Howard certainly didn’t shy away from expressing his feelings after Mexico’s 4-2 victory over the U.S. in Saturday night’s Gold Cup final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
“CONCACAF should be ashamed of themselves,” Howard told the Sporting News after the match. “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 all be in English.”
Fernando Fiore, an anchor for Spanish-language network Univision, was the emcee for the post-match trophy ceremony. According to the Sporting News, Fiore used mostly Spanish while conducting the ceremony, except for the awarding of silver medals to the Americans in which he switched to English.
Though Howard said the influx of Mexican fans at the match had no impact on Mexico winning, he was visibly upset at the setup of the event.
“It never ceases to amaze me, all that stuff,” he said.
U.S. head coach Bob Bradley acknowledged the disparity in fan support but said the experience was good for his team.
“Obviously, the support that Mexico has on a night like tonight makes it a home game for them,” he said. “Certainly we have some fans, but the overwhelming amount of support [for Mexico] is something that we expected and as a team we understand it’s part of what we’ve got to deal with tonight. It was still a great atmosphere.”
