Tim Howard Upset with Gold Cup’s Mostly Spanish Post-Match Ceremony

The U.S. lost to Mexico 4-2 in the finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup Saturday night, but that’s not the only reason American goalie Tim Howard was upset. When asked about Mexico’s talent in the post-match press conference, he went off on an unsolicited rant against the post-match ceremony.

“CONCACAF should be ashamed of themselves. I think it was a (expletive) disgrace that the entire post-match ceremony was in Spanish. You can bet your (butt) if we were in Mexico City it wouldn’t be all in English.”

The goalkeeper composed himself and then said, “That’s not why we lost the game. They have some special players.”

Fernando Fiore, a sports anchor for Univision which aired the game, emceed the post-match ceremony. While he started off using English and Spanish in the beginning of the ceremony, he gradually began using almost exclusively Spanish as the ceremony went on. Perhaps the most offensive part (to Howard) was when Fiore brought up the U.S. team to congratulate them and did so using almost all Spanish.

Here’s a video of the ceremony for you to determine whether Howard’s complaint is warranted:

I understand Howard’s complaint and it makes a lot of sense. While I agree that Fiore should have used more English, he still seemed to be enthusiastic about celebrating the U.S. as the second-place team. Additionally, you have to consider the situation; even though the match was in California, the stadium was packed with Mexican fans and its largest TV audience likely came from Univision. Bottom line: Fiore should have used more English and gone half and half during the ceremony. Hopefully he will next time.