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New York Times
7 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Monterrey's split defensive wall: cool, clever, but not as new as you may think
Twenty six minutes into what was, in truth, a fairly forgettable match between River Plate and Monterrey, the Argentine side were awarded a free-kick just outside the area. As Franco Mastantuono prepared to take it, Monterrey goalkeeper Esteban Andrada barked instructions at his team-mates. Four of them grouped together, positioning themselves to cover the near side of the goal. A couple of metres away, another Monterrey player formed his own barrier, in line with the far post. A similar scene played out shortly after half-time. The free-kick was wider this time; the main wall was only two strong. Again, though, there was a gap and another Monterrey player on other other side of it: Normally, these small moments probably wouldn't have captured the attention. For the last few days, though, the internet has been gripped with Monterrey wall fever, the kind of mass hysteria that can really only take hold during the long, delirious days of summer tournaments. People (OK, I) watched the River match hoping for a repeat of what Monterrey conjured in their opening Group E game against Inter. In that game, the Mexican side conceded a free-kick a metre outside the penalty box. It could not have been more central. Normally, a goalkeeper sets up his wall to protect one side of the goal and stands in the other. Andrada, though, did something a little different. He set up two walls, four men on either side, and he stood in the middle: You could understand the logic. Due to the location of the kick, there was no near post and no far post. Choosing a side for the wall would have been arbitrary. It would also have restricted Andrada's view: a risk whenever you set up a wall but doubly so when the free-kick is so close to goal. By splitting his wall he was making it harder for Inter's Kristjan Asllani to place the ball in either corner — and putting himself in a position to react should Asllani manage that feat. Advertisement So there you have it: the free-kick that launched a thousand social media posts. Two things are worth pointing out here. The first is that the split wall did work, but only because of some individual initiative. Asllani opted not to try and clip the ball over either mini wall. Instead, he tried to blast the ball down the middle. He might have succeeded, too, had centre-back John Medina not leaned into the gap and stuck out a leg. Even the cleverest plans leave room for a little improvisation. The second is that, contrary to much of the online discourse, this wasn't a new thing. For a start, Monterrey have used the split wall on a couple of other occasions in the past three years. The first came in July 2022, in the Mexican league match against Santos Laguna. The free-kick was a little further out than Asllani's, slightly to the left of centre. Instead of asking for a five or six-man wall, goalkeeper Luis Cardenas put four team-mates to the kicker's left and two to the right, with a gap in between: It left Cardenas with a perfect view of the ball and allowed him to make a good reflex save. They did it again January 2024. Coincidentally, Monterrey's opponents were River; the two teams were playing a pre-season friendly match in Dallas. Cardenas was again the goalkeeper and once more split his wall up into a group of four and a group of two. Here you can really see how the ploy allowed him to take up a position right in the centre of the goal, rather than being confined to one side: A home-brewed Monterrey confection, then? Not quite. The story of the split wall actually goes back at least as far as 1993, when the US men's national team experimented with the technique under Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic. 'How you form your wall is very important,' Milutinovic told The Athletic in 2021. 'When I opened the wall a little bit, it was to give the goalkeeper the chance to see the ball immediately. When you see the free kick being taken, you get a nine-metre head start.' Advertisement Ironically, the split wall — rare, puzzling at first glance, undeniably goofy — was actually a concession to common sense. Milutinovic had initially favoured something even more extreme. 'For me, it's better not to have a wall at all,' he said. That plan didn't get very far. Nor, in truth, did the split wall. 'It was a good idea in practice,' former US goalkeeper Tony Meola told The New York Times in 2012. 'But once we put another team out there, it all fell apart. We went back to the old way.' That, really, is the issue. Leaving a space is all well and good. If the opposition players have anything about them, though, they will fill it themselves, use it to create chaos. Look again at Andrada's split wall in the Inter game. Three savvy Inter players have positioned themselves between the two units. The advantage has disappeared. You only benefit from leaving a gap if there actually is one.
Business Upturn
4 days ago
- Sport
- Business Upturn
FIFA Club World Cup: Inter Milan poor form continues; Register a 1-1 draw in their first game
Inter Milan couldn't win the game against Monterrey FC as the 1-1 draw in the first game of the FIFA Club World Cup was disappointing. By Ravi Kumar Jha Published on June 18, 2025, 08:37 IST Inter Milan couldn't win the game against Monterrey FC as the 1-1 draw in the first game of the FIFA Club World Cup was disappointing for the Champions League finalists. Inter Milan after getting defeated by PSG 5-0 in the finals of UCL has looked dull and unorganised side. It was Sergio Ramos who scored the first goal of the game and gave a deserved lead to Monterrey. However, Lautaro Martinez scored to equalise the scoreline in the first half itself. Inter Milan's struggles continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Monterrey FC in their opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup. The result was far from ideal for the UEFA Champions League finalists, who looked far from their best once again following their crushing 5-0 defeat to PSG in the European final. The Serie A giants appeared disjointed and lacked their usual intensity, allowing a determined Monterrey side to take control early on. It was veteran defender Sergio Ramos who broke the deadlock, heading home a well-delivered set-piece to hand the Mexican outfit a deserved lead. Inter responded before the break, with captain Lautaro Martinez finding the equaliser after capitalising on a defensive lapse. Despite levelling the score in the first half, Simone Inzaghi's men failed to build momentum in the second period, struggling to create clear chances and break down Monterrey's disciplined backline. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Ravi kumar jha is an undergraduate student in Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia and Mass Communication. A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication and he also has a genuine interest in sports. Ravi is currently working as a journalist at
Al Jazeera
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Al Jazeera
Inter's Mehdi Taremi could miss Club World Cup amid Israel-Iran attacks
Inter Milan's Iranian forward Mehdi Taremi could miss the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 in the United States after being unable to leave his home country to join his team amid Iran's airspace closure due to its ongoing exchange of aerial fire with Israel. Taremi, who was named in Inter's squad for the 32-team tournament, was expected to link up with his team in Los Angeles as they gear up for the tournament, but media reports in Italy and the US said on Saturday that the striker is likely to miss the first match on Tuesday and perhaps the entire competition. 'The Iranian striker will not join the Nerazzurri, neither for the first match nor for the others,' Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Saturday. 'Inter have been in close contact with the Iranian authorities in Italy over the last 24 hours to comfort the player and try [to find] a solution that is currently impossible. The player is in Tehran in a safe place and sheltered from the bombings,' the report added. The Italian side open their campaign against the Mexican side, Monterrey FC, at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Los Angeles, on Tuesday, but Taremi is unlikely to be part of the squad. The 32-year-old captains Iran and was among the goal scorers as they beat North Korea in their AFC World Cup qualifying match at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran on June 10. A day later, he won the inaugural Iranian Toopa Award (Golden Ball). While it is unclear when the forward was scheduled to fly out of Tehran, his departure for the US was put on hold when Israel began its attacks on Iran on Friday morning, leading to the indefinite closure of its airspace. Iran responded to the attacks later on the same day, and both countries have been involved in an exchange of fire ever since. Taremi, who joined Inter Milan on a three-year contract in July 2024, has scored three goals in 43 appearances for the Nerazzurri. Milan and their opening-game opponents Monterrey are placed in Group E for the Club World Cup alongside Argentinian club River Plate and Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds.
