New twist on “club versus country”
Be it Manchester United supporters waving Argentinian flags in England or Canadian fans bickering on the Internet about whether the country’s best players should be losing with Canada or TFC, the battle between club and country exists in no other sport quite like it does in soccer.
Often these arguments centre around a player returning from duty with his national side with an injury that prevents him from suiting up for his club. Or sometimes they involve conflicting schedules (see the entire MLS season or the Africa Cup of Nations).
But I’ve never previously heard of a player being given time off from his club commitments in order to model a new shirt.
Apparently Deportivo La Coruna’s star midfielder Andrés Guardado is being given permission to miss his club’s Copa del Rey match (link down momentarily) next week so he can attend a ceremony at the Mexican National Museum of Anthropology with Sepp Blatter to unveil the national team’s new kit.
(Kind of sounds like the start of a Bill Clinton drinking story: So it was me, Andres Guardado, Sepp Blatter and 14 Mexican anthropologists. We pile on into this strip club in Tijuana…. *)
Guardado certainly isn’t some fading bum the manager would rather be rid of anyway. Deportivo’s website calls him the club’s most important signing in seven years. He’s one of Mexico’s bright young hopes, and as far as I can tell he’s not injured.
This could point to a lot of things. But probably the most significant is that the Copa del Rey is a bit of a joke. At least for Deportivo’s sake the worst affliction Guardado is likely to return with is a profound disillusionment with those who govern international football.
(* I have fully and completely ripped this gag from Some Canadian Guys co-author, Jamie. But my cheap flattery is the perfect pretext for him to finally do his Bill Clinton impersonation on our next podcast.)
