Yankees & Crazies

**Yankee Stadium's last pitch will be thrown today and as might be expected, most of the farewells and eulogies have airbrushed the soccer played there.

Between the death of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds and the birth of Giants Stadium, Yankee functioned as New York's principal sports venue, which meant from time to time, spherical balls were kicked as well as thrown.

Soccer might have struggled for years to gain a countrywide foothold, but crowds of over 40,000 in 1947 to see Hapoel of Palestine play a US eleven and Santos play Inter in 1966 are proof of an undying following, at least in the NYC area. Spurs might be 'Troubled Tottenham' this season, but back in 1952 they thumped Man Utd 7-1 at Yankee. The Bronx ballpark also has a place in England's national team history, as the venue for the Three Lions' first game under floodlights, a 6-3 victory over the US in 1953, the first rematch after Belo Horizonte.

Santos' regular visits there in the 1960s gave the US its first taste of Pele, whose presence in the NASL the following decade would sow the seeds for the youth soccer revolution of the 1980s, MLS in the 1990s and a successful US Men's National Team today.

For a rundown of the memorable soccer times at Yankee Stadium, check out Charles Cuttone's retrospective at Big Apple Soccer.

** Match officials have a hard job and we should never berate them harshly. Unless they are the wacko double-act who awarded a goal for Reading yesterday at Watford, when the ball had crossed the goal line a yard wide of the post.

Hornets coach Aidy Boothroyd likened the awarding of a goal to a UFO landing at Vicarage Road. In other words, to err is human, to score like that is alien. Watch this space for Watford's US skipper Jay DeMerit's exclusive reaction...

** France has the weakest league of Europe's major soccer nations and their national team is also poor, after a golden age from 1998 to 2002, when they won both the European Championship and the World Cup. This angst might explain their Federation's proposal for a mini-tournament involving Les Bleus and the national teams of Germany, England, Italy and Spain.

Perhaps inspired by rugby's Six Nations competition (England, France, Italy, Scotland and Wales), or just jealous of their neighbours, France have laid un oeuf with this idea. International soccer has enough trouble scheduling games while wealthy clubs increasingly oppose the idea of their players being borrowed by their countries. This would be a Confederations Cup 2. The European Championship remains the gold standard for those nations. So, non merci, or in the words of Greg, 'Serieusement, qu'est-ce qu'ils pensent?' (Seriously, what are they thinking?)

**German powerhouse Bayern Munich (coach J. Klinsmann) conceded five goals at home yesterday. Seriously, what were...Cue for another Giovanni Trapattoni-esque outburst?

- Sean O'Conor