For a group of new USMNT fans Marcelo Balboa is that long haired guy on Univision calling games. For old school fans Marcelo Balboa is one of the USMNT all-time great defenders. A backbone player from 1988 – 1997 until he was inexplicably benched prior to the 1998 World Cup.
Marcelo Balboa also came to MLS in 1996 after playing in Liga MX side Leon, Balboa took a gamble on a league that when he signed did not know if it could make it past season 4.
Now Marcelo Balboa took the time to discuss an array of topics from the USMNT fanbase Twitter wars, the ill-fated France 98 World Cup, the current batch of USMNT players, and the Colorado Rapids. Here is what one of the USMNT all-time best had to say.
The USMNT could surprise many in Qatar
Bolavip: Well Marcelo I guess the best way to get started is by asking you how do fans see you now? As a three-time World Cup defender or media pundit?
Marcelo Balboa: (Laughs) I retired in 2003 and started broadcasting that same year, so I’ve been around a long time. I guess it depends on how you look at it, they still look at me as a player/ broadcaster. Initially when I started in Univision, I took a lot of abuse from the USMNT fans, because they thought I was representing and talking about the Mexican team. I had people walking by me and calling me “traitor”, it was really strange. It took me a little while to understand where it was coming from, but eventually they understood that I was the guy on Univision that was defending the USMNT because I played for the USMNT. That’s why Univision had me on T.V.
So, it was a weird transition from being a player for the USMNT and going to Univision which was a Spanish language channel and suddenly am working for the (Mexican audience). So, it was a rough beginning for me in the Spanish language.
BV: What do you think of the comments as of late around the term “USMNT toxic fanbase”? Do pundits and former players need to do a better job of trying to guide the newer fans, instead of those fans taking their cues from fan Twitter accounts, who have some wild takes?
MB: The beauty of social media is that everyone has an opinion, they have the right to get it out there. I think it’s different when you start accusing somebody of being wrong or an opinion is way off base. I saw a guy the other day calling people a “coward” for not defending Zack Steffen. I think when you start getting aggressive on social media it’s different. Just because we played soccer that doesn’t mean our opinions are always going to be right. We have an opinion from the experience that we stepped on the field… I don’t mind opinions, my problem is when people just start a debate or an argument to get more followers, that’s when I think it gets a little crazy.
BV: In a way if I can rephrase my previous question, the USMNT has a lot of new fans, many fans following the sport for the first time, is there a way to balance these odd takes from what really goes into a game and building these players?
MB: Well, you can’t balance that the best thing about social media is when the team sheet comes out everyone has a take… the one difference in this whole process is that (fans) job is not on the line. The 5,000 people that just argued on that tweet their job is not on the line. Gregg Berhalter’s job is on the line, I can give an opinion and get it wrong 3 times, who cares it’s just an opinion, Gregg Berhalter gets it wrong two or three times it could cost him his job. When nothing is at stake it’s easy to throw out your opinion and tell people your right. When jobs are on the line and you’re the national team coach or a CEO of a company and you’ve got to make a decision that’s going to change the course of the entire company, that’s the difference. Big difference.
BV: How do you see the USMNT heading into the 2022 FIFA World Cup? Do you think Gregg Berhalter has his core group of 23–26-man roster?
MB: Yeah, I think (Gregg Berhalter) has about 80% of that roster locked down, maybe more. The only thing you’re hoping for is that there are no injuries, that you have to make changes. I would say he has it narrowed down to 35 (players), (Berhalter) will wait and see who is in form and who is not, the nine is the key position, the center forward that is the most hot will make the World Cup team. I have a hard time believing that there will be many surprises on this World Cup roster.
As for the draw, everyone says “we’re young”, I think we can surprise anybody. (The rest of the teams) know the players but never really played (the USMNT). If this team can get past this World Cup, what I mean by that is that you’re living your dream, you want to play pro Soccer, you want to play at a World Cup, the biggest event… Why can’t they surprise people? Why can’t they get out of their group? Why can’t they make it to the quarter finals? The draw is set up pretty nicely for them… At the end of the day, you have to believe in your team, you have to believe you can do something special, if it doesn’t work out it doesn’t work out, but this team with the players they have, if they get everybody healthy, who knows where they can go.
BV: The one pressing concern has been the injury bug that has been affecting the USMNT players, what do you make of this situation?
MB: It’s soccer. The only World Cup I went into 100% healthy was the 98 World Cup. The 90 World Cup I tore my MCL and just made it back in time. In 94 I tore my ACL in 93 and it took me six months to get back and I made the team. As a player if you don’t go in hard on a tackle or pull away from a tackle when you should go in, it’s when you think about not getting hurt is when you get hurt.
So, for me, there are obvious challenges you need to get into, and others where you say, “am okay”, and just need to have a little bit of luck on your side. A little bit of God watching over you and make sure you’re healthy and it’s meant for you to be on that World Cup team.
France 98 was a “nightmare”
BV: You lived the dream of playing a World Cup (90,94,98), three different World Cup’s for the USMNT. When Iran was pulled up as an opponent for 2022, did you feel that it could be a bit of a redemption for what happened in France 98?
MB: I don’t think it’s redemption, we got put in a group with Iran, it’s another game. You don’t go back and think about the 98 World Cup, it’s one of those things that happened, and you learn from it. 98 was an absolute nightmare the way it was handled by (Steve Sampson), the way he handled the group, the way he cut some players, we were just a group of playersand not a team at that point. We were a bunch of individuals that were thrown together. It was one of the worst experiences we all had.
But you don’t go back to that game and say this is redemption, this is a new young group, this is a group that has to write its own story, its own journey. A journey that started already with World Cup qualifying, which is a handful, now they take it to the World Cup, and they have to write their own story because this group will be together probably for the next 2 to 3 World Cup’s.
BV: I need to back track a bit, what do you think happened to Steve Sampson in the lead up to France 98? The team had achieved some memorable results with Steve, what happened?
MB: There were a lot of issues, not just the (John Harkes and Eric Wynalda) issue. We went to the 98 World Cup and we were put in this wine vineyard about two hours away from Paris. Steve Sampson took the coaching staff to another resort that had a golf course and we trained and we’d go back to being by ourselves and he’d go back playing golf. It turned into a bit of a Steve Sampson show, it was all about the coach. It started with kicking Harkes off the team… It started with the way he treated the players, he kicked me off the team and basically told me “I was a Bora boy” he didn’t have trust in me. When World Cup qualifying came and he needed players on the field, me, Alexi, Tab, and Eric were all on the field.
So, at the end of the day, he made it all about Steve Sampson, look at the team that started against Germany, there was no experience out there… When you look at all the experience you had on the bench with Tab Ramos, Wynalda (editor’s note: Wynalda started against Germany and later did not play again), Alexi, the team did a total 360 right before the World Cup… We were just individuals that were happy we qualified to the World Cup and we did our best, under the circumstances.
BV: What is your best memory as a USMNT player? That bike against Colombia or that goal from off the ground against Paraguay?
MB: I’ve been blessed enough to have so many memories with the USMNT, more than a lifetime’s worth. From walking onto the field in the 90 World Cup, the very first game for the 94 World Cup, the goal I scored against Paraguay was a ball that came across from Alexi and I just couldn’t get my feet underneath me to hit it with my left foot so all I tried to do was short hop it and put it on target, and I caught it right before it hit the ground and saw it go into the back of the net, I was just excited because I was like “how the hell did I just score that goal from that angle, that low”. So, there is a blessing of playing a World Cup at home where my grandfather got to see me play.
Am blessed enough to have left the game in decent physical condition to do stuff with my kid, it was a great ride man… I was the first American female or male to hit 100 caps… When you take that into account that I was the first player to hit 100 caps, that was pretty cool.
BV: Had the bicycle kick against Colombia gone in you’d still be doing interviews at FIFA events.
MB: (Laughs) The only thing that would be different right now is that maybe I’d be riding a Harley Davidson instead of a Yamaha Road Star. I would have gotten an endorsement from Harley that’s it, I don’t think I would have gotten a bigger contract in Mexico or Greece. It would have been one of the cooler goals in FIFA history.
Colorado Rapids and MLS
BV: You have been there from day one with the Rapids, as a whole how have you seen the Rapids project take off?
MB: Well, it’s been a rollercoaster ride, you can’t sugarcoat it, it’s been up and down, up and down. I think we finally got to a point here, since 2019, 2020 the ship has been stabilized. It’s moving in the right direction, the winning percentage is higher, we reached the playoffs in 2020, 2021… Consistency for this club is huge, reaching the playoffs every year is huge. So, Robin (Fraser) has done a great job of implementing a new culture, a new mentality. (The Front Office) has done a great job of using the TAM and GAM and stabilizing a team under a salary cap issue.
So, it’s been nice to have consistency, there is not a lot of turnover every year, we are bringing players in to enhance the group, so again leading up to this we were up and down and it’s nice to have finally found calm waters.
BV: The visual aspect of the club, the Rapids have gained a steady fan base, they may not be the team with the most fans, but they do have a solid core fan base. What do you think the organization needs to do to gain better traction in Colorado?
MB: Well, everybody is finding their model in MLS, every team needs to do something that they feel comfortable with. We know that the Atlanta Uniteds, NYCFCs, LA Galaxys, are going to spend money on big name players.
Then there is Colorado, RSL, Kansas City, and Dallas, that get the best out of their players using that salary cap, TAM, GAM money and being able to get the best deals out there. That’s what (The Rapids) do, do I ever see us spending $10 million on a player, no. So, the next thing you have to look at is through the scouting, recruitment of players, what fits your style of play. Everyone has a profile of every position as to what they need and what they want out of these players.
Colorado has done that through analytics and stats when looking at players. What’s gonna make us bigger or more popular? I think we are who we are, we have a good fanbase that comes out, maybe if we had a stadium downtown easier to get to and have more things to do after the game it’s different. That could come in time… When you win people are excited, people show up. Colorado is in smooth waters.
BV: Speaking of coaches like Robin Fraser and the recent dismissal of coaches like Hernan Losada, Matías Almeyda, and going back to Gabriel Heinze, is MLS leaning towards the safe bet of MLS experienced coaches over international coaches?
MB: No, I think it’s how you manage players, everything I heard about Heinze he was an absolute nightmare. Almeyda I said it last year, I think Almeyda should have left last year. The way he wants to play, you can go to Mexico and buy whoever you want, this league is very different and difficult if your ownership is not willing to spend the money, you’re not gonna do that great. Or again if you know how to work that TAM and GAM money. Almeyda’s system of man to man marking, pressing, will only work for so much of the season. In a 10-month season that’s a lot of physical exertion on a player, his system didn’t fit in MLS, and I think that’s why they struggled…You can see that it wasn’t clicking for him.
I think there is an advantage of being a former player, especially if the team is not going to spend money, that can coach in this league. Am not saying everyone is always successful, I think a guy like Almeyda had he been in Atlanta and spent that money to get a few players he wanted (could have done well).
BV: On the Colorado Rapids who is the player that player that you say, “this player has a lot of potential” or could get sold?
MB: That’s a tough one, Mark-Anthony Kaye who just resigned with the team if he has a good World Cup could be sold. Michael Barrios is at a point where he is thrilled to death to be in MLS. Diego Rubio same way. Jonathan Lewis is another guy who if he has a good season could peak some interest for his ability to get through players.
So, we can say we have that next $6 million player, but I think it’s that kid that’s coming up the Rapids 2 organization, like Darren Yapi a big center forward just turned 17, but in our first team, it’s a very solid group but to say you’re going to sell (one of them) for like $6 million I don’t see that right now.
BV: What are your best memories of MLS?
MB: There are a lot of positive memories and a lot of negative memories, when the league started, they told us they had funding for three years and told us they didn’t know what was going to happen.
So, to be a part of that group of players that came home to build this league and we are 27 seasons in and look where we are at. So, I think the accomplishment of what MLS has done and that each team is coming in with their own stadium, it has shown how much soccer has grown and will keep growing. The best memories is that you help started something 27 years ago and look how strong it has gotten.