Tim Howard calls ceremony a 'disgrace'

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Goalkeeper Tim Howard was still upset after the U.S. lost the Gold Cup final, but his strongest reaction had nothing to do with the four goals Mexico slotted in his net.

After El Tri's 4-2 victory at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., Howard blasted CONCACAF officials for conducting the title ceremony in Spanish.

"CONCACAF should be ashamed of themselves," Howard said. "I think it was a [expletive] disgrace that the entire postmatch ceremony was in Spanish. You can bet your ass that if we were in Mexico City, it wouldn't be all in English.

"But that's not why we lost the game. They've got some special players who put us in some bad situations."

In addition to crediting Mexico's talented playmakers for the victory, Howard was complimentary about the largely pro-Mexico crowd.

"It was a good crowd today," Howard said. "They were up for it, doing the wave, it was what we expected. We know it's going to be like this."

Nonetheless, Howard seemed visibly upset when officials tried to line the U.S. up for a team photo after the ceremony was conducted in Spanish.

Asked about it afterward, he said: "It never ceases to amaze me all that stuff."

Ben Spencer, a spokesman for CONCACAF, declined to comment about the situation.

After Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan scored to help the United States build a 2-0 lead, Mexico rallied behind two goals from Pablo Barrera to win its second straight Gold Cup title and sixth overall, qualifying El Tri for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, a preview of the 2014 World Cup.

"It's a great crowd and it's a great atmosphere," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "Obviously, the support that Mexico has on a night like tonight makes it a home game for them. But it's in the Rose Bowl, and we're proud to be here, 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 still makes for a great atmosphere."

Information from ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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