10.1.14
ASN Morning Read: Turn Up the Turf Wars
FIFA officials got to Canada and say some interesting things about the coming Women's World Cup, none of which are very nice; Miguel Ibarra stays humble; Toronto FC stays the course.
BY
Noah Davis
Posted
October 01, 2014
8:12 AM
This is going to end badly. "We play on artificial turf and there's no Plan B," Tatjana Haenni, FIFA's deputy director of the competitions division and head of women's competitions, said while visiting Canada to prep for the upcoming Women's World Cup.
While we're on the subject of women's soccer, this seems low:
Miguel Ibarra is your new United States men's national team hope for the future. We talked to him about his potential call: “There are great players in the North American Soccer League. I think any NASL team can compete with the MLS. It’s just a matter of they didn’t get the chance or something went wrong. It’s a really competitive league that people think isn’t. But if they were to get on the field, they would see that every (NASL) player can play in MLS. I like the NASL. It helped me grow and mature as a player. I am going just continue and see where it takes me from here. Players that don’t get the chance in MLS come to NASL and you can just see the same thing—the hunger, they want to win, they want to get better. It’s a great league.”
It continues at Toronto FC. Tim Bezbatchenko: "It's important for people to understand that we have a long-term plan. When I got here, TFC had a history of making very emotional-based decisions, being very reactive, and really never having an identity. That played out on the field. Our vision is to be a consistent contender for titles in MLS, Champions League, and the Canadian championship. But the ability to do that with a salary cap team takes depth, and building depth takes time. We never said we were going to win the Supporters Shield this season - that's maybe three years down the road."
Here's a song about FIFA's terribleness for your listening enjoyment:
