By Mark Vincent Lincir
First of all, enough debate about my full name byline. It’s staying that way. Not only does it sound more European, which we all know everybody wants, but it makes me feel like I’ve reinvented myself. And if you know me, well…let’s just say that I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s been a long time coming.
If you were Jose Mourinho would you go back to Inter? Or would you take the huge, huge money that I’m sure Real Madrid will offer and try to win at the most underachieving club in the world?
He’ll take the money and the challenge and I’m sure that at this time next year we will be talking about Real Madrid’s Double…maybe even Treble. Jose has to go down as one of the greatest managers of all time. If he can do it at Real Madrid next season, then he certainly will have cemented himself as such, with absolutely no debate.
Inter’s 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich on Saturday in Spain wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Inter continued its stingy ways on defense, only allowing Bayern a few worthy chances on goal.
Diego Milito’s second half goal sealed it and all Bayern could do was try to break down a defense that had no interest in allowing the German champs even a consolation strike. Without Ribery, Bayern lacked a double-dose of wing play that was so effective when they defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford.
I was at that game and it was intriguing to watch Bayern stick to their plan and never panic despite the 3-0 early first half deficit. In that game against Man Utd, it was Ribery and Robben who provided the spark on offense. Without Ribery in the final, I knew that Bayern really had no chance against the five-time Italian champs.
Switching gears to World Cup talk…the United States National Team is struggling with some injury woes that could really put the pressure on Coach Bob Bradley to field a lineup that may be inexperienced, but healthy. Can you say Bornstein and Goodson in the starting lineup with a straight face? I know I can’t. Why didn’t he bring Pablo Mastroeni along as an option in the back instead of Goodson, Pearce or Bornstein? Mastroeni has been there and done it and is a much better player than any of the previously mentioned backs.
In Major League Soccer, the Kansas City Wizards lost to the Columbus Crew 1-0 in a Sunday afternoon affair in which I only fell asleep twice…per half. A change needs to be made in KC and it’s not the coaching. How long will they try to depend on Josh Wolff, Davey Arnaud and Jimmy Conrad? The team is going nowhere, use those guys as trade bait and make things better before next season before they go into a new stadium.
Continue to check back with us everyday, we’ve got a ton of World Cup coverage coming up. Associate Editor Elliot Spruell is heading to South Africa and I’ll be covering everything from here and believe me, there will be plenty of social events stateside to keeps things fun and exciting.
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