Everton's No1 Tim Howard.Everton's No1 Tim Howard will line up between the posts for his first taste of FIFA World Cup™ qualifying at the fabled Azteca on 12 August, when the USA renew their tense rivalry with Mexico. The 30-year-old shot stopper will take his position at the base of a wall of anger and contempt, with approximately 110,000 animated Mexican fans sending shockwaves of noise and bile his way for a full 90 minutes.
Like Tony Meola, Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller before him, Howard is preparing to accept one of the toughest assignments in all of world football: Mexico at their Estadio Azteca. FIFA.com sat down for an exclusive chat with the New Jersey native, who was recently voted top keeper at the FIFA Confederations Cup, ahead of this, the latest CONCACAF Clasico.
FIFA.com: Last time we spoke was over a month ago after the loss to Brazil in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. Looking back, with a bit more perspective, what are your feelings about it?Tim Howard: To be honest, my feelings haven't changed much. We did some really good things against some really good teams [beating Egypt and Spain before surrendering a 2-0 lead against Brazil]. But on the other side we learned some harsh lessons. We played some of the best teams in the world and when you mistakes against those kinds of teams, you get opened up in a hurry.
Up next is a date with Mexico, currently struggling in fourth place in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. What makes the USA-Mexico rivalry so intense and so heated?It's all about the passion of the fans. For so long Mexico dominated our region, dominated us. Now, and for some time, we have been the dominant team. So there's a lot of anger and hurt feelings between the two of us. Let's face it, for they kicked our butts for a long time. And when the tide turned, they didn't like it. Why would they? It's just a pure and natural rivalry.by http://www.fifa.com/
Like Tony Meola, Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller before him, Howard is preparing to accept one of the toughest assignments in all of world football: Mexico at their Estadio Azteca. FIFA.com sat down for an exclusive chat with the New Jersey native, who was recently voted top keeper at the FIFA Confederations Cup, ahead of this, the latest CONCACAF Clasico.
FIFA.com: Last time we spoke was over a month ago after the loss to Brazil in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. Looking back, with a bit more perspective, what are your feelings about it?Tim Howard: To be honest, my feelings haven't changed much. We did some really good things against some really good teams [beating Egypt and Spain before surrendering a 2-0 lead against Brazil]. But on the other side we learned some harsh lessons. We played some of the best teams in the world and when you mistakes against those kinds of teams, you get opened up in a hurry.
Up next is a date with Mexico, currently struggling in fourth place in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. What makes the USA-Mexico rivalry so intense and so heated?It's all about the passion of the fans. For so long Mexico dominated our region, dominated us. Now, and for some time, we have been the dominant team. So there's a lot of anger and hurt feelings between the two of us. Let's face it, for they kicked our butts for a long time. And when the tide turned, they didn't like it. Why would they? It's just a pure and natural rivalry.by http://www.fifa.com/
0 comments:
Post a Comment