Mini Drama Unfolds, Mendoza nails it

A lot can be gleamed from this short sequence of events that happened during the Columbus Crew's win yesterday. In a strange way it reminds me of Blackpool's Charlie Adam's penalty kick drama during the last weeks games in the EPL.

After missing his first one Blackpool got another. With relegation on the line Adam grabbed the ball and rushed to the PK line to take the shot. Surely to make amends for his missed on earlier. The confidence to do this comes from a place somewhere deep inside that most people don't have. Adam lined up, showed himself a true captain, and nailed it. I'm not sure if I've ever really seen anything like that in sport. The fire that burned in him was uncontrollable.

The penalty kick that equalized the Crew game yesterday was the complete opposite. The result may have been the same, but the moments leading up? Completely different.

Miranda running up to discuss with Mendoza what he was doing, Cunningham, readying his gear to take it, to Marshall running all the way in to pull him off it so Cunningham could match the MLS goal record only to have Cunningham himself pull (captain) Marshall away. That reads all messy like, because the moment was messy-like. To me, right now, it says a lot about where the team is off the pitch and lends credence to what some are saying is going on in regards to Mendoza.

Is this a leadership problem? Should Marshall, as captain, had the final say? I'm going to have to yield to bleeno on this one.

As I said, the end result was a goal. Crew went on to win.

I'll take that for the moment.

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As an aside; Gaven pulls Mendoza quickly after the goal preventing the "thumb sucking" thing he does. Thank you Eddie.