MOHAVE COUNTY – Mohave College soccer coach Camilo Valencia is enjoying the World Cup soccer tournament. Valencia traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico to see Colombia edge the Congo one-nil on June 23.
“I’m from Colombia so I went to watch my team and it was unbelievable,” Valencia said, noting the patriotism and passion of the fans. “You see it in the games when the national anthem comes on and players are crying and fans are crying. For most countries, their national team is like their army, so they’re watching their army play.”
Valencia believes team USA should advance from its 5 p.m., Wednesday match with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I think they should be favored and I think they should win,” Valencia said of the Americans. “The top teams haven’t played each other yet, but I think it’s always going to be the usual suspects as favorites. I think so far France and Argentina have been the best. But, we’ll see.”
Valencia said television coverage of World Cup play shines bright light on soccer and should help grow the sport.
“It’s a very unique opportunity because it only happens every 4 years. For some Americans who are just discovering the game, it’s so eye-opening,” Valencia said. “It’s not only what happens on the field, but it’s all the cultural aspects of what’s going on all around the stadiums.”
Valencia looks forward to the upcoming Mohave Bighorn soccer season. He said athletes will return at the end of July and begin practice Aug. 1.
Valencia said the men’s team hopes to build on last season’s run all the way to the semi-finals of the Division 1 National Junior College Athletic Association tournament, despite a very challenging schedule.
“We’re playing the national champions and we’re playing 3 top-10 teams in one week,’’ Valencia said. “We should be a top 5 team to start the season hopefully, because of what we did last season and what we have coming back.”
