If Anything, There’s a Fighting Spirit
With all too many games already veering dangerously toward the dull, is it any wonder that a brawl at the Meadowlands was the highlight of the past MLS weekend?
The combatants were the New York/New Jersey MetroStars and the Chicago Fire, and the unpleasantries included the teams’ coaches, Octavio Zambrano and Bob Bradley, respectively.
By Tuesday, MLS was trying to play down the incident, with league vice president Ivan Gazidis referring to it somewhat dismissively as a “scuffle,” nothing more.
“It seemed to me that it was 20 players trying to break up something that wasn’t happening,” Gazidis said.
All the same, red cards were dished out to the Fire’s Ante Razov and the MetroStars’ Steve Jolley, and MLS is almost certain to fine the coaches too.
The game-ending, bench-clearing melee was sparked by a foul from behind by the Fire’s Josh Wolff on the MetroStars’ Mike Petke near the end of a 4-1 New York/New Jersey victory.
Petke didn’t appear to retaliate but did appear to be shoved by the Fire’s Hristo Stoitchkov, the volatile Bulgarian with one red card in the books already this season. After that, it became a bit hazy.
“I have no idea what happened,” Wolff told the Chicago Tribune. “Petke wasn’t going to say anything or do anything and all of a sudden Jolley’s head slams into me.”
The benches emptied, with Zambrano, the former Galaxy coach now in charge of the MetroStars, and Bradley, who led the Fire to the 1998 league championship, both joining the fray.
“I saw Bradley and the whole coaching staff was part of it,” Zambrano told the Tribune. “I’m sure they were trying to get people out. I felt I should get involved and get people out and I embraced Bob and tried to get him out. He turned to me and said some things that aren’t printable. Then [Fire assistant coach] Dennis Hamlett hit me in the face.”
Hamlett denied that.
“That’s funny,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Obviously, we were trying to break it up. Octavio was in Bob’s face, itching to get something started. If I hit him, how come I didn’t get thrown out?”
Said Bradley: “The only thing I did was try to get our players away. If he [Zambrano] had tried to contain his own players that would have been fine, but he got after me. I was only dealing with my players. You’ll have to ask him why he grabbed me, and I’m not sure you’ll get a straight answer.”
Next thing you know, they’ll be putting ropes around MLS fields and issuing everyone boxing gloves.
FUSION FURY
The Miami Fusion’s 4-2 loss at home to the Columbus Crew left the Fusion players and their fans fuming at referee Rich Grady and his crew.
No one was angrier than former Galaxy midfielder Martin Machon, whose postgame comments are sure to cost him a hefty fine.
“I can’t be calling [Grady] a referee because he has no clue,” Machon said. “He’s just right there collecting his money. It’s unbelievable. If this were Guatemala, they [game officials] would have had rocks thrown at them and they would have had to run for their lives. As players, we cannot criticize officials, but the fans recognized what happened.”
QUICK PASSES
The U.S. State Department refused to allow Persepolis of Iran into the United States for games against the Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes this week unless the entire delegation, including players and coaches, was photographed and finger-printed on arrival. Yet it did allow another Iranian player, Mehdi Mahdavikia, into the country with his club team, Hamburg of Germany, for games against the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire, without requiring that Mahdavikia submit to the same regulations. . . . Goalkeeper Tony Meola of the Kansas City Wizards and Leo Cullen of the Miami Fusion have signed new, long-term contracts with the league. . . . Tampa Bay Mutiny Coach Tim Hankinson is bitter about the league-owned team sending Salvadoran striker Raul Diaz Arce, the league’s second all-time leading scorer, back to D.C. United. “I disapproved of the trade, and that’s all I’ll say about it,” Hankinson said.
