Nobody to call

Another side effect of W Connection's win over Chivas will be Mexico's Feb. 28 game against Venezuela in San Diego.

See, Chivas now needs a result. Mexico's Hugo Sanchez will probably not be able to count on any of the Chivas players against Venezuela.

That alone would be fine but America, Toluca and Necaxa all play Copa Libertadores games that week as well.

So, take away players from those four clubs and you're taking away Alberto Medina, Bofo Bautista, Omar Bravo, Ramon Morales, Gonzalo Pineda, Maza Rodriguez, Memo Ochoa, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Gerardo Galindo and Joaquin Beltran from the squad Sanchez called up for the U.S. loss.

Also, the Euros won't be called in so no Rafa Marquez, Carlos Salcido, Ricardo Osorio and Pavel Pardo. Oh, and young and heralded Nery Castillo, native son of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, won't be called in.

So who's left? Not much. Oswaldo Sanchez, Jesus Corona, Kikin Fonseca, Gerardo Torrado, Jared Borgetti, Jaime Lozano, Andres Guardado, Israel Castro and that's it.

Take away the four clubs with games that week and you take away a big chunk of the national team. Add to that the less-than-stellar Venezuelans and you might see 20,000 at Qualcomm watching a watered-down Tri.