. They provide very good coverage of the Mexican league, more so than MLS by far. If you’re an American soccer fan, then your experience once again is unique and the media you go to is also unique. For the American soccer fan, and when I say American I mean of the domestic sport, the MLS fan, I would say it’s very Internet-based.

On what she sees for the future for her and soccer journalism in the US:

I don’t know. I wish I did because then I could plan better. I could give up on it and just do teaching (she teaches part-time in addition to soccer writing) but I keep thinking, “Hey, maybe something’s coming around the corner.” I think a lot of us were hoping that the arrival of Beckham would [help]. It sort of did, I mean, Luis and I have a book on the way. I’m not going to say that it didn’t open up doors. But did it open up enough doors for us to do this full-time? Not yet.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci plays soccer with ethnic Serb boys (photo: Visar Kryeziu /AP / Christian Science Monitor)

The 1990s were a particularly bloody period in the history of the Balkans, but far from the first time the region has gone through instability. It is perhaps because of this instability that countries in the Balkans have sent so many of their people abroad. Among these Balkans living outside of their ancestral homeland are quite a number of talented soccer players. Some were born in the Balkans, others to parents who have left their homelands.

If Kosovo does become an independent nation, it will have the right to forms its own national team. As Steve Menary writes in his book Outcasts, the unofficial Kosovo FA has been fielding a team for years. One player they would hope to bring in to the team is Crystal Palace striker Shefki Kuqi. Kuqi was born in Kosovo, although he later moved to Finland, a country for which he earned 52 caps. Should the country of his birth be recognized by FIFA, Kuqi would be able to switch his allegiance to Kosovo.

Barcelona’s 17 year-old phenom Bojan Krkic was recently called up to the Spanish national team. Illness prevented him from becoming the youngest ever player to represent la Furia Roja, but it is only a matter of time before he pulls on Spain’s famous red shirt. Bojan, as he is commonly known, was born to a Serbian father, who played for Red Star Belgrade in the 1980s. Though undoubtedly talented (Bojan Jr. is considered one of Barcelona and Spain’s best young players), the call-up was seen as a way to tie the youngster’s loyalty to the country of his birth. Serbia has made inquires to the Barcelona forward, but it seems likely he will snub his father’s country in favor of Spain.

Perhaps the most talented of all players of Balkan descent is Inter’s Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Zlatan was born in Malmo to a Bosnian father and Croatian mother, who had left their homeland independently and met in Sweden. Zlatan began his career at Malmo FF, a club noted for its many multiethnic players (they currently have Swedish-Ghanian, Swedish-Iranian, Swedish-Greek, and a Swedish-Kosovar player on their books).

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (photo: BBC)

Sweden is a country noted for its welcoming immigration policies. The country has quite a large immigrant population today, including many from the Balkans. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that the country has had several such players represent its national team. These include center back Daniel Majstorovic, midfielder Dusan Duric, and striker Rade Prica, all of whom have families from what is now Serbia.

Australia, as I have written previously, has quite a number of ethnic Croatians in its national team, reflecting the historical connections between the two countries. Aussies of Croatian descent include Mark Viduka, Jason Culina, Tony Popovic, Josip Skoko, Ante Covic, Zeljko Kalac, and Mark Bresciano.

Argentina has traditionally been a country with a large amount of immigration, including many from the Balkans. Some fairly prominent Argentine players of Balkan descent today include Velez Sarsfield defender Mariano Uglessich, Universidad Catolica (of Chile) goalkeeper Jose Maria Buljubasich (try saying that 10 times fast), and San Lorenzo midfielder Daniel Bilos. Bilos was approached by Croatia prior to the 2006 World Cup, but turned down his ancestral homeland, preferring to represent Argentina.

There are several less well-known players internationally, but who have made their name around the world playing in smaller leagues. Former midfielder Dejan Petkovic has played for many years in Brazil and is considered a legend there (quite an achievement for a non-Brazilian). Dragan Stojkovic was revered during his time playing for Japan’s Nagoya Grampus Eight and he is now manager of that team.

Stojkovic is far from the only manager from the Balkans playing his trade outside of his homeland. Vladimir Petrovic is currently in charge of China’s national team, a position previously held by one of the most famous Balkan managers of all time, Bora Milutinovic. Bora holds the distinction of being the only coach ever to be in charge of five different teams at the World Cup (Mexico in 1986, Costa Rica in 1990, the United States in 1994, Nigeria in 1998, and China in 2002).

The latest stop on Bora’s coaching tour of the world is Jamaica (photo: TheReggaeBoyz.com)

Know other famous soccer exports from the Balkans? Post them in the comments below.

Hilarious parody from Oz City Soccer

While Fulham’s expats are relatively high profile, there are many Americans playing abroad who are anything but. It’s a truly dedicated fan who knows Eric Lichaj of Aston Villa, Michael Enfield of Sydney FC in Australia or Tighe Dombrowski of IK Sirius in Sweden.

But while teams abroad are snapping up American players (among other reasons, the falling value of the dollar makes them a good bargain), they appear reluctant to look at American coaches. Only one native-born American coach has held a major job abroad (Steve Sampson, who was in charge of Costa Rica’s national team from 2002 – 2004). Scouring the depths of my brain and the Internet for examples of American coaches who have worked abroad was only able to come up with three, all of whom are naturalized Americans born in other countries.

Last week, Martin Vasquez’s career got a bit of a jump. Until then, the 44 year-old was an assistant coach for MLS’s Chivas USA. But then, Jürgen Klinsmann, who will take over from Ottmar Hitzfeld as Bayern Munich manager next season, announced that he will bring Vasquez across the Atlantic with him as his number two man. It will be quite a responsibility for Vasquez, especially if Klinsmann takes the type of hands-off approach he did during his time with the German national team, when many credited his assistant (and now head coach) Joachim Löw with being the driving force behind the country’s resurgence.

Martin Vasquez (photo: Juan Miranda/Chivas USA/Soccer America)

Klinsmann knows Vasquez from his time in Southern California. In a statement, the German legend said, “I’ve known Martin since 2003 when he was training at an elite football camp in the United States. I was impressed by his positive leadership style and I recommended him to LA Galaxy.” Vasquez was a Galaxy assistant for one season before moving to LA rivals Chivas USA. That move was nowhere near as big as his upcoming switch to Munich.Vasquez does not lack experience crossing borders. Born in Mexico, he moved to LA at age 12. Vasquez played college soccer at UCLA before returning to Mexico to begin his pro career. He played for several teams in Mexico and even earned a spot on the Mexican national team, playing for El Tri several times in the early 1990s. Vasquez returned to the US in 1996 to join the fledgling MLS. His play for the now-defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny and the soon-to-be revived San Jose Clash (known today as the Earthquakes) earned him a call-up from then US national team boss Steve Sampson (he was eligible having only played in friendlies for Mexico), where Vasquez eventually earned 7 caps.

Another coach making his name abroad is Iranian-American Afshin Ghotbi. Born in the Iranian city of Jahrom, Ghotbi remained in his homeland until just prior to the Iranian revolution, when his familiy left for the Los Angeles area, home to a large Iranian expat community. He continued to play soccer and like Martin Vasquez was a member of UCLA’s college team (in fact, given their similar ages, they would likely have been teammates there).

Afshin Ghotbi during his time with the Korean national team (photo: Soccerphile)

After his college career, Ghotbi was involved with youth soccer in Southern California. He coached several professional players in their formative years, including John O’Brien, who went to Ajax in part on Ghotbi’s recommendation. Ghotbi worked as a coach for the US national team, then spent time with the LA Galaxy before using his connections to Holland to get a job as an assistant to Guus Hiddink during his time coaching Korea at the 2002 World Cup.

Ghotbi’s biggest move, though, came last year when he returned to his homeland to take over Tehran giants Persepolis. Given the state of relations between his homeland and adopted country, Ghotbi was worried what reaction his return might bring, but he was welcomed with open arms. He has had tremendous success with his club team and has been talked up as a future Iranian national team manager.

The third and final American manager to have worked abroad is Alketas Panagoulias. Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Panagoulias moved to the US to do university studies. While in New York, he became involved with the Greek American Atlas Soccer Club, serving as the team’s coach. At a time of little professional soccer in the US, Pangoulias’ amateur team won three consecutive US Open Cup (the American version of the FA Cup) titles from 1967-1969.

Panagoulias returned to Greece in 1972 to serve as an assistant coach for the national team. He was promoted to the head coaching position in 1973, and remained in that job until 1981. He took over Greek giants Olympiakos and led the team to the Greek title in 1982 and 1983. In 1984, he returned to the US to coach the Olympic team in the Los Angeles games. From there, he became the senior national team manager.

Panagoulias returned to his homeland in the late 1980s, coaching Olympiakos again and Aris FC. In 1992, he was appointed to a second spell as national team boss. Panagoulias led the team to its one of its greatest ever moments, qualifying for the 1994 World Cup in the USA.

Alketas Panagoulias (photo: View Images)

Why have there been so few American coaches abroad? My guess is that there remains a stigma against them, left over from the decades in which American soccer was a laughing stock. Although American players have become desirable for teams abroad, American coaches have not found work abroad easy to come by at all. Bruce Arena, the most successful American coach of all time whose greatest accomplishment was guiding the US national team to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, desperately tried to throw his hat into the ring for the Scotland job recently, but to no avail.

This is perhaps not surprising, as many more European coaches have gone to traditionally less powerful countries to play their trade than vice versa (of the 16 teams in African Cup of Nations, only four are African, though the World Cup Blog expresses some hope that this may change in the future). Even South American countries, who, given the players they produce, know a thing or two about their job, have found it tough to break into Europe (the most notable failure of recent times being Wanderlei Luxemburgo at Real Madrid).

For now, it seems, the only Americans able to break into the coaching ranks overseas are those whose foreign birth gives them a degree of street-cred that native-born coaches lack. Only time will tell if American coaches can become as desirable as the players they are increasingly producing.

Though not nearly as influential as other aspects of Greek society passed down to us today, several top soccer teams have names that make reference to Greek gods and places. In most cases these names suggest qualities to which the teams aspire (though perhaps don’t always achieve). The list I present here is relatively small, though I don’t doubt that there are other teams with Greek-inspired names (I am not, of course, counting Greek teams themselves in this list). If you know teams with such names, please post them in the comments.

One of the most important teams in the development of soccer worldwide was England’s Corinthians FC. The team was one of the top sides in England during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century. Corinithians gained fame by traveling around the game, bringing the soccer gospel to many different countries. So taken were the Brazilians by these visitors that they named a local team after them. That team, Sao Paulo’s Corinthians, continues to play professionally to this day (though were recently relegated to the second division) and has recently had players such as Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano on their books. The English Corinthians merged with Casuals FC in 1939 to become Corinthians-Casuals FC, a team that plays in the Ryman Football League (formerly known as the Isthmian League) today.

The Greek city-state of Corinth, for which Corinthians FC was presumably named, once rivaled Athens for power and prestige. Most notably, Corinth hosted the Isthmian Games. This competition was held every two years and has been described by archaeologist Oscar Broneer as “probably the most popular of all the Panhellenic celebrations.” Although the last Isthmian Games were held in the 4th century AD, the name of the city-state which hosted it was revived by an English soccer team 1500 years late, as was the spirit of athletic competition for its own sake that both celebrated.

An archaeological dig being done at the site of the Isthmian Games (photo: Michael Lahanas)

In Italy, Atalanta are a team known for producing young players, including Italian legend and current national team coach Roberto Donadoni. The team today sits in 8th place, one spot away from qualifying for the Intertoto Cup. The team’s blue and black uniforms give them one of their nicknames, the Nerazzurri. That nickname may be shared with current Italian champions Inter, but Atalanta’s other nickname is all their own.

The team from Bergamo is also known as La Dea (Italian for “goddess”). That is because the team takes its name from the Greek god Atalanta. As the myth has it, Atalanta was so beautiful that she had many suitors, but rebuffed all who sought her hand. Her father convinced her to agree to marry anyone who could beat her in a footrace. Atalanta agreed, and ran many races against potential suitors, winning all of them. Finally, she came up against Hippomenes. Finding him attractive, Atalanta sought to convince him not to run, as losers of the races were put to death. Hippomenes did race Atalanta, but had the god of love Aphrodite intervene on his behalf, placing apples on Atalanta’s path, which she stopped to pick, allowing Hippomenes to pass her. Could it have been Atalanta’s pace and beauty that inspired the Italian team to choose her as their name?

Atalanta’s logo incorporates an image of the goddess of the same name (photo: Atalanta BC)

No country has more teams named for Greek gods, heroes, and places than Holland. For a country relatively distant from Greece, this is a bit of a surprise (to me, at least). Sparta Rotterdam, a team which nearly always plays second fiddle to city rivals Feyenoord, takes its name from perhaps one of the greatest city-states of ancient Greece, immortalized for its role in defeating Athens in the Peloponnesian War.

Heracles Almelo may be small potatoes even in the modest Dutch league, but the Greek god from which they took their name is anything but small. Heracles, who the Romans would incorporate into their traditions and rename Hercules, was the son of Zeus. Above all, he was known as a great warrior, whose strength and guile enabled him to achieve a mythic status in ancient Greece. Heracles Almelo, who did win the Dutch league in 1927 and 1941, have, in recent years, shown little of the athletic ability demonstrated by the Greek god from whom they took their name.

The Greek god Heracles in action (photo: Jean Oh)

The most famous team named for a mythological Greek hero, however, is Ajax. That Ajax is written about in the Iliad, most prominently when he argues with Patroclus over who will take Achilles’ shield after that hero has been slain. Ajax loses the argument and is enraged. In his rage, he slaughters a flock of sheep. When he realizes what he has done, he feels ashamed and instead of living the rest of his life with this shame, kills himself.

Ajax Amsterdam, on the other hand, have not died (though their teams in the past couple of years have been pretty poor). The team from the Dutch capital has seen two golden periods: one in the early 1970s when, inspired by Johann Cruyff, they won the European Cup three times in a row (1971-1973), and a second in the mid-1990s when, coached by Louis van Gaal, they put out a team of young players (including Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and others) and won the European Cup (1995). Despite the team’s recent lack of success, Ajax Amsterdam – in contrast to other teams with similarly inspired names – are now more prominent than the original god Ajax from which they took their name.