Assistant coach shares passion for World Cup with Maroon soccer team

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Courtesy of Michael Madero

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“This is my sixth consecutive World Cup. The run began in 1990, while I was on a semester abroad on the Swahili Coast of Kenya,” says Michael Madero. “My best friend, Joe Falcone, was studying in Rome, site of the World Cup. After our experience at Italia ’90, Joe and I resolved to go to every World Cup for the rest of our lives.”

Courtesy of Michael Madero

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Their plan to meet up in Rome, says Michael Madero, was before e–mail and inexpensive international phone calls. “Joe and I set up a meeting spot and time six months in advance. We met at 6 p.m. on the steps of the Duomo di Milano, two days before the first game.” Above, 2010 fans rejoice in Nelson Mandela Square at Sandton City, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Courtesy of Michael Madero

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“I first realized that soccer had the power to unite people while I was an exchange student in Germany in 1986, and a guest player on the small island of Lamu in Kenya,” says Michael Madero. Language barriers seemed to relax when it came to sharing experiences on the field or around the game. The photo above was taken on June 26, after the United States lost to Ghana, 2–1, in overtime.

Courtesy of Michael Madero

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“Experiencing the passion of the World Cup solidified our belief that the sport and the event was something much larger than any one individual, one team, or one country. This was something that truly belonged to the world,” says Michael Madero. Above, Madero poses with members of a Youth Soccer Olympic Development program in Umlazi, South Africa.

Courtesy of Michael Madero

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“In many ways, I carry my knowledge and passion for the game with me at all times. If I want to chat up the Argentinians in the economics department here at UChicago, or Romanians in a cafe, or with a West African cabbie, I am only one player or one game away from the beginning of a conversation,” says Michael Madero. The photo above was taken on June 18, when the United States beat Slovenia, 3–2.

Courtesy of Michael Madero

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Michael Madero provides some instruction to a group of young soccer players in the Youth Soccer Olympic Development program in Umlazi, South Africa.

Courtesy of Michael Madero

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Michael Madero (left to right), with best friend Joe Falcone and brother, Marco Madero.

Courtesy of Michael Madero

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Exuberant fans show their pride in Nelson Mandela Square at Sandton City, Johannesburg, South Africa.

July 15, 2010

Michael Madero, AM’94, is the assistant soccer coach at the University of Chicago. He also serves as a program administrator for the U.S. Youth Soccer Olympic Development program. A 1991 graduate of Hamilton College, he completed his master’s degree in the social sciences at UChicago.

Madero recently returned from South Africa, where he attended the World Cup. It was the sixth consecutive World Cup that Madero had attended. His first World Cup tournament visit took place in Italy in 1990.

Madero says that once he’s back at home in Chicago he shares his World Cup experiences with Chicago Maroon soccer players. “In terms of the sport, there are many lessons that can be learned. How to organize teams tactically, how to react to certain kinds of adversity, and ways that teams can learn to focus, organize, and lead” are all lessons that can be taken away from the tournament, says Madero. “Hopefully, we can use the World Cup and what comes out of it as a starting point for discussion of who we want to be as a team.”

His interest in World Cup soccer goes beyond sport, says Madero. “I am extremely interested in the way it is consumed at both a global and local level. The way the images of the players, teams, fans, and host country are circulated and discussed makes for interesting analysis of the intersection of media, culture, and society.”

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