US Men’s National Team Game in Denver, Colorado, Marred By Incidents of Homophobia and of Racism:

As a Colorado native I was incredibly excited and proud to have the USMNT playing 2 games in Denver for the CONCACAF Nation’s League Cup. The Final against Mexico was one of the most entertaining soccer games I have ever seen, and there was so much to it:

The US Men’s National Team has had a rough few years, with missing out on the past World Cup, incredibly questionable player selection and tactics, and a national team head coach selection process that left many people with a lot of questions in terms of the process itself as well as the results. They also hadn’t performed well against Mexico, our greatest rival in the region, for several years.

At the start of the game I was scratching my head in terms of the both the team formation and the player selection. We had what was effectively a 5 – 4 – 1 formation, with 2 wingbacks, which wasn’t a formation they had played recently so it was strange to throw that new formation in for the Final.

Additionally, Sergino Dest (a starting RB for * Barcelona * ) was once again allocated to the LB role, which left Antonee Robinson (a starting LB for * Fulham * and also rumored to be a transfer target of Manchester City, Premier League champions at LB) on the bench so Dest could play that position and role (which he doesn’t play professionally). Tim Ream (who I was a big fan of 6 years ago) was then as a Left CB without pace, with Kellyn Acosta (MLS midfielder) in front of him. Marc McKenzie was Right CB (despite Miazga being available for that role, and CCV not even invited to the camp). It was obvious there would be some defensive issues.

After going down a goal in the 2nd minute (due to a turnover at midfield by Acosta, and then a further turnover by McKenzie in the box on the counter-attack) I was worried. What I saw was a young and hungry team choose to fight, to develop character, to show that spirit and tenacity we have associated with Men’s National Team players in years past. It was incredible to see them fight through adversity, to go down a goal on 2 separate occasions, and to go into the 2nd half of overtime to win this game against our greatest rival. I still get goosebumps typing this up right now, and have re-watched the game several times. My neighbors can attest to my enthusiasm during the game (sorry, not sorry).

This was a celebration and an incredible shift for this young team, as they develop identity and spirit. I was and am so incredibly proud. That pride unfortunately, has been dented by knowledge of the other events associated with this incredible game:

The game was stopped by the ref so that an announcement could be given to the entire stadium to not use homophobic language and chants. I had seen these chants in previous Mexico games, and wrote about it in 1 of the original posts for this site, but this was the first time I have seen a game, in USA, stopped as a result of it. Those chants – and in truth, THOSE FANS – need to be completely out of the Beautiful Game.

It is encouraging to know that a protocol is in place to deal with this in games. It is infuriating to know that a protocol is even needed.

The other event was to learn of the online racist abuse one of our players received on social media. Once again, those comments – and THOSE PEOPLE – need to be completely out of the Beautiful Game.

The thought has occurred to me: If those fans and people feel comfortable enough to yell homophobic chants in front of an entire stadium of people, and if those fans and people feel comfortable enough to post racist messages on social media for the entire world to read, just what do they say and think in private?