Nice Job, Capitán

Mexico fans are breathing fire right now, with another loss to the Americans (I’ll use the proper term now I guess) only helping support the “WTF is up with Mexico” cause. Not only did we lose, but our captain got sent off for a childish assault, our manager looked like a moron, the press is going nuts again, and…

Hold on, let’s backtrack for a second. Our captain got sent off? Again? Did I seriously type that? Isn’t he supposed to be the one that sets the example for the rest of the team? If there’s anyone on the team that should be keeping their cool, it should be him, especially him. The USA vs. Mexico match isn’t the place to practice your karate, nor to pretend you’re Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Why can’t Rafa play with the same level of professionalism that he plays at the club level? Is it too much to ask of him to keep his cool? We may all despise the USMNT during these matches, but we can’t act like children during these matches. What kind of example are you setting, Rafa?

I don’t get Rafa Márquez, I just don’t.

Jeez, Rafa

Any player would be under fire if they pulled off an assault like this one, but what makes this even more disappointing is that the captain is the culprit for this. He obviously set a bad example after playing such a good game. This isn’t the first time that something like this happened in these matches: remember the incident with Cobi Jones (which we all kinda wanted to do)?, This is also his 4th overall red card for the Tricolor.

Let’s just see the circumstances surrounding Rafa when he played this match. Actually, I’ll call them excuses:

-Rafa is jetlagged and bored. The FMF have always been boneheads (or cheapskates) when booking flights. The players take flights with stops and long waits in between. I don’t doubt that there were flight problems for the European-based players and arriving in a cold place after many hours on a plane and in an airport, is no help to anyone’s mood.

-Rafa isn’t in the mood to play in the CONCACAF. This goes with the claim that he’s “too good” for the team, and in a way he was the only true world-class player on the pitch. If his ego really is as big as claimed, he just wanted to get the game over with and get the hell back to Barcelona.

-Rafa is no different than anyone else on the team during these matches. Yeah, he may be the captain and the country’s best player, but that doesn’t mean that he has the ability to keep cool during these matches, even though he should.

There may be controversy over whether he deserves the armband or not anymore, but as for the playing aspect, there’s no way that Rafa Márquez can be excluded from the squad. You don’t not call up a starting player at Barcelona. He may not play with the same hunger as he does at Barca, but there’s too much quality in him to cut out from the team. Don’t forget that he’s still a great free kick taker and is a threat during set pieces. Don’t forget his long-ball.

Rafa apologized after the match, with the expected excuses: “I lost my head” “I’m very sorry for this”. Let’s put it this way, this match is as important in North America as “El Clásico” is in Spain. You don’t convert a nationality into a voodoo doll if this game wasn’t this intense. If he pulled this crap at Barcelona during a Clasico, the picky Barca fans would destroy him, then the club would ship his ass to Atlético Madrid.* Why would he do it in La Seleccion?

I think that it’s because he doesn’t take the National Team seriously. This goes back to the notion that he’s better than the rest of the team, and his place is as good as secure on the National team. In Barcelona, where Guardiola goes as far to bench key players at random times, Rafa’s place on the team has to be earned, which he does a good job of. Guardiola and the rest of FC Barcelona are hard-asses and Sven and the FMF aren’t. Where does he perform at his best? Barca, simple as that.

Maybe his two-game suspension will be more than enough to do him good. In a time when Mexico should have been gaining momentum for the World Cup, we are instead succumbing to disappointment from the entire team and the federation especially. Our captain should have been a true captain during the match. Mexico doesn’t need or deserve this.

This post is inspired by this letter from Medio Tiempo. It’s a fantastic read if you know Spanish. If not, throw it into Babelfish or something, it’s very interesting.

*I apologize for the shameless plug