Diego Maradona Dead at 60

 Argentine great Diego Maradona, who scored one of the most infamous goals in World Cup history, died of a heart attack at age 60 today in Tiegre, Argentina.  Jere  Longman has an extensive obituary in the New York Times.

Maradona ruled the 1986 World Cup in Mexico City, won by Argentina.  In the quarterfinal against England he broke a scoreless tie in the 51st minute by intercepting a pass in the air to British keep Peter Shilton and heading it - or so it seemed - into the net.  Turns out he fisted it into the net and somehow the referee did not see it.  

According to Longman, "Maradona later gave conflicting accounts of what had happened. At first he said he had never touched the ball with his fist; then he said he had done so accidentally; then he attributed the goal to divine intervention, to 'the hand of God.' " Four minutes later he dribbled some 70 yards and scored what proved to be the game winner.

In 2000 FIFA voted Maradona and Pele the two greatest players.  Unlike Pele, Maradona had a long history of drug addiction.  In 1991 he was given a 15-month suspension for a positive cocaine test.  His behavior became erratic, it was said.  In 1994 he was kicked out of the World Cup in the United States after testing positive for various stimulants. 

Health issues included alcohol abuse, treatment for a weakened heart and psychiatric treatment.  He was the father of eight children, including three while he was in Cuba treating for drug addiction.

Argentina has declared three days of mourning.

Union Busting

 The Supporters Shield will have to do for the Philadelphia Union tis year as they were ousted in the opening game of the play-offs last night by the New England Revolution, 2-0.  The Inquirer's Jonathan Tannenwald does his usual excellent job in describing the game.  

How The Union Got Where They Are

The Philadelphia Union, winners of the Supporters Shield, begin their play-off run Tuesday at 8 p.m. at home against the New England Revolution.  The Inquirer's Jonathan Tannenwald, has a story in today's editions about how the team's academy helped them to the top.  Well-done piece worth a read.

Is This Soccer? Massachusetts High Rules

 Just as it has touched everything else in our lives, the coronavirus has altered high school soccer, at least in Massachusetts.  Andrew Keh in today's New York Times describes the rule changes there that have affected the way the game is played. No headers, no throw-ins (replaced by free kicks), no defensive walls.  Games are no quarters rather than halves.  Goalies cannot punt past midfield.  Physical contact with an opponent is permitted.

A violation of one of these rules is a "covid foul" and give the other team an indirect free kick.  

Phil  Silva, coach of Bishop Sheehan, says the rules have slowed down the game because of the number of stoppages for the covid fouls.

It's sad to see the game so drastically altered and especially slowed down, but as Keh reports, most believe playing by these rules is better than not playing at all.

Jackie Charlton dies. Played In '66 World Cup Final

Jack Charlton, who played 21 years for Leeds United, earned 35 caps for England and later managed several clubs and the Irish National Team, died last week at age 85. The New York Times ran a lengthy obit.  Charlton and his younger brother, Bob, a Manchester United star, were both on the field when England defeated Germany, 4-2, in overtime to win the 1966 World Cup.  

The match was controversial because Geoff Hurst's go-ahead goal 11 minutes into the first overtime, struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced out, but the Swiss referee ruled it a goal after consulting with the Russian assistant referee.  The controversy raged for years in Germany.  

Years later my brother, Gary, took soccer players from the school where he taught to a camp in England and met Bob Charlton.  So naturally he asked Charlton if it was really goal.  "Of course it was, mate," said Charlton who had been in the midfield, who knows how far from the goal at the time. 

Jack Charlton was the 12th member of the 1966 World Cup champions to die.

Grössenwahn: The New European Order

Rory Smith writes in today's New York Times about European clubs living in the past with delusions of grandeur about the future. Although the column focuses on F.C. Kaiserslautern, Hamburger S.V. and VfB Stuttgart, it looks at the trend throughout Europe.  "Over the last two decades, a current has swept through European soccer, drastically shifting the game’s landscape," Smith writes.

Soccer Returns in Germany - Sort Of

Rory Smith in yesterday's New York Times wrote about the return of the Bundesliga to empty stadiums.  He focused on Dortmund where Borussia shut out FC Schalke, 4-0.  The story mentions the feeling of many fans that this isn't really soccer, but rather business.  But as Smith notes, when the first goal was scored, "In that moment, you could see beyond the silence and the grayness and the sorrow, beneath the business and the sport, that soccer is just a game. But it is a good game."

U.S. Women Suffer "Crushing Blow" in Court

A federal judge in  California dismissed the U.S. Women's National Team's claims against U.S. Soccer of being paid less than the men's team.  It was described by Andrew Das in the New York Times as a crushing blow.  The court left standing claims of unequal treatment in areas such as travel, hotel accommodations and team staffing.  Trial is scheduled for June 16.

The judge granted U.S. Soccer's motion for summary judgment, meaning that based on undisputed facts of record the women could not win and defendant U.S. Soccer was entitled to a dismissal as a matter of law.

As Kelsey Trainor (who like Coach P is a lawyer) states in her article on The Equalizer, Judge Gary Klausner wrote in a 32-page opinion "that the U.S. women rejected an offer to operate under a CBA with a pay structure similar to the men’s national team and therefore, they cannot now claim unequal pay. The judge also found that, based on evidence and expert testimony submitted by the parties, the U.S. women actually earned more than the men over the same time span. He noted that while the U.S. women earned on average $221,000 per game during the class period (2015 – 2019) the U.S. men earned $213,000 per game. This, of course, does not take into account the fact that had the men’s team been successful like the women (who won two World Cups during that time), the men would have earned a far higher rate of pay. "

The women have said they would appeal, but as Trainor points out, because the appeal would be interlocutory, that is a appeal of less than a final judgment on all issues, and those are very difficult to file.  Unless the appellate court grants permission, the women would have to go through a trial on the remaining issue and then appeal the dismissal of the equal pay claim.

It is still possible the sides will reach a settlement before the trial date.

Quarter century MLS broadcasters

Thanks to Inquirer soccer writer Jonathan Tannenwald for tweeting out the MLS article about the league's longtime broadcasters, including the Union's J.P. Dellacamera.  May they be back on the air very soon.

FIFA To The Rescue

The soccer world is not immune to the devastating economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.  One doesn't need an MBA to figure that when your source of revenue goes - in the case of soccer the games, televising of them and incidental income such as parking and concessions - your profits go as well.  

It turns out that FIFA has cash reserves of $2.74 billion and is considering using some of that money to  aid ailing clubs around the world.  As reported in the New York Times, there is talk of using some of the reserves and borrowing against future television revenue to create a "football relief fund."

Bundesliga Fans In An Uproar

First it was league games on Monday nights.  Now German Bundesliga fans are in an upset over violation of the so-called 50-1 rule which prohibited any one person from owning a majority of a team.  Their protests have turned ugly including signs with a picture of Hoffenheim majority owner Dietmer Hopp in a gunsight's crosshairs.

At least four matches in the last month have been delayed by fan protests.

The New York Times ran a story about the German fan protests today.

Coach P Retired - From High School Soccer

Can't believe it's been six months since I posted anything here.  Not like there wasn't anything going on in soccer.  Just not enough hours in the day.  Maybe once taxes are finished I'll be able to write more.

For now I just wanted to mention my "retirement" as treasurer of Haddonfield High School Girls Soccer Booster Club and stadium announcer.  I started the group in 1994 when Kirsten was a sophomore (her first year on varsity) and as I always used to joke, she graduated in 1997 but they never found a way to get rid of me - until now.

As I told this year's Booster Club coordinator (I don't use "president" because that suggests an election) Jen Siok: "It's time."  Twenty-six seasons is plenty.  The bookkeeping isn't that hard although I always like to say I can barely count past 10 and thank heavens for Excel.  But the most fun has always been the games and we have virtually no night games any more where we used to have a third to a half of our schedule under the lights.    We always drew good crowds at night against West Deptford and the local schools: Audubon, Collingswood, Haddon Heights and Haddon Township and we would play some of our games at night at their fields.

As long as I keep a day job I can only get to games on nights and Saturdays.   So less games to attend means less contact with the players and their parents.  That aside, I am closer in age to the team grandparents than parents - keep in mind our oldest grandson is a freshman in high school.

I recall how much Kirsten enjoyed playing under the lights, especially on a Saturday when a lot of her friends would come to the game then they'd walk over to someone's house for a party.  I remember one year at our post-season banquet one of the captains said how much she loved hearing the National Anthem and running out onto the field when I announced her and the other starters.  She told me I was part of her high school experience.

The parents who did not have flexibility with work schedules liked the night games as well.

I always tried to run a professional operation to make the experience the best possible for the players and parents.  This post from 10 years ago describes the production:
http://coachpssoccerblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/nighttime-in-high-school-stadium.html

And this post from the same year detailed things that could go wrong:  http://coachpssoccerblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/fans-dont-mind.html

But times change.  And the lack of night games was not the reason I decided to step down.  As I told Jen, it was simply time.

It was a great run and I met so many exceptionally nice young ladies and equally nice parents.  I worked with three head coaches: Charlie Keil, Glenn Gess and the current coach, Lori Quintavalle, whose older sister, Beth was on the team with Kirsten.  Lori is a great coach and a great friend.  I was honored to serve on the committee which recommended her to the AD for the head coaching job - we obviously made a good decision.  I was also on the committee that recommended Glenn, another excellent choice.

I had the pleasure of working with eight Booster Club coordinators:  Greg Lupinski;  Siegrid Kiep; Pat Cosnet; Ginger O'Malley; Michelle Sehdev; Chris Stanton; Lynn Green; and these past two years, Jen Siok.  The enthusiasm and energy each of these awesome people put forth for the program and our girls was inspiring  

I leave with many fond memories of great games and great people, including those named elsewhere in this post.  Some of the memories are recounted on this blog under the "High School" label.  

I gave a farewell speech at our banquet last week and as I told everyone, it was truly my pleasure over the 26 years.  I was touched that Lori gave me the game ball from the South Jersey final (that we won), one of the T-Shirts that the girls wore, and a nice plaque.   

I'm not going anywhere and maybe if I ever retire from my day job I'll be able to get to more games.  And if Lori or the Booster Club needs anything, they know that help is just a phone call or email away.  But it was time to let someone else to take over the checkbook.  I told Glenn when he stepped down as coach that we'd miss him but the program would get by.  Trust me they will get by just fine without me.

I enjoyed all 26 years.  As I said every year at the end of the Seniors Night ceremony and at last week's banquet, "Ladies, thanks for the memories."