The opposite of “coddling” the Mexican National team.

7upWe often hear of parents coddling their kids, or giving kids participation ribbons when they finish in last place in whatever competitive event they are in. In the US, in youth soccer we here about orange slices at half time, caprisuns after the game along with a trip to the ice cream shop as a reward for trying your best. We would never want to criticize little jonny and hurt his little feelings. We also have programs on HBO(trophy kids) about how some parents pressure their kids in sports and then talk about how bad that is.

Now lets shift to grown ups. Do we treat grown up men and women like this? Lets forget about a Jurgen Klinsman US team who had zero shots vs the Argentines and not getting flamed, but instead he is seen laughing at the post game press conference. Lets talk about the opposite of coddling, caprisuns and participation ribbons. In the Mexico game vs Chile where they put no heart or “ganas” and lost 7-0, the following occurred. The Mexico fans whistled at the Mexican players. They yelled “ole” while Chile was passing and playing “monkey in the middle” with the Mexican players. They even yelled “puto” to Memo Ochoa instead of the opposing team.

Some would say this is down right rude and classless. That the fanbase should support their team “en las buenas y en las malas”. Should the Mexican players get a trip to Pizza Hut for trying their hardest? Wait! They didn’t try their hardest! They disgraced the team. Grown men are grown men, because they can handle criticism and concentrate on the task at hand. They are grown men and should concentrate on fixing their weaknesses despite adversity or the opinions of others. The turning of the Mexican fanbase in the Stadium should motivate the Mexican National team to work harder and ensure nothing like this happens again. It should drive them to work hard and strive to be better. It should provide a motivation for them to shut up the haters. We only hear about weak will/minded individuals go get their feelings hurt then take their ball and go home.

This Mexican fanbase should not be berated for turning on the team, or for yelling “ole”, “puto” or whistling. It is just something that happens. Its criticism that should be handled. These same fans, will most likely be back paying top price for tickets to see the Mexican team in the US for the next competition, be it friendly or not. These insults are not necessarily an indication of NOT supporting, “in the buenas y malas”. It’s fans that demand more from their team, and hold them accountable. Nothing wrong with that at all. The players and coach have apologized and hopefully are planning improvement and ways to restore confidence and faith in their fanbase. Not for the fans, but for themselves as players to obtain success for Mexican soccer.

So when we remind or make fun of Mexico for its failures, it’s all fun and games, but it’s also motivation for things to be improved.

We named our show “The Dos a Zero podcast” in jest to have fun in past failures. We had a special “Siete a Zero podcast” after the Chile loss, to cope and have fun even in sadness and failure. So before you write this podcast off as haters or US fans or get defensive, there is context to be understood.

Tune in to our next podcast by following our twitter account: @DosAZeroPodcast

 

 

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