Part of me is really skeptical about teams abroad tapping into the U.S. youth soccer market.
I mean, unless they naturalize a bunch of players, they can't bring over American prospects who don't meet work permit standards. It's all well and good to want to play in Europe, but generally, you have to do something here first before they want you over there.
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Abuses
Mediotiempo cartoons of course have something to say about the exits of Atlante and Pachuca. Here the Pachuca gopher and little horse of Atlante complain about their mistreatment to the authorities. It's paradoxical, considering the players that got physically rough as the games ended.
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No Mexican teams in SuperLiga final
Need translation? Click below.
Announcer introduces analyst Carlos Albert
Carlos Albert: Atlante has demonstrated, like all the teams in this tournament, that they’re not in good form yet, they’re in preseason. But that’s a pretext, like the bad refs, because all the Mexican teams accepted those terms while chasing the carrot of a million dollars. On one side, we also have to recognize that the U.S. teams have grown, while some of the Mexican squads are too puffed up with their own value at times, thinking they’re going to win just by wearing their uniforms and showing up. That’s untrue. The SuperLiga has shown that you have to show up serious and ready to play these types of games.
Announcer: There’s a big rivalry, clearly, not that that excuses the way both these semifinal games ended. What’s your take on that situation?
CA: The theme we have to accept here is that the U.S. teams are in midseason, while the Mexican teams are in preseason. We have to recognize that the Mexican teams can’t show up and take it easy. In the U.S. there are good players. They’re disciplined, they’re organized, they’re fit. You have to see the goals that beat Pachuca and Atlante. We can see they were good goals, well taken, goals that indicate good soccer. Those goals weren’t the fault of the ref, the fans or the field conditions. They were soccer goals. We lost. We have to learn to lose, so that what happened this year doesn’t happen again – they return without the million dollars and without dignity, because due to their impotent inability to score, they turned surly and scuffled and now many people have reason to speak badly of our teams.
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Sven's first list
Sven Goran Eriksson released his first list of callups to the Mexican national team. There weren't any European players on the list (this is just for a short three-day camp) nor were there any MLS players (he said thanks but no thanks to Cuauhtemoc).
There were two foreigner-born players, including one American, but not the Argentine many thought would get the call.
Edgar Castillo got the call while Francisco Torres did too. But it's Edgar's teammate on Santos, not Texas-born Jose Francisco Torres of Pachuca. In total, there were six Chivas players (might have been seven if Luis Michel wouldn't have broken his arm) and four Santos players.
The biggest surprise was Leandro Augusto of Pumas. The Brazilian-born Augusto was a favorite of Hugo Sanchez but was never called in by his former boss. Another surprise was Carlos Ochoa of Monterrey, who hasn't proven himself to be anything special during most of his career.
There will be another roster on Aug. 11 or thereabouts, and that will be for the qualifier against Honduras.
Here's the roster:
Goalkeepers: Oswaldo Sánchez (Santos), Guillermo Ochoa (América), José de Jesús Corona (Tecos)
Defenders: Omar Esparza (Chivas), Óscar Rojas (América), Jonny Magallón (Chivas), Leobardo López (Pachuca), Edgar Dueñas (Toluca), Diego Martínez (Tigres), Fausto Pinto (Pachuca), Edgar Castillo (Santos).
Midfielders: Luis Pérez (Monterrey), Gonzalo Pineda (Chivas), Jaime Correa (Pachuca), Leandro Augusto (Pumas), Fernando Arce (Santos), Alberto Medina (Chivas), Ramón Morales (Chivas), Francisco Torres (Santos).
Forwards: Adolfo Bautista (Jaguares), Luis Ángel Landin (Morelia), Carlos Ochoa (Monterrey), Omar Arellano (Chivas).
ADD: And just to be sure that I didn't get misinformed about the Torres who was called in, this is a picture of Torres from the FMF web site, which I'd link to if it weren't the most gawdawful site to nagivate.
I interviewed Jose Francisco Torres a couple of weeks ago and this, I can say with 100 percent certainty, is not the same guy I talked to.
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There were two foreigner-born players, including one American, but not the Argentine many thought would get the call.
Edgar Castillo got the call while Francisco Torres did too. But it's Edgar's teammate on Santos, not Texas-born Jose Francisco Torres of Pachuca. In total, there were six Chivas players (might have been seven if Luis Michel wouldn't have broken his arm) and four Santos players.
The biggest surprise was Leandro Augusto of Pumas. The Brazilian-born Augusto was a favorite of Hugo Sanchez but was never called in by his former boss. Another surprise was Carlos Ochoa of Monterrey, who hasn't proven himself to be anything special during most of his career.
There will be another roster on Aug. 11 or thereabouts, and that will be for the qualifier against Honduras.
Here's the roster:
Goalkeepers: Oswaldo Sánchez (Santos), Guillermo Ochoa (América), José de Jesús Corona (Tecos)
Defenders: Omar Esparza (Chivas), Óscar Rojas (América), Jonny Magallón (Chivas), Leobardo López (Pachuca), Edgar Dueñas (Toluca), Diego Martínez (Tigres), Fausto Pinto (Pachuca), Edgar Castillo (Santos).
Midfielders: Luis Pérez (Monterrey), Gonzalo Pineda (Chivas), Jaime Correa (Pachuca), Leandro Augusto (Pumas), Fernando Arce (Santos), Alberto Medina (Chivas), Ramón Morales (Chivas), Francisco Torres (Santos).
Forwards: Adolfo Bautista (Jaguares), Luis Ángel Landin (Morelia), Carlos Ochoa (Monterrey), Omar Arellano (Chivas).
ADD: And just to be sure that I didn't get misinformed about the Torres who was called in, this is a picture of Torres from the FMF web site, which I'd link to if it weren't the most gawdawful site to nagivate.
I interviewed Jose Francisco Torres a couple of weeks ago and this, I can say with 100 percent certainty, is not the same guy I talked to.
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SuperLiga Salvation
In only two years of existence, two different SuperLiga scenarios have already played out in the final.
The first was the MLS/Primera Division split final, with Pachuca and the LA Galaxy representing both participating leagues. Pachuca, of course, became the first SuperLiga champion in history. Now, the 2008 winner is sure to be an MLS squad - either New England or Houston - because a second finals scenario has taken place; two MLS teams in the final. The last possible configuration is obviously two Mexican clubs battling for the title.
But SuperLiga may not make it that far if problems persist and teams from Mexico vow not to participate.
Here are my suggestions for the tournament.
1) Play in Mexico. SuperLiga should start incorporating at least one Mexican venue every tournament, even if for only one match. It would season up the MLS teams, and give the tournament true international ambiance.
2) Split the difference on refs - yes, the tournament is organized by SUM, but as a gesture of involvement, the FMF should get to pick half the refs involved in the tournament. SUM should just ask for a list of names to be submitted by a certain time, and if the complaints about the refs start again, politely point out that half the officials were approved by the other side.
3) Play on decent fields.
4) Negotiate an equal split of the prize money - players should not get less for winning simply because they play for an MLS squad.
5) Have the captains of each squad read the FIFA Fair Play pledge before each match - perhaps it wouldn't make a difference, but perhaps it might serve as a reminder that players are role models.
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The first was the MLS/Primera Division split final, with Pachuca and the LA Galaxy representing both participating leagues. Pachuca, of course, became the first SuperLiga champion in history. Now, the 2008 winner is sure to be an MLS squad - either New England or Houston - because a second finals scenario has taken place; two MLS teams in the final. The last possible configuration is obviously two Mexican clubs battling for the title.
But SuperLiga may not make it that far if problems persist and teams from Mexico vow not to participate.
Here are my suggestions for the tournament.
1) Play in Mexico. SuperLiga should start incorporating at least one Mexican venue every tournament, even if for only one match. It would season up the MLS teams, and give the tournament true international ambiance.
2) Split the difference on refs - yes, the tournament is organized by SUM, but as a gesture of involvement, the FMF should get to pick half the refs involved in the tournament. SUM should just ask for a list of names to be submitted by a certain time, and if the complaints about the refs start again, politely point out that half the officials were approved by the other side.
3) Play on decent fields.
4) Negotiate an equal split of the prize money - players should not get less for winning simply because they play for an MLS squad.
5) Have the captains of each squad read the FIFA Fair Play pledge before each match - perhaps it wouldn't make a difference, but perhaps it might serve as a reminder that players are role models.
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Blanco ruling - Way weak
I don't mean weak in the aspect of the discipline handed down. Two years is a pretty solid sentence. But U.S. Soccer wimped out.
I'll highlight the part that is especially crucial: "The suspension is due to his actions during the U.S. Open Cup match between the Chicago Fire and D.C. United on July 8, 2008."
It's pretty much impossible to tell if the punishment fit the crime when the description of what Blanco did to merit the censure is never given.
Why not name exactly what Blanco's trangressions were?
One of the things I believe MLS does right is when releasing discipline information, like adding game suspensions to red cards and so forth, is to include video of the incidents so everyone is absolutely clear what it is that was cited.
Even if the powers that be decided not to release video that DC United reportedly provided to the federation featuring Blanco, the USSF should have at least cleared up the competing stories out in the public. The Fire organization clearly said one thing, while DC United had their own version.
I suspected the truth was somewhere in the middle, but now U.S. Soccer has basically said, "You can't handle the truth" and "We're not even going to tell what really happened."
Weak.
Spineless.
Also, a bad precedent has been set. Frankly, one reason MLS goes into so much detail in its discipline procedures is to have them act as a deterrent. No one can say, "I didn't know that kicking my hated rival would have such drastic consequences," after Rico Clark's massive suspension. People know exactly what will lead to what.
I mean, did Blanco do anything significantly worse than some of Atlante's players last night? If so, U.S. Soccer should be up front and honest about it. No more pussyfooting around and hiding the facts, giving us a sentence without all the reasons for the conviction.
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I'll highlight the part that is especially crucial: "The suspension is due to his actions during the U.S. Open Cup match between the Chicago Fire and D.C. United on July 8, 2008."
It's pretty much impossible to tell if the punishment fit the crime when the description of what Blanco did to merit the censure is never given.
Why not name exactly what Blanco's trangressions were?
One of the things I believe MLS does right is when releasing discipline information, like adding game suspensions to red cards and so forth, is to include video of the incidents so everyone is absolutely clear what it is that was cited.
Even if the powers that be decided not to release video that DC United reportedly provided to the federation featuring Blanco, the USSF should have at least cleared up the competing stories out in the public. The Fire organization clearly said one thing, while DC United had their own version.
I suspected the truth was somewhere in the middle, but now U.S. Soccer has basically said, "You can't handle the truth" and "We're not even going to tell what really happened."
Weak.
Spineless.
Also, a bad precedent has been set. Frankly, one reason MLS goes into so much detail in its discipline procedures is to have them act as a deterrent. No one can say, "I didn't know that kicking my hated rival would have such drastic consequences," after Rico Clark's massive suspension. People know exactly what will lead to what.
I mean, did Blanco do anything significantly worse than some of Atlante's players last night? If so, U.S. Soccer should be up front and honest about it. No more pussyfooting around and hiding the facts, giving us a sentence without all the reasons for the conviction.
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What's in a name?
Obviously, Stephanie Lopez is still a player of Hispanic descent even if she's gotten married and changed her name to Cox. However, it's simply harder for people to make the connection to her Latina roots without a recognizable name to clue one in.
That's partly why blondie Amy Rodriguez is a welcome sight on the U.S. roster - she's officially the second player of Hispanic descent (Her father is of Cuban descent) to make an Olympic roster for the U.S. team. So while A-Rod can no doubt be an inspiration to fast little soccer forwards everywhere, there's little doubt her last name will catch the attention of a few hopefuls who also find it encouraging that someone with a Spanish name (supposedly Amy speaks a little of the language, too) can reach the pinnacle of the U.S. women's game.
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That's partly why blondie Amy Rodriguez is a welcome sight on the U.S. roster - she's officially the second player of Hispanic descent (Her father is of Cuban descent) to make an Olympic roster for the U.S. team. So while A-Rod can no doubt be an inspiration to fast little soccer forwards everywhere, there's little doubt her last name will catch the attention of a few hopefuls who also find it encouraging that someone with a Spanish name (supposedly Amy speaks a little of the language, too) can reach the pinnacle of the U.S. women's game.
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No Memo for you
Just to update our readers on an earlier post, seems Everton won't be Guillermo Ochoa's final destination after all.
Everton boss David Moyes said that Memo was not a player they were interested in obtaining.
That doesn't mean that Ochoa won't wind up in Europe of course. For his benefit and for the benefit of the Mexican national team, Ochoa should go somewhere in Europe. With Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos already in England, the EPL could stand for the arrival of another young Mexican international.
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Everton boss David Moyes said that Memo was not a player they were interested in obtaining.
That doesn't mean that Ochoa won't wind up in Europe of course. For his benefit and for the benefit of the Mexican national team, Ochoa should go somewhere in Europe. With Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos already in England, the EPL could stand for the arrival of another young Mexican international.
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
SuperDisgrace
What was supposed to have been a battle for the right to play for the SuperLiga final instead turned into, well, a battle.
Atlante vs. New England in a battle royale. Vilar versus Heaps. Atlante assistant versus Albright. Disgrace versus Revolution.
The match itself was not the greatest display of soccer. Shalrie Joseph's early goal made the rest of the game pretty much anticlimactic. But what wasn't expected was the way Atlante went down swinging... and gouging and chest-butting and grabbing and clutching, all of it dirty and shameful.
Now, you've got to keep in mind what kind of club you're dealing with. Atlante does not represent the typical Mexican club. Atlante are for all intents and purposes a bottom-feeder that rose up and had one great season. They won the Clausura 2007 title but probably won't contend for a title in another decade or three. To lump Atlante in with Pachuca or America or Cruz Azul and others in the same class would be a disgrace to Mexico's upper crust.
What Atlante did was shameful. It was a black eye on a tournament that's loaded with them, that could barely stand to have been dealt with another negative blow. A million-dollar tournament that isn't quite, that is played on below-average fields, that has had questionable calls at best, conspiracy theory-raising calls at worst, a tournament that now will be associated with poor smortsmanship from one of its semifinalists.
Verbal jabs and accusations from south of the border will be harsh. We'll probably hear 'The tournament was staged for MLS teams and the refs are on MLS' side' or the like.
Now, none of that excuses Atlante's behavior. Nothing can justify Federico Vilar knocking Jay Heaps down with a chest blow. Or the gutless assistant coach slamming Chris Albright's face. Or the mad scramble from player after player well after the final whistle was blown. In total, five Atlante players saw red.
Let's hope in future editions of this tournament that cooler heads prevail and that the issues listed above improve, mainly the refereeing. Until then, we can hope the display we saw from Atlante was an aberration.
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Atlante vs. New England in a battle royale. Vilar versus Heaps. Atlante assistant versus Albright. Disgrace versus Revolution.
The match itself was not the greatest display of soccer. Shalrie Joseph's early goal made the rest of the game pretty much anticlimactic. But what wasn't expected was the way Atlante went down swinging... and gouging and chest-butting and grabbing and clutching, all of it dirty and shameful.
Now, you've got to keep in mind what kind of club you're dealing with. Atlante does not represent the typical Mexican club. Atlante are for all intents and purposes a bottom-feeder that rose up and had one great season. They won the Clausura 2007 title but probably won't contend for a title in another decade or three. To lump Atlante in with Pachuca or America or Cruz Azul and others in the same class would be a disgrace to Mexico's upper crust.
What Atlante did was shameful. It was a black eye on a tournament that's loaded with them, that could barely stand to have been dealt with another negative blow. A million-dollar tournament that isn't quite, that is played on below-average fields, that has had questionable calls at best, conspiracy theory-raising calls at worst, a tournament that now will be associated with poor smortsmanship from one of its semifinalists.
Verbal jabs and accusations from south of the border will be harsh. We'll probably hear 'The tournament was staged for MLS teams and the refs are on MLS' side' or the like.
Now, none of that excuses Atlante's behavior. Nothing can justify Federico Vilar knocking Jay Heaps down with a chest blow. Or the gutless assistant coach slamming Chris Albright's face. Or the mad scramble from player after player well after the final whistle was blown. In total, five Atlante players saw red.
Let's hope in future editions of this tournament that cooler heads prevail and that the issues listed above improve, mainly the refereeing. Until then, we can hope the display we saw from Atlante was an aberration.
Read more...
NE vs Atlante
Here we go, with the game to decide the second finalist of the SuperLiga. The telenovela is ending, and Paloma's heart has been broken because she has just returned (from a kidnapping?) to find the love of her life has married. Or maybe it's a lie, but too late, the game is starting.
The announcers focus on the midfield, saying Shalrie Joseph is key for the Revs. Well, yeah.
Atlante:
* 3 - Federico Vilar (GK)
* 2 - Javier Munoz Mustafa
* 6 - Gerardo Espinoza
* 8 - Alan Zamora
* 9 - Giancarlo Maldonado
* 11 - Luis Gabriel Rey
* 15 - Arturo Munoz
* 17 - Jose Guerrero
* 18 - Christian Bermudez
* 23 - Gerardo Castillo
* 31 - Daniel Arreola
Revs:
* 1 - Matt Reis (GK)
* 2 - Amaechi Igwe
* 3 - Chris Albright
* 6 - Jay Heaps
* 11 - Kheli Dube
* 13 - Jeff Larentowicz
* 14 - Steve Ralston
* 16 - Mauricio Castro
* 21 - Shalrie Joseph
* 29 - Kenny Mansally
* 31 - Sainey Nyassi
Kickoff!
1- Albright scrapping from the start - no surprise there.
3 - Atlante might be considered the weakest semifinalist, but they're taking it to the Revs early, attacking hard.
4 - Maldonado earns a corner. Cleared, but Atlante regain possession and continue an attack. Reis is mentioned as the All-Star keep.
6 - Nyassi with a decent attempt in the box, but the cut-back move to get free was better than the shot. Vilar catches.
8 - Maldonado with a shot at the other end, but he doesn't even put it on frame. Reis dives, for practice more than anything.
9 - Dube with a header that is way off.
10 - The announcers mention Sunil Gulati is in the house, watching the game. Well, yeah, he works for the Revs.
11 - Maldonado called for offside, though he seemed even on the replay. But TV angles aren't always accurate. It depends where the camera is.
13 - The teams have played before, back when NE was training in preseason at Cancun. Atlante won 1-0.
14 - Revs developing a better rhythm after withstanding the early Atlante onslaught.
15 - Announcers report that Blanco gave Joseph serious props after the All-Star game, said his play allowed the other players to shine.
16 - Nyassi with a nice attack, gets overexcited and loses the ball at the edge of the box for no good reason.
18 - Igwe gets a pass or shot into the box, but Dube touches a pass back to the defense of Atlante.
19 - Dube with an opportunistic shot. High.
23 - Corner kick for Revs - cleared but leads to another corner. Joseph with a header, but it's high.
25 - Off the crossbar! Mansally with a great move to get free on the side, crossed the ball into the box, where Dube, I think kicked the ball off the crossbar.
26 - Corner for Atlante on the counter, Reis catches the header.
27 - Save! Reis dives to stop another shot. Igwe collided with Guerrero on the play, and Guerrero is down.
30 - Messy tackling in midfield. Ref is letting a lot go.
31 - GOAL- Off a FK by Rally near midfield, Ralston serves it into the Atlante box and Joseph goes high to power the ball into the goal. 1-0 Revs. Joseph is key indeed.
33 - Atlante have a FK of their own, closer than the one the Revs scored on. It appears to miss everybody, but they get a corner out of it. The Fort boos that lustily.
34 - No matter, Reis scoops up the corner kick and motions for his team to calm down.
35 - Dube shoots into the arms of Vilar.
37 - Nyassi with a hopeful shot. No.
39 - Castillo is off for Vanegas. Reis catches a cross and stops an Atlante attack.
40 - Albright in the box, working the give and go, but doesn't get much on his shot and Vilar catches it.
41 - Rally's FK misses everybody.
43 - Nyassi puts in a great low cross, but no one can reach it.
45 - Atlante appear to have lost their mojo.
45 + But just as I type that, they attack and Reis has to catch a cross to stop it.
Halftime
The Revs did well on their goal and stayed just ahead of every Atlante attempt on the other end, but the game is well within striking distance for the Mexican squad. A comeback is possible in the second half.
46 - Shalrie gets fouled - obviously Atlante has decided not to let him roam freely - he makes too much of an impact on the game. They're looking to shut him down.
48 - Fight! Ok, well, at least some shoving there. This game has a lot of emotions as well. I'll bet the Atlante player said to Reis, "What's the point? You'll just lose to the Dynamo again!" Meanie.
50 - Taylor Twellman is warming up.
52 - Atlante attacking hard - Nyassi gets a card for a tackle from behind.
54 - Atlante corner. Reis catches.
55 - Rally FK - Joseph gets a bit of it, but the ball ends up in Vilar's hands.
56 - Espinoza gets a card and Rally a FK in almost the same spot as a minute ago. Bad kick, though, Rally overshoots Joseph by quite a bit.
59 - Reis gives up a chance when he palms a ball instead of catching it, but the defense is able to clear.
61 - Igwe from distance, but Vilar sees the ball the whole way.
62 - Dube crosses to Mansally, but Kenny puts his chance wide. Poor.
63 - Handball! The ref doesn't give it, though. Lawrentowitz was going for the ball may have had his hand out for balance, but it definitely wasn't by his side.
66 - Nicol is exhorting his charges to keep calm.
68 - Joseph gets a ball full in the face from a teammate's attempted clear. That smarts.
70 - Maldonado is pissed off to be whistled offside.
72 - Nyassi fouled deep in Atlante territory. Vilar misses Rally's FK, but all the other Revs fail to poke the ball into the net.
75 - Rally with another FK, but Atlante manage to clear. TeleFutura now wants to know who is your game MVP. I say Shalrie wins in a landslide.
76 - Albright clears a service into the box via header, but gives up a corner.
77 - Save! Reis picks the ball off the Atlante attackers foot.
79 - Adam Cristman comes in for Mansally.
80 - Trujillo comes on for Guerrero.
83 - Joseph with a shot - deflection falls to Smith, who winds up - wide.
84 - Cristman gets fouled deep - a FK for NE. But before it can be taken, Joseph is down and handbags break out. I guess Joseph got a headbutt from Luis Gabriel Rey, who gets a red card. Vilar is pissed at Albright, who by the way speaks Spanish, so I'm sure something was said there.
88 - The FK finally gets taken, and cleared, though Nyassi gets a shot off the clearance. Wide.
89 - Nyassi down for another NE FK. It's taken quickly, but Albright then gets fouled. Another FK, leading to a Lawrentowitz shot - high.
90 - Cristman gets a yellow - I guess he threw the ball at someone? Chippy game.
90+ Atlante stop Smith on the line of the box - finally set up a real attack, but the cross overshoots everyone in the box. Bad.
Shalrie wins the MVP. Big shock.
Atlante scrap desperately for a final chance. Zamora gets beaten fo a ball with Joseph's touch. He twofoot tackles Joseph. That's his second yellow and he's gone. Something about Albright is dais by the announcers - apparently he and Zamora had words during the exit.
Mustafa elbows Dube, not even going for the ball - gets a yellow. Ugly.
Nicol is pointing at his watch. Finally, the whistle blows.
Revs win. Vilar comes hunting for Albright. A scrum breaks out, because he hits Heaps, just for being in his way. Albright is hit and pissed. The ref is trying to keep players off each other.Vilar is grabbed for an interview and he says he can't talk because this is a dangerous country or something like that.
The Atlante coach blames the ref, what's new?
So it's the Revs and Houston in the final. Deja vu all over again.
Just to wrap it up, here is the conduct report from the game, because I missed some, there were so many.
NE -- Amaechi Igwe (caution; Reckless Foul) 27
NE -- Sainey Nyassi (caution; Pushing, Holding) 52
ATN -- Giancarlo Maldonado (caution; Dissent) 53
ATN -- Gerardo Espinoza (caution; Pushing, Holding) 56
ATN -- Fernando Navarro (caution; Pushing, Holding) 71
ATN -- Alan Zamora (caution; Reckless Foul) 84
ATN -- Luis Gabriel Rey (ejection; Violent Conduct) 85
NE -- Chris Albright (caution; Dissent) 85
ATN -- Federico Vilar (caution; Dissent) 86
ATN -- Federico Vilar (ejection; Second Caution) 91+
ATN -- Alan Zamora (ejection; Second Caution) 94+
ATN -- Javier Munoz Mustafa (ejection; Second Caution) 95+
NE -- Jay Heaps (ejection; Violent Conduct) 95+
ATN -- Luis Venegas (ejection; Violent Conduct) 95+
Read more...
The announcers focus on the midfield, saying Shalrie Joseph is key for the Revs. Well, yeah.
Atlante:
* 3 - Federico Vilar (GK)
* 2 - Javier Munoz Mustafa
* 6 - Gerardo Espinoza
* 8 - Alan Zamora
* 9 - Giancarlo Maldonado
* 11 - Luis Gabriel Rey
* 15 - Arturo Munoz
* 17 - Jose Guerrero
* 18 - Christian Bermudez
* 23 - Gerardo Castillo
* 31 - Daniel Arreola
Revs:
* 1 - Matt Reis (GK)
* 2 - Amaechi Igwe
* 3 - Chris Albright
* 6 - Jay Heaps
* 11 - Kheli Dube
* 13 - Jeff Larentowicz
* 14 - Steve Ralston
* 16 - Mauricio Castro
* 21 - Shalrie Joseph
* 29 - Kenny Mansally
* 31 - Sainey Nyassi
Kickoff!
1- Albright scrapping from the start - no surprise there.
3 - Atlante might be considered the weakest semifinalist, but they're taking it to the Revs early, attacking hard.
4 - Maldonado earns a corner. Cleared, but Atlante regain possession and continue an attack. Reis is mentioned as the All-Star keep.
6 - Nyassi with a decent attempt in the box, but the cut-back move to get free was better than the shot. Vilar catches.
8 - Maldonado with a shot at the other end, but he doesn't even put it on frame. Reis dives, for practice more than anything.
9 - Dube with a header that is way off.
10 - The announcers mention Sunil Gulati is in the house, watching the game. Well, yeah, he works for the Revs.
11 - Maldonado called for offside, though he seemed even on the replay. But TV angles aren't always accurate. It depends where the camera is.
13 - The teams have played before, back when NE was training in preseason at Cancun. Atlante won 1-0.
14 - Revs developing a better rhythm after withstanding the early Atlante onslaught.
15 - Announcers report that Blanco gave Joseph serious props after the All-Star game, said his play allowed the other players to shine.
16 - Nyassi with a nice attack, gets overexcited and loses the ball at the edge of the box for no good reason.
18 - Igwe gets a pass or shot into the box, but Dube touches a pass back to the defense of Atlante.
19 - Dube with an opportunistic shot. High.
23 - Corner kick for Revs - cleared but leads to another corner. Joseph with a header, but it's high.
25 - Off the crossbar! Mansally with a great move to get free on the side, crossed the ball into the box, where Dube, I think kicked the ball off the crossbar.
26 - Corner for Atlante on the counter, Reis catches the header.
27 - Save! Reis dives to stop another shot. Igwe collided with Guerrero on the play, and Guerrero is down.
30 - Messy tackling in midfield. Ref is letting a lot go.
31 - GOAL- Off a FK by Rally near midfield, Ralston serves it into the Atlante box and Joseph goes high to power the ball into the goal. 1-0 Revs. Joseph is key indeed.
33 - Atlante have a FK of their own, closer than the one the Revs scored on. It appears to miss everybody, but they get a corner out of it. The Fort boos that lustily.
34 - No matter, Reis scoops up the corner kick and motions for his team to calm down.
35 - Dube shoots into the arms of Vilar.
37 - Nyassi with a hopeful shot. No.
39 - Castillo is off for Vanegas. Reis catches a cross and stops an Atlante attack.
40 - Albright in the box, working the give and go, but doesn't get much on his shot and Vilar catches it.
41 - Rally's FK misses everybody.
43 - Nyassi puts in a great low cross, but no one can reach it.
45 - Atlante appear to have lost their mojo.
45 + But just as I type that, they attack and Reis has to catch a cross to stop it.
Halftime
The Revs did well on their goal and stayed just ahead of every Atlante attempt on the other end, but the game is well within striking distance for the Mexican squad. A comeback is possible in the second half.
46 - Shalrie gets fouled - obviously Atlante has decided not to let him roam freely - he makes too much of an impact on the game. They're looking to shut him down.
48 - Fight! Ok, well, at least some shoving there. This game has a lot of emotions as well. I'll bet the Atlante player said to Reis, "What's the point? You'll just lose to the Dynamo again!" Meanie.
50 - Taylor Twellman is warming up.
52 - Atlante attacking hard - Nyassi gets a card for a tackle from behind.
54 - Atlante corner. Reis catches.
55 - Rally FK - Joseph gets a bit of it, but the ball ends up in Vilar's hands.
56 - Espinoza gets a card and Rally a FK in almost the same spot as a minute ago. Bad kick, though, Rally overshoots Joseph by quite a bit.
59 - Reis gives up a chance when he palms a ball instead of catching it, but the defense is able to clear.
61 - Igwe from distance, but Vilar sees the ball the whole way.
62 - Dube crosses to Mansally, but Kenny puts his chance wide. Poor.
63 - Handball! The ref doesn't give it, though. Lawrentowitz was going for the ball may have had his hand out for balance, but it definitely wasn't by his side.
66 - Nicol is exhorting his charges to keep calm.
68 - Joseph gets a ball full in the face from a teammate's attempted clear. That smarts.
70 - Maldonado is pissed off to be whistled offside.
72 - Nyassi fouled deep in Atlante territory. Vilar misses Rally's FK, but all the other Revs fail to poke the ball into the net.
75 - Rally with another FK, but Atlante manage to clear. TeleFutura now wants to know who is your game MVP. I say Shalrie wins in a landslide.
76 - Albright clears a service into the box via header, but gives up a corner.
77 - Save! Reis picks the ball off the Atlante attackers foot.
79 - Adam Cristman comes in for Mansally.
80 - Trujillo comes on for Guerrero.
83 - Joseph with a shot - deflection falls to Smith, who winds up - wide.
84 - Cristman gets fouled deep - a FK for NE. But before it can be taken, Joseph is down and handbags break out. I guess Joseph got a headbutt from Luis Gabriel Rey, who gets a red card. Vilar is pissed at Albright, who by the way speaks Spanish, so I'm sure something was said there.
88 - The FK finally gets taken, and cleared, though Nyassi gets a shot off the clearance. Wide.
89 - Nyassi down for another NE FK. It's taken quickly, but Albright then gets fouled. Another FK, leading to a Lawrentowitz shot - high.
90 - Cristman gets a yellow - I guess he threw the ball at someone? Chippy game.
90+ Atlante stop Smith on the line of the box - finally set up a real attack, but the cross overshoots everyone in the box. Bad.
Shalrie wins the MVP. Big shock.
Atlante scrap desperately for a final chance. Zamora gets beaten fo a ball with Joseph's touch. He twofoot tackles Joseph. That's his second yellow and he's gone. Something about Albright is dais by the announcers - apparently he and Zamora had words during the exit.
Mustafa elbows Dube, not even going for the ball - gets a yellow. Ugly.
Nicol is pointing at his watch. Finally, the whistle blows.
Revs win. Vilar comes hunting for Albright. A scrum breaks out, because he hits Heaps, just for being in his way. Albright is hit and pissed. The ref is trying to keep players off each other.Vilar is grabbed for an interview and he says he can't talk because this is a dangerous country or something like that.
The Atlante coach blames the ref, what's new?
So it's the Revs and Houston in the final. Deja vu all over again.
Just to wrap it up, here is the conduct report from the game, because I missed some, there were so many.
NE -- Amaechi Igwe (caution; Reckless Foul) 27
NE -- Sainey Nyassi (caution; Pushing, Holding) 52
ATN -- Giancarlo Maldonado (caution; Dissent) 53
ATN -- Gerardo Espinoza (caution; Pushing, Holding) 56
ATN -- Fernando Navarro (caution; Pushing, Holding) 71
ATN -- Alan Zamora (caution; Reckless Foul) 84
ATN -- Luis Gabriel Rey (ejection; Violent Conduct) 85
NE -- Chris Albright (caution; Dissent) 85
ATN -- Federico Vilar (caution; Dissent) 86
ATN -- Federico Vilar (ejection; Second Caution) 91+
ATN -- Alan Zamora (ejection; Second Caution) 94+
ATN -- Javier Munoz Mustafa (ejection; Second Caution) 95+
NE -- Jay Heaps (ejection; Violent Conduct) 95+
ATN -- Luis Venegas (ejection; Violent Conduct) 95+
Read more...
Problems at DSG Park?
Let's see, this season thus far there have been issues with fans and security and yelling stuff and throwing stuff and all sorts of things across Major League Soccer. We've seen it boil over in Columbus, Toronto and New York.
So why not add Colorado to the list?
Apparently there were some sorts of problems at the Colorado-Columbus match on Sunday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. I'll let one of the fellow contributors to Around the Leauge in 90 Minutes explain as he did in the e-mail I received earlier today.
I'm sure it was noticeable that there was basically no noise in the stadium...not that our tiny supporters section makes it some kind of kop or anything, but something is better than nothing.
In any case I'm sure everyone is aware of the new rules the league handed down regarding streamers...and the video taping of supporters groups.
I want it to be known that we have had huge problems with stadium security and from our own front office. It really is a long and complicated problem, but I'll do my best to give you all the gist of it.
Security essentially interprets the rules differently on a game-to-game basis, and as a result they can essentially throw you out for anything. I was personally threatened ejection one game for questioning whether they had enforced the rules properly (I used no profanities or threats), and the security guy saw fit to call over the police and have me forcibly removed from the building. Any excuse to throw any of us out, they'll take it.
While we continue to have these problems, the Rapids Front Office stands idly by and does absolutely nothing. This is not like the problems in New York where the clubs hands are tied and they have little or no control over security...KSE (the Rapids ownership) has full control of the facility and can run it as they see fit, including the conduct of the stadium security. When it comes down to it, they really don't care about the supporters, I'd even go so far as to say they don't want us at all. This is the same front office that has told us that we are "replaceable" and that we make sections of the stadium "un-sellable".
So here is what happened in Sunday...we were trying out best to do our thing (drums, streamers, etc). A smoke bomb was lit in our section (and was shown on both the jumbo screen and the TV broadcast), this naturally alerted security. I do realize that smoke bombs are not allowed and why they don't allow them (funny that the Rapids use it in all their marketing though, pretending that they support some great fanbase). I did not light it, and I did not see who lit it.
You'd think security would find the perpetrator with their alleged CCTV and throw him out, nope. Instead they came down and basically started throwing everybody out. I didn't matter if we asked why or for what reason, or if we could see these "tapes", they just basically booted anybody that made eye contact. However have heard that the whole thing about cameras is a bunch of crap, and that they're not taping us at all.
In disgust the entire section pretty much walked out. By the final whistle there were 5 people left in the section. To my knowledge security threw out several people, not least a 13 year old kid who was looking for his parents. Two season ticket holders were also banned, and I'm sure several non-season ticket holders were also banned.
This is just an example of the kind of crap that happens every single home game. We try our best to bring atmosphere into that stadium, and we try to do the same things other groups around the league have been doing. You'd think with the new stadium and everything, our supporters group would grow. It hasn't. We have actually shrunk in size, we have fewer people at each game. We can't recruit new people because they get booted for nothing. It really is getting to the point where there may not even be a supporters section at all next year. This is quickly flying out of control (as if it already hasn't). They are killing the supporters. Its at the point where we may have to completely start over (again).
I'll admit we have the smallest, and possibly worst, supporters section in the league, its not like this is news to anybody else. Its not like we don't try to make it better. We try our best to make it better and nothing comes of it. I'm not writing this to whine and complain, or to look for sympathy. I want some advice. I want to save the section.
What have other groups done to try and improve things? We sure wont get any support from the front office, they don't care. We've met with them frequently and they tell us they'll make changes...and it never happens. Does anybody have any advice on how we can handle this. We're frankly running out of ideas.
Read more...
So why not add Colorado to the list?
Apparently there were some sorts of problems at the Colorado-Columbus match on Sunday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. I'll let one of the fellow contributors to Around the Leauge in 90 Minutes explain as he did in the e-mail I received earlier today.
I'm sure it was noticeable that there was basically no noise in the stadium...not that our tiny supporters section makes it some kind of kop or anything, but something is better than nothing.
In any case I'm sure everyone is aware of the new rules the league handed down regarding streamers...and the video taping of supporters groups.
I want it to be known that we have had huge problems with stadium security and from our own front office. It really is a long and complicated problem, but I'll do my best to give you all the gist of it.
Security essentially interprets the rules differently on a game-to-game basis, and as a result they can essentially throw you out for anything. I was personally threatened ejection one game for questioning whether they had enforced the rules properly (I used no profanities or threats), and the security guy saw fit to call over the police and have me forcibly removed from the building. Any excuse to throw any of us out, they'll take it.
While we continue to have these problems, the Rapids Front Office stands idly by and does absolutely nothing. This is not like the problems in New York where the clubs hands are tied and they have little or no control over security...KSE (the Rapids ownership) has full control of the facility and can run it as they see fit, including the conduct of the stadium security. When it comes down to it, they really don't care about the supporters, I'd even go so far as to say they don't want us at all. This is the same front office that has told us that we are "replaceable" and that we make sections of the stadium "un-sellable".
So here is what happened in Sunday...we were trying out best to do our thing (drums, streamers, etc). A smoke bomb was lit in our section (and was shown on both the jumbo screen and the TV broadcast), this naturally alerted security. I do realize that smoke bombs are not allowed and why they don't allow them (funny that the Rapids use it in all their marketing though, pretending that they support some great fanbase). I did not light it, and I did not see who lit it.
You'd think security would find the perpetrator with their alleged CCTV and throw him out, nope. Instead they came down and basically started throwing everybody out. I didn't matter if we asked why or for what reason, or if we could see these "tapes", they just basically booted anybody that made eye contact. However have heard that the whole thing about cameras is a bunch of crap, and that they're not taping us at all.
In disgust the entire section pretty much walked out. By the final whistle there were 5 people left in the section. To my knowledge security threw out several people, not least a 13 year old kid who was looking for his parents. Two season ticket holders were also banned, and I'm sure several non-season ticket holders were also banned.
This is just an example of the kind of crap that happens every single home game. We try our best to bring atmosphere into that stadium, and we try to do the same things other groups around the league have been doing. You'd think with the new stadium and everything, our supporters group would grow. It hasn't. We have actually shrunk in size, we have fewer people at each game. We can't recruit new people because they get booted for nothing. It really is getting to the point where there may not even be a supporters section at all next year. This is quickly flying out of control (as if it already hasn't). They are killing the supporters. Its at the point where we may have to completely start over (again).
I'll admit we have the smallest, and possibly worst, supporters section in the league, its not like this is news to anybody else. Its not like we don't try to make it better. We try our best to make it better and nothing comes of it. I'm not writing this to whine and complain, or to look for sympathy. I want some advice. I want to save the section.
What have other groups done to try and improve things? We sure wont get any support from the front office, they don't care. We've met with them frequently and they tell us they'll make changes...and it never happens. Does anybody have any advice on how we can handle this. We're frankly running out of ideas.
Read more...
Read, if you want to
What I've glanced at today.
Grant's take on the U.S. women - I agree with Solo's assessments, but I'd have liked to hear from the forwards on the squad as well, since I doubt Solo is expected to score.
Drawing it out.
Melancholy Messi - he's on the Barcelona roster for their U.S. tour, and not the Olympics. Though Zeigler points out rightly that the U.S. team isn't getting caught up in this fight, I think the U.S. is at least indirectly involved. If Barsa is forcing Messi to stay with their team due to financial concerns, then U.S. money is making the Argentine team that much weaker, possibly aiding the American chase for the gold medal.
But do Barcelona fans even want to see a glum Messi perform in New York when he's clearly indicated his desire to be elsewhere?
Not-so-thrilled with the McBride deal.
More deals on tap for Quakes?
Read more...
Grant's take on the U.S. women - I agree with Solo's assessments, but I'd have liked to hear from the forwards on the squad as well, since I doubt Solo is expected to score.
Drawing it out.
Melancholy Messi - he's on the Barcelona roster for their U.S. tour, and not the Olympics. Though Zeigler points out rightly that the U.S. team isn't getting caught up in this fight, I think the U.S. is at least indirectly involved. If Barsa is forcing Messi to stay with their team due to financial concerns, then U.S. money is making the Argentine team that much weaker, possibly aiding the American chase for the gold medal.
But do Barcelona fans even want to see a glum Messi perform in New York when he's clearly indicated his desire to be elsewhere?
Not-so-thrilled with the McBride deal.
More deals on tap for Quakes?
Read more...
Heh, I think
Mediotiempo cartoons skewer the SuperLiga again.
I don't know why the Houston guy isn't in Houston colors, but anyway, he's in the background cheering on Atlante's horse against New England.
But he has selfish motives - "I don't want to go get a million dollars on foot," the Dynamo dude tells Atlante's horsey.
It was only in the previous edition, though, that Pachuca's gopher was very confident. "Houston, you have a problem!" he says to the Houston player (this time in Dynamo colors). "What's that?" responds the Dynamo dude. "You're my client!" says the proud gopher.
It must be said that Houston had certainly lost to Pachuca time and again.
Also, mediotiempo's gallery of the Houston/Pachuca game is great.
Read more...
I don't know why the Houston guy isn't in Houston colors, but anyway, he's in the background cheering on Atlante's horse against New England.
But he has selfish motives - "I don't want to go get a million dollars on foot," the Dynamo dude tells Atlante's horsey.
It was only in the previous edition, though, that Pachuca's gopher was very confident. "Houston, you have a problem!" he says to the Houston player (this time in Dynamo colors). "What's that?" responds the Dynamo dude. "You're my client!" says the proud gopher.
It must be said that Houston had certainly lost to Pachuca time and again.
Also, mediotiempo's gallery of the Houston/Pachuca game is great.
Read more...
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Houston/Pachuca running blog
Hey, hey - here we go now. Well, not just yet, some telenovela is on. "No quiero verle nunca mas!" spits the heroine. Oh, ok, it's over now. Bring on SuperLiga! Post predictions quick!
Ha, the announcers know all about the Houston/Pachuca history.
"Houston wants revenge," they say. I've picked Pachuca to win, however, so I predict a heartbreaking 2-1.
Pachuca
* 1 - Miguel Calero (GK)
* 2 - Leobardo Lopez
* 3 - Julio Manzur
* 6 - Jaime Correa
* 7 - Damian Alvarez
* 8 - Gabriel Caballero
* 9 - Bruno Marioni
* 12 - Juan Rojas
* 16 - Carlos Rodriguez
* 18 - Jose Torres
* 21 - Fausto Pinto
Houston
* 18 - Pat Onstad (GK)
* 9 - Brian Mullan
* 11 - Brad Davis
* 13 - Ricardo Clark
* 14 - Dwayne De Rosario
* 16 - Craig Waibel
* 20 - Geoff Cameron
* 24 - Wade Barrett
* 25 - Brian Ching
* 27 - Nate Jaqua
* 32 - Bobby Boswell
Robertson doesn't look full, but not shabby for a Tuesday night.
Kickoff!
1- Dynamo early on.
3 - The announcers compliment the field. It's not so nice, but definitely improved than the last SuperLiga game, which was embarrassing.
4 - Brad Davis takes a corner, overshoots everyone.
6 - Davis threatens to bring a ball down in the box, but the defense of Pachuca covers - Lopez slides in to claim the ball with a tackle. Announcers agree that the Dynamo are far more aggressive early on.
8 - SAVE! DeRo creates somethng out of almost nothing. A Pachuca clear falls to him and he touches it to himself and rockets a shot on goal from 30 yards out that Calero just dives to touch over the bar. Close.
9 - Corner cleared.
13 - Hey, a Sangre Americano reference - they're talking about how Torres turned down the U.S. Olympic team.
14 - Heh, announcers are amazed that Ngwenya, who is infamous for a crappy PK against Calero, is now on trial in Germany with Bayern Munich.
15 - Ching with a header! It's a ways out, though, and Calero comes up with it.
17 - "Food poisoning" sound worse than "stomach pain" which is the reason the announcers give for Eddie Robinson's absence. Dynamo take a FK, clearance falls to Mullan, who takes a rather crappy shot. The announcer has fun with it, though, getting very dramatic. "Mullan shoots with his left foot! He shoots the ball very hard! He shoots badly!"
19 - DeRo's cross caught by Calero, but the Dynamo aren't just knocking on the door, they're banging dents in it.
20 - Mullan! Wide.
24 - Pachuca has had a bit of run lately, now has a corner. Onstad catches it and the announcers give him props, but mercifully, manage not to reference his advanced age. (It's like the "Jay Heaps played basketball at Duke" reference - done to death.)
25 - Nice Pachuca shot, blocked by Boswell. The color commentator scoffs at giving Boswell any credit. "He didn't move - the ball just hit him." Well, maybe he didn't move to make sure the ball hit him.
27 - The announcers also reference how Erikson is watching the SuperLiga games.
29 - Marioni is down. He touched the ball into the box too far and then dashed after it, vaulting over Wade Barrett along the way. He's not going to get that call - he doesn't even have the ball.
31 - Heh, the announcers talk about getting the the stadium, mentioning how many fans are trickling in still. "With GPS, it's no problem."
33 - Torres gets a card for a late, hard tackle on Davis - Lopez argues it. Lopez gets a yellow, too.
34 - Pachuca clear the FK.
35 - Correa with an outside shot. Wide by more than a bit.
36 - DeRo on the run - beats his defender, into the box, shoots right into Calero. The announcer lament rightly that he should have passed. Ching was right there.
38 - Apparently coach Meza has the whole bench warming up, so changes could be coming soon for Pachuca.
39 - Rico Clark has a yellow, but they never really showed why. Reckless foul, apparently. Ok.
41 - Not much point in playing a lot better than Pachuca if the scoreboard doesn't reflect that. Yes, I love to point out the obvious.
42 - Meza is now arguing with the linesmen, they don't like where the subs are warming up, getting in their way. "Are you going to eject all my subs?" a snide Meza apparently asks.
44 - Davis wastes a cross to Ching - just overhits him badly.
Halftime - All Houston, in every aspect, except the most important one. There's not even a single goal. Ooooh, Pachuca going after the referee! Marioni, Meza, they're all up in his grill.
Alvarez interviews that this is a contentious and emotional match.
45 - Pachuca already looks better this half. They're deep in Dynamo ground.
47 - Marioni wide.
48 - The announcers like Onstad, they mention him as a possibility for 2010 if Canada makes the World Cup. Guess they're not Greg Sutton fans.
49 - Save! Onstad! He cut off the angle, foot save.
50 - SAVE! Onstad! Dives for this one, a more difficult one. Out for a corner.
SAAAAAVVVEEEE! The toughest one of all, the announcers can't believe it, but Onstad's reflexes stop a point blank shot off the corner by Lopez.
52 - What did Meza say at the half? Pachuca all over the Dynamo now.
53 - Corner for Pachuca. Onstad punches out, but not far and Caballero tries, but misses a bicycle kick. Must have been inspired by last year's Chris Klein version.
56 - This is weird. Calero is limping around and Marioni is bringing paper cups of drink to his teammates.
59 - Calero apparently has a slight pull. Houston readies a sub.
60 - NO goal! Offside. But the replay seems to show even. Announcers gripe about the call. Caballero wuz robbed.
61 - Davis is out - Ashe in.
64 - Rodriguez! Shoots high, but not by too much.
65 - Jaqua! Diving header wide, but close. Announcer, "The Tower Jaqua threw himself knee high to send the ball toward the goal!"
66 - Ashe sends in a cross that Calero can't hang on to, but Jaqua hits the ball out.
67 - Ashe with another cross, but this one is poor and Pachuca claims the ball.
68 - Kinnear is throwing everything but the - oh wait, here comes Kei Kamara for Jaqua.
69- Ashe with another cross, but misses the front line and Mullan's shot on the follow is blocked.
70 - Corner for the Dynamo, earned by Geoff Cameron's cross.
Montes comes on for Rodriguez. Pachuca clear the counter.
71 - Caballero sulks off the field. Aguilar is subbed in for him.
73 - Corner for Dynamo - header by Kamara goes over goal and falls in the back of the net.
74 - Hah, that's always tricky - fans have to text in the game's MVP. Well, no goals yet, so I say Onstad, but the true hero could yet be shown.
76 - Dynamo on the attack again. A corner chance. DeRo takes it.
77 - GOAL! Waibel flicks the ball on and it goes far post, where Boswell gets a foot, or an ankle on to the ball, with Calero way out of position. It goes into the goal, not pretty, but finally, very effective. 1-0 Dynamo. Waibel's flick really made the goal.
80 - Pachuca have picked up the pace looking for the equalizer, but the Dynamo are also primed to release on the counter. Ashe is likely to get a good chance here.
82 - Ching wastes a chance to pass to Kamara, passing to his buddy DeRo instead, but overshooting him with the cross.
83 - Marioni shot, deflects off Waibel.
84 - Torres is out - limping slightly. Dynamo fans are celebrating already. They can taste their revenge.
85 - Ashe with a great move gets a good cross off to Ching - but the header is wide.
86 - Houston trying to keep the ball, Pachuca trying desperately to set up a goal chance. Tough tackling both ways. Meza is cussing on the sidelines.
87 - GOAL! ASHE! This time, he's the beneficiary of a great cross by Mullan, who somehow slips two defenders and gets a pass into the area, who misses everybody but the littlest guy on the field - who nails a header into the goal. 2-0 Dynamo.
89 - Onstad takes him time with a goal kick, infuriating the Pachuca fans, who clamor for enforcement of the six-second rule.
90 - Barret is shoved down and then when he gets up, gets shoved again. Boswell comes up to defend him and all manner of shoving and insults break out. Marioni gets a card, but others get away with pushing. Marioni was losing it, though. I wonder what he says when he's that mad. None of the Dynamo players speak Spanish.
90 + Boswell wins the games MVP. The assistant coach of Pachuca has been tossed from the game. Baldomero Toledo, the 4th official, had it with him, I guess.
Final whistle.
More shoves and insults break out, Security intervenes. They have to protect the ref, Neil Brizan, but also Ashe, who apparently made some gesture that pissed off Pachuca players. Torres is interviewed and says that the team was robbed a goal, but that they accept the outcome. Calero says little, "That's how refs are."
Well, Pachuca was hard done by that goal that was called offside but didn't seem so. Still, the Dynamo dominated the early going and should have scored. They asserted themselves again in the second half after Pachuca had a good run, and this time, the Dynamo sealed the deal and broke the Pachuca jinx.
Read more...
Ha, the announcers know all about the Houston/Pachuca history.
"Houston wants revenge," they say. I've picked Pachuca to win, however, so I predict a heartbreaking 2-1.
Pachuca
* 1 - Miguel Calero (GK)
* 2 - Leobardo Lopez
* 3 - Julio Manzur
* 6 - Jaime Correa
* 7 - Damian Alvarez
* 8 - Gabriel Caballero
* 9 - Bruno Marioni
* 12 - Juan Rojas
* 16 - Carlos Rodriguez
* 18 - Jose Torres
* 21 - Fausto Pinto
Houston
* 18 - Pat Onstad (GK)
* 9 - Brian Mullan
* 11 - Brad Davis
* 13 - Ricardo Clark
* 14 - Dwayne De Rosario
* 16 - Craig Waibel
* 20 - Geoff Cameron
* 24 - Wade Barrett
* 25 - Brian Ching
* 27 - Nate Jaqua
* 32 - Bobby Boswell
Robertson doesn't look full, but not shabby for a Tuesday night.
Kickoff!
1- Dynamo early on.
3 - The announcers compliment the field. It's not so nice, but definitely improved than the last SuperLiga game, which was embarrassing.
4 - Brad Davis takes a corner, overshoots everyone.
6 - Davis threatens to bring a ball down in the box, but the defense of Pachuca covers - Lopez slides in to claim the ball with a tackle. Announcers agree that the Dynamo are far more aggressive early on.
8 - SAVE! DeRo creates somethng out of almost nothing. A Pachuca clear falls to him and he touches it to himself and rockets a shot on goal from 30 yards out that Calero just dives to touch over the bar. Close.
9 - Corner cleared.
13 - Hey, a Sangre Americano reference - they're talking about how Torres turned down the U.S. Olympic team.
14 - Heh, announcers are amazed that Ngwenya, who is infamous for a crappy PK against Calero, is now on trial in Germany with Bayern Munich.
15 - Ching with a header! It's a ways out, though, and Calero comes up with it.
17 - "Food poisoning" sound worse than "stomach pain" which is the reason the announcers give for Eddie Robinson's absence. Dynamo take a FK, clearance falls to Mullan, who takes a rather crappy shot. The announcer has fun with it, though, getting very dramatic. "Mullan shoots with his left foot! He shoots the ball very hard! He shoots badly!"
19 - DeRo's cross caught by Calero, but the Dynamo aren't just knocking on the door, they're banging dents in it.
20 - Mullan! Wide.
24 - Pachuca has had a bit of run lately, now has a corner. Onstad catches it and the announcers give him props, but mercifully, manage not to reference his advanced age. (It's like the "Jay Heaps played basketball at Duke" reference - done to death.)
25 - Nice Pachuca shot, blocked by Boswell. The color commentator scoffs at giving Boswell any credit. "He didn't move - the ball just hit him." Well, maybe he didn't move to make sure the ball hit him.
27 - The announcers also reference how Erikson is watching the SuperLiga games.
29 - Marioni is down. He touched the ball into the box too far and then dashed after it, vaulting over Wade Barrett along the way. He's not going to get that call - he doesn't even have the ball.
31 - Heh, the announcers talk about getting the the stadium, mentioning how many fans are trickling in still. "With GPS, it's no problem."
33 - Torres gets a card for a late, hard tackle on Davis - Lopez argues it. Lopez gets a yellow, too.
34 - Pachuca clear the FK.
35 - Correa with an outside shot. Wide by more than a bit.
36 - DeRo on the run - beats his defender, into the box, shoots right into Calero. The announcer lament rightly that he should have passed. Ching was right there.
38 - Apparently coach Meza has the whole bench warming up, so changes could be coming soon for Pachuca.
39 - Rico Clark has a yellow, but they never really showed why. Reckless foul, apparently. Ok.
41 - Not much point in playing a lot better than Pachuca if the scoreboard doesn't reflect that. Yes, I love to point out the obvious.
42 - Meza is now arguing with the linesmen, they don't like where the subs are warming up, getting in their way. "Are you going to eject all my subs?" a snide Meza apparently asks.
44 - Davis wastes a cross to Ching - just overhits him badly.
Halftime - All Houston, in every aspect, except the most important one. There's not even a single goal. Ooooh, Pachuca going after the referee! Marioni, Meza, they're all up in his grill.
Alvarez interviews that this is a contentious and emotional match.
45 - Pachuca already looks better this half. They're deep in Dynamo ground.
47 - Marioni wide.
48 - The announcers like Onstad, they mention him as a possibility for 2010 if Canada makes the World Cup. Guess they're not Greg Sutton fans.
49 - Save! Onstad! He cut off the angle, foot save.
50 - SAVE! Onstad! Dives for this one, a more difficult one. Out for a corner.
SAAAAAVVVEEEE! The toughest one of all, the announcers can't believe it, but Onstad's reflexes stop a point blank shot off the corner by Lopez.
52 - What did Meza say at the half? Pachuca all over the Dynamo now.
53 - Corner for Pachuca. Onstad punches out, but not far and Caballero tries, but misses a bicycle kick. Must have been inspired by last year's Chris Klein version.
56 - This is weird. Calero is limping around and Marioni is bringing paper cups of drink to his teammates.
59 - Calero apparently has a slight pull. Houston readies a sub.
60 - NO goal! Offside. But the replay seems to show even. Announcers gripe about the call. Caballero wuz robbed.
61 - Davis is out - Ashe in.
64 - Rodriguez! Shoots high, but not by too much.
65 - Jaqua! Diving header wide, but close. Announcer, "The Tower Jaqua threw himself knee high to send the ball toward the goal!"
66 - Ashe sends in a cross that Calero can't hang on to, but Jaqua hits the ball out.
67 - Ashe with another cross, but this one is poor and Pachuca claims the ball.
68 - Kinnear is throwing everything but the - oh wait, here comes Kei Kamara for Jaqua.
69- Ashe with another cross, but misses the front line and Mullan's shot on the follow is blocked.
70 - Corner for the Dynamo, earned by Geoff Cameron's cross.
Montes comes on for Rodriguez. Pachuca clear the counter.
71 - Caballero sulks off the field. Aguilar is subbed in for him.
73 - Corner for Dynamo - header by Kamara goes over goal and falls in the back of the net.
74 - Hah, that's always tricky - fans have to text in the game's MVP. Well, no goals yet, so I say Onstad, but the true hero could yet be shown.
76 - Dynamo on the attack again. A corner chance. DeRo takes it.
77 - GOAL! Waibel flicks the ball on and it goes far post, where Boswell gets a foot, or an ankle on to the ball, with Calero way out of position. It goes into the goal, not pretty, but finally, very effective. 1-0 Dynamo. Waibel's flick really made the goal.
80 - Pachuca have picked up the pace looking for the equalizer, but the Dynamo are also primed to release on the counter. Ashe is likely to get a good chance here.
82 - Ching wastes a chance to pass to Kamara, passing to his buddy DeRo instead, but overshooting him with the cross.
83 - Marioni shot, deflects off Waibel.
84 - Torres is out - limping slightly. Dynamo fans are celebrating already. They can taste their revenge.
85 - Ashe with a great move gets a good cross off to Ching - but the header is wide.
86 - Houston trying to keep the ball, Pachuca trying desperately to set up a goal chance. Tough tackling both ways. Meza is cussing on the sidelines.
87 - GOAL! ASHE! This time, he's the beneficiary of a great cross by Mullan, who somehow slips two defenders and gets a pass into the area, who misses everybody but the littlest guy on the field - who nails a header into the goal. 2-0 Dynamo.
89 - Onstad takes him time with a goal kick, infuriating the Pachuca fans, who clamor for enforcement of the six-second rule.
90 - Barret is shoved down and then when he gets up, gets shoved again. Boswell comes up to defend him and all manner of shoving and insults break out. Marioni gets a card, but others get away with pushing. Marioni was losing it, though. I wonder what he says when he's that mad. None of the Dynamo players speak Spanish.
90 + Boswell wins the games MVP. The assistant coach of Pachuca has been tossed from the game. Baldomero Toledo, the 4th official, had it with him, I guess.
Final whistle.
More shoves and insults break out, Security intervenes. They have to protect the ref, Neil Brizan, but also Ashe, who apparently made some gesture that pissed off Pachuca players. Torres is interviewed and says that the team was robbed a goal, but that they accept the outcome. Calero says little, "That's how refs are."
Well, Pachuca was hard done by that goal that was called offside but didn't seem so. Still, the Dynamo dominated the early going and should have scored. They asserted themselves again in the second half after Pachuca had a good run, and this time, the Dynamo sealed the deal and broke the Pachuca jinx.
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Week 18 Spotlight
Technically, Monday's RSL-Toronto match was in Week 19 of the MLS schedule, but that doesn't really make sense. Playing a Monday night match doesn't make sense either but that's what went down in Utah last night.
Anyway, that caused a minor ripple effect out here as we waited for the fifth of five matches in a two-day span to be played out before handing out or weekly kudos.
G: William Hesmer
D: Jamison Olave
D: Chad Marshall
D: Chris Wingert
M: Roger Espinoza
M: Amado Guevara
M: Brian Mullan
M: Darren Huckerby
F: Dominic Oduro
F: Kenny Cooper
F: Robbie Findley Abe Thompson
Coach: Schellas Hyndman gets off the schneid and notches his first MLS coaching victory. Ironically, it came against the club that ended his predecessor's run.
Jason Kreis: RSL moves over .500 for the first time in history. Props.
Top goal: Okay, I tried to keep this on league play but was there anything better than Cuauhtemoc Blanco's backheel to Christian Gomez and his subsequent finish against West Ham? That backheel was a thing of beauty and Gomez did well to find the inside of the net as well.
I'll take a goal from league play - Abe Thompson's late stunner.
Top save: Will Hesmer had about four saves worthy of MLS Save of the Week... if there were such an award. I think the one he had early on Mehdi Ballouchy was probably most difficult.
Best game: Okay, keep going back to the All-Star game. In a perfect world, the all-star game wouldn't be followed by a full slate of league games but MLS doesn't stop for the World Cup so why stop for the ASG? The rest of the games this weekend seemed mild compared to the win over West Ham.
LOWLIGHTS
Did you realize that the Rapids had 17 corner kicks in their 2-0 loss? Terry Cooke took 13 of them but to no avail. Columbus, meanwhile, had zero. It's the biggest disparity since... uh... a while ago. Sorry, don't have the energy to put that into perspective. But consider the other corner kick numbers of the weekend: LA had 4, FC Dallas had 0; Chicago 4, KC 3; San Jose 9, New York 3; Toronto 6, RSL 5.
Toronto fans, but I won't repeat myself.
The Galaxy's offense had been rather pedestrian in the last four or five games before FC Dallas. Now, the club has hit a new low or at least a low that hasn't been seen since March. For the first time since the season opener, David Beckham and Landon Donovan failed to produce a goal. They don't have Abel Xavier around this time to blame the defensive failures on either.
Yeah, what a crappy debut for Dominguez.
Read more...
Anyway, that caused a minor ripple effect out here as we waited for the fifth of five matches in a two-day span to be played out before handing out or weekly kudos.
G: William Hesmer
D: Jamison Olave
D: Chad Marshall
D: Chris Wingert
M: Roger Espinoza
M: Amado Guevara
M: Brian Mullan
M: Darren Huckerby
F: Dominic Oduro
F: Kenny Cooper
F: Robbie Findley Abe Thompson
Coach: Schellas Hyndman gets off the schneid and notches his first MLS coaching victory. Ironically, it came against the club that ended his predecessor's run.
Jason Kreis: RSL moves over .500 for the first time in history. Props.
Top goal: Okay, I tried to keep this on league play but was there anything better than Cuauhtemoc Blanco's backheel to Christian Gomez and his subsequent finish against West Ham? That backheel was a thing of beauty and Gomez did well to find the inside of the net as well.
I'll take a goal from league play - Abe Thompson's late stunner.
Top save: Will Hesmer had about four saves worthy of MLS Save of the Week... if there were such an award. I think the one he had early on Mehdi Ballouchy was probably most difficult.
Best game: Okay, keep going back to the All-Star game. In a perfect world, the all-star game wouldn't be followed by a full slate of league games but MLS doesn't stop for the World Cup so why stop for the ASG? The rest of the games this weekend seemed mild compared to the win over West Ham.
LOWLIGHTS
Did you realize that the Rapids had 17 corner kicks in their 2-0 loss? Terry Cooke took 13 of them but to no avail. Columbus, meanwhile, had zero. It's the biggest disparity since... uh... a while ago. Sorry, don't have the energy to put that into perspective. But consider the other corner kick numbers of the weekend: LA had 4, FC Dallas had 0; Chicago 4, KC 3; San Jose 9, New York 3; Toronto 6, RSL 5.
Toronto fans, but I won't repeat myself.
The Galaxy's offense had been rather pedestrian in the last four or five games before FC Dallas. Now, the club has hit a new low or at least a low that hasn't been seen since March. For the first time since the season opener, David Beckham and Landon Donovan failed to produce a goal. They don't have Abel Xavier around this time to blame the defensive failures on either.
Yeah, what a crappy debut for Dominguez.
Read more...
Definitely noticed
There may have been only a few people who bothered to read all the way through the comments on my post about Toronto fans at the MLS All-Star Game. One major point of contention was whether or not very many people were actually watching the exhibition match (the implication being that it didn't matter how the fans behaved because few saw it).
My argument all along wasn't that it was a huge amount, but that compared to most Major League Soccer games and the ratings they generally pull, the All-Star Game was a showcase and no doubt watched by many. Even if the respect the league players gain or lose can't be measured, the people watching can be, or at least a rough estimate.
Turns out, quite a lot of people were watching (once again, it's relative to MLS standards). The ratings increase is especially notable because it was a weekday broadcast, when ratings are typically lower for sports.
From the NY Times:
The ratings for the All-Star Game broadcast Thursday by ESPN and Telefutura were the highest in league history. ESPN had a rating of 0.47 and reached 453,000 households, and Spanish-language Telefutura had a rating of 0.37, reaching 389,000 households. The total was a 124 percent increase over last year, according to The Sports Business Daily.
Read more...
My argument all along wasn't that it was a huge amount, but that compared to most Major League Soccer games and the ratings they generally pull, the All-Star Game was a showcase and no doubt watched by many. Even if the respect the league players gain or lose can't be measured, the people watching can be, or at least a rough estimate.
Turns out, quite a lot of people were watching (once again, it's relative to MLS standards). The ratings increase is especially notable because it was a weekday broadcast, when ratings are typically lower for sports.
From the NY Times:
The ratings for the All-Star Game broadcast Thursday by ESPN and Telefutura were the highest in league history. ESPN had a rating of 0.47 and reached 453,000 households, and Spanish-language Telefutura had a rating of 0.37, reaching 389,000 households. The total was a 124 percent increase over last year, according to The Sports Business Daily.
Read more...
Not Times
Not really soccer related but since a lot of us read the LA Times, though this would be of interest. It's a hilarious parody of the LA Times' web site by a former LA Times employee.
Maybe if Grahame Jones gets the axe he can write some stories for this guy.
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Maybe if Grahame Jones gets the axe he can write some stories for this guy.
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Earthquake in LA
Maybe it's a sign that those new trades are going to pay off for San Jose in the second half of the season.
The LA area shook hard with a 5.8 quake just a few minutes ago. Some stuff I own fell off the desk I'm using (including the poor camera - it's cursed), but otherwise, it was a normal bake and shake day in LA. Carry on.
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The LA area shook hard with a 5.8 quake just a few minutes ago. Some stuff I own fell off the desk I'm using (including the poor camera - it's cursed), but otherwise, it was a normal bake and shake day in LA. Carry on.
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The Ballad of Reading
Seen and processed around the web.
One take on Wambach
Sponsor suffocation
Well, well, another case of not supporting local soccer for Euro glory.
A hero in the background of the beautiful game's development
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One take on Wambach
Sponsor suffocation
Well, well, another case of not supporting local soccer for Euro glory.
A hero in the background of the beautiful game's development
Read more...
Lankershim Boulevard Rankings (July 29)
I get a kick out of people calling the MLS All-Star Game the All-Star Break. Where exactly was the break? Moving games from Saturday to Sunday?
Anyway, here are my latest rankings which came a day later than normal because of the RSL-Toronto match on Monday.
1. New England (10-4-3). Mighty Revs may be getting mighty tired of not playing any league games.
2. Columbus (9-5-4). Played with 10 men, yielded 17 corner kicks but still walked away with win.
3. Chicago (7-5-5). Good news: you've got McBride. Bad news: US has him first.
4. DC United (7-8-1). Looks like SuperLiga negatives carried over into league play.
5. Real Salt Lake (7-6-6). Another week, another first: never before had this team had more wins than losses this far into the season.
6. Houston (5-4-8). Nate Jaqua is massive upgrade over Franco Caraccio but will that lead to wins?
7. Chivas USA (6-6-4). Dan Kennedy Era begins on Saturday, but will Lance Parker Era follow shortly thereafter?
8. Toronto FC (6-6-5). Only an inept offense could consider an inept forward an upgrade.
9. Los Angeles (6-7-5). Another sign of downward spiral: goal differential is in the negative.
10. FC Dallas (5-6-7). If Cooper goes, so to will playoff hopes.
11. Kansas City (5-5-7). So much for that surge in offense.
12. Colorado (6-9-3). "It wasn't our night" excuse gets old pretty quickly.
13. New York (5-6-7). A little more than a week to prepare for demolition at hands of Barcelona.
14. San Jose (3-9-6). Slowly, and I mean very slowly, this team is starting to look better.
Read more...
Anyway, here are my latest rankings which came a day later than normal because of the RSL-Toronto match on Monday.
1. New England (10-4-3). Mighty Revs may be getting mighty tired of not playing any league games.
2. Columbus (9-5-4). Played with 10 men, yielded 17 corner kicks but still walked away with win.
3. Chicago (7-5-5). Good news: you've got McBride. Bad news: US has him first.
4. DC United (7-8-1). Looks like SuperLiga negatives carried over into league play.
5. Real Salt Lake (7-6-6). Another week, another first: never before had this team had more wins than losses this far into the season.
6. Houston (5-4-8). Nate Jaqua is massive upgrade over Franco Caraccio but will that lead to wins?
7. Chivas USA (6-6-4). Dan Kennedy Era begins on Saturday, but will Lance Parker Era follow shortly thereafter?
8. Toronto FC (6-6-5). Only an inept offense could consider an inept forward an upgrade.
9. Los Angeles (6-7-5). Another sign of downward spiral: goal differential is in the negative.
10. FC Dallas (5-6-7). If Cooper goes, so to will playoff hopes.
11. Kansas City (5-5-7). So much for that surge in offense.
12. Colorado (6-9-3). "It wasn't our night" excuse gets old pretty quickly.
13. New York (5-6-7). A little more than a week to prepare for demolition at hands of Barcelona.
14. San Jose (3-9-6). Slowly, and I mean very slowly, this team is starting to look better.
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Through Welsh eyes
With Kenny Cooper a target of Welsh side Cardiff City, this writer took the opportunity to explore football in America. He really wasn't too positive in his story, but then again what else is new, right?
I suppose this story caught my interest only because it was written for Welsh supporters and tried to familiarize them with MLS. Because, you know, Welsh football is clearly superior. Wales is, after all, a world power.
Wait... they're not? Surely you jest.
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I suppose this story caught my interest only because it was written for Welsh supporters and tried to familiarize them with MLS. Because, you know, Welsh football is clearly superior. Wales is, after all, a world power.
Wait... they're not? Surely you jest.
Read more...
Monday, July 28, 2008
Double-A to San Jose
Arturo Alvarez is off to San Jose, while FC Dallas gets draft picks in exchange.
I'm not sure what to think of this move, except that the Schellas Hyndman regime apparently wasn't working for Arturo.
It's been a disappointing year for Alvarez - he came on strong at the close of the FC Dallas season before his silly foul in the playoffs cost Dallas a chance at the championship. Maybe he never got over that, or his teammates didn't or something, but he didn't have the same impact at the start of this season.
San Jose is in serious need of impact, so Arturo should get a chance there. Sometimes a fresh start really does work like a charm.
Read more...
I'm not sure what to think of this move, except that the Schellas Hyndman regime apparently wasn't working for Arturo.
It's been a disappointing year for Alvarez - he came on strong at the close of the FC Dallas season before his silly foul in the playoffs cost Dallas a chance at the championship. Maybe he never got over that, or his teammates didn't or something, but he didn't have the same impact at the start of this season.
San Jose is in serious need of impact, so Arturo should get a chance there. Sometimes a fresh start really does work like a charm.
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CC#14
Per request (who says we don't listen to our readers?) a USWNT-centric episode of Canales Corner.
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Sangre americana J1 recap
One week of Mexico's Apertura 2008 season is in the books and here is how the Sangre americana lot fared.
Sort of slow actually as only one of the first-division players saw action. In total, though, one American scored two goals over the weekend.
Primera Division
Edgar Castillo - Played 90 minutes in Santos' 3-2 loss to America.
Marco Antonio Vidal - Played 90 minutes in Indios' 1-0 loss to Tecos.
Jose Francisco Torres - Did not play in Pachuca's 0-0 draw with Tigres.
Michael Orozco - With US Olympic team
Sonny Guadarrama - Did not play in Morelia's 2-2 draw with San Luis.
Daniel Hernandez - Did not play in Jaguares' 5-0 loss at Alts due to suspension.
Primera A
Jesus Padilla - Scored both goals for Tapatio in a 2-0 win over Real Colima.
Carlos Borja - Played all 90 minutes in Tapatio's 2-0 win over Real Colima.
Sammy Ochoa - Served first of three game suspension.
Noel Castillo - Did not play in Indios Chihuahua's 1-0 win over Socio Aguila.
Read more...
Sort of slow actually as only one of the first-division players saw action. In total, though, one American scored two goals over the weekend.
Primera Division
Edgar Castillo - Played 90 minutes in Santos' 3-2 loss to America.
Marco Antonio Vidal - Played 90 minutes in Indios' 1-0 loss to Tecos.
Jose Francisco Torres - Did not play in Pachuca's 0-0 draw with Tigres.
Michael Orozco - With US Olympic team
Sonny Guadarrama - Did not play in Morelia's 2-2 draw with San Luis.
Daniel Hernandez - Did not play in Jaguares' 5-0 loss at Alts due to suspension.
Primera A
Jesus Padilla - Scored both goals for Tapatio in a 2-0 win over Real Colima.
Carlos Borja - Played all 90 minutes in Tapatio's 2-0 win over Real Colima.
Sammy Ochoa - Served first of three game suspension.
Noel Castillo - Did not play in Indios Chihuahua's 1-0 win over Socio Aguila.
Read more...
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Memo to Everton?
Guillermo Ochoa may become the latest young goalkeeper to move from the New World to the Old.
Ochoa, a star with Mexico's Club America side, is reportedly linked to Everton.
Everton, of course, is Tim Howard's domain. The United States national team's first-choice 'keeper will probably keep his starting spot with Everton, Ochoa or not. But that likely wouldn't stop Everton manager David Moyes from pursuing Ochoa.
As Aston Villa just showed by acquiring two talented goalkeepers, the more depth you can stockpile in England the better.
Read more...
Ochoa, a star with Mexico's Club America side, is reportedly linked to Everton.
Everton, of course, is Tim Howard's domain. The United States national team's first-choice 'keeper will probably keep his starting spot with Everton, Ochoa or not. But that likely wouldn't stop Everton manager David Moyes from pursuing Ochoa.
As Aston Villa just showed by acquiring two talented goalkeepers, the more depth you can stockpile in England the better.
Read more...
Galactic problems
Just got home from a day out with the fam so didn't have a chance to do the running blog. It's halftime in Frisco and the Galaxy's defense is up to its old tricks as FC Dallas leads 3-0.
I'll update periodically through the second half. Go ahead and post your thoughts on the match here.
Eduardo Dominguez fit right into the Galaxy's backline as he turned a ball over that led to the second goal. Steve Cronin is yet again terrible while the entire defense has done little but cause some slight interference to FC Dallas' attackers.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy's offense is strangely quiet. It's been quite a few number of games now that the Galaxy has been rather average looking on the attack. Perhaps teams are starting to figure them out or the club was playing well above their means or probably a combination of the two.
Anyway, feel free to share your thoughts on the match. 3-0 at halftime.
UPDATE: 4-0 to FC Dallas. Complete turnaround from the last trip to Frisco, a 5-1 Galaxy win.
Read more...
I'll update periodically through the second half. Go ahead and post your thoughts on the match here.
Eduardo Dominguez fit right into the Galaxy's backline as he turned a ball over that led to the second goal. Steve Cronin is yet again terrible while the entire defense has done little but cause some slight interference to FC Dallas' attackers.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy's offense is strangely quiet. It's been quite a few number of games now that the Galaxy has been rather average looking on the attack. Perhaps teams are starting to figure them out or the club was playing well above their means or probably a combination of the two.
Anyway, feel free to share your thoughts on the match. 3-0 at halftime.
UPDATE: 4-0 to FC Dallas. Complete turnaround from the last trip to Frisco, a 5-1 Galaxy win.
Read more...
Google is reading my mind
We don't yet have any real ads on this site that people pay to have placed, but I did sign up for a couple of the automatically generated ads that earn money when people click on them. So far, we're making about four cents a day on that. I've noticed something strange lately, though.
I don't know about the display our readers get, but mine again and again shows some camera on the right that Amazon is selling. As long-time readers know, I dropped the little digital camera that I take pictures with (video, too). It's taped up with black electrical tape, and it basically still works, though. Thing is, it's a little pocket camera, with a tiny zoom, so every time the ad for nice camera comes up, I pause in temptation.
The other thing that's displayed is a little Google text ad right over the top of where the posts start. It's been advertising LASIK eye treatment lately, and I've been thinking about that, too. I'm nearsighted, and usually wear contacts, but they are a hassle. I'm kind of a weenie when it comes to any surgery, though. Wounds on the soccer field are ok, because those are battle scars, but scalpels are a different matter. I've never had any surgery before. I suppose it's mostly done by lasers anyway, but I keep reading about some people who get halos or weird white spots and then I start to think "Contacts not so bad".
I haven't decided what to do yet. However,I just think it's funny that rather than making us much money, the ads seem to be mostly baiting me into spending mine.
Read more...
I don't know about the display our readers get, but mine again and again shows some camera on the right that Amazon is selling. As long-time readers know, I dropped the little digital camera that I take pictures with (video, too). It's taped up with black electrical tape, and it basically still works, though. Thing is, it's a little pocket camera, with a tiny zoom, so every time the ad for nice camera comes up, I pause in temptation.
The other thing that's displayed is a little Google text ad right over the top of where the posts start. It's been advertising LASIK eye treatment lately, and I've been thinking about that, too. I'm nearsighted, and usually wear contacts, but they are a hassle. I'm kind of a weenie when it comes to any surgery, though. Wounds on the soccer field are ok, because those are battle scars, but scalpels are a different matter. I've never had any surgery before. I suppose it's mostly done by lasers anyway, but I keep reading about some people who get halos or weird white spots and then I start to think "Contacts not so bad".
I haven't decided what to do yet. However,I just think it's funny that rather than making us much money, the ads seem to be mostly baiting me into spending mine.
Read more...
Saturday, July 26, 2008
For the ladies
Yep, every once in a while, it's time to address the female players of soccer with information that is especially relevant to them. It's just a simple fact that women are more at risk. It's also true that an ACL injury can ruin a career, or come close to it.
Or at the least, it can ruin a dream (see Osborne, Leslie and Whitehill, Cat). So get informed and take the time to take care of your ligaments.
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Or at the least, it can ruin a dream (see Osborne, Leslie and Whitehill, Cat). So get informed and take the time to take care of your ligaments.
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Friday, July 25, 2008
Whaddayathink?
Someone is working on a U.S. Soccer project (it's not the federation, it's a scholarly venture), focusing on the men's team and sent me a list of questions, wanting my perspective. I know what I think, and usually people don't have to ask twice for my opinion, but I'm well aware that there's a world of different thoughts out there.
With that in mind, how would you answer these questions?
# Is U.S. Soccer on the right track in attracting potential fans?
# Are they alienating current fans by playing in less traditional soccer cities?
# Is U.S. Soccer hurting themselves by playing games in cities where the visiting team is the “home team”? (i.e. playing Mexico in Phoenix)
# What does U.S. Soccer need to do to fill the stadiums with U.S. fans, not just soccer fans or fans of the visiting teams?
# How many U.S. Soccer games have you attended?
# Of those games, do you find more U.S. fans or more fans for the visitors?
# Should U.S. Soccer have a “home base” where they play their games, or should they continually move them?
# Should they play in MLS cities? Should they use MLS games and staff to promote U.S. Soccer games? Should they do double headers?
# Do you think players like Donovan, Bocanegra, Howard, etc have an impact on fans coming to the game or do fans not care as long as they are seeing the U.S. National Team?
# What does U.S. Soccer need to do to sell out friendlies (besides playing teams like Argentina and Brazil)?
# With a World Cup on the horizon, what needs to be done to promote the team and support?
# Do you find the atmosphere of games to be a problem?
# Do you think U.S. Soccer will have more success attracting soccer fans or American sports fans.
# Do you think that the U.S.'s results in events such as the World Cup affects attendance?
# Who is the most recognizable U.S. player?
# Is it better for U.S. players to play for the domestic league or go overseas?
# What suggestions would you make to U.S. Soccer?
Read more...
With that in mind, how would you answer these questions?
# Is U.S. Soccer on the right track in attracting potential fans?
# Are they alienating current fans by playing in less traditional soccer cities?
# Is U.S. Soccer hurting themselves by playing games in cities where the visiting team is the “home team”? (i.e. playing Mexico in Phoenix)
# What does U.S. Soccer need to do to fill the stadiums with U.S. fans, not just soccer fans or fans of the visiting teams?
# How many U.S. Soccer games have you attended?
# Of those games, do you find more U.S. fans or more fans for the visitors?
# Should U.S. Soccer have a “home base” where they play their games, or should they continually move them?
# Should they play in MLS cities? Should they use MLS games and staff to promote U.S. Soccer games? Should they do double headers?
# Do you think players like Donovan, Bocanegra, Howard, etc have an impact on fans coming to the game or do fans not care as long as they are seeing the U.S. National Team?
# What does U.S. Soccer need to do to sell out friendlies (besides playing teams like Argentina and Brazil)?
# With a World Cup on the horizon, what needs to be done to promote the team and support?
# Do you find the atmosphere of games to be a problem?
# Do you think U.S. Soccer will have more success attracting soccer fans or American sports fans.
# Do you think that the U.S.'s results in events such as the World Cup affects attendance?
# Who is the most recognizable U.S. player?
# Is it better for U.S. players to play for the domestic league or go overseas?
# What suggestions would you make to U.S. Soccer?
Read more...
Sangre americana preview: Torres
Jose Francisco Torres passed on the US Olympic team so he could play more for Pachuca. On Saturday, we'll learn if that was a good decision.
Torres was in a preseason battle with plenty of other talented players for a starting spot in Pachuca's loaded midfield, and while he doesn't bring years of experience to the table, he has plenty of other qualities that make him appealing.
Torres, 20, is a speedy, hard-working midfielder with improving ball skills. With Pachuca, though, Torres is one of a handful of talented midfielders. Gabriel Caballero, Damian Alvarez, Gerardo Rodriguez, Jaime Correa, Luis Montes... the list goes on.
In SuperLiga, Torres got a shot to show his worth as did most everyone else. Torres didn't hurt his cause as he played well during his audition.
A season ago, Torres started seven league games and played 10 overall. He also saw time in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and is a valuable member of the team going forward. Had he gone to the Olympics, perhaps it would have lessened his chances of playing this season.
Still, Torres potentially has the most upside of the young Americans here. He plays on one of the best clubs in Mexico in terms of churning out young talent. Chivas gets a lot of credit for producing young talent but Pachuca is right up there when it comes to young talented players. Torres would certainly add to los Tuzos' riches if he continues to develop, and Apertura 2008 may be a big step forward for him.
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McTrade finally happens
The news broke last night during the broadcast and now it's all over the web. Chad Barrett for Brian McBride.
It's like trading two shiny new quarters for an old 10-dollar bill.
Barrett would be pretty good if it weren't for one thing: his inability to finish. Being as he's a forward and his job is to finish, that's kind of a big issue. Had McBride been in Barrett's position to finish the chances that were served up to him on silver platters, Chicago might have a win or three more in their win column.
As it stands, Chicago is in good position to make the playoffs. With McBride, though, you've got to think that the Fire is second behind New England in terms of MLS Cup favorites, with Columbus a distant third.
Of course, it will be strange to see Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Brian McBride on the same side. That might take some getting used to.
So does McBride instantly become one of the league's best three forwards? The best forward, period?
Good thing for us out here at HDC is that McBride's first game with the Fire might be against the Galaxy on Aug. 21. So we've got that to look forward to.
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It's like trading two shiny new quarters for an old 10-dollar bill.
Barrett would be pretty good if it weren't for one thing: his inability to finish. Being as he's a forward and his job is to finish, that's kind of a big issue. Had McBride been in Barrett's position to finish the chances that were served up to him on silver platters, Chicago might have a win or three more in their win column.
As it stands, Chicago is in good position to make the playoffs. With McBride, though, you've got to think that the Fire is second behind New England in terms of MLS Cup favorites, with Columbus a distant third.
Of course, it will be strange to see Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Brian McBride on the same side. That might take some getting used to.
So does McBride instantly become one of the league's best three forwards? The best forward, period?
Good thing for us out here at HDC is that McBride's first game with the Fire might be against the Galaxy on Aug. 21. So we've got that to look forward to.
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Toronto doesn't represent well
I've had it with the fawning over Toronto fans. At the most, I'll allow that they're better fans of their home team than of anything else, including the game itself. However, the game, the concept of the beautiful sport and believing in its worth and value, is something I hold sacred.
I don't, however, understand the point of Toronto joining an American sports league if they're going to be so freaking rude about it. Booing the U.S. anthem? Singing their own anthem over it? If that happened at a U.S./Mexico match in L.A. (Where mind, the teams would be playing against each other and boorish rivalry would make a bit more sense) people would be livid. It doesn't happen, though. Mexican fans might ignore or cheer over the U.S. anthem at times, but sing their own over it? Not even in Azteca. Because it's rude and unsporting and they respect the game more than that.
I don't buy the "We didn't know our anthem was going to be played." excuse, either. Come on. Half the U.S. stadiums play their anthem even when there aren't any U.S. teams involved - just because they're hosting some event. When has the anthem ever NOT been played at BMO? Did the Canadians simply not trust their own organizers?
The Spanish announcers were simply befuddled during the game to see steamers thrown at Beckham. One questioned, when boos rained down on various MLS players, whether the Canadian fans understood that for this match, which team was the home side.
Sure they did. And they didn't care. If it's not TFC, it sucks, no matter how pretty the crosses of Becks were or the goals by Gomez and Blanco. That's so simple-minded, to not accept the larger concept of league representation, the opportunity to see some of the best players available working together for a common cause. If nothing else, respect the game, recognize and reward good play - but there was little of that from the fans.
It was especially ungracious when so many players from other teams had gone out of their way to say that they were excited to play at Toronto. They weren't talking about looking forward to the turf, either. They were hoping for a good reception from the fans.
If those fans had thought big for just a moment, thought, "Hey, here's a chance to show the world that we can be amazingly supportive fans, give the MLS players so much love that they'll be hoping their next trade is to Toronto, show the over a hundred countries this match is broadcast in that we are classy and appreciate quality play."
Instead, the fans came off like immature idiots who don't give a fig for the game. None of the cheering corresponded to good plays on the field, except when DeRo scored his penalty. Streamers were flung at the corner-kick taker when the MLS All-Stars had a chance to make good on a set play. Streamers were thrown all over the ESPN desk during the halftime show - yeah, it's not like the game needs more exposure on TV, no. (Don Garber, do you still think the Toronto fans are so wonderful when they're aiming streamers at your head on a live broadcast and making you look like a schmuck?) That'll show the world leader in sports to come to BMO.
Anyway, I suppose natural truth and consequences will take place. MLS will realize that the crazy atmosphere is very limited in scope. It is for TFC only and all other MLS events, including the final championship match, should never be held there.
The best fans in MLS? Not by a long shot. Fans who recognize how far the league has come, how far it still has to go, who can cheer generously for both club and league when the occasion presents itself - can you imagine the Fire fans if this game had been held there? They would have blown the socks off the TFC malcontents. DC fans, too. LA fans, RSL fans, heck, even Rapids fans paid more attention to the game and supported the All-Stars more last year.
* Actually, I'm wrong to over-generalize all TFC fans. Clearly, some were just fine. But more than a few made the representation of the whole look bad.
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I don't, however, understand the point of Toronto joining an American sports league if they're going to be so freaking rude about it. Booing the U.S. anthem? Singing their own anthem over it? If that happened at a U.S./Mexico match in L.A. (Where mind, the teams would be playing against each other and boorish rivalry would make a bit more sense) people would be livid. It doesn't happen, though. Mexican fans might ignore or cheer over the U.S. anthem at times, but sing their own over it? Not even in Azteca. Because it's rude and unsporting and they respect the game more than that.
I don't buy the "We didn't know our anthem was going to be played." excuse, either. Come on. Half the U.S. stadiums play their anthem even when there aren't any U.S. teams involved - just because they're hosting some event. When has the anthem ever NOT been played at BMO? Did the Canadians simply not trust their own organizers?
The Spanish announcers were simply befuddled during the game to see steamers thrown at Beckham. One questioned, when boos rained down on various MLS players, whether the Canadian fans understood that for this match, which team was the home side.
Sure they did. And they didn't care. If it's not TFC, it sucks, no matter how pretty the crosses of Becks were or the goals by Gomez and Blanco. That's so simple-minded, to not accept the larger concept of league representation, the opportunity to see some of the best players available working together for a common cause. If nothing else, respect the game, recognize and reward good play - but there was little of that from the fans.
It was especially ungracious when so many players from other teams had gone out of their way to say that they were excited to play at Toronto. They weren't talking about looking forward to the turf, either. They were hoping for a good reception from the fans.
If those fans had thought big for just a moment, thought, "Hey, here's a chance to show the world that we can be amazingly supportive fans, give the MLS players so much love that they'll be hoping their next trade is to Toronto, show the over a hundred countries this match is broadcast in that we are classy and appreciate quality play."
Instead, the fans came off like immature idiots who don't give a fig for the game. None of the cheering corresponded to good plays on the field, except when DeRo scored his penalty. Streamers were flung at the corner-kick taker when the MLS All-Stars had a chance to make good on a set play. Streamers were thrown all over the ESPN desk during the halftime show - yeah, it's not like the game needs more exposure on TV, no. (Don Garber, do you still think the Toronto fans are so wonderful when they're aiming streamers at your head on a live broadcast and making you look like a schmuck?) That'll show the world leader in sports to come to BMO.
Anyway, I suppose natural truth and consequences will take place. MLS will realize that the crazy atmosphere is very limited in scope. It is for TFC only and all other MLS events, including the final championship match, should never be held there.
The best fans in MLS? Not by a long shot. Fans who recognize how far the league has come, how far it still has to go, who can cheer generously for both club and league when the occasion presents itself - can you imagine the Fire fans if this game had been held there? They would have blown the socks off the TFC malcontents. DC fans, too. LA fans, RSL fans, heck, even Rapids fans paid more attention to the game and supported the All-Stars more last year.
* Actually, I'm wrong to over-generalize all TFC fans. Clearly, some were just fine. But more than a few made the representation of the whole look bad.
Read more...
Sangre americana preview: Borja, N.Castillo
What do you get when you cross Carlos Borja and Noel Castillo? A former youth international whose brother is the superior athlete? Not exactly.
Actually, you get two guys who can only hope that the Apertura 2008 season leads to more playing time in the second division, which in turn might lead to a bright future in 2009 and beyond.
Carlos Borja (Orange, Calif.) was one of two American-born players who saw action for Tapatio in Saturday's season-opening 3-1 loss to Leon. Jesus Padilla (San Jose, Calif.) started, went the distance and scored a goal while Borja came on in the 85th minute.
Noel Castillo (Las Cruces, New Mexico) and brother Edgar both tried out for Santos Laguna. While Edgar flew threw the system and established himself as a starter with the first team, Noel struggled. He was let go from Santos and found his way to Indios Chihuahua. There is another Indios that plays in the first division - Indios de Ciudad Juarez - but Noel's on the Chihuahua version. That Castillo saw the field in the first game of the season seems encouraging - he's thought of at least.
Until each establishes himself as a bona fide starter for their respective clubs, the top flight is nowhere near. That doesn't mean we'll stop updating them, though. It will just make it a bit more challenging to find out about their exploits.
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Actually, you get two guys who can only hope that the Apertura 2008 season leads to more playing time in the second division, which in turn might lead to a bright future in 2009 and beyond.
Carlos Borja (Orange, Calif.) was one of two American-born players who saw action for Tapatio in Saturday's season-opening 3-1 loss to Leon. Jesus Padilla (San Jose, Calif.) started, went the distance and scored a goal while Borja came on in the 85th minute.
Noel Castillo (Las Cruces, New Mexico) and brother Edgar both tried out for Santos Laguna. While Edgar flew threw the system and established himself as a starter with the first team, Noel struggled. He was let go from Santos and found his way to Indios Chihuahua. There is another Indios that plays in the first division - Indios de Ciudad Juarez - but Noel's on the Chihuahua version. That Castillo saw the field in the first game of the season seems encouraging - he's thought of at least.
Until each establishes himself as a bona fide starter for their respective clubs, the top flight is nowhere near. That doesn't mean we'll stop updating them, though. It will just make it a bit more challenging to find out about their exploits.
Read more...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Mr. MVP to you
Photo courtesy MLS
Mr White talks about the All-Star Game.
Blanco, post game: It was a tough game, but it was fun, and most of all, it was a chance to play well, get an important win, and make sure the fans enjoyed the game.
Blanco, pregame: I think it's nice to play with other pros of different teams. You can enjoy yourself, have fun and put on a good show for the fans.
Pablo: We've faced each other in games, Mexico versus U.S., and haven't said nice things to each other, but I've talked to him the past couple of days. He's a good guy. More than anything, he's a great player and I expect a great match playing with him.
Angel: It's an honor to be chosen. I played last year and it was a good experience. it's a very American thing, to get together the best players in a league for a game. It's nice, to play those who are usually your rivals, confronting a good team from Europe.
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An All-Star Game of their own
Why should MLS have all the fun? I guess what surprises me isn't that a player would be interested, it's that the press report on it isn't making merciless fun of the mere concept of aping an American event.
SV readers, what do you say? Would a Premiership All-Star Game be a total travesty? Who would they play?
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SV readers, what do you say? Would a Premiership All-Star Game be a total travesty? Who would they play?
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All-Star Game running blog
Photo credit: MLS/Paul GiamouDavid Beckham, Jim Brennan and Jorge Flores visit a young fan in the hospital.
Welcome to the All-Star Game - where rivalries (Chivas USA and Galaxy and TFC) are put aside as players take on the world (West Ham).
Predictions, people. I know you've already voted in our Sideline Views poll, but now you need to guess who is going to score. Get your picks in before kickoff for bragging rights.
Yay! El Juego de las Estrellas! I'm watching on Telefutura, in case you didn't get the hint. Aww, Blanco and Donovan did the welcome together, LD cracking up a bit at the end. That was cute. Now they're doing a montage where the players explain what the game means to them. Angel and Toja mention how they were injured earlier this year and makes it meaningful to get here anyway. LD says that with the players the All-Star team has, this is a real game. He also gives Toronto props. Pablo Mastroeni trips up over his Spanish, but says this is important. Blanco, in his always-surprisingly soft voice, says this is a game for the fans and that he expects and hopes that they will enjoy it.
More Blanco after the commercial - he says he'd like to rejoin El Tri, but it's up to Sven. He says that of all of LD's qualities, he'd like his quickness. He calls LD a friend, but says when they're on different teams, they're competitive rivals. As far as him contributing to the Fire, Blanco says, of course he's working hard. "Mexicans come here to work," Blanco says. He says he's been inspired by all his countrymen here that work hard, seeking the American dream.
The announcers say that Cuauh seems more relaxed these days.
Now they're interviewing LD. He says he never imagined playing with Cuauh, but that Blanco is friendly and calm and that they had fun at practice. LD says he'd like Blanco's tricks in his own arsenal. "He does what he likes with the ball."
LD says MLS is improving, and Blanco, as well as Beckham and Angel are a big part of that. The announcer also references LD's stated desire to go play abroad, says this could be his last All-Star Game.
Beckham and Blanco lead out the All-Stars. The shorts are a rather bright Pepsi blue, but I like the black shirts. West Ham is in light blue.
West Ham: Robert Green, Lucas Neill, Anton Ferdinand, Scott Parker, Dean Ashton, Matthew Etherington, Carlton Cole, Hayden Mullins, Julien Faubert, Calum Davenport, Joe Widdowson
All-Stars: Matt Reis, Frankie Hejduk, Christian Gomez, Juan Toja, Jimmy Conrad, Jonathan Bornstein, Shalrie Joseph, David Beckham, Pablo Mastroeni, Kenny Cooper, Cuauhtemoc Blanco
No LD in the starting line-up and the announcers complain a bit about this, wanting to see LD and Blanco together after all that buildup.
Becks has his hand up against the setting sun.
Kickoff!
2 - Chippy play already - Bornstien fouled.
3 - Offside on West Ham. The All-Stars are woefully our of sync, but it's early yet.
4 - Bornstein nods the ball down to Reis.
5 - Ooh, West Ham on the attack again, ball in the box, but a shot doesn't get off.
6 - The announcers talk about the lack of practice time and the difficulty of not unrestanding each other as a team. Just then, Becks crosses to Coop, but the ball gets cut off.
8 - Ashton shoves Hejduk in the box.
9 - Corner for MLS, but it's cleared. Frankie misses a chance to shoot, but Jonny cuts off the counter attack cross.
10 - Pablo's sliding tackle cuts off a shot. Corner. That one is cleared, but a ball deflects off an MLS player for another corner. Julien Faubert takes it, but it's cleared as well.
12 - Cooper with an outside low shot. It's wide.
13 - A good MLS attack is ruined when Bornstein's overlap doesn't take the turf into account and the ball runs away from him.
15 - Lots of basically pointless possession for the MLS side. They're having trouble timing runs and just hitting a lot of passes back and forth in the midfield.
17 - Blanco goes down, gets the call. It's far away, though, so neither he or Becks fight over the FK.
19 - Gomez to Cooper, who gets grabbed but doesn't go down right away, trying to shoot the ball. The ref waves it off.
20 - Cooper earns a corner. As Becks goes to take it, he gets streamers tossed at him. I though MLS was supposed to crack down on those? The announcer are surprised the TFC fans are throwing stuff at Becks. The service bounces around the area, but Green eventually corrals it as it popped up towards the goal.
22 - MLS still struggling to put together an attacking play.
24 - West Ham with a nice run of possession, but the through ball runs off on the turf, far ahead of the forwards it was meant for.
26 - GOAL! This time Ashton makes no mistake - a ball out of the midfield falls well for him and Frankie's tackle is too late. Ashton shoots to the left of Reis. 1-0 West Ham
27 - GOAL! MLS strikes back. Becks passes to Blanco, who put in a sweet backheel to Gomez, who shoots far post - side netting. Nice. 1-1 All square again.
31 - Now another run of MLS possession - Becks shoots and earns a corner. The clearance fall to him and he picks out Gomez at the top of the box, who shoots so horrible that if he hadn't already scored, everybody would hate him.
34 - Bornstein and Blanco - nice give and go, Blanco crosses to Cooper in front of the goal, who gets pulled down, but no call again.
37 - Cooper tracks way back into the midfield for the ball and gets fouled. Announcers discuss how Schelotto should be an All-Star. Toja with a nice play advances the MLS cause.
39 - Blanco earns a FK - who will take it? Becks, it looks like. He clears the wall, and Green dives to parry it. Corner.
40 - Cleared, but falls to Becks and he takes a shot. Wide.
41 - Honestly, the play looks better. MLS players finding a bit of rhythm.
43 - West Ham manages to hold them off, though. Ooh, Toja breaks through with a pass to Bornstien, but the ball back isn't great for Toja.
44 - GOAL! This time, though, Toja hooks up with 'Temo. Blanco overlaps and receives a pass back in a good spot - and hits a bending shot that finds the upper 90 and side netting. 2-1 MLS leads. Golazo! The announcers get high off 'Temo's goal.
45 - West Ham with an immediate attack, but the ball pops loose and Reis claims it.
45+ MLS with a late attack chance off a FK, but West Ham escape.
Blanco's halftime interview - he says the game is hard, but that they were able to work together to get the two goals. He's asked how important it was to answer the first goal and he agrees. He says he saw Christian make the run for the goal and made sure to get him the ball. Then he's asked about his goal and he smiles - it's a "yeah, wasn't that sweet" smile.
Halftime: MLS deserve the lead, but at the very least, West Ham have scored more than Celtic or Chelsea. Blanco is rightly the hero of the day, with a great assist and sizzling goal. It's evident that the game means a lot to 'Temo. I'm reminded of what DeRosario said when his goal beat Chelsea in 2006, "I didn't get to go to the World Cup. This is my World Cup."
Blanco was left home by LaVolpe, didn't have a great experience abroad, is fighting for Eriksson to notice him - he's definitely motivated against a Premiership team.
Garber (I switched to ESPN) says the McBride situation has been resolved. As he says this, a streamer falls across his face. Funny. So much for his edict. Garber won't reveal where McBride is going (until the official announcement tomorrow), so perhaps that's why Rob Stone doesn't care about grabbing a streamer roll (it fell across his desk) and throwing it back where it came from. "Got him!" he exults, cutting off whatever Garber was trying to say about expansion. He then bumps to commercial as more streamers fly in across the frame. "You think it's funny, Toronto?" asks Stone.
I'll bet they do.
LD comes in for Blanco, crushing the Telefutura announcers who wanted them to play together. But then they get busy proclaiming Blanco the MVP already. Cooper is out for Angel, and Luis Boa Morte comes in for Etherington.
46 - LBM has already played in an MLS AllStar game, back as a member of Fulham. They lost.
48 - Becks sets up for a corner. Cleared for another deep throw. MLS retaining possession, but no dangerous chances yet.
49 - Angel called for offside, though he doesn't agree with it.
50 - I've switched to ESPN, and Cooper is being interviewed. he gives a careful answer about the possibility of a transfer and Harkes and JP are thereby convinced a deal is done.
52 - TFC fans chanting for Brennan. Bornstein gets a yellow for holding Faubert. Dangerous FK.
53 - Reis catches the deflection.
54 - Toja nearly through, but trips at the top of the box. West Ham counter, but an offside kills the attack.
56 - Donovan starts an attack and Bornstein sends in a sweet cross, but Angel doesn't quite make in front of the goal.
57 - LD gets a ball in the box, passes it back. Harkes cracks on him for that, saying he should shoot.
58 - Shalrie looses the ball in midfield, West Ham has numbers, but Reis blocks out Faubert's shot for a corner. The corner leads to another chance, Ashton cracking it to Reis, but it's offside. Reis blocked it anyway.
60 - Crowd goes wild for DeRo and Brennan, coming in now. They are both Toronto boys.
62 - ESPN with the interviews is killing me. West Ham just took another shot on goal while they're talking to Steve Nash. We already know he wants Vancouver to join the league.
63 - Becks sets up a FK - it misses, but not by much.
64 - Buddle is shown briefly on the bench, looking a bit forlorn.
65 - Collison comes in for West Ham.
67 - GOAL! Ashton takes a shot - a double deflection fools Matt Reis. It's not really deserved, as MLS was dominating the game, but they never put the match away and West Ham hung in there. 2-2.
69 - Angel fights for the ball, turns and knocks a pass to DeRo, he's fouled in the box! PK! DeRo is taking it.
70 - GOAL! He nails it, banging it in off the top of the crossbar. He's money in All-Star Games.
71 - No goal! Angel is pissed. It didn't look offside and Angel hit a great shot.
72 - MLS pressuring the goal now, but West Ham escape as the cross of Becks is cleared.
75 - Rob Stone looks terrified of that bird. the hawk used at games to keep away pesky seagulls. Stone's voice is shaking. Again, whenever ESPN does interviews, someone takes a shot on goal.
79 - MLS again has the better of play, but it hasn't led to a goal and West Ham could still nick a draw or better.
84 - Donovan in the box, interplay with Angel, but can't get a shot off.
86 - Donovan misses a Bornstein pass. Mastro fouls Parker at the arc - threatening FK here.
87 - The ball hits the wall, but it eventually gets to Boa Morte in the box - his header attempt is caught by Onstad. MLS just can't put this game away.
89 - Ralston and Buddle coming in now.
90 - Becks to Rally, who hits a nice cross, but West Ham clear. It leads to a West Ham counter, Boa Morte goes for the tough angle on his shot, but it crosses the front of goal and goes out.
90 + Four more minutes. Donovan cut down from behind. Becks sets up, but it's kind of far. DeRo takes it, it threatens, out for a corner.
That's cleared, now West Ham threatens but the MLS team finally brings the ball out of the back.
FK - MLS plays the ball around a bit.
Final whistle! MLS wins and keeps its perfect international record. Not bad of an All-Star game. No one got hurt and there were a couple of good goals. Becks seems enthusiastic about the match. "We've done well tonight."
His accent seems stronger - must be because of talking with the West Ham guys.
If Blanco isn't the MVP, I'll eat my hat. Course, I thought Schelotto would be here.
Nope, I'm right, Blanco gets the MVP. He thanks the fans. Becks and Landon congratulate him. The players exchange shirts.
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Sangre americana preview: Guadarrama
Sonny boy! After the Clausura 2008 season, I would have bet money that Sonny Guadarrama would not have made it through the summer unscathed. A new coach came in midseason (Luis Fernando Tena) and Guadarrama saw zero playing time with the first team once that happened.
But Guadaramma made it and his prospects are pretty good - at earning playing time that is. Not sure about nabbing a starting spot.
Guadarrama, a native of Austin, Texas, broke into the Mexican leagues with Santos and moved to Morelia after the Apertura 2007 season. But with Morelia, he spent most of his time playing the Primera A.
He's back though and it looks like the seasoning may have paid off. He's been with the club during the preseason and could get a crack at some playing time in Morelia's midfield. Morelia struggled bad last season and could use some changes to help contend for the playoffs. Morelia made some good moves in acquiring Marvin Cabrera and Hugo Droguett but Guadarrama, 21, could add some youth to the team.
If you're interested, I actually had the chance to talk to Sonny in January during InterLiga. I was saving this interview and I suppose still am but nothing's come of it. So I'll put it up here and let you guys listen to Sonny's tale.
But Guadaramma made it and his prospects are pretty good - at earning playing time that is. Not sure about nabbing a starting spot.
Guadarrama, a native of Austin, Texas, broke into the Mexican leagues with Santos and moved to Morelia after the Apertura 2007 season. But with Morelia, he spent most of his time playing the Primera A.
He's back though and it looks like the seasoning may have paid off. He's been with the club during the preseason and could get a crack at some playing time in Morelia's midfield. Morelia struggled bad last season and could use some changes to help contend for the playoffs. Morelia made some good moves in acquiring Marvin Cabrera and Hugo Droguett but Guadarrama, 21, could add some youth to the team.
If you're interested, I actually had the chance to talk to Sonny in January during InterLiga. I was saving this interview and I suppose still am but nothing's come of it. So I'll put it up here and let you guys listen to Sonny's tale.
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Sangre americana preview: Hernandez
Daniel Hernandez was a bad boy. It wasn't his play - which actually was pretty solid a year ago. It was his temperament that led to his downfall. That and his teammates' inability to keep their tempers in check.
After a brawl broke out in the Jaguares-Cruz Azul playoff match a year ago, Hernandez and several of his teammates were slapped with suspensions to start the Apertura 2008 season. Consequently, Hernandez will be out of action for a pair of weeks.
It should not be a disaster, though, as Hernandez wasn't exactly a starter at the beginning of last year.
Hernandez, 32, did not play at all the first five games of last season. He only got the opportunity to play regularly when the club made a coaching change. When Sergio Almaguer took over, Hernandez's playing time increased as he quickly became a fixture in central defense. Hernandez helped turn Jaguares' season around as the club reached the playoffs. The Tyler, Texas, native ended up going the distance in 11 matches and played in 13 overall last season.
Jaguares is not one of the favorites to contend for the Mexican league title but a playoff spot is within reach. Hernandez will need to continue his solid play on the backline for that to happen but should get the opportunity to do so once his ban is lifted.
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No tears in Nigeria
In her conference call about her injury, Abby Wambach mentioned receiving cards and emails of support from players around the world on different teams. Not everyone was feeling sad on her behalf, though. Here's an email I received:
Just wanted to comment on your article on Abby Wambach.
As a football journalist, I usually have a lot of sympathy for players when they get injured, especially in the course of a game.
But in Abby's case, I am afraid, I will have to make an exception.
Abyy is not just a physical player, she is a dirty player in my humble opinion.
Back in 2003 at the WWC, she deliberately elbowed and injured Nigeria defender Bunmi Kayode.
Usually, one would dismiss this as an accident, but Abby was caught on camera laughing and high-fiving her team mates while Bunmi lay bleeding on the turf.
There was not even a shred of sympathy for another athlete that she had almost decapitated.
Till this day, Bunmi carries the scar on her face.
A similar thing happened at the 2007 WWC. This time, Faith Ikidi was the victim. You can take a look at the replays of both incidents.
Abby deliberately went out to injure Faith, and the poor kid was stretchered off the pitch in tears.
So permit to say that for Abby Wambach, its a case of what goes around finally coming around.
There are millions of Nigerians whose reaction to Abby's misfortune is way worse than mine.
Can't find video of that incident, but here's another that shows Abby playing tough.
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Just wanted to comment on your article on Abby Wambach.
As a football journalist, I usually have a lot of sympathy for players when they get injured, especially in the course of a game.
But in Abby's case, I am afraid, I will have to make an exception.
Abyy is not just a physical player, she is a dirty player in my humble opinion.
Back in 2003 at the WWC, she deliberately elbowed and injured Nigeria defender Bunmi Kayode.
Usually, one would dismiss this as an accident, but Abby was caught on camera laughing and high-fiving her team mates while Bunmi lay bleeding on the turf.
There was not even a shred of sympathy for another athlete that she had almost decapitated.
Till this day, Bunmi carries the scar on her face.
A similar thing happened at the 2007 WWC. This time, Faith Ikidi was the victim. You can take a look at the replays of both incidents.
Abby deliberately went out to injure Faith, and the poor kid was stretchered off the pitch in tears.
So permit to say that for Abby Wambach, its a case of what goes around finally coming around.
There are millions of Nigerians whose reaction to Abby's misfortune is way worse than mine.
Can't find video of that incident, but here's another that shows Abby playing tough.
Read more...
Sangre americana preview: Ochoa
Sammy Ochoa got a shot to show his worth to U.S. national team coaches earlier this year in France but despite scoring a goal he was not called up for the big show.
It's sort of fitting as that has been his calling card with Tecos UAG. And so far, this season is already following along those lines.
Ochoa, a native of Michoacan and graduate of Riverside Poly High, represented the United States at the World Youth Championship in 2005. Though he seemed to have put himself in prime position to make a move out of the second division at that point, his career has not progressed much since then.
Ochoa, 21, has spent most his time from the end of the tournament until now in Mexico's Primera A despite his goal-scoring antics. Last year, he had 16 goals with Tecos' second-division side but was promptly returned to Primera A to start this season. He scored a goal in the opener but also picked up a costly red card. Ochoa was suspended a total of three matches for the red card and overall violent conduct at the end of the club's match with Salamanca.
When he returns, he is likely to regain a spot on the field as his scoring touch has not failed him. But his path to the first division seems difficult at best. Tecos has traditionally been near the bottom of the Mexican league table but that hasn't led to any increased playing time for Ochoa with the first club. Most if not all of his time this year could be spent in Primera A.
Read more...
La Flecha Roja Olimpico
Dax is going to the Olympics!
It's bad news for Nathan Sturgis, as his injury woes continue, but Dax is the guy with the cool nickname anyway. Still, it leaves the Olympics team a bit thin on defense - Dax plays midfield, while Sturgis was an option for the backline. It's all riding on Parky and Orozco, I guess.
Read more...
It's bad news for Nathan Sturgis, as his injury woes continue, but Dax is the guy with the cool nickname anyway. Still, it leaves the Olympics team a bit thin on defense - Dax plays midfield, while Sturgis was an option for the backline. It's all riding on Parky and Orozco, I guess.
Read more...
Edgar in the Times
Edgar Castillo was profiled in the New York Times on Wednesday.
If you're a regular reader of this blog, there may be little new information in there that you haven't already come across here. But his story is clearly of interest to more than just soccer fans as a whole new audience has now been exposed to his tale.
It never ceases to amaze me how he was completely looked over by American youth coaches. Castillo was a star as a sophomore in high school. He was in the system already but couldn't progress further in the ranks of the American system. And now, watching him play for Santos we're all left wondering how this guy was deemed not good enough to play at the next level.
When talking about him to a colleague recently, I think my exact phrase was 'What dickhead coach didn't think he could play?'
It's funny, though, when you think about a couple of our Sangre americana boys. Not necessarily Castillo because he went down to Mexico to try out for Santos, but Jose Francisco Torres and Michael Orozco. Both of those guys were scouted here in the United States by Mexican scouts. Who the heck knows where the American scouts were and what they were looking for but those players' doors were opened by Mexican teams and plucked right from underneath American coaches' noses. US Soccer should consider themselves lucky that Orozco accepted the call and that Torres still considers the US an option if he receives the call again.
And you wonder how many more players are out there that don't fit the mold, that have the talent and ability to compete at the highest leve, but are being overlooked?
Anyway, didn't mean to get off on that tangent. As far as Castillo's story, there is a slight error. Noel Castillo is with Indios but not the first division Indios. Edgar's bro is with Indios Chihuahua of the Primera A division. But it's a good thing he was included because I'd lost track of him. He played 14 minutes in the season opener last week. I'll add him to our list of Mexican-Americans.
Read more...
If you're a regular reader of this blog, there may be little new information in there that you haven't already come across here. But his story is clearly of interest to more than just soccer fans as a whole new audience has now been exposed to his tale.
It never ceases to amaze me how he was completely looked over by American youth coaches. Castillo was a star as a sophomore in high school. He was in the system already but couldn't progress further in the ranks of the American system. And now, watching him play for Santos we're all left wondering how this guy was deemed not good enough to play at the next level.
When talking about him to a colleague recently, I think my exact phrase was 'What dickhead coach didn't think he could play?'
It's funny, though, when you think about a couple of our Sangre americana boys. Not necessarily Castillo because he went down to Mexico to try out for Santos, but Jose Francisco Torres and Michael Orozco. Both of those guys were scouted here in the United States by Mexican scouts. Who the heck knows where the American scouts were and what they were looking for but those players' doors were opened by Mexican teams and plucked right from underneath American coaches' noses. US Soccer should consider themselves lucky that Orozco accepted the call and that Torres still considers the US an option if he receives the call again.
And you wonder how many more players are out there that don't fit the mold, that have the talent and ability to compete at the highest leve, but are being overlooked?
Anyway, didn't mean to get off on that tangent. As far as Castillo's story, there is a slight error. Noel Castillo is with Indios but not the first division Indios. Edgar's bro is with Indios Chihuahua of the Primera A division. But it's a good thing he was included because I'd lost track of him. He played 14 minutes in the season opener last week. I'll add him to our list of Mexican-Americans.
Read more...
Sangre americana preview: Orozco
At the start of the Clausura 2008 season, few American soccer fans had heard of Michael Orozco. Now, though, he's become a part of the U.S. national team system and will represent the U.S. in the upcoming Summer Olympics.
And while he'll be away for perhaps one-fourth of the upcoming Apertura 2008 season, he will at some point go back ad try and reclaim a spot on the club.
A native of Orange, Calif., Orozco broke through with San Luis in the Apertura 2007 season. He started 15 of 16 games that season and logged 1,325 minutes. A season ago, Olympic qualifying and injuries limited him to 11 games - all starts.
Orozco will likely miss a minimum of four games but could be away for as many as six matches with the U.S. Olympic team. When he gets back, he may have to battle with Adrian Gonzalez Tahuilan to reclaim a starting spot. It's a fight that he should not have much problem winning.
Still, San Luis' season will plow forward without Orozco. If the club is in a good position in league when Orozco returns from China, it may initially be difficult for Orozco to win a spot back. In many ways then, San Luis' early-season success or failure might dictate how quickly Orozco gets himself back in the mix.
Potentially, Orozco's success with the U.S. Olympic team could elad to more international call-ups. Orozco could thrust himself in the mix with the senior national team, which may lead to more absences.
At some point, though, all of the international experience will benefit Orozco at the club level as he only stands to improve his play while defending his colors.
Read more...
All the star, all the time readings
Well, well, Don Garber refers to more journalists turning out for the All-Star events this year than ever before (over 300 credentialed). I, of course, am at home. Most of all, I'm sad I missed out on so much free food. (Last year's ESPN-hosted party had a chocolate fountain and three kinds of free beer).
Anyway, here are a few articles that caught my attention this morning.
Becks! With video.
Funny the didn't mention the game today, though. Probably not West Ham fans.
Ha, ha, ha! Cough, cough.
Shilton hears Beckham's footprints.
So who was in the white limo? Don Garber?
Martin! Martin is taking a break from changing baby nappies to write about soccer again. Actually, he's been multitasking on that for a while.
Hey, it's apparently safe these days to like soccer.
The league has started to worry about losing talent to clubs abroad who can pay more.
Read more...
Anyway, here are a few articles that caught my attention this morning.
Becks! With video.
Funny the didn't mention the game today, though. Probably not West Ham fans.
Ha, ha, ha! Cough, cough.
Shilton hears Beckham's footprints.
So who was in the white limo? Don Garber?
Martin! Martin is taking a break from changing baby nappies to write about soccer again. Actually, he's been multitasking on that for a while.
Hey, it's apparently safe these days to like soccer.
The league has started to worry about losing talent to clubs abroad who can pay more.
Read more...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Arrested development
Mark Zeigler argues, a little obliquely, that a Wambach-focused team might have stunted the development of the U.S. Women's National Team. I'll take it a step further.
Mark's argument has some solid validity, I think.
Yet I'd also say that viewpoint works under a different spin. By the very nature of a pro sports career, there's a certain Toys 'R Us (I don't wanna grow up) dynamic going on.
It's pretty obvious that in general, all pro athletes enjoy something of a Peter Pan existence. Soccer is a game, after all. They started playing as children and now they get paid to continue to do so. How many of us get paid to do something we did as kids? (Well, ok, as a kid I was writing a lot of overwrought poetry, but no, I've never been paid for that).
As long as soccer stars can still perform at a top level, though, they remain in a team structure that's in some ways similar to their development days. Coaches will always call their men's team players "boys", no matter if the squad has a plethora of over-30 veterans with gray hair and four kids apiece. "The boys did great today." "The boys stunk up the stadium today."
Coaches will often be daddy figures to their charges, with enormous authority to decide the fate of those involved with a club.
The fish bowl of a pro team structure sometimes makes it difficult for players to mature into self-sufficient adults. Instead of learning from struggling with new concepts, they're asked to focus on what they're already good at, and they are often pampered and watched over in many different ways. Fans, teammates and owners will forgive a lot of a player who can put the ball in the back of the net, so sometimes the incentive to be a decent person is actually lacking. A mean streak will often be glossed over as "toughness" and many see vanity as the accepted element of a star.
With women, a slightly different tweak on that dynamic exists. Though I can't specifically recall Pia Sundhage using the the term "girls" (she uses "players" a lot), I have heard former coaches do so, as well as a lot of the other national team level coaches. I also heard a more about "protecting" players (exhibit A: No weights are ever released for the USWNT players, apparently to avoid hurt feelings of self-consciousness).
One of the things that I believe really cramped the individual development of the U.S. women was the lack of pro play elsewhere. No one on the team played abroad. Only the college players have known anything but the USWNT structure lately. Turning the national team into a residency camp extended the sorority mentality far beyond what was healthy. The players hardly ever got a break from each other. People fell into roles and pecking orders were established without a chance to really change them. The dynamic suprise players (like Shannon Boxx emerging from WUSA play) didn't come along any longer.
The "queen bee" of the team was pretty clearly Wambach.
I guess my point is that any career has pitfalls. The trick in soccer is to try to maintain the childish love and enjoyment of the game while taking care to mature in other regards, behaving professionally and appreciating the sport. It's a balance, of course.
Read more...
Mark's argument has some solid validity, I think.
Yet I'd also say that viewpoint works under a different spin. By the very nature of a pro sports career, there's a certain Toys 'R Us (I don't wanna grow up) dynamic going on.
It's pretty obvious that in general, all pro athletes enjoy something of a Peter Pan existence. Soccer is a game, after all. They started playing as children and now they get paid to continue to do so. How many of us get paid to do something we did as kids? (Well, ok, as a kid I was writing a lot of overwrought poetry, but no, I've never been paid for that).
As long as soccer stars can still perform at a top level, though, they remain in a team structure that's in some ways similar to their development days. Coaches will always call their men's team players "boys", no matter if the squad has a plethora of over-30 veterans with gray hair and four kids apiece. "The boys did great today." "The boys stunk up the stadium today."
Coaches will often be daddy figures to their charges, with enormous authority to decide the fate of those involved with a club.
The fish bowl of a pro team structure sometimes makes it difficult for players to mature into self-sufficient adults. Instead of learning from struggling with new concepts, they're asked to focus on what they're already good at, and they are often pampered and watched over in many different ways. Fans, teammates and owners will forgive a lot of a player who can put the ball in the back of the net, so sometimes the incentive to be a decent person is actually lacking. A mean streak will often be glossed over as "toughness" and many see vanity as the accepted element of a star.
With women, a slightly different tweak on that dynamic exists. Though I can't specifically recall Pia Sundhage using the the term "girls" (she uses "players" a lot), I have heard former coaches do so, as well as a lot of the other national team level coaches. I also heard a more about "protecting" players (exhibit A: No weights are ever released for the USWNT players, apparently to avoid hurt feelings of self-consciousness).
One of the things that I believe really cramped the individual development of the U.S. women was the lack of pro play elsewhere. No one on the team played abroad. Only the college players have known anything but the USWNT structure lately. Turning the national team into a residency camp extended the sorority mentality far beyond what was healthy. The players hardly ever got a break from each other. People fell into roles and pecking orders were established without a chance to really change them. The dynamic suprise players (like Shannon Boxx emerging from WUSA play) didn't come along any longer.
The "queen bee" of the team was pretty clearly Wambach.
I guess my point is that any career has pitfalls. The trick in soccer is to try to maintain the childish love and enjoyment of the game while taking care to mature in other regards, behaving professionally and appreciating the sport. It's a balance, of course.
Read more...
Sangre americana preview: Padilla
San Jose, Calif., native Jesus Padilla had a once-promising career at some point. But now, he seems firmly entrenched in the second division. That much was evident last season when he spent all but a brief moment of his time with Tapatio.
How much has changed entering the Apertura 2008 season? Not a whole lot.
Padilla played in Chivas' preseason match against FC Dallas but by the end of SuperLiga was back on Guadalajara preparing for the start of Tapatio's Primera A campaign. A goal scorer by trade, Padilla is in fact fulfilling that role for Tapatio. He scored a goal in Tapatio's first match of the Primera A season.
Yet the team has apparently chosen to go in a different direction. With the loss of Omar Bravo to Deportivo la Coruna in the offseason, Chivas had a big hole to fill up top but Padilla's opportunity to fill that role was brief. Omar Arellano will likely get more playing time in Bravo's absence.
Continued success with Tapatio may or may not open doors for Padilla. A season ago, Padilla was able to play in two league games as well as two Copa Libertadores matches. Perhaps if injury or international duty takes some players away, Padilla may find his place on the first team. Otherwise, it could be more of second-division soccer for Padilla.
Read more...
Not a defense, just an opinion
I don't mind the MLS All-Star game. I know that may not sound like a ringing endorsement of the event and it's not. I write this not to defend the league, because to me, liking the game is a matter of preference, like peanut butter. If one travels around the world at all, one realizes that outside of the U.S., most people really don't care for peanut butter.
I realize the All-Star game is similarly unique to American sports, but not really. Almost every league puts together a list at the end of the season that compiles the best players in a First XI. Fans can only imagine how such a squad would actually perform, though. Even FIFA has a World Cup team when that tournament ends that puts together the best participants on paper. The All-Star Game goes one step beyond that recognition and actually puts their team on the field for one game.
I think that's kind of exciting, even if the result is ultimately meaningless.
(Though anything that gets Chelsea fans tripping over themselves to tell everyone exactly how meaningless their 2005 loss to the MLS All-Stars was, can't be all bad).
West Ham isn't a great opponent, though. Honestly, I blame the turf. No one has said that Liverpool backed out of the All-Star game because of the field, but it remains a plausible theory. It is that much of a negative factor.
But it wasn't as if the game was going to be canceled just because the opponent wasn't really of superior caliber. That's what will make everyone appreciate the future matches versus AC Milan, Boca Juniors, Lyon, Bayern Munich and Everton. Bringing in an outside opponent is also a great tip of the hat to the international aspect of the beautiful game.
I actually find the MLS All-Star Game format superior to that of the other U.S. sports. The East/West division in the NBA means some ultimate combinations never happen - Kobe isn't passing to Kevin Garnett, for example.
David Beckham with a cross to Juan Pablo Angel, though? Oh, yeah. Cuauhtemoc Blanco working a give and go with Landon Donovan? Money, honey. It's the best of the best in MLS and I think it's worth watching, even with griping about venue, schedule, and the travesty of Guillermo Barros Schelotto's exclusion.
Then again, my Brazilian friends think I'm crazy to like peanut butter.
Read more...
I realize the All-Star game is similarly unique to American sports, but not really. Almost every league puts together a list at the end of the season that compiles the best players in a First XI. Fans can only imagine how such a squad would actually perform, though. Even FIFA has a World Cup team when that tournament ends that puts together the best participants on paper. The All-Star Game goes one step beyond that recognition and actually puts their team on the field for one game.
I think that's kind of exciting, even if the result is ultimately meaningless.
(Though anything that gets Chelsea fans tripping over themselves to tell everyone exactly how meaningless their 2005 loss to the MLS All-Stars was, can't be all bad).
West Ham isn't a great opponent, though. Honestly, I blame the turf. No one has said that Liverpool backed out of the All-Star game because of the field, but it remains a plausible theory. It is that much of a negative factor.
But it wasn't as if the game was going to be canceled just because the opponent wasn't really of superior caliber. That's what will make everyone appreciate the future matches versus AC Milan, Boca Juniors, Lyon, Bayern Munich and Everton. Bringing in an outside opponent is also a great tip of the hat to the international aspect of the beautiful game.
I actually find the MLS All-Star Game format superior to that of the other U.S. sports. The East/West division in the NBA means some ultimate combinations never happen - Kobe isn't passing to Kevin Garnett, for example.
David Beckham with a cross to Juan Pablo Angel, though? Oh, yeah. Cuauhtemoc Blanco working a give and go with Landon Donovan? Money, honey. It's the best of the best in MLS and I think it's worth watching, even with griping about venue, schedule, and the travesty of Guillermo Barros Schelotto's exclusion.
Then again, my Brazilian friends think I'm crazy to like peanut butter.
Read more...
Sangre americana preview: Castillo
New Mexico native Edgar Castillo took a shot with Santos Laguna as an 18-year-old. Winning an open tryout, he eventually earned a chance at playing in the first division. At the age of 22, Castillo is an established member of the reigning Mexican league champion and a budding star with the national team.
Here's how he stands entering the Apertura 2008 season.
Castillo enjoyed his finest season as a pro in the Clausura 2008. He not only played a key role on the club, he also hoisted his first leauge trophy. A stalwart on the left side, Castillo may play a bit more centrally in the absence of Daniel Luduena. Santos' creative central midfielder is recovering from knee surgery and did not participate in any of Santos' SuperLiga games.
If and when Luduena returns, Castillo will probably shuffle back to the left side of the field. Along with right-sided player Francisco Torres, Castillo gives Santos a blazing speed burner in what could be one of the fastest wide combinations in Mexico.
Barring injury, Castillo should blossom into one of the league's most dangerous left-sided players - if he isn't there already.
Castillo may also break through on the senior side. While he already has a pair of caps for the full national team under his belt, those came with the team ex-coach Hugo Sanchez assembled for Olympic qualifying. Castillo also participated on the ill-fated squad but did not do damage to his personal cause. He could be an option for new coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, though the left side is seemingly Andres Guardado's domain.
Read more...
Vela debuts
English power Arsenal snapped up Carlos Vela from Chivas de Guadalajara after Vela helped Mexico win the Under-17 World Championship in 2005.
After a pair of years abroad for seasoning, Vela returned to Arsenal over the summer. On Tuesday, he finally made his Gunners debut.
Vela played the first half of Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Hungarian side Szombathelyi. He was active in his limited time as he set up an early chance and had an opportunity of his own, which he failed to capitalize on.
Still, it's a step in the right direction for Vela. Winning a starting spot seems a monumental challenge for Vela but earning some playing time is probably within his reach.
Read more...
After a pair of years abroad for seasoning, Vela returned to Arsenal over the summer. On Tuesday, he finally made his Gunners debut.
Vela played the first half of Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Hungarian side Szombathelyi. He was active in his limited time as he set up an early chance and had an opportunity of his own, which he failed to capitalize on.
Still, it's a step in the right direction for Vela. Winning a starting spot seems a monumental challenge for Vela but earning some playing time is probably within his reach.
Read more...
So much for Toronto
I'm not a TFC supporter but even I'm starting to get frustrated.
I can just imagine how the Red Patch Boys feel about their club's latest setback.
Toronto FC failed to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League as Montreal nabbed Canada's lone spot in the upcoming tournament. Needing just a win, Toronto FC actually went ahead early but could not seal the deal. Montreal got an equalizer from Rapids washout Roberto Brown and held on for a 1-1 draw.
It must be incredibly frustrating for TFC fans to pack the house only to watch their team score one goal a game, or many times actually see them score no goals at all. But this is a slap in the face, losing out on the chance to participate in what could have been an exciting event for the team and its fans. To add insult to injury to Toronto fans, it's Montreal's team that gets to go and represent Canada.
Not sure what Toronto needs but they need something. Perhaps it's time for the front office to work something out with Chicago instead of being the reported stubborn fools they've been. Toronto needs something; otherwise there will be more frustrating draws at BMO Field this season.
Read more...
I can just imagine how the Red Patch Boys feel about their club's latest setback.
Toronto FC failed to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League as Montreal nabbed Canada's lone spot in the upcoming tournament. Needing just a win, Toronto FC actually went ahead early but could not seal the deal. Montreal got an equalizer from Rapids washout Roberto Brown and held on for a 1-1 draw.
It must be incredibly frustrating for TFC fans to pack the house only to watch their team score one goal a game, or many times actually see them score no goals at all. But this is a slap in the face, losing out on the chance to participate in what could have been an exciting event for the team and its fans. To add insult to injury to Toronto fans, it's Montreal's team that gets to go and represent Canada.
Not sure what Toronto needs but they need something. Perhaps it's time for the front office to work something out with Chicago instead of being the reported stubborn fools they've been. Toronto needs something; otherwise there will be more frustrating draws at BMO Field this season.
Read more...
Beau and Becks
Beau takes the temperature of Beckham fever these days. It's not scorching, but it's warm.
Let's personalize the phenomenon for Sideline Views folk. How has Beckham joining MLS affected you? Not at all? Some? Explain.
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Let's personalize the phenomenon for Sideline Views folk. How has Beckham joining MLS affected you? Not at all? Some? Explain.
Read more...
California knows how to play
First of all, Rob Hues, it's Grahame, not Graeme. Also, I'd like to offer my own thoughts on what California offers soccer.
I mean, I'm not sure that I even understand the point of the recent article - is it that California allowed Jurgen to relax and Beckham to smile? That's all one can put together about the state and soccer? As the surfers here would say, lame.
California has given the U.S. national team, at every level, more players than any other state. It maintains three Major League Soccer teams responsible for four league championships in the 12 year history of MLS. The first goal in league history was scored in the state (Eric Wynalda, San Jose).
The weather allows players to practice and improve their skills year-round and attracts clubs such as Chelsea to train here. In the past ten years, more international teams have played exhibitions in the state than anywhere else in the Americas. California stadiums have hosted the finals of three FIFA World Cups.
California gave birth to AYSO, the youth organization that introduces millions of American children to the sport.
The player widely considered the best on the U.S. squad at present, Landon Donovan, is a native Californian who spent by far the bulk of his development and professional career here.
Notable players who have played on California teams include George Best (LA Aztecs and SJ Earthquakes), Johan Cruyff (LA Aztecs) , Teófilo Cubillas (LA Aztecs), Hugo Sanchez (San Diego Sockers), and Jurgen Klinsmann (Orange County Blue Star)
The soccer culture here is diverse, with obviously a large number of Mexican and Central American players, but also Brazilian expats, Argentine expats and English expats can be found at any park pickup game. The mix and meld of styles offers players of various talents chances to shine and broadens their understanding of the sport. More soccer leagues, more youth clubs and more adult teams exist in California than in any other U.S. state.
California contains the current national champions of women's university soccer, USC, as well as past champions Santa Clara. Men's colleges in the state have won the title eleven times, while one university, UCLA, has developed more players in the professional ranks, both at home and abroad, than any other U.S. school.
Klinsmann began his coaching career here, serving as assistant to then-Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid. Rinus Michels coached here (LA Aztecs), and Guus Hiddink played (SJ Earthquakes)before turning to coaching.
Of course California is a place to relax, and that philosophy is an integral part of the state of mind here. But Californians are also serious about their soccer, and Beckham's smile is only a very small part of that.
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Sangre americana preview: Vidal
Mexico's Apertura 2008 season is upon us. In a few days, 18 clubs will begin yet another season that promises to bring with it high drama, memorable goals and exciting matches.Among the dozens of players who will see action this season are a small band of American-born players, our beloved Sangre americana lot.
Here is the first of several previews I will present to you about the respective players and how they stand in terms of prospects for the upcoming season. We'll begin with the latest addition to the First Division: Dallas native Marco Antonio Vidal.
Vidal, 22, has yet to play in the Mexican First Division. However, he stands to play quite often for the newly-promoted Indios de Ciudad Juarez. A midfielder, Vidal played a key role for Indios over the last calendar year. He played a total of 42 games for Indios in the Primera A division.
In the preseason, Vidal has seen plenty of action for Indios as his importance to the club will seemingly not change much in the top flight.
Vidal, though, will be surrounded by some experienced players, including players such as Manuel "Tripa" Perez, Andres Chitiva and Edwin Santibanez. If Indios coach Sergio Orduna wants to start the season off with some experience in the midfield, perhaps Vidal will wait to debut in the top flight.
An interesting side note: Vidal, as his bio from Indios' web site shows, actually had a shot with Chivas de Guadalajara despite his American birth.
Read more...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
My first story on Torres
Except I have no link to prove it. Oh well. If you read this blog regularly, you already know all about Jose Francisco Torres and how he told me he turned down a chance to play for the United States in the Olympics this summer.
I decided to write a bit on him during my weekly Tuesday column for the Press-Enterprise. But the story isn't on the web.
Again, it's nothing new to you. But I know there are people who still like their soccer news in print form. Plus, the story may get some play outside of the sports pages. I didn't present the story in any sort of controversial manner - you'll have to take my word for it - but a story on an American playing in Mexico who turns down the chance to play in the Olympics for the US is bound to get some play in the mainstream media.
I'll probably write more on Torres for other outlets, not the same story for sure but some of the stuff I didn't get to as well as some of the more soccer-specific parts of the chat we had.
Read more...
I decided to write a bit on him during my weekly Tuesday column for the Press-Enterprise. But the story isn't on the web.
Again, it's nothing new to you. But I know there are people who still like their soccer news in print form. Plus, the story may get some play outside of the sports pages. I didn't present the story in any sort of controversial manner - you'll have to take my word for it - but a story on an American playing in Mexico who turns down the chance to play in the Olympics for the US is bound to get some play in the mainstream media.
I'll probably write more on Torres for other outlets, not the same story for sure but some of the stuff I didn't get to as well as some of the more soccer-specific parts of the chat we had.
Read more...
Following through
Keith Savage and Lance Parker were great sports on Tuesday. They, the professional athletes of the bunch, took it easy on the amatuer freelance writers. As a token of my gratitude for that and for them letting us use their clubs, I tried to get some good pictures of the duo in action.
I got several good shots of them. Here's a sampling.
See if you can find the golf ball in each shot.
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I got several good shots of them. Here's a sampling.
See if you can find the golf ball in each shot.
Read more...
Becks' Kicks
David Beckham will wear limited edition adidas gold Predator soccer cleats this Thursday at the MLS All-Star game in Toronto.
adidas only made 2,000 pair and they are available exclusively at Eurosport (www.soccer.com) for $200 each.
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adidas only made 2,000 pair and they are available exclusively at Eurosport (www.soccer.com) for $200 each.
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So long, farewell
Aufweidersen, Adieu. Adios. Since I've been out golfing today, I hadn't read about Abel Xavier's farewell tour of spite on Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit in particular and the organization in general.
Here's a sampling of it.
Though it amuses me that Xavier is clearly venting, and to more than one press outlet, I'm not really surprised. It happens when players leave who don't want to go and don't have the discipline (or perhaps the incentive) to be professional about it.
Last season, Santino Quaranta left the Galaxy in a fit of pique, complaining to media that the Galaxy locker room was a mess, that Yallop hadn't wanted to trade him, that Lalas and Yallop weren't speaking. Turns out that Quaranta had his own demons to contend with at the time. He certainly wasn't playing his best soccer in those days, and neither has Xavier lately.
I'm not saying the Galaxy locker room didn't have problems then and doesn't have them now. Every locker room has issues, frankly. Some more than others, of course.
As a journalist, I liked Xavier being outspoken. Yet he avoided taking responsibility for his failings on the field. He'd say the entire team was to blame ("The responsibility to defend is on the entire team."), the ref, whatever. He believed in expressing his opinions and he had a lot of them. I remember once when Xavier was upset about a game and talking on and on about the officiating to the assembled press. The locker room emptied out of other players, but Xavier was still detailing his issues. Landon Donovan walked by and remarked dryly, "And that's the short version." I think he was kidding, but there's an element of truth behind those jokes.
Some coaches can calm emotional players down. Some don't tolerate things that distract the team.
It's pretty clear where Ruud Gullit falls. The question now is - did Gullit err in the move to get rid of Xavier? Opine here if you like.
Read more...
New stuff, same as the old stuff
Landon Donovan's declaration that he wants to play in England isn't new.
Frankly, he's said that for years, and at one point, was going to go on loan to a team there, Portsmouth. That deal got nixed because of a change in the international transfer window.
LD said last year he'd like to go to Spain or England. I asked him this year about a move abroad, and he said the same thing. He said he'd be interested in Italy and France, too.
Basically, any top league abroad except for Germany, was the impression I got. Yet he isn't pining to go. He's said he's open to offers and would consider them.
Here's part of what I wrote for Futbol Mundial magazine about Donovan's status about a month ago. I'm surprised more wasn't made of it then. Then again, it was consistent with what he'd said before. The only thing that changes is if an offer is made from somewhere LD would like to go.
Inevitably, with Donovan playing so well, the issue comes up as to where else he might be willing to go. Playing alongside Beckham has created incredible exposure for the entire Galaxy team. It’s not that Donovan was an unknown quantity before, because he certainly opened eyes with his breakout performance at the World Cup in 2002. Yet now, his notoriety is at an entirely different level.
“I’m more recognized and more noticed now than I’ve ever been,” Donovan acknowledged. “What’s happening is that David is bringing the spotlight and other players are taking advantage of it and making names for themselves and it’s been good for all of us.”
Now that Donovan has clearly moved to another level of both consistency and versatility, it’s easy to see his game fitting in well on a quality team at the highest level of club soccer. The two questions that remain are simple. One, has any team in Europe been intrigued enough to come calling for his services this year? Two, would Donovan go?
“No,” Donovan answered simply to the first query.
The second response was a bit more complicated. That’s understandable, given that Donovan’s wife, Bianca Kajlich, is a successful actress currently starring on a CBS sitcom. It would be difficult to sustain such a career anywhere other than Los Angeles.
“Here and now is what I worry about,” said Donovan about going abroad. “Someday, if there’s a chance, then it’s possible. But for a lot of reasons, my family situation, my contract situation, I’m not going anywhere for a while. But maybe someday.”
Meanwhile, immediate goals and scoring more of them, are what Donovan is concentrated on.
“I think about getting through this year and finding a way to be good this year,” Donovan said. “Then if an opportunity comes, where something happens, whether it be next year, the year after, the year after, or maybe never, then we’ll cross that bridge. But I don’t go home and think, ‘When can I go play in Europe?' If it happens, it will happen.”
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Golf for a cause
The charity events MLS teams do (like golf tournaments) are hosted by sponsors, so players have to show up, but it's also a time for teammates to bond outside of the regular grind of practice.
Lance Parker poses on the course with the energy drink models.
Bobby Burling gets in the buffet line.
Alecko Eskandarian shares a table with teammates and other event participants.
Jim Curtin picks up his welcome packet for the event.
Ante Razov checks out the items for the charity auction. Can anyone guess what I find curious about this picture?
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Lance Parker poses on the course with the energy drink models.
Bobby Burling gets in the buffet line.
Alecko Eskandarian shares a table with teammates and other event participants.
Jim Curtin picks up his welcome packet for the event.
Ante Razov checks out the items for the charity auction. Can anyone guess what I find curious about this picture?Read more...
Golfing gone woozy
I'll be honest, Luis and I are both crappy golfers. We didn't even have clubs, so Lance and Keith had to share theirs. They were very nice about it, though. We might have golfed a little better, though, if we'd resisted the free margaritas along the course. That doesn't exactly help one's coordination. Still, we had fun.
Chivas is also hosting a NASCAR thing at the Fontana Speedway soon. 
Nurse is interviewed. His foursome was playing behind ours. 
ChivaGirls passing out the event giftbags. 
Keith and Lance, the two Chivas USA players who put up with us on the course.
Guess who we ran into during the event?
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Chivas is also hosting a NASCAR thing at the Fontana Speedway soon. 
Nurse is interviewed. His foursome was playing behind ours. 
ChivaGirls passing out the event giftbags. 
Keith and Lance, the two Chivas USA players who put up with us on the course.
Guess who we ran into during the event?
Read more...
Gone golfing
Greetings all. Sorry for not posting today, but we are out at Griffith Park participating in Chivas USA's annual golf tournament. We are trying to figure this golf thing out, but so far not so good. Andrea and I are paired with Keith Savage and Lance Parker and they are carrying the foursome for sure.
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Monday, July 21, 2008
Early start for Americans
As the start of the Mexican Apertura 2008 season approaches, I was doing some work for the upcoming editions of Sangre americana, where I keep tabs on American-born players in Mexico.
What I failed to notice is that the Primera A season got underway and we had two American-born players as well as a naturalized citizen see action. Two of them even scored a goal.
Jesus Padilla (San Jose, Calif.) and Carlos Borja (Orange, Calif.) each played for Tapatio in a 3-1 loss to Leon. Padilla started and went the distance while Borja came on as a late-game substitute. Padilla nabbed the only goal for Tapatio in the loss.
Sammy Ochoa (Michoacan-born US citizen) scored a goal for Tecos. Ochoa came on at halftime of Tecos UAG's match against Salamanca down 1-0 and scored the equalizer in the 63rd minute.
I'll be keeping tabs of Padilla, Borja and Ochoa as well as the full contingent of Americans in the Mexican First Division for the upcoming season. Keep an eye out on those in the coming days leading up to the start of the Apertura 2008 season.
Read more...
What I failed to notice is that the Primera A season got underway and we had two American-born players as well as a naturalized citizen see action. Two of them even scored a goal.
Jesus Padilla (San Jose, Calif.) and Carlos Borja (Orange, Calif.) each played for Tapatio in a 3-1 loss to Leon. Padilla started and went the distance while Borja came on as a late-game substitute. Padilla nabbed the only goal for Tapatio in the loss.
Sammy Ochoa (Michoacan-born US citizen) scored a goal for Tecos. Ochoa came on at halftime of Tecos UAG's match against Salamanca down 1-0 and scored the equalizer in the 63rd minute.
I'll be keeping tabs of Padilla, Borja and Ochoa as well as the full contingent of Americans in the Mexican First Division for the upcoming season. Keep an eye out on those in the coming days leading up to the start of the Apertura 2008 season.
Read more...
Abby press call
Abby Wambach is explaining the surgery on her leg. It's actually a little gross to hear about the titanium rod screwed into her leg. Surgeons are really just body carpenters.
She says she realized in the moment she hit her leg that it was broken, that her Olympic dream was over. She also believes that the team will do well. She wasn't panicked about her injury because of that faith. "It takes a whole team," she says.
She expresses her thanks to supportive friends and family and says she is proud of how her teammates responded. She said she told Kai to score and she was proud Kai responded.
Abby is asked about rehab. She says she just left her house today. Her mom was on a plane to LA soon after she saw the injury on TV. This morning she had her first rehab session with Athlete's Performance at the Home Depot Center today. Abby spends some time thanking her doctors for all their help.
Abby was in the ambulance asking for her stats on everything, blood pressure, heart rate, glucose level - she's an info freak. She's been on her couch mostly, though. She also admits to not being an easy patient, not liking to get help.
Abby is asked why she didn't scream in pain upon the break. She says she hasn't seen the hit. She says she thinks her experience and competitiveness helped. She didn't want to negatively affect the team by making a scene. She wanted to set an example for her teammates. She told the trainers, when they ran onto the field, that her leg was fractured. She was scared - she'd never ridden in an ambulance before. "Maybe I have a high pain threshold. I get that from my mom, I'm sure."
Abby then explains she was trying to shoot the ball, was surprised that the defender was able to get in so close so fast.
"I play one way. I'm not a player who will take it easy." She explains that she broke her toe before the World Cup. Abby then thanks her hometown reporter for the flowers she was sent.
Abby figures she will be playing in the new pro league in the spring. She recalls the excitement of leaving for the Olympic game. She says she doesn't feel sorry for herself, though she has cried tears over the injury.
"I'm not going to cry victim. No, I don't choose to break my leg, but I choose to be on this team and that means things like injuries sometimes."
Abby called Lauren Cheney from the hospital and told her to get ready for the Olympics.
"What's important is that the team is ready to win this medal they've worked so hard and long for."
Prior injuries are the broken toe and badly sprained ankle. Never invasive surgery. Abby is trying to take it one day at a time. She appreciated the game in a whole new way now. She plans to watch the games with other injured players. She intends to grow from this experience.
"There's not question in my mind whether or not I'm going to make a comeback - it's just a matter of time. I want to come back and be great again." Abby says she's ready for the hard work that will involve. She's aware of her responsibility as a role model in dealing with challenges and wants to be inspired by that.
She wants to show kids how to react when things get tough. She vows to come back.
"Face of team" Abby is called when she's asked to name three players who people should look out for. Abby says she can name 18.
"They have to play together. They have to lean on each other." Abby says that is the message of her injury. Every one of the 18 players have to work harder and dedicate themselves to each other more. She's excited to see it.
"Amy Rodriguez has proven herself as a person who can come off the bench and score goals, and now we see if she can do it starting a game." Abby mentions the experience of ARod and Cheney, even though they're young. "They're all capable of scoring goals." Abby mentions Pia's coaching and says, "That's the beauty of it - so many more people are involved."
I love how Abby informs the reporters that "the medical community has gone away from casting whenever possible", explaining she is on crutches, but has no cast on. She wants to take her time with the recovery.
Pia's words to Abby after the injury; "Aside from being my head coach, she felt for me, considering the timing. She was upset for me."
Abby mentions that two longtime teammates, Kate and Christie, were "devastated" for her.
Abby says that partly due to the results of '07, she really dedicated herself to preparation and her teammates know it. "They're bummed to be going over there without me on a friendship basis."
Abby mentions her love and respect for her teammates. She says she expects to see a special performance from them at the Olympics.
She doesn't expect to be replaced - she expects the gap to be filled. "No one is as loud as I am, but they lead differently."
Abby is asked about how offense revolved around her before. "Absolutely," Abby thinks her absence forces the possession game on her team. She thinks they can and will do it.
I ask Abby about whether or not the other team players out of the Olympics have gotten together to commiserate. She says yes and gives examples. Abby says that when she got home from the hospital, Cat had sent an edible arrangement of fruit and Abby was hungry and basically demolished it. Leslie Osborne was at the game, came over while Abby was being put in the ambulance and went to the hospital later. Abby and Leslie plan to watch the team's games together. The camaraderie among the players left behind has grown.
Abby also says she doesn't expect to be doing TV commentary. Jokes that camera adds ten pounds.
In her closing statement, Abby pleads with the press not to view the team as struck with a fatal blow due to her injury. Praises the team's talent and says that the media, as ambassadors of the sport, owe it to everyone to show the full picture of the team as they set out on their Olympic quest.
Look for the podcast of the call on U.S. Soccer's website later.
Read more...
She says she realized in the moment she hit her leg that it was broken, that her Olympic dream was over. She also believes that the team will do well. She wasn't panicked about her injury because of that faith. "It takes a whole team," she says.
She expresses her thanks to supportive friends and family and says she is proud of how her teammates responded. She said she told Kai to score and she was proud Kai responded.
Abby is asked about rehab. She says she just left her house today. Her mom was on a plane to LA soon after she saw the injury on TV. This morning she had her first rehab session with Athlete's Performance at the Home Depot Center today. Abby spends some time thanking her doctors for all their help.
Abby was in the ambulance asking for her stats on everything, blood pressure, heart rate, glucose level - she's an info freak. She's been on her couch mostly, though. She also admits to not being an easy patient, not liking to get help.
Abby is asked why she didn't scream in pain upon the break. She says she hasn't seen the hit. She says she thinks her experience and competitiveness helped. She didn't want to negatively affect the team by making a scene. She wanted to set an example for her teammates. She told the trainers, when they ran onto the field, that her leg was fractured. She was scared - she'd never ridden in an ambulance before. "Maybe I have a high pain threshold. I get that from my mom, I'm sure."
Abby then explains she was trying to shoot the ball, was surprised that the defender was able to get in so close so fast.
"I play one way. I'm not a player who will take it easy." She explains that she broke her toe before the World Cup. Abby then thanks her hometown reporter for the flowers she was sent.
Abby figures she will be playing in the new pro league in the spring. She recalls the excitement of leaving for the Olympic game. She says she doesn't feel sorry for herself, though she has cried tears over the injury.
"I'm not going to cry victim. No, I don't choose to break my leg, but I choose to be on this team and that means things like injuries sometimes."
Abby called Lauren Cheney from the hospital and told her to get ready for the Olympics.
"What's important is that the team is ready to win this medal they've worked so hard and long for."
Prior injuries are the broken toe and badly sprained ankle. Never invasive surgery. Abby is trying to take it one day at a time. She appreciated the game in a whole new way now. She plans to watch the games with other injured players. She intends to grow from this experience.
"There's not question in my mind whether or not I'm going to make a comeback - it's just a matter of time. I want to come back and be great again." Abby says she's ready for the hard work that will involve. She's aware of her responsibility as a role model in dealing with challenges and wants to be inspired by that.
She wants to show kids how to react when things get tough. She vows to come back.
"Face of team" Abby is called when she's asked to name three players who people should look out for. Abby says she can name 18.
"They have to play together. They have to lean on each other." Abby says that is the message of her injury. Every one of the 18 players have to work harder and dedicate themselves to each other more. She's excited to see it.
"Amy Rodriguez has proven herself as a person who can come off the bench and score goals, and now we see if she can do it starting a game." Abby mentions the experience of ARod and Cheney, even though they're young. "They're all capable of scoring goals." Abby mentions Pia's coaching and says, "That's the beauty of it - so many more people are involved."
I love how Abby informs the reporters that "the medical community has gone away from casting whenever possible", explaining she is on crutches, but has no cast on. She wants to take her time with the recovery.
Pia's words to Abby after the injury; "Aside from being my head coach, she felt for me, considering the timing. She was upset for me."
Abby mentions that two longtime teammates, Kate and Christie, were "devastated" for her.
Abby says that partly due to the results of '07, she really dedicated herself to preparation and her teammates know it. "They're bummed to be going over there without me on a friendship basis."
Abby mentions her love and respect for her teammates. She says she expects to see a special performance from them at the Olympics.
She doesn't expect to be replaced - she expects the gap to be filled. "No one is as loud as I am, but they lead differently."
Abby is asked about how offense revolved around her before. "Absolutely," Abby thinks her absence forces the possession game on her team. She thinks they can and will do it.
I ask Abby about whether or not the other team players out of the Olympics have gotten together to commiserate. She says yes and gives examples. Abby says that when she got home from the hospital, Cat had sent an edible arrangement of fruit and Abby was hungry and basically demolished it. Leslie Osborne was at the game, came over while Abby was being put in the ambulance and went to the hospital later. Abby and Leslie plan to watch the team's games together. The camaraderie among the players left behind has grown.
Abby also says she doesn't expect to be doing TV commentary. Jokes that camera adds ten pounds.
In her closing statement, Abby pleads with the press not to view the team as struck with a fatal blow due to her injury. Praises the team's talent and says that the media, as ambassadors of the sport, owe it to everyone to show the full picture of the team as they set out on their Olympic quest.
Look for the podcast of the call on U.S. Soccer's website later.
Read more...
A night at Titan
Sunday's SuperLiga match was a bit of a change of pace. Instead of the usual Home Depot Center, we gathered at Titan Stadium to take in the action. Back in the day, going to Titan Stadium was a bit of a welcomed change of scenery from the Rose Bowl. Instead of the cavernous American football stadium, we got a to spend time in a cozy little stadium where we were all close to the action. But HDC has changed all that because HDC is such a great place to take in a soccer match.
There were some positives, though, but there were also some drawbacks. For starters, my view from the press box was terrible.
Here's how the plusses and minuses added up.
Plus: For me the stadium was a helluva lot closer than HDC. I left my house at about 3:50 and pulled off the 57 freeway at about 4:20. I shaved about a half hour off my drive. Parking was easy too. For fans, it was five bucks as opposed to the 15 at HDC. For media, all we had to do was show our credentials to park. That would never fly at HDC. It makes too much sense, i suppose. If you don't have a credential at HDC, you've gotta park on Victoria or cough up the cash. I've parked on Victoria plenty of times; sometimes I've parked way up near Central and hiked to the stadium.
Minus: If you don't know your way around the stadium, it's easy to get lost. Cal State Fullerton is a decent sized campus and there are many entrances. There were signs that directed you to the parking but you could easily miss them. HDC is pretty much a straight shot off Avalon or (the way I go) exit Central off the 91 and make a right onto Victoria.
Plus: No one checked my bag when I got into the stadium. I walked right in and the press box entrance was mere steps from the media gate.
Minus: Ah, the press box. Gotta love the view. I almost strained my neck trying to keep looking around that metal thing in front of me. When the ball was on the one side of the field, it wasn't a problem but when it was on the other side of the field, I had to crane my neck around it. Also, the windows don't open up so we could barely hear anything - whistles, crowd noise, players yelling or whatever. Also, there were no TVs so we couldn't exactly watch replays.
Plus: Food was free. It was okay, the chimichangas or whatever they were tasted great. Usually food costs 5 bucks at Galaxy games and 1 buck at Chivas games. It's hit and miss. I don't usually eat at the stadium but I indulged a bit yesterday. Also, they had beer! Except...
Minus: ...they took it away! Oh no! I didn't get a chance to crack open a brew. Not that I would have, actually, but anyone could have during the first half. Someone in charge told me they had no idea where that beer came from and had it taken away. I suppose it was a good thing - otherwise, none of us would have made deadline!
Plus: It was an easy walk down to the mixed zone. And it wasn't really a mixed zone, it was sort of a free-for-all. No locker room access but the players had to walk past the area where we were all at to get up to their respective busses.
Minus: The field was utter crap. I got a good look at it from below. It affected the match and players couldn't stop complaining about it. I don't blame them.
Read more...
There were some positives, though, but there were also some drawbacks. For starters, my view from the press box was terrible.
Here's how the plusses and minuses added up.
Plus: For me the stadium was a helluva lot closer than HDC. I left my house at about 3:50 and pulled off the 57 freeway at about 4:20. I shaved about a half hour off my drive. Parking was easy too. For fans, it was five bucks as opposed to the 15 at HDC. For media, all we had to do was show our credentials to park. That would never fly at HDC. It makes too much sense, i suppose. If you don't have a credential at HDC, you've gotta park on Victoria or cough up the cash. I've parked on Victoria plenty of times; sometimes I've parked way up near Central and hiked to the stadium.
Minus: If you don't know your way around the stadium, it's easy to get lost. Cal State Fullerton is a decent sized campus and there are many entrances. There were signs that directed you to the parking but you could easily miss them. HDC is pretty much a straight shot off Avalon or (the way I go) exit Central off the 91 and make a right onto Victoria.
Plus: No one checked my bag when I got into the stadium. I walked right in and the press box entrance was mere steps from the media gate.
Minus: Ah, the press box. Gotta love the view. I almost strained my neck trying to keep looking around that metal thing in front of me. When the ball was on the one side of the field, it wasn't a problem but when it was on the other side of the field, I had to crane my neck around it. Also, the windows don't open up so we could barely hear anything - whistles, crowd noise, players yelling or whatever. Also, there were no TVs so we couldn't exactly watch replays.
Plus: Food was free. It was okay, the chimichangas or whatever they were tasted great. Usually food costs 5 bucks at Galaxy games and 1 buck at Chivas games. It's hit and miss. I don't usually eat at the stadium but I indulged a bit yesterday. Also, they had beer! Except...
Minus: ...they took it away! Oh no! I didn't get a chance to crack open a brew. Not that I would have, actually, but anyone could have during the first half. Someone in charge told me they had no idea where that beer came from and had it taken away. I suppose it was a good thing - otherwise, none of us would have made deadline!
Plus: It was an easy walk down to the mixed zone. And it wasn't really a mixed zone, it was sort of a free-for-all. No locker room access but the players had to walk past the area where we were all at to get up to their respective busses.
Minus: The field was utter crap. I got a good look at it from below. It affected the match and players couldn't stop complaining about it. I don't blame them.
Read more...
Visual aid
In so many ways, some people who turn up their noses at American soccer in favor of leagues abroad disparage MLS as slower, of lower quality, with inferior fields and only vaguely interested fans. That might not be specific enough for some, so here's a video that probably describes their impression.
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Subjective Readings
Everyone has an opinion about Becks, it seems. Even those who know little about MLS. It amused me that the BBC would take in the NY/LA game, watch Juan Pablo Angel's goal, Van Den Bergh's cracker, Buddle's dribble and chip assist and come away with the description of "second-division football".
Ah well. It's all subjective, right? Anyway, here's that one.
Grahame Jones has his own take on Becks.
Blah, blah, more Becks.
And again.
Yeah, yeah, Markgraf still expects to win gold, that's great. It's the shot of her in action with her face mask that I love, though.
I'm not sure I buy that cutting baseball and softball is anti-American. Those sports require a lot more equipment than soccer, and are rather expensive to set up. Except for a couple of countries, the world popularity doesn't come close to soccer.
Preview of the teams for women's soccer in the Olympics.
Read more...
Ah well. It's all subjective, right? Anyway, here's that one.
Grahame Jones has his own take on Becks.
Blah, blah, more Becks.
And again.
Yeah, yeah, Markgraf still expects to win gold, that's great. It's the shot of her in action with her face mask that I love, though.
I'm not sure I buy that cutting baseball and softball is anti-American. Those sports require a lot more equipment than soccer, and are rather expensive to set up. Except for a couple of countries, the world popularity doesn't come close to soccer.
Preview of the teams for women's soccer in the Olympics.
Read more...
SuperFracture
Injuries can happen at anytime to anyone, so blaming a tournament for a disastrous injury is a bit of misplaced blame.
However, that's probably little consolation for Chivas de Guadalajara supporters, who not only lost out on the chance to play in the semifinal round but lost their starting goalkeeper for the entire Apertura 2008 season.
Luis Ernesto Michel is done for after breaking his arm late in Saturday's game against Atlante. Michel collided with Gabriel Pereyra and snapped his arm in the process.
To add insult to injury, Chivas lost the match 2-0 and were eliminated from the tournament despite two previous victories.
With Michel, Chivas had a fighting chance to make noise in league this year. Without him, it's hard to imagine them competing. Michel had become one of the league's finer goalkeepers but now they've got to rely on youth in goal. It looks like Sergio Rodriguez is the leading candidate to replace Michel.
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However, that's probably little consolation for Chivas de Guadalajara supporters, who not only lost out on the chance to play in the semifinal round but lost their starting goalkeeper for the entire Apertura 2008 season.
Luis Ernesto Michel is done for after breaking his arm late in Saturday's game against Atlante. Michel collided with Gabriel Pereyra and snapped his arm in the process.
To add insult to injury, Chivas lost the match 2-0 and were eliminated from the tournament despite two previous victories.
With Michel, Chivas had a fighting chance to make noise in league this year. Without him, it's hard to imagine them competing. Michel had become one of the league's finer goalkeepers but now they've got to rely on youth in goal. It looks like Sergio Rodriguez is the leading candidate to replace Michel.
Read more...
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Week 17 Spotlight
Okay, last week I didn't get these out and I apologize for that. I got overwhelmed with stuff because of Sunday night's SuperLiga match and had to scrap something.
So after a week hiatus, here's the Spotlight for Week 17.
Top XI
G: Joe Cannon
D: Marvell Wynne Bobby Boswell
D: Ryan Cochrane
D: Chris Wingert
M: Jorge Rojas Dave van den Bergh
M: Christian Gomez
M: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
M: Kurt Morsink
F: Edson Buddle
F: Juan Pablo Angel
F: Kenny Cooper
Coach: Ian Russell, San Jose. It's always tough to fill in for the coach but to have three newcomers thrown into the fire (Darren Huckerby, Francisco Lima, Scott Sealy) and go on the road - to a different country no less - and still get a shutout and a point is pretty good.
Curt Onalfo - Had his guys ready to go away in Columbus, and rallied them after the let-down. Nice move to put Josh Wolff in and give him more time to make a difference.
Top player: Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus. Not an All-Star my ass. Guillermo Barros Schelotto is one of the most talented players in MLS and his display of magic against Kansas City was spectacular.
Top goalkeeper: Joe Cannon, San Jose. Nick Rimando and Jon Busch each had masterful games but Cannon was the only one of the three to stop a penalty kick. He did his usual Cannon hop, in which he takes a step forward before he's supposed to, but he did what he could to get the result.
Best goal: Juan Pablo Angel. If more players knew how to chip the ball properly, we'd see more fantastic goals in MLS. As it stands, we'll leave the chipping to Angel. Wonder if Greg Vanney has recovered from his broken ankles.
Best game: Columbus-Kansas City. We certainly weren't expecting for five goals in such a short span and a sixth midway through the second half but that's what we got in a game loaded with drama and great plays.
New York - LA Not nine goals, but lots of chances on both sides, drama, new faces, a goal in extra time and a post shot in the dying seconds. Excitement galore.
LOWLIGHTS
Toronto FC needs something offensively. It's a travesty to their great fans that the team doesn't score more at home. Ten goals in nine home games isn't going to cut it, and it's certainly not going to get this team deep into the postseason.
I figure the lack of goalscoring is karmic justice for digging in their heels on the McBride issue. No goals for TFC until they give a little
Columbus' defense was atrocious. Frankie Hejduk helped out KC's cause with an own goal and Danny O'Rourke did his best matador impression. Even Chad Marshall, who scored a nice goal, got burned on Roger Espinoza's goal. And that was against one of the league's worst offenses.
Poor calls. Chris Klein got an early yellow for an innocuous move, but then the referee let everything short of maiming a rival go, until pulling out another card on Jon Conway and Pete Vagenas for dissent. Hacking is apparently ok, but don't talk back!
Read more...
So after a week hiatus, here's the Spotlight for Week 17.
Top XI
G: Joe Cannon
D: Marvell Wynne Bobby Boswell
D: Ryan Cochrane
D: Chris Wingert
M: Jorge Rojas Dave van den Bergh
M: Christian Gomez
M: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
M: Kurt Morsink
F: Edson Buddle
F: Juan Pablo Angel
F: Kenny Cooper
Coach: Ian Russell, San Jose. It's always tough to fill in for the coach but to have three newcomers thrown into the fire (Darren Huckerby, Francisco Lima, Scott Sealy) and go on the road - to a different country no less - and still get a shutout and a point is pretty good.
Curt Onalfo - Had his guys ready to go away in Columbus, and rallied them after the let-down. Nice move to put Josh Wolff in and give him more time to make a difference.
Top player: Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus. Not an All-Star my ass. Guillermo Barros Schelotto is one of the most talented players in MLS and his display of magic against Kansas City was spectacular.
Top goalkeeper: Joe Cannon, San Jose. Nick Rimando and Jon Busch each had masterful games but Cannon was the only one of the three to stop a penalty kick. He did his usual Cannon hop, in which he takes a step forward before he's supposed to, but he did what he could to get the result.
Best goal: Juan Pablo Angel. If more players knew how to chip the ball properly, we'd see more fantastic goals in MLS. As it stands, we'll leave the chipping to Angel. Wonder if Greg Vanney has recovered from his broken ankles.
Best game: Columbus-Kansas City. We certainly weren't expecting for five goals in such a short span and a sixth midway through the second half but that's what we got in a game loaded with drama and great plays.
New York - LA Not nine goals, but lots of chances on both sides, drama, new faces, a goal in extra time and a post shot in the dying seconds. Excitement galore.
LOWLIGHTS
Toronto FC needs something offensively. It's a travesty to their great fans that the team doesn't score more at home. Ten goals in nine home games isn't going to cut it, and it's certainly not going to get this team deep into the postseason.
I figure the lack of goalscoring is karmic justice for digging in their heels on the McBride issue. No goals for TFC until they give a little
Columbus' defense was atrocious. Frankie Hejduk helped out KC's cause with an own goal and Danny O'Rourke did his best matador impression. Even Chad Marshall, who scored a nice goal, got burned on Roger Espinoza's goal. And that was against one of the league's worst offenses.
Poor calls. Chris Klein got an early yellow for an innocuous move, but then the referee let everything short of maiming a rival go, until pulling out another card on Jon Conway and Pete Vagenas for dissent. Hacking is apparently ok, but don't talk back!
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Capture the flag
I had an assignment for a soccer match today, but it wasn't Chivas USA versus the Revs. I was covering the Guatemala/El Salvador friendly for the Associated Press. It was my first AP assignment, and I was too nervous to even keep a running blog.
That's because this exhibition had no one taking stats like at MLS games, so I had to track everything myself. Turns out that there was only one main stat that mattered - 0 - as in zero goals. A scoreless draw.
But there was a little extra action in the match. At the start of the game, fans from both teams presented giant flags as part of the on-field ceremony. The flags were then sent into the stands to travel a bit before being displayed near the main fan sections so they could be called into service for celebration whenever either side scored.
That was the idea, at least, but the fan groups were very mixed and El Salvador's decided not to cooperate. They wouldn't pass the Guatemalan flag at all. It didn't get very far in the journey of the stands. The El Sal fans pulled it down and tried to stuff it under the seats. The PA announcer asked for people to pass the Guate flag back to the front so it could be displayed. A few Guate fans tried to transport it and were hit with beer cups for their efforts. The flag was also doused with a lot of beer by the Salvadoran fans. A big tug-of-war broke out for the flag and part of it tore. Finally, one guy just stuffed the entire flag into a huge pile and walked away with it. I still don't know if he was rescuing it, or taking it to burn in a bonfire or what. The Guatemalan flag didn't reappear, though. So while the match was a scoreless draw, the game of capture the flag had a clear winner, even if they won by being bad sports.
El Salvador flag
Both on display
The Guatemalan flag didn't survive much longer than thisRead more...
Sacha's last pre-Olympic clip
Well, maybe he'll talk to other reporters and maybe they'll put the audio up on a blog or site somehwere. Until that happens, though, here's Sacha Kljestan before he departs for the Olympic squad.
Sacha was disappointed about the result as everyone else on Chivas was. He felt they played well enough to win. Now, though, he can start thinking about China and the Olympics and all that good stuff that goes along with that tournament. It's a special time for him and the rest of the squad and now they get to enjoy it all.
Still, he was upset about not winning. The Olympics didn't take away from that.
Here's the audio.
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Marsch on match
Jesse Marsch didn't seem too happy after the match. He is usually in decent spirits even after losses. That wasn't the case on Sunday. And I wasn't about to take a picture of him that way.
I asked Jesse all of the questions on the audio clip here. So most of the time he was looking right at me. I thought it would have been kinda strange for me to raise my camera and snap off a few pics while he was answering my question. I was hoping someone else would ask him something - anything - but that wasn't he case. Oh well. Still got the audio of course.
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I asked Jesse all of the questions on the audio clip here. So most of the time he was looking right at me. I thought it would have been kinda strange for me to raise my camera and snap off a few pics while he was answering my question. I was hoping someone else would ask him something - anything - but that wasn't he case. Oh well. Still got the audio of course.
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Matko on the match
Preki was not in the country on Sunday as he was in Serbia tending to some sort of family emergency. In his place was Mike Matkovich, the club's assistant coach.
Matko, as he is known to his players, and Preki took care of the starting lineups as they were in communication throughout the day. Not sure if Matko will have to explain much to Preki or if Preki watched the game in Serbia via the internet or something.
Preki was certainly missed but the squad did well without him. I did think that Matko sort of threw everyone out there after the Revs went up but I don't know that Preki would have done differently.
Here's the audio.
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Parkhurst on Olympics
I got a snippet of Michael Parkhurst talking about the Olympics, actually a pretty good couple of minutes on it.
What I didn't get was a good picture of him.
I didn't really need to talk to Parkhurst but you never know what a player will say and when you might need to use some of his stuff, so you may see this somewhere else. Or you may not. In either case, here is the audio.
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Ralston talks match, season
Steve Ralston was his usual calm self after the match. He didn't rip into the field nor did he get too excited about the prospects of playing at home.
He did however have a huge influence in the match as he sent in the corner that led to the equalizer.
Ralston answered some questions about the potential schedule logjam coming up as well as a bit on the All-Star game. And, of course, some on the naked passenger on the flight over here.
Listen to the Ralston audio here.
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Reis rips field
Matt Reis was another of the players who did not care much for the field. In fact, none of the Revs players I heard had anything but negatives to say for the field.
Reis of course is a local guy, a UCLA product, and he was on the Galaxy before when the Galaxy played games here on a somewhat regular basis. But that was a long time ago. Now, the fields are expected to be much better than what was presented on Sunday.
Here's the audio of Reis.
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Nicol post-game
Steve Nicol spent much of the imprompt post-game presser talking about the deplorable field conditions. He had as good a view as anyone and didn't really feel like the field was something that should have been used for a tournament of this magnitude.
The field was pretty bad. I could tell from up here that it wasn't the greatest but the way it went down, well, Nicol was none too pleased about it.
Here's the audio.
The field was pretty bad. I could tell from up here that it wasn't the greatest but the way it went down, well, Nicol was none too pleased about it.
Here's the audio.
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Chivas USA-New England running blog
Welcome to the beautiful Titan Stadium for tonight's SuperLiga (and I use the word beautiful loosely). I tried to get pictures of both teams before the match but only New England gathered for a team shot. Perhaps Chivas players were too focused on the game...
Here are the starting lineups:
Chivas: Dan Kennedy; Carey Talley, Claudio Suarez, Bobby Burling, Francisco Mendoza; Sacha Kljestan, Daniel Paladini, Jesse Marsch, Jonathan Bornstein; Ante Razov, Roberto Nurse.
New England: Matt Reis; Amaechi Igwe, Michael Parkhurts, Jay Heaps, Chris Albright; Sainey Nyassi, Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz; Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally.
And on to the match...
7 - Okay, updating all that took me some time. Chivas have had a few corner kicks but nothing too dangerous.
8 - Preki isn't here. He had to go to Serbia for some sort of emergency. Not sure when he's coming back, but the team won't have any games or anything for the next few weeks.
12 - Albright sends nice cross to far post but Igwe's side volley goes wide of goal.
15 - Pretty quiet first quarter hour. Most of the action came very early. The Revs are pretty organized as usual.
16 - Razov called for offside. Marsch just a fraction of a second too late on the pass, and Razov lets him knows it.
17 - Steve Ralston gets booked for a foul on Jesse Marsch.
19 - Dube has a breakaway but the ball skips away from his feet as Dube's touch was horrible.
21 - It looked like a Revs player was offside, Dube maybe, but no whistle was blown. It looked like the assistant was about ready raise the flag and but nothing was blown. Panchito took out a Revs player in the box but nothing was called.
24 - Ralston sends long free kick into area and Albright heads it but the ball goes wide of the goal.
26 - Revs with the better of the possessions here as Kenny Mansally rips a shot on goal. But the ball hits the outside of the net.
29 - Chivas with some good buildup but Panchito dribbles the ball around too much and can't get a shot off.
31 - Kljestan shot, deflects off Revs player, Razov with the shot but goes right to Reis.
33 - Bornstein finds some space at the top of the box but his shot floats away. Looked like he kicked a balloon there.
36 - Bornstein with a cross to Razov but the ball is just a bit too high for Razov. Then, Razov eventually gets the ball again but his slow-rolling 22-yard shot goes just wide of the post.
38 - Looks like Dube is down. Chivas held the ball for a while before knocking it out of bounds but i dont think they saw Dube laying on the field.
42 - Marsch with a blast and forces Reis to make diving save. Corner for Chivas and Kljestan sends it in but ball gets cleared away.
45 - Revs show same danger in stoppage time but a corner goes nowhere.
HALFTIME - Fairly even match but there was really just the one scoring chance, Marsch's late attempt. Revs would be happy with this result but Chivas USA needs a win to go through; if they draw, Pachuca's gotta lose.
46 - Substitutions... none for either side.
47 - Nyassi with a shot for the Revs but Kennedy turns him away.
49 - Revs with a dangerous set piece here. Ralston from the right side places it into the box but Kennedy punches it away.
52 - Kljestan sends Razov through but Razov can't get a clean shot off on goal. Reis makes the save but Razov cant control the rebound.
55 - Razov with an attempt but his shot goes just wide of goal.
59 - GOAL! Razov finally breaks through. Through ball from Paladini, Razov breaks past defense, Reis makes initial save but ball bounces out to Razov, who knocks it into an empty net.
60 - Paladini made a perfect pass to Razov. Reis actually made a partial save with his left hand but Razov had put so much force into it that Reis couldn't stop it but only slow it down. Razov has now scored a goal in six consecutive games.
69 - Revs trying to get back into the match but look a bit unsettled. Their SuperLiga campaign might be over, if this holds and Pachuca wins.
79 - GOAL! Revs. Joseph with a header, got past Kennedy and Paladini could't kick it out.
80 - Revs in driver's seat now. If they hang on, they win the group.
90 - Four minutes of stoppage time.
90 - Might be Chivas' last stand. Kljestan with a free kick on the left side. He swings it into the box and Marsch places header wide.
FULLTIME - Match is over. 1-1. New England wins group. Chivas needs for Santos to beat Pachuca.
Here are the starting lineups:
Chivas: Dan Kennedy; Carey Talley, Claudio Suarez, Bobby Burling, Francisco Mendoza; Sacha Kljestan, Daniel Paladini, Jesse Marsch, Jonathan Bornstein; Ante Razov, Roberto Nurse.
New England: Matt Reis; Amaechi Igwe, Michael Parkhurts, Jay Heaps, Chris Albright; Sainey Nyassi, Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz; Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally.
And on to the match...
7 - Okay, updating all that took me some time. Chivas have had a few corner kicks but nothing too dangerous.
8 - Preki isn't here. He had to go to Serbia for some sort of emergency. Not sure when he's coming back, but the team won't have any games or anything for the next few weeks.
12 - Albright sends nice cross to far post but Igwe's side volley goes wide of goal.
15 - Pretty quiet first quarter hour. Most of the action came very early. The Revs are pretty organized as usual.
16 - Razov called for offside. Marsch just a fraction of a second too late on the pass, and Razov lets him knows it.
17 - Steve Ralston gets booked for a foul on Jesse Marsch.
19 - Dube has a breakaway but the ball skips away from his feet as Dube's touch was horrible.
21 - It looked like a Revs player was offside, Dube maybe, but no whistle was blown. It looked like the assistant was about ready raise the flag and but nothing was blown. Panchito took out a Revs player in the box but nothing was called.
24 - Ralston sends long free kick into area and Albright heads it but the ball goes wide of the goal.
26 - Revs with the better of the possessions here as Kenny Mansally rips a shot on goal. But the ball hits the outside of the net.
29 - Chivas with some good buildup but Panchito dribbles the ball around too much and can't get a shot off.
31 - Kljestan shot, deflects off Revs player, Razov with the shot but goes right to Reis.
33 - Bornstein finds some space at the top of the box but his shot floats away. Looked like he kicked a balloon there.
36 - Bornstein with a cross to Razov but the ball is just a bit too high for Razov. Then, Razov eventually gets the ball again but his slow-rolling 22-yard shot goes just wide of the post.
38 - Looks like Dube is down. Chivas held the ball for a while before knocking it out of bounds but i dont think they saw Dube laying on the field.
42 - Marsch with a blast and forces Reis to make diving save. Corner for Chivas and Kljestan sends it in but ball gets cleared away.
45 - Revs show same danger in stoppage time but a corner goes nowhere.
HALFTIME - Fairly even match but there was really just the one scoring chance, Marsch's late attempt. Revs would be happy with this result but Chivas USA needs a win to go through; if they draw, Pachuca's gotta lose.
46 - Substitutions... none for either side.
47 - Nyassi with a shot for the Revs but Kennedy turns him away.
49 - Revs with a dangerous set piece here. Ralston from the right side places it into the box but Kennedy punches it away.
52 - Kljestan sends Razov through but Razov can't get a clean shot off on goal. Reis makes the save but Razov cant control the rebound.
55 - Razov with an attempt but his shot goes just wide of goal.
59 - GOAL! Razov finally breaks through. Through ball from Paladini, Razov breaks past defense, Reis makes initial save but ball bounces out to Razov, who knocks it into an empty net.
60 - Paladini made a perfect pass to Razov. Reis actually made a partial save with his left hand but Razov had put so much force into it that Reis couldn't stop it but only slow it down. Razov has now scored a goal in six consecutive games.
69 - Revs trying to get back into the match but look a bit unsettled. Their SuperLiga campaign might be over, if this holds and Pachuca wins.
79 - GOAL! Revs. Joseph with a header, got past Kennedy and Paladini could't kick it out.
80 - Revs in driver's seat now. If they hang on, they win the group.
90 - Four minutes of stoppage time.
90 - Might be Chivas' last stand. Kljestan with a free kick on the left side. He swings it into the box and Marsch places header wide.
FULLTIME - Match is over. 1-1. New England wins group. Chivas needs for Santos to beat Pachuca.
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Titanic site
It's abot a quarter hour to kickoff or so until Chivas USA-New England's SuperLiga match. Here's what the scene looks like as well as a couple more pictures inside.
It's a change of pace from what we're used to obviously. Usually, matches around here are at Home Depot Center but because of the X Games this game had to be played elsewhere, and this is elsewhere.
The capacity here is 10,000 but it doesn't look like we'll get anywhere near that amount.
I think the last official match played here was in 2002 but don't know for sure. I'll try and locate that information for one of my stories and will let you know when I find out that information.
The picture that shows behind the goal is the locker rooms and I'm assuming where they'll have some sort of post-match mixed zone. You can see the little SuperLiga background thing they set up for interviews and such.
I can't recall exactly how many games I've been here. I was the Galaxy-Revs 2001 Open Cup final and at least one Galaxy Open Cup match (against Seattle Sounders Select) as a reporter. I came to a Galaxy Open Cup match once as a fan and also came here for the 2001 CONCACAF Champions Cup matches, as a fan as well.
The field doesn't look to be in the greatest shape but it's hard to tell from up here.
It's a change of pace from what we're used to obviously. Usually, matches around here are at Home Depot Center but because of the X Games this game had to be played elsewhere, and this is elsewhere.
The capacity here is 10,000 but it doesn't look like we'll get anywhere near that amount.
I think the last official match played here was in 2002 but don't know for sure. I'll try and locate that information for one of my stories and will let you know when I find out that information.
The picture that shows behind the goal is the locker rooms and I'm assuming where they'll have some sort of post-match mixed zone. You can see the little SuperLiga background thing they set up for interviews and such.
I can't recall exactly how many games I've been here. I was the Galaxy-Revs 2001 Open Cup final and at least one Galaxy Open Cup match (against Seattle Sounders Select) as a reporter. I came to a Galaxy Open Cup match once as a fan and also came here for the 2001 CONCACAF Champions Cup matches, as a fan as well.
The field doesn't look to be in the greatest shape but it's hard to tell from up here.
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Lifetime Ban Rankings (July 20)
Well, let's see. We had five league games this week and all five ended in a draw. KC-Columbus kicked it off with a 3-3 draw, then San Jose-Toronto and Real Salt Lake-Chicago each went 0-0 while Colorado-FC Dallas and Galaxy-New York went 2-2. No winners, no losers, 10 teams gaining one point apiece.
Meanwhile, DC crashed out of SuperLiga by losing all three games. So much for league momentum. But that doesn't exactly count in these rankings, since I only take into account league form and results.
1. New England (10-4-3). Status quo with MLS' best side.
2. DC United (7-7-1). Good thing that slide won't affect league standings.
3. Columbus (8-5-4). Danny O'Rourke is a terror in the back, and not in a good way.
4. Chicago (7-5-4). Post was both kind and unkind to the Fire.
5. Real Salt Lake (6-6-6). Oh no! That record might be some sort of demonic curse for RSL. Their offense certainly seems cursed.
6. Toronto FC (6-6-4). If they can't win - or even get a point - they need to do so at home, especially against the league's worst team.
7. Chivas USA (6-6-3). Dan Kennedy getting primed for league play in SuperLiga.
8. LA Galaxy (6-6-4). How bad is this defense? New York has four two-goal games this season - two of them have come against the Galaxy.
9. Houston (4-4-8). Winning doesn't seem to be a problem in SuperLiga.
10. Colorado (6-8-2). Christian Gomez's magic flick helped Rapids pull out a point.
11. Kansas City (5-5-6). Josh Wolff might indeed make a difference.
12. FC Dallas (4-6-7). Is that some sings of life from Juan Toja?
13. New York (5-6-6). Rojas might help this sad sack of a club after all.
14. San Jose (3-9-5). Only thing keeping this squad from having double-digit losses is Joe Cannon.
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Meanwhile, DC crashed out of SuperLiga by losing all three games. So much for league momentum. But that doesn't exactly count in these rankings, since I only take into account league form and results.
1. New England (10-4-3). Status quo with MLS' best side.
2. DC United (7-7-1). Good thing that slide won't affect league standings.
3. Columbus (8-5-4). Danny O'Rourke is a terror in the back, and not in a good way.
4. Chicago (7-5-4). Post was both kind and unkind to the Fire.
5. Real Salt Lake (6-6-6). Oh no! That record might be some sort of demonic curse for RSL. Their offense certainly seems cursed.
6. Toronto FC (6-6-4). If they can't win - or even get a point - they need to do so at home, especially against the league's worst team.
7. Chivas USA (6-6-3). Dan Kennedy getting primed for league play in SuperLiga.
8. LA Galaxy (6-6-4). How bad is this defense? New York has four two-goal games this season - two of them have come against the Galaxy.
9. Houston (4-4-8). Winning doesn't seem to be a problem in SuperLiga.
10. Colorado (6-8-2). Christian Gomez's magic flick helped Rapids pull out a point.
11. Kansas City (5-5-6). Josh Wolff might indeed make a difference.
12. FC Dallas (4-6-7). Is that some sings of life from Juan Toja?
13. New York (5-6-6). Rojas might help this sad sack of a club after all.
14. San Jose (3-9-5). Only thing keeping this squad from having double-digit losses is Joe Cannon.
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Who gets the American Dream?
There are classic feel-good stories that are designed to give people an inspirational uplift that might even last more than a day. There are tales that warm the heart.
Sacha Kljestan's Karate Kid celebration, done in honor of his father, Slavko, definitely takes on greater meaning when viewed in the context of their close relationship and Slavko's soccer past.
There are aspects of this story that bother me, though.
I'll admit that it might be tied up with my own O.C. experience. I lived in the area for two years.
Slavko Kljestan, as the article details, entered the U.S. illegally. He stole across the northern border instead of the more commonly crossed southern one, but he didn't have papers, not even when he married. The article hammers home the theme that Slavko and his family have achieved the American Dream.
It strikes me as something of a contradiction when there isn't a mention of the obvious fact that many in the U.S. are now engaged in a furious effort to deny that dream to those trying to achieve it by coming in from Mexico.
By the way, there's a good chance that a future Olympic athlete could very well come from that direction as well.
In fact, that point is already proven by Michael Orozco, Sasha's teammate on the U.S. squad. Michael was born in Orange, a city within the O.C., but there's no O.C. Register profile on him or even a mention of his Olympic inclusion (I realize that Sacha's article was published before the official Olympic roster came out, but I did a search on the OC Register site today for Michael's name and nothing for him came up. So as far as their own database reveals, they've never written about him).
Bottom line, there's a lot of people who view the U.S. as the place where they can make "something from nothing". However, there sure seems to be more acceptance for those who take the initiative to come here without permission if they're European.
Read more...
Sacha Kljestan's Karate Kid celebration, done in honor of his father, Slavko, definitely takes on greater meaning when viewed in the context of their close relationship and Slavko's soccer past.
There are aspects of this story that bother me, though.
I'll admit that it might be tied up with my own O.C. experience. I lived in the area for two years.
Slavko Kljestan, as the article details, entered the U.S. illegally. He stole across the northern border instead of the more commonly crossed southern one, but he didn't have papers, not even when he married. The article hammers home the theme that Slavko and his family have achieved the American Dream.
It strikes me as something of a contradiction when there isn't a mention of the obvious fact that many in the U.S. are now engaged in a furious effort to deny that dream to those trying to achieve it by coming in from Mexico.
By the way, there's a good chance that a future Olympic athlete could very well come from that direction as well.
In fact, that point is already proven by Michael Orozco, Sasha's teammate on the U.S. squad. Michael was born in Orange, a city within the O.C., but there's no O.C. Register profile on him or even a mention of his Olympic inclusion (I realize that Sacha's article was published before the official Olympic roster came out, but I did a search on the OC Register site today for Michael's name and nothing for him came up. So as far as their own database reveals, they've never written about him).
Bottom line, there's a lot of people who view the U.S. as the place where they can make "something from nothing". However, there sure seems to be more acceptance for those who take the initiative to come here without permission if they're European.
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Tearing up the turf
In case you missed the Battle in the Big Apple (at the stadium in New Jersey} or simply want to relive the highlights.
"Ambidexterity, people!" I sometimes roll my eyes at Max Bretos when he's announcing, but of all the English-language announcers, I think his enthusiasm for the game is unparalleled.
Or if you prefer the highlights in Spanish:
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"Ambidexterity, people!" I sometimes roll my eyes at Max Bretos when he's announcing, but of all the English-language announcers, I think his enthusiasm for the game is unparalleled.
Or if you prefer the highlights in Spanish:
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Manhattan Mania
Everybody likes Manhattan Beach. It's pricey without being as exclusively snobby as Malibu. It's got cute shops, cute people, cute bars, cute little sushi restaurants. It's got a boardwalk for exercise and volleyball courts all set up for quick games.
No wonder all the athletes want to live there. I don't live there, of course, but I have spent a lot of time in Manhattan Beach. My friend Rachel was working on her thesis these past two years, and she liked to drive to Manhattan Beach, plug in her laptop at the local Starbucks and knock out a few hours of work there. I'd join her on occasion, with a pile of stuff to grade or an article to put together.
I remember wondering idly if I'd see an athlete I recognized while I was sitting writing. It never happened, though a lot of the soccer players I regularly interview, (including those from Chivas USA, which this article doesn't even mention as an LA team) live there.
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No wonder all the athletes want to live there. I don't live there, of course, but I have spent a lot of time in Manhattan Beach. My friend Rachel was working on her thesis these past two years, and she liked to drive to Manhattan Beach, plug in her laptop at the local Starbucks and knock out a few hours of work there. I'd join her on occasion, with a pile of stuff to grade or an article to put together.
I remember wondering idly if I'd see an athlete I recognized while I was sitting writing. It never happened, though a lot of the soccer players I regularly interview, (including those from Chivas USA, which this article doesn't even mention as an LA team) live there.
Read more...
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Galaxy/Red Bull running blog
Well, well, if the montage of the nine goals scored the last time these two teams met in New York doesn't amp you up for this game, I don't know what will.
Galaxy
* 1 - Steve Cronin (GK)
* 3 - Greg Vanney
* 4 - Ante Jazic
* 7 - Chris Klein
* 8 - Peter Vagenas
* 10 - Landon Donovan
* 12 - Troy Roberts
* 14 - Edson Buddle
* 15 - Alvaro Pires
* 20 - Carlos Ruiz
* 23 - David Beckham
New York
* 18 - Jon Conway (GK)
* 2 - Kevin Goldthwaite
* 4 - Carlos Mendes
* 6 - Seth Stammler
* 9 - Juan Pablo Angel
* 11 - Dave van den Bergh
* 13 - Jorge Rojas
* 19 - Dane Richards
* 20 - Oscar Echeverry
* 27 - Andrew Boyens
* 60 - Jeff Parke
Actually, besides Jozy, I think the player that New York will miss in this game is Clint Mathis. He made a real impact in that Galaxy game.
Kickoff!
1 - Ruiz cuts the wrong way and misses a Galaxy pass.
2 - Foul on Klein - who gets a yellow Sullivan doesn't think it was deserved, but the ref wants to keep things under control.
3 - Beckham blocks the kick with his face and women scream/cheer as he grins sheepishly.
4- New York is attacking from the start, though Dane Richards gets stood up by Jazic. Dane's speed can be deadly.
5 - Galaxy get a deep throw, but NY get the ball back quickly as Vagenas puts the ball out.
6 - Becks drives a deep FK, but the Red Bull backline isn't fooled - Conway claims the ball.
8 - The fans are noisy - but its indistinct. No clear chants. Richards from distance over the bar.
9 - Echeverry slips just before the cross, or it might have been a better one.
11 - Cronin grabs the ball a nanosecond before Angel gets there.
12 - The Galaxy work a good attack up the field, but Jazic's cross isn't great. Klein can't really do anything with it. It's too close to the line when he tries to bring it down.
13 - NY goes the other way, but the Galaxy line blocks two shots.
14 - Buddle goes down, earning the G's a foul, but in their own half.
15 - Becks takes it, then catches up the the rebound but his cross is deflected.
16 - NY - Richards in the box but Cronin dives to snuff the ball. Ruiz misses on the other end. Wide. Match is back and forth now, pace picked up a lot.
17 - Beckham get fouled in midfield. Now Jazic fouls Richards - as Dane lies on the ground, the camera catches his arm freckled with rubber turf bits.
19 - Angel! He cuts around Roberts, leaves him on the ground, gets the ball into the edge of the box and fires on Cronin, who palms the ball away. He's lucky that didn't break his wrist. The shot was a rocket.
21 - Donovan breaks free, hits a great pass for Ruiz, who fires low, but Conway gets a footsave on it and even tangles up Ruiz while he secures the ball, preventing a rebound goal.
23 - Donovan sets up another attack, passes to Jazic who crosses to Ruiz, but it's too far in front of Fish and Conway gets it.
24 - Every close-up shot of the players shows pissed-off faces. It's hot down there, but also the defense is heated on both sides. I don't see nine goals in this game.
25 - Or maybe. Donovan earns a foul just at the top of the box. Becks sets up.
26 - Becks hits wall - gets a corner. It's cleared.
28 - Weird midfield play there - Becks is far back.
29 - GOAL! Cronin had to come out of the box to kick away a ball, leaving the goal empty. Becks corrals the ball in midfield, passes up to Buddle, who beats Parke in the box and trusts Ruiz, dinking a chip pass in front of goal to him. Ruiz gets a head on it, it dinks into goal slowly, but because Conway was out of position, it goes in. 1-0 Galaxy.
32 - That is weird - it really didn't look like Pires fouled Angel there. I guess the name gets the call at times. Or the more spectacular fall, since Angel tumbled over the back of Pires.
34 - GOAL! Van den Burg! Stammler scrapped for the ball in midfield, passed to Rojas, who slipped a tricky ball to VDB. He had a smidgen of room and split the ball between defenders, surprising Cronin and hitting side netting. 1-1 Tied up.
38 - Vanney gets a foul, though he protests that Ech was pulling on his shorts. The FK is cleared.
39 - Donovan volley from a Klein pass, but it's high.
42 - Buddle is handling the ball as much as any playmaker right now.
43 - Ech earns a deep FK as Roberts fouls him. Galaxy clear.
44 - The Galaxy are playing these nice short passes, but the turf confounds a lot of their efforts.
45 - Angel gets on to a lucky bounce, then attacks and hits a perfect pass to Ech, but Roberts slides in perfectly to prevent the shot. Nice.
45 + Galaxy build up a play, Ruiz looked like he was fouled, but the ref lets it go, then perhaps squares up the justice as Angel tumbles at the other end without a call.
Halftime - I like the way that the Galaxy played better than New York, but VDB's goal was worthy. New York's scrappy defense can't be faulted, either.
46 - Angel in the box, goes down, not call.
47 - NY doesn't have the buildup that the Galaxy have, but as long as Angel is on the end of those long passes, they have a major threat on goal.
49 - Richard is coming off the field on a stretcher - no one touched him but the turf or the heat may be to blame.
50 - NY attacking with ten men. Stammer with an outside shot, but unlike VDB, he hits it with rise and it goes over the goal.
52 - Ruiz with a shot in the box - Conway blocks, but Ruiz looks threatening now. At least he's forcing the issue, where the goalkeeper has to make saves.
53 - Jazic is pissed that there's a corner there. NY threatens with it, but the header is wide.
55 - SAVE - as the Galaxy defense is befuddled, VDB fires again, but Cronin stops this one.
56 - Galaxy shot on the other end is stopped b Conway.
57 - Buddle works hard to earn a corner for the G's. It goes far over to LD, whose shot is defelcted for another corner. Becks takes it, Buddle touches the ball down but his shot his deflected.
59 - Rojas! Over the bar! Wow, though it looked like offside on VDB, the play was valid and Rojas was right in front of goal.
60 - Another pass from Stammler finds Rojas, who crosses to Angel. Klein gets a foot in, NY corner. Cronin catches it.
61 - Another NY corner. Ruud looks frustrated. Something's going to give soon. Cronin catches the service, though.
63 - Now the Galaxy have a corner. Ech is out for John Wolyniec. Beck's service is headed out for Angel. Conway gets a yellow for shoving someone.
64 - Conway punches out the next corner.
65 - Ruiz and Buddle both chase a through ball from LD, but Conway gets there first.
66 - Long pass for Angel again. One of those is going to pay off, but it won't be this one.
68 - Galaxy in the box, but shot is deflected and only a corner. NY clears it.
69 - SAVE! Croning comes up big on a save after VDB crosses perfectly to Rojas and he put a knockdown header on frame.
71 - GOAL! The Galaxy were looking dangerous in the attack, but the Red Bulls strike on the counter. Angel gets the ball in the box and completely jukes Vanney in the box, then lifts the ball to the far post over Cronin as the goalkeeper comes out to shut him down. 2-1 New York
Vagenas gets a yellow for dissent. He was mad that he was pulled by Rojas as he tried to reach Vanney to help on defense just before Angel's goal.
73 - New York on the attack again, beating the Galaxy defense hard and firing on goal. Cronin is beaten but Roberts kicks out the ball on the line. Ball falls to VDB, who fires over the bar.
76 - New York looks really confident on the counter now, while the Galaxy look tired.
78 - Ruiz in the box, great work to beat is defender, but shoots into an onrushing Conway.
79 - Vanney is out for Gordon. Gullit is chasing this game.
80 - LD in the box, but Parke snuffs his cross.
81 - So close! VDB beats Klein and shoots on goal by an angle, Cronin parries to the foot of Woly! Over the bar!
83 - Angel with a tricky play over Cronin but the ball goes out on him.
85 - SAVE! Cronin denies VDB. I thought that was in goal but Cronin knocked it out towards the back of the side netting.
86 - Becks gets a pass from Ruiz who is working hard, though he should have scored more than one. Becks' cross is cleared, though.
88 - Pete tries from distance after a run of Galaxy possession. LD mad he didn't get the pass as shot goes wide.
89 - Pietrevalho comes in for VDB.
90 - Gordon in the box. Red Bulls snuff that chance.
GOAL! LD! I DON'T EVEN THINK HE WAS TRYING TO SCORE! LD looked like he was trying to cross for Buddle, but it was a bit too high, then the ball took a crazy bounce in. 2-2
Angel on the other end cracks a shot on goal - Cronin dives and catches it.
LD Again! But it's off the post! Wow.
Final whistle.
Pretty crazy, sexy football, and a hot game. Nuts all the way around, but in the end, I think the result was fair. I may like the short possession passes the Galaxy were pulling a bit more than the passes over the top that NY was working, but the Red Bulls worked it to perfection and deserved both their goals. The Galaxy, however, deserved a little something, though they got lucky with the flukey goal.
OK, not nine goals, but four wasn't bad and it was an exciting game all around.
Ha, ha, both Angel and LD thought their team should have won in the post-game interviews. Big surprise.
I'm not in NY, by the way, but I can guess what Becks is saying in his post game presser.
"We could have won it, but we did well to get the draw so late."
"It was hot."
"Landon showed his skill."
"It showed our character and heart that we kept fighting."
"I hate turf." OK, Becks wouldn't say the last one, but I would bet he thought it.
VBD jokes about his weaker foot in the FSC interview. He's an amiable character and a quality player, even if he looks gangly on the field sometimes. It's deceptive.
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Winning mentality
A group of reporters were in the Home Depot Center press box when we found out that Abby Wambach was probably out of the Olympics. Since I was covering the Chivas USA/Santos SuperLiga game in LA, I was there instead of San Diego. Billy Witz checked the Internet for the score of the match and read the news.
He told us that Abby had been taken off the field with a serious leg injury (at the time, the fracture wasn't yet confirmed). Heads swiveled - nearly all the soccer reporters keep up the women's game and understood the impact of the news.
Then I piped up, "Did they win?"
"Who cares?" Billy said. "It was a friendly, the game didn't mean anything. Now she's injured and probably out of the Olympics. That's what's really going to hurt the team. The score doesn't matter."
Billy had a point, but part of me resisted that mindset. To me, it always matters who wins, no matter what is at stake. In some ways, it would matter even more if the U.S. fell apart after Wambach's removal, losing confidence and the match.
I joked, "Well, it's bad enough that she's injured - losing would be an extra insult added on to that."
After I looked up the news on my own computer, I had to smile a little at the quote from Wambach that she apparently gave when she still had surgery to worry about and already knew her Olympic dream was dead. I knew I wasn't the only one who thought the result mattered, exhibition or no.
"I want to thank all the fans, the doctors, the players on the team and Tasha Kai for scoring the winning goal," Wambach said while in the emergency room.
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He told us that Abby had been taken off the field with a serious leg injury (at the time, the fracture wasn't yet confirmed). Heads swiveled - nearly all the soccer reporters keep up the women's game and understood the impact of the news.
Then I piped up, "Did they win?"
"Who cares?" Billy said. "It was a friendly, the game didn't mean anything. Now she's injured and probably out of the Olympics. That's what's really going to hurt the team. The score doesn't matter."
Billy had a point, but part of me resisted that mindset. To me, it always matters who wins, no matter what is at stake. In some ways, it would matter even more if the U.S. fell apart after Wambach's removal, losing confidence and the match.
I joked, "Well, it's bad enough that she's injured - losing would be an extra insult added on to that."
After I looked up the news on my own computer, I had to smile a little at the quote from Wambach that she apparently gave when she still had surgery to worry about and already knew her Olympic dream was dead. I knew I wasn't the only one who thought the result mattered, exhibition or no.
"I want to thank all the fans, the doctors, the players on the team and Tasha Kai for scoring the winning goal," Wambach said while in the emergency room.
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Ronnie ready to walk out
Cristiano Ronaldo sits down for an interview and gets testy.
How do you view all the fuss about you possibly leaving Manchester United?
The way I look at it is this - the greatest players are always associated with the greatest clubs. Not only me, but all players who are good, good clubs want them. I view it as a normal situation, but it's not only this year. It's been this way between clubs for a long time, so I view it as something normal.
Does it make you feel pursued?
It's not just this year - I've felt that before. It's normal. We'll see what happens.
What do you want to happen? Do you want to stay with Man U next season?
I want to be happy - independent of wherever I play.
Where could you be happy?
Where? Anywhere, in all places. That depends on me. If I'm with people I like, if I'm energetic, if I'm confident, motivated - wherever I am is good.
Is there motivation to stay with Man U?
I'm always motivated, wherever I am. I'm motivated because I'm an ambitious player and I want to get better. About the future, I don't know, but I'm always going to be motivated.
Are you anxious about your future?
No. Normal.
What's normal for you these days?
For me, normal is vacation, rest for my body and mind, a good recuperation. The future belongs to God, not me.
Do you read the press?
Sometimes, when I get the chance.
You're not looking to see what people say about you?
No. I know some people say good things, some say bad. I'm with my friends, so then I'm always fine.
Does that help when you think of returning to Manchester and regaining the support of those who think you're turned traitor?
Why are there forty questions about Manchester and Real Madrid? What do you want me to say? I don't know the future. God only knows. I can't tell you any more.
Thanks a lot.
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How do you view all the fuss about you possibly leaving Manchester United?
The way I look at it is this - the greatest players are always associated with the greatest clubs. Not only me, but all players who are good, good clubs want them. I view it as a normal situation, but it's not only this year. It's been this way between clubs for a long time, so I view it as something normal.
Does it make you feel pursued?
It's not just this year - I've felt that before. It's normal. We'll see what happens.
What do you want to happen? Do you want to stay with Man U next season?
I want to be happy - independent of wherever I play.
Where could you be happy?
Where? Anywhere, in all places. That depends on me. If I'm with people I like, if I'm energetic, if I'm confident, motivated - wherever I am is good.
Is there motivation to stay with Man U?
I'm always motivated, wherever I am. I'm motivated because I'm an ambitious player and I want to get better. About the future, I don't know, but I'm always going to be motivated.
Are you anxious about your future?
No. Normal.
What's normal for you these days?
For me, normal is vacation, rest for my body and mind, a good recuperation. The future belongs to God, not me.
Do you read the press?
Sometimes, when I get the chance.
You're not looking to see what people say about you?
No. I know some people say good things, some say bad. I'm with my friends, so then I'm always fine.
Does that help when you think of returning to Manchester and regaining the support of those who think you're turned traitor?
Why are there forty questions about Manchester and Real Madrid? What do you want me to say? I don't know the future. God only knows. I can't tell you any more.
Thanks a lot.
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Billy and Becks
Billy Witz takes a look at the Becks phenomena a year after arrival.
I'd have to agree that the reception in New York probably won't be as wild as before.
But I'd have to add that at least some of that is due to New York Red Bull. At this time last year, the team had the most exciting young player in the U.S., Jozy Altidore, on their roster. They also had Juan Pablo Angel as the exciting DP that was burning up the league with goals.
This year, the team is struggling with injuries and struggling in the league. Even when the team has pulled out results, their big names have often been on the sidelines, or traded away in the case of Jozy.
I don't know if the rumors about the team bringing in Thierry Henry are substantial, but I do know it's too much to expect Beckham to whip up excitement about MLS all by himself.
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I'd have to agree that the reception in New York probably won't be as wild as before.
But I'd have to add that at least some of that is due to New York Red Bull. At this time last year, the team had the most exciting young player in the U.S., Jozy Altidore, on their roster. They also had Juan Pablo Angel as the exciting DP that was burning up the league with goals.
This year, the team is struggling with injuries and struggling in the league. Even when the team has pulled out results, their big names have often been on the sidelines, or traded away in the case of Jozy.
I don't know if the rumors about the team bringing in Thierry Henry are substantial, but I do know it's too much to expect Beckham to whip up excitement about MLS all by himself.
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Friday, July 18, 2008
Support staff
Though the news has already traveled around the world that an unruly and probably mentally unstable passenger was subdued on a plane by members of the New England Revolution, it doesn't look like any actual players were involved.
It's the fearless staff of the team that did the dirty work. After all, one can't have the players strain something trying to attack a psychotic traveler. Especially a nude one.
Note, however, that the passenger was not nude when physically subdued.
Also, though being involved with any pro sports team can seem exciting, it's hard work to be traveling with players all the time, packing uniforms, planning strategy, nursing and treating various ailments athletes have. They don't get the glory of a head coach or starting 11, but the staff of any pro team is a crucial element of success.
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It's the fearless staff of the team that did the dirty work. After all, one can't have the players strain something trying to attack a psychotic traveler. Especially a nude one.
Note, however, that the passenger was not nude when physically subdued.
Also, though being involved with any pro sports team can seem exciting, it's hard work to be traveling with players all the time, packing uniforms, planning strategy, nursing and treating various ailments athletes have. They don't get the glory of a head coach or starting 11, but the staff of any pro team is a crucial element of success.
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LD no go
Whether it's the Galaxy, the full national team or the Olympic team, a lot of different entities want a piece of LD.
The trouble is, he's only one person, and none of those teams are deep enough that they can easily spare him. Now, I trust the information that I got about the Galaxy refusing to let LD go - that would also indicate that the Olympic team wanted him. However, if the Galaxy gave Bradley and Nowak a choice - Olympics or WC qualifying, then the decision would be easy for Bradley and Nowak.
The U.S. team HAS to qualify for the World Cup. They'd like to medal at the Olympics. It's not the same thing and has to be prioritized accordingly.
Grahame's take.
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The trouble is, he's only one person, and none of those teams are deep enough that they can easily spare him. Now, I trust the information that I got about the Galaxy refusing to let LD go - that would also indicate that the Olympic team wanted him. However, if the Galaxy gave Bradley and Nowak a choice - Olympics or WC qualifying, then the decision would be easy for Bradley and Nowak.
The U.S. team HAS to qualify for the World Cup. They'd like to medal at the Olympics. It's not the same thing and has to be prioritized accordingly.
Grahame's take.
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Making money on soccer
I called Traffic Sports today myself. They're in charge of running the Guatemala/El Salvador game here in LA this weekend, and I needed a credential.
They also own Miami FC, but as this article indicates, their soccer empire is far more wide-reaching.
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They also own Miami FC, but as this article indicates, their soccer empire is far more wide-reaching.
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Blanco bit
So I talked to a U.S. Soccer honcho about Cuauhtemoc Blanco's outburst at the U.S. Open Cup.
I wanted to know why there hadn't been any news about disciplinary measures yet. Turns out, the committee to deal with the matter hasn't even met yet. They'll decide the case in August, apparently. There's no rush to act, I was told, since the Fire is out of the Cup and any censure would only affect next year's tournament.
So it has yet to be decided, but it was clarified that U.S. Soccer would keep to their jurisdiction. In other words, anything they decide won't affect Blanco in MLS, unless MLS decides to act on its own. It doesn't make sense that they would.
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I wanted to know why there hadn't been any news about disciplinary measures yet. Turns out, the committee to deal with the matter hasn't even met yet. They'll decide the case in August, apparently. There's no rush to act, I was told, since the Fire is out of the Cup and any censure would only affect next year's tournament.
So it has yet to be decided, but it was clarified that U.S. Soccer would keep to their jurisdiction. In other words, anything they decide won't affect Blanco in MLS, unless MLS decides to act on its own. It doesn't make sense that they would.
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Gaining respect (from teams, at least)
My latest effort for SI.com is on Mexican soccer players' and coaches' levels of respect towards MLS and SuperLiga. I was able to get quite a few people's thoughts on both, from Mexican players and Argentine players as well as a veteran coach and a young coach and they all had overwhelmingly positive things to say about MLS.
I don't think that means more Mexicans will follow MLS or even respect it any more than they already do but at least the sentiment that MLS is inferior that seems to run rampant south of the border is limited to fans and media, not necessarily players and coaches.
Now, you might say 'Oh, they were just saying nice things because they were in the tournament.' Well, I've interviewed plenty of coaches and players over the years about MLS and responses before haven't been very kind. The first time I remember asking a coach of a Mexican team about MLS was Tuca Ferreti back in 99 when the Galaxy played Chivas in a friendly, and Tuca and Ricardo Pelaez, then a forward with Chivas, each pretty much bashed the league. Don't remember the specific words they said but they bashed the style of play and the physicality of the league.
But now, even players like Matias Vuoso who has nothing to gain or lose by calling MLS out gave the league a positive review.
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I don't think that means more Mexicans will follow MLS or even respect it any more than they already do but at least the sentiment that MLS is inferior that seems to run rampant south of the border is limited to fans and media, not necessarily players and coaches.
Now, you might say 'Oh, they were just saying nice things because they were in the tournament.' Well, I've interviewed plenty of coaches and players over the years about MLS and responses before haven't been very kind. The first time I remember asking a coach of a Mexican team about MLS was Tuca Ferreti back in 99 when the Galaxy played Chivas in a friendly, and Tuca and Ricardo Pelaez, then a forward with Chivas, each pretty much bashed the league. Don't remember the specific words they said but they bashed the style of play and the physicality of the league.
But now, even players like Matias Vuoso who has nothing to gain or lose by calling MLS out gave the league a positive review.
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It's official - Xavier waived
The Galaxy add Eddie and say farewell to Abel. From the press release:
LA Galaxy defender Eduardo Dominguez has officially been added to the club’s roster ahead of this weekend’s game against the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium. The 29-year old Argentine center back agreed to terms with the club last week and has been training with the rest of his teammates all week in preparation for Saturday’s game.
Additionally, the Galaxy have waived defender Abel Xavier.
“Abel has been a wonderful professional at our club and I want to personally thank him for coming to Los Angeles and being a part of the Galaxy family. We wish him continued success in what has already been a long and storied career,” LA Galaxy President and General Manager Alexi Lalas said. ”This was a difficult decision, but it was necessary.”
All other factors aside, I think Xavier really hurt himself by refusing to play on turf. He was trying to preserve his knee, but the Galaxy weren't in a position to accommodate that. They have to play and win league games on turf.
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LA Galaxy defender Eduardo Dominguez has officially been added to the club’s roster ahead of this weekend’s game against the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium. The 29-year old Argentine center back agreed to terms with the club last week and has been training with the rest of his teammates all week in preparation for Saturday’s game.
Additionally, the Galaxy have waived defender Abel Xavier.
“Abel has been a wonderful professional at our club and I want to personally thank him for coming to Los Angeles and being a part of the Galaxy family. We wish him continued success in what has already been a long and storied career,” LA Galaxy President and General Manager Alexi Lalas said. ”This was a difficult decision, but it was necessary.”
All other factors aside, I think Xavier really hurt himself by refusing to play on turf. He was trying to preserve his knee, but the Galaxy weren't in a position to accommodate that. They have to play and win league games on turf.
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Strength is relative
I didn't write the headline to my article about the Olympic roster.
Not that I object to it per se, but I do find it a bit of a paradox, because one of my main points in the article was that the U.S. didn't send the strongest team they could have to the Olympics. Obviously, World Cup qualifying was an issue that conflicted, as did the demands of club teams, especially when it came to one Landon Donovan. LD wanted to go, and there's solid info that U.S. Soccer wanted him, but the Galaxy probably told them, "Look, forget it. Take him to the Olympics, or to WC qualifying, but both? No way."
Or, if you want to hear exactly what Ruud did say on the matter, click here.
Back to the article, I think that there's no doubt that this is the strongest team of U23 players the U.S. has ever sent to the Olympics. The overage players, however, have been stronger in the past, I believe. Not to knock Parkhurst, for example, but I don't think he's a game-changer the way Chris Armas, Jeff Agoos or Frankie Hejduk were in 2000. Parky is a smart player who won't make mistakes, but he doesn't bring a lot extra to the table in terms of leadership or incredible hustle or long passes.
I also have reservations about McBride's match fitness, honestly. In 1996, the three overagers were Alexi Lalas, Claudio Reyna and goalkeeper Kasey Keller. Keller at his best beats Guzan and a young Reyna beats out nearly everyone, and Lalas, well, he was a decent defender.
Anyway, I'm not saying the headline is wrong, but I'm qualifying my agreement with it to refer to the U23 players. Is the entire team the strongest the US has ever sent to an Olympics? I'd have to say that's arguable.
Your thoughts?
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Soccer in Spanish
It's just more exciting, in my opinion. Shots of the fans, goal celebrations, stats comparing two big stars, announcers who seem excited about the match itself.
Highlights of the Crew/Wizards match in English.
Highlights in the language that does it right.
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Highlights of the Crew/Wizards match in English.
Highlights in the language that does it right.
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Mexico a los juegos olimpicos
One Mexican, at least, is going to compete in the Olympics for soccer.
One Mexican-American, that is.
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One Mexican-American, that is.
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Mr. Big Stuff
Sometimes I forget, actually. I mean, the local soccer reporters see Becks at practice and after games, at conferences and what not, so after a while, it's almost mundane.
So I forget, at least now and again, that he is a big deal.
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So I forget, at least now and again, that he is a big deal.
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Redacted readings
Daniel Guzman wasn't kidding when he said more Mexican club teams are scouting in the U.S. Atlas is, for sure.
I like the different interpretations of the same thing said.
Not picking the home team.
John, of course, doesn't actually have to play on turf.
Could sprayed lines make encroachment vanish?
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I like the different interpretations of the same thing said.
Not picking the home team.
John, of course, doesn't actually have to play on turf.
Could sprayed lines make encroachment vanish?
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Thursday, July 17, 2008
The return of K-Mart
Sort of. Former Galaxy player Kyle Martino will be on the broadcast of the Developmental Academy Finals.
He's going to be adding color commentary to the match announcing.
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He's going to be adding color commentary to the match announcing.
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Depth up top
As promised, here is a link to the feature I wrote on Roberto Nurse, Chivas USA's latest signing.
Of course, I forgot to take my camera down from the press box to the mixed zone so I didn't get a chance to snap a shot of him.
On Sunday, I expect Nurse to start. I think that by throwing him out there against New England you not only give him another chance to acclimate himself to the league, you give either Atiba Harris or Ante Razov a rest, and we saw how a well-rested Razov changed the game on Wednesday.
Harris has done okay. During Chivas' three-match win streak earlier this season, Harris was a man possessed. He's settled down somewhat and still sometimes runs a bit reckless. If he were a little more aware of certain things, he'd be pretty useful. As it stands, though, he has his hits and misses.
It'll be interesting to see how the forward line sorts itself out once Papi gets back. Maykel Galindo has been gone for basically the entire season. Once Preki looks at his lineup and sees Ante Razov, Maykel Galindo, Atiba Harris, Roberto Nurse, Justin Braun and Alecko Eskandarian there, he may salivate.
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Of course, I forgot to take my camera down from the press box to the mixed zone so I didn't get a chance to snap a shot of him.
On Sunday, I expect Nurse to start. I think that by throwing him out there against New England you not only give him another chance to acclimate himself to the league, you give either Atiba Harris or Ante Razov a rest, and we saw how a well-rested Razov changed the game on Wednesday.
Harris has done okay. During Chivas' three-match win streak earlier this season, Harris was a man possessed. He's settled down somewhat and still sometimes runs a bit reckless. If he were a little more aware of certain things, he'd be pretty useful. As it stands, though, he has his hits and misses.
It'll be interesting to see how the forward line sorts itself out once Papi gets back. Maykel Galindo has been gone for basically the entire season. Once Preki looks at his lineup and sees Ante Razov, Maykel Galindo, Atiba Harris, Roberto Nurse, Justin Braun and Alecko Eskandarian there, he may salivate.
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Crew/Wizards running blog
The Crew are still near the top of their conference, while the Wizards are at the other end. Nothing is promised in MLS, though, so lets follow the bouncing ball.
Kickoff!
Wizards
* 1 - Kevin Hartman (GK)
* 2 - Michael Harrington
* 6 - Lance Watson
* 7 - Claudio Lopez
* 9 - Sasha Victorine
* 11 - Kurt Morsink
* 12 - Jimmy Conrad
* 14 - Jack Jewsbury
* 15 - Aaron Hohlbein
* 17 - Roger Espinoza
* 22 - Davy Arnaud
Crew
* 1 - William Hesmer (GK)
* 2 - Frankie Hejduk
* 5 - Danny O'Rourke
* 6 - Andy Iro
* 7 - Guillermo Barros Schelotto
* 10 - Alejandro Moreno
* 14 - Chad Marshall
* 15 - Stefani Miglioranzi
* 16 - Brian Carroll
* 17 - Emmanuel Ekpo
* 19 - Robbie Rogers
1 - Moreno offside almost immediately. Who will take a bet that he gets five of those this match?
3 - Wolff is on the bench - looks like old times for the boys in blue.
5 - Hejduk looks like a hyperactive lion with that hair. Somehow, it works for him.
6 - AleMo is appealing for a handball, but the replay is a poor angle and inconclusive.
8 - Yikes, what did Harrington do to his hair? He looks like Johnny Rotten. The punk platinum makes his eyes look buggy.
10 - Harkes is talking about his West Ham days. It's pretty boring, but so far, the game's not much better.
11 - Teams are testing each other out - Hejduk can't save a ball from rolling out of bounds.
12 - Schellotto gets caught by Holbein, who basically can't check his run after Schellotto bring the ball down.
13 - AleMo beats a defender, but bends an easy cross into Hartman's gloves.
14 - Lopez passes to space, but Watson leaves the space empty.
16 - Ekpo looks great when he has room, not so much when he runs into traffic.
17 - Rogers! He gets a flick pass from AleMo and races into the box, where a quick cutback shakes his defender and then he cracks a shot - wide, but not by a lot.
18 - Now both teams have settled down and are creating chances. Lopez is talking a lot on TV. I'm not sure to whom, though, since he's obviously speaking Spanish, but besides Espinoza, his teammates probably don't understand much.
20 - Harrington and Hejduk are having a hair battle - is the bleach bottle or the length superior? We shall see who will claim the victory.
21 - Arnaud is fouled by Ekpo near the corner of the box. Appetizing for Lopez here. Arnaud takes it, though, Crew clear.
22 - GOAL! Hejduk's lion locks have let him down. Morsink serves the Crew clearance right back into the box, where Sasha Victorine is well-positioned between two Crew defenders, Hejduk and O'Rourke, to fight for the header. Hejduk leaps for it, but sends it into his own net. 1-0 Wizards
24 - GOAL! Wizards score their own! Espinoza gets on to the end of a skipping Jewsbury cross, just beating Marshall to the ball. 2-0 Wizards.
26 - GOAL! Crew set up a FK and take it quickly. Schellotto loops it over the wall and into the sidenetting past Hartman's gloves. 2-1 Wizards still lead, but their two-goal advantage has vanished.
28 - Hejduk shows Samson-like strength on an outside shot that is way, way high.
32 - Rogers is down in the box and Abbe Okulaja lets it go. Of course. It's Abbe. Harkes disagrees with the non-call. Rogers as well, but more vehemently and probably with more profanity involved.
33 - GOAL! Rogers springs Schellotto behind the defense on the wing, who holds the ball into the box, then releases the ball for AleMo, who gets a little bit on the ball as his KC defender goes down on a tackle. But the ball blips to the right of Hartman, headed toward the net. Hartman scrambles and just gets a glove on the ball to shovel it away from goal, but right to the feet of AleMo, who had sprung back up. AleMo gets the easiest of finished for the tying goal 2-2.
35 - Hesmer saves an outside shot.
38 - GOAL! Crew corner - Schellotto serves the ball in and Marshall beats Conrad to the ball, diving to finish it into the roof of the goal. Columbus leads. 3-2.
40 - Rogers yellow carded for a tackle from behind.
42 - Harkes mentions Harrington's hair. He also thinks that it might be "psyching him out" instead of helping. Well, it seemed to help at 2-0. Not so much at 2-3. Hejduk's lion locks have struck back.
43 - Ekpo and Conrad down after a collision.
45 - As Jimmy rises, JP mentions that Jimmy writes for espn.com. Hey, that's almost a shout-out to me. Sorta. I write for espn.com, too.
45 + FK for the Crew who are keeping the pressure on the Wizards. Schellotto is tricky by sending the ball square for Carroll, whose shot is blocked back.
Halftime!
Kansas City came out racing, but then the momentum shifted drastically. Now the Wizards look stunned. The Crew deserve their lead, but they got a bit lucky with the bounce on the second goal. No matter. They also refused to let the early deficit discourage them and roared back with three unanswered goals.
48 - Wolff is in for the second half for the Wizards.
49 - Schellotto with a shot, but Hartman stops it and the offside flag was up anyway.
53 - Wolff is already back to his old form - getting into good positions, but not getting a shot off.
54 - AleMo misses on a diving header. He protests that he was held.
55 - Hejduk on the break, getting a pass from Ekpo, Frankie is alone on goal but Hartman snuff the shot.
58 - KC with a corner chance. Lopez has to deal with a few streamers, but nothing like the showers of before. Crew clear.
59 - Another corner. This one looks like it has a chance, but the Crew clear again and then Ekpo is cleared by a Morsink tackle. Yellow.
69 - Hartman! Save. He's keeping KC in the game. He has 70 saves this season.
72 - Schellotto takes down Jewsbury and sees yellow. Harkes goes on an Etcheverry soliloquy. He manages to bring DC into games even when they aren't playing. Also, as Harkes goes on about how much better Etch is than Guille, I recall the final days of Marco in MLS. They weren't pretty much of the time.
76 - GOAL! Hartman's saves were not in vain! Morsink with a great field crossing pass to Jewsbury, who remains calm as O'Rourke leaps and misses the ball. Jewsbury brings it down, moves into the box and slides the ball in front of goal perfectly, leaving Wolff with a tap in. 3-3 Even.
79 - Lopez in the box! He gets a shot off at a tough angle, but it doesn't quite go in.
80 - Ryan Pore comes in for Roger Espinoza.
81 - Who called Crew/Wizards to be the game that lights up ESPN Thursdays? Victorine shoots from outside, bangs the boards.
84 - The shift now is for Kansas City, and it's the Crew who look a bit shaky now.
85 - So the Crew turn to their lucky charm - Steve Lenhard, and he replaces Miglioranzi. Lenhart has the knack for late-game goals, but he can't catch up to a long pass from Schellotto.
86 - The Wizards turn to that blue-eyed midfield maestro, Kerry Zavagnin.
87 - Conrad's head gets pulled by Lenhart as he latches on to a ball, gets his goal called back for the foul.
88 - Shoving breaks out in front of Abbe as the Crew set up for a FK. The Wizards clear, Zavagnin finding Wolff on the outlet run.
90 - Carroll down in the box, trying to meet a Schellotto pass. Abbe waves off the contact.
90+ Again the tides of fortune have shifted - the Crew have the late attacks. The Wizards complicate a clearance and Rogers gets fouled. A FK for the Crew. It leads to a corner. Iro goes up for it, but Iro doesn't get good direction on it, popping it over the goal.
Final whistle!
A draw is probably a fair result, but it also means that KC still doesn't really advance very far up the table, though they continue their unbeaten streak.
I guess the hairdos of Harrington and Hejduk cancelled each other out - neither claimed supremacy.
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Kickoff!
Wizards
* 1 - Kevin Hartman (GK)
* 2 - Michael Harrington
* 6 - Lance Watson
* 7 - Claudio Lopez
* 9 - Sasha Victorine
* 11 - Kurt Morsink
* 12 - Jimmy Conrad
* 14 - Jack Jewsbury
* 15 - Aaron Hohlbein
* 17 - Roger Espinoza
* 22 - Davy Arnaud
Crew
* 1 - William Hesmer (GK)
* 2 - Frankie Hejduk
* 5 - Danny O'Rourke
* 6 - Andy Iro
* 7 - Guillermo Barros Schelotto
* 10 - Alejandro Moreno
* 14 - Chad Marshall
* 15 - Stefani Miglioranzi
* 16 - Brian Carroll
* 17 - Emmanuel Ekpo
* 19 - Robbie Rogers
1 - Moreno offside almost immediately. Who will take a bet that he gets five of those this match?
3 - Wolff is on the bench - looks like old times for the boys in blue.
5 - Hejduk looks like a hyperactive lion with that hair. Somehow, it works for him.
6 - AleMo is appealing for a handball, but the replay is a poor angle and inconclusive.
8 - Yikes, what did Harrington do to his hair? He looks like Johnny Rotten. The punk platinum makes his eyes look buggy.
10 - Harkes is talking about his West Ham days. It's pretty boring, but so far, the game's not much better.
11 - Teams are testing each other out - Hejduk can't save a ball from rolling out of bounds.
12 - Schellotto gets caught by Holbein, who basically can't check his run after Schellotto bring the ball down.
13 - AleMo beats a defender, but bends an easy cross into Hartman's gloves.
14 - Lopez passes to space, but Watson leaves the space empty.
16 - Ekpo looks great when he has room, not so much when he runs into traffic.
17 - Rogers! He gets a flick pass from AleMo and races into the box, where a quick cutback shakes his defender and then he cracks a shot - wide, but not by a lot.
18 - Now both teams have settled down and are creating chances. Lopez is talking a lot on TV. I'm not sure to whom, though, since he's obviously speaking Spanish, but besides Espinoza, his teammates probably don't understand much.
20 - Harrington and Hejduk are having a hair battle - is the bleach bottle or the length superior? We shall see who will claim the victory.
21 - Arnaud is fouled by Ekpo near the corner of the box. Appetizing for Lopez here. Arnaud takes it, though, Crew clear.
22 - GOAL! Hejduk's lion locks have let him down. Morsink serves the Crew clearance right back into the box, where Sasha Victorine is well-positioned between two Crew defenders, Hejduk and O'Rourke, to fight for the header. Hejduk leaps for it, but sends it into his own net. 1-0 Wizards
24 - GOAL! Wizards score their own! Espinoza gets on to the end of a skipping Jewsbury cross, just beating Marshall to the ball. 2-0 Wizards.
26 - GOAL! Crew set up a FK and take it quickly. Schellotto loops it over the wall and into the sidenetting past Hartman's gloves. 2-1 Wizards still lead, but their two-goal advantage has vanished.
28 - Hejduk shows Samson-like strength on an outside shot that is way, way high.
32 - Rogers is down in the box and Abbe Okulaja lets it go. Of course. It's Abbe. Harkes disagrees with the non-call. Rogers as well, but more vehemently and probably with more profanity involved.
33 - GOAL! Rogers springs Schellotto behind the defense on the wing, who holds the ball into the box, then releases the ball for AleMo, who gets a little bit on the ball as his KC defender goes down on a tackle. But the ball blips to the right of Hartman, headed toward the net. Hartman scrambles and just gets a glove on the ball to shovel it away from goal, but right to the feet of AleMo, who had sprung back up. AleMo gets the easiest of finished for the tying goal 2-2.
35 - Hesmer saves an outside shot.
38 - GOAL! Crew corner - Schellotto serves the ball in and Marshall beats Conrad to the ball, diving to finish it into the roof of the goal. Columbus leads. 3-2.
40 - Rogers yellow carded for a tackle from behind.
42 - Harkes mentions Harrington's hair. He also thinks that it might be "psyching him out" instead of helping. Well, it seemed to help at 2-0. Not so much at 2-3. Hejduk's lion locks have struck back.
43 - Ekpo and Conrad down after a collision.
45 - As Jimmy rises, JP mentions that Jimmy writes for espn.com. Hey, that's almost a shout-out to me. Sorta. I write for espn.com, too.
45 + FK for the Crew who are keeping the pressure on the Wizards. Schellotto is tricky by sending the ball square for Carroll, whose shot is blocked back.
Halftime!
Kansas City came out racing, but then the momentum shifted drastically. Now the Wizards look stunned. The Crew deserve their lead, but they got a bit lucky with the bounce on the second goal. No matter. They also refused to let the early deficit discourage them and roared back with three unanswered goals.
48 - Wolff is in for the second half for the Wizards.
49 - Schellotto with a shot, but Hartman stops it and the offside flag was up anyway.
53 - Wolff is already back to his old form - getting into good positions, but not getting a shot off.
54 - AleMo misses on a diving header. He protests that he was held.
55 - Hejduk on the break, getting a pass from Ekpo, Frankie is alone on goal but Hartman snuff the shot.
58 - KC with a corner chance. Lopez has to deal with a few streamers, but nothing like the showers of before. Crew clear.
59 - Another corner. This one looks like it has a chance, but the Crew clear again and then Ekpo is cleared by a Morsink tackle. Yellow.
69 - Hartman! Save. He's keeping KC in the game. He has 70 saves this season.
72 - Schellotto takes down Jewsbury and sees yellow. Harkes goes on an Etcheverry soliloquy. He manages to bring DC into games even when they aren't playing. Also, as Harkes goes on about how much better Etch is than Guille, I recall the final days of Marco in MLS. They weren't pretty much of the time.
76 - GOAL! Hartman's saves were not in vain! Morsink with a great field crossing pass to Jewsbury, who remains calm as O'Rourke leaps and misses the ball. Jewsbury brings it down, moves into the box and slides the ball in front of goal perfectly, leaving Wolff with a tap in. 3-3 Even.
79 - Lopez in the box! He gets a shot off at a tough angle, but it doesn't quite go in.
80 - Ryan Pore comes in for Roger Espinoza.
81 - Who called Crew/Wizards to be the game that lights up ESPN Thursdays? Victorine shoots from outside, bangs the boards.
84 - The shift now is for Kansas City, and it's the Crew who look a bit shaky now.
85 - So the Crew turn to their lucky charm - Steve Lenhard, and he replaces Miglioranzi. Lenhart has the knack for late-game goals, but he can't catch up to a long pass from Schellotto.
86 - The Wizards turn to that blue-eyed midfield maestro, Kerry Zavagnin.
87 - Conrad's head gets pulled by Lenhart as he latches on to a ball, gets his goal called back for the foul.
88 - Shoving breaks out in front of Abbe as the Crew set up for a FK. The Wizards clear, Zavagnin finding Wolff on the outlet run.
90 - Carroll down in the box, trying to meet a Schellotto pass. Abbe waves off the contact.
90+ Again the tides of fortune have shifted - the Crew have the late attacks. The Wizards complicate a clearance and Rogers gets fouled. A FK for the Crew. It leads to a corner. Iro goes up for it, but Iro doesn't get good direction on it, popping it over the goal.
Final whistle!
A draw is probably a fair result, but it also means that KC still doesn't really advance very far up the table, though they continue their unbeaten streak.
I guess the hairdos of Harrington and Hejduk cancelled each other out - neither claimed supremacy.
Read more...
Sick about it
Mediotiempo cartoons on the SuperLiga continue.
This time, the little Chivas USA goat asks the Santos player, "You got "Championitis" already?" The player responds, "It's better to get sick here than in a tournament that really matters."
In the background - I'm not sure - could be a Revs player chasing the Pachuca gopher with a stick.
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This time, the little Chivas USA goat asks the Santos player, "You got "Championitis" already?" The player responds, "It's better to get sick here than in a tournament that really matters."
In the background - I'm not sure - could be a Revs player chasing the Pachuca gopher with a stick.
Read more...
Becks on the U.S. game
I remember the day David Beckham shot this interview. I was waiting to get quotes from Landon Donovan when Beckham came out into the hallway from the locker room. My first thought was that I liked the color of his sweater. Turns out it shows up well on TV as David looks back on his first year with MLS.
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Wambach Reactions
It's obvious the U.S. Women's Team and their chances for a gold medal suffer without Wambach. The question is, how much?
Here's my take for espn.com on the situation.
I'd also add that I like the inclusion of Lauren Cheney. She has a lot of experience for a youngster, and she has in fact faced a Brazil team with Marta in the PanAmerican games final as a member of the U20 team versus a full-strength Brazil. The U.S. lost, but the experience no doubt toughened Cheney up. She has a wicked shot, controls the ball well, and has nice vision to make a pass.
The team is going to have to bounce back, though. There's a bit of break now before the players reunite on Monday. If they're moping around and worrying about what will happen, it doesn't bode well for the psyche of the squad before an important competition.
Read more...
Here's my take for espn.com on the situation.
I'd also add that I like the inclusion of Lauren Cheney. She has a lot of experience for a youngster, and she has in fact faced a Brazil team with Marta in the PanAmerican games final as a member of the U20 team versus a full-strength Brazil. The U.S. lost, but the experience no doubt toughened Cheney up. She has a wicked shot, controls the ball well, and has nice vision to make a pass.
The team is going to have to bounce back, though. There's a bit of break now before the players reunite on Monday. If they're moping around and worrying about what will happen, it doesn't bode well for the psyche of the squad before an important competition.
Read more...
Noor-say
If you want to say Roberto Nurse's last name correctly, it's like this: noor-say. In Spanish, of course, every syllable is prounounced so you don't get silent a -gh thrown into the middle of the word or a silent letter at the end. Thus, in an English word like Nurse when prouncouned in Spanish is noor-say.
Roberto noor-say is of course Chivas USA's latest signing. And he's not your typical Mexican soccer player either.
First of all, it's not common for Mexicans to have an English last name. Former President Vicente Fox was an exception, as is Roberto Nurse. You typically find that more Central Americans have English surnames, such as Costa Rican World Cup vets Harold Wallace and Mauricio Wright or Hondurans such as Carlo Costly and George Welcome.
Part of Nurse's own heritage is Central American - his dad was born in Panama. Nurse also speaks English; the only other Mexican-born Chivas USA player who spoke English before he arrived with the club was Francisco Palencia, and that guy was definitely another unique character.
Anyway, Nurse tore apart the Primera A in Mexico, the second division. But that's not what he aspired to do, to be a second division player. In fact, when I asked him about his options in Mexico, he said he felt that he was stuck in a league that nobody cared about.
I just filed a story on Nurse for MLSnet.com, so you'll have to wait until it's published to read more about him. But if you speak Spanish, here's the audio of my interview with Roberto Nurse. The voice asking questions before me is the esteemed Rigo Cervantez. Rigo rules!
Read more...
Roberto noor-say is of course Chivas USA's latest signing. And he's not your typical Mexican soccer player either.
First of all, it's not common for Mexicans to have an English last name. Former President Vicente Fox was an exception, as is Roberto Nurse. You typically find that more Central Americans have English surnames, such as Costa Rican World Cup vets Harold Wallace and Mauricio Wright or Hondurans such as Carlo Costly and George Welcome.
Part of Nurse's own heritage is Central American - his dad was born in Panama. Nurse also speaks English; the only other Mexican-born Chivas USA player who spoke English before he arrived with the club was Francisco Palencia, and that guy was definitely another unique character.
Anyway, Nurse tore apart the Primera A in Mexico, the second division. But that's not what he aspired to do, to be a second division player. In fact, when I asked him about his options in Mexico, he said he felt that he was stuck in a league that nobody cared about.
I just filed a story on Nurse for MLSnet.com, so you'll have to wait until it's published to read more about him. But if you speak Spanish, here's the audio of my interview with Roberto Nurse. The voice asking questions before me is the esteemed Rigo Cervantez. Rigo rules!
Read more...
The Grudge
Some have already mentioned "karma" in the situation of Abby Wambach's broken leg. 
Even in a context where it should have no bearing, it's impossible to ignore the previous controversy of team members who were angry with Hope Solo's statements at the past World Cup.
Now, do I believe that Hope Solo had a little voodoo doll of these players that she stuck pins into?
No way.
There's a simple reason why, even if Solo was hurt at their reaction (and it's pretty clear some were hurt by her speaking out) that Solo wouldn't wish them any ill.
It's because they are good players and Solo, like all competitors, wants to win.
That's why I frankly don't understand the fans who have written me saying, "This team makes me so mad for how they treated Solo! I want to see them lose."
Solo is on the team - she'd lose along with them.
Putting the past behind and moving on means forgiveness or at least, a truce on all sides.
I don't think that there's some sort of cosmic plan in place for Kristine Lilly's pregnancy, Cat Whitehill's ACL tear, Leslie Osborne's ACL injury or Wambach's broken leg. Brianna Scurry didn't make the team this year not because of what happened with Solo, but because despite Scurry's considerable skills and experience, Nicole Barnhart has improved enough and deserves the chance.
For whatever the reasons, the U.S. team now has a new coach, and a much younger roster, with quite a few players who had nothing to do with the Solo situation and want nothing more than to win for themselves and their country.
One of them, of course, is Solo herself.
Frankly, she's going to have to be better than ever in goal with the attack missing a top player like Wambach. If ever she and the team needed fan support, it's now.
Read more...
Even in a context where it should have no bearing, it's impossible to ignore the previous controversy of team members who were angry with Hope Solo's statements at the past World Cup.
Now, do I believe that Hope Solo had a little voodoo doll of these players that she stuck pins into?
No way.
There's a simple reason why, even if Solo was hurt at their reaction (and it's pretty clear some were hurt by her speaking out) that Solo wouldn't wish them any ill.
It's because they are good players and Solo, like all competitors, wants to win.
That's why I frankly don't understand the fans who have written me saying, "This team makes me so mad for how they treated Solo! I want to see them lose."
Solo is on the team - she'd lose along with them.
Putting the past behind and moving on means forgiveness or at least, a truce on all sides.
I don't think that there's some sort of cosmic plan in place for Kristine Lilly's pregnancy, Cat Whitehill's ACL tear, Leslie Osborne's ACL injury or Wambach's broken leg. Brianna Scurry didn't make the team this year not because of what happened with Solo, but because despite Scurry's considerable skills and experience, Nicole Barnhart has improved enough and deserves the chance.
For whatever the reasons, the U.S. team now has a new coach, and a much younger roster, with quite a few players who had nothing to do with the Solo situation and want nothing more than to win for themselves and their country.
One of them, of course, is Solo herself.
Frankly, she's going to have to be better than ever in goal with the attack missing a top player like Wambach. If ever she and the team needed fan support, it's now.
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U.S. Olympic Team Conference Call
New-Agey instrumental music is playing on hold. Ok, it's stopped now. Silence. Blessed silence. Oh, no, it's started again. Now Neill Beuthe comes on and introduces Peter Nowak. Buethe also reads off the complete roster:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (out of contract), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
Peter says he has evaluated the whole roster and Olympic team needs. "We wanted to field two competitive teams."
"We feel very good about the players" He also says the group for the Olympics is difficult.
Nowak now talks about working with player agents, managers and teams to bring in players and to compromise on player selection.
Michel Parkhurst, Brad Guzan and Brian McBride are the overage players selected. "He's underrated defender in our league," Nowak says of Parkhurst. He liked Parky's performance in the Gold Cup.
Nowak talks about how Robbie Rogers has come on strong recently. "He's developed not only his strengths, but his weaknesses."
Nowak says that Donovan was considered for the team, but that a lot of factors went into selection, including wanting a strong team for WC qualifying. He talks then about Kljestan, about how he is an experienced and versatile player. "It's time for him to shine on the international level."
Nowak is asked by Luis Arroyave about Chad Barrett's exclusion. "If I would have 30 places, everybody would get in," said Nowak. It seems he was more inclined to go with versatile forards who can also play in the midfield. He says nice things about Chad's progress, though, thanks him for helping the team qualify.
Nowak on McBride "He's going to be vital to this team. He brings great experience. For his career, this Olympics will be the cherry on the cake."
Nowak talks about the difficulties of the schedule - with CONCACAF qualifiers in the way. "The senior team is very important also."
Nowak talks about how the guys in season are match-fit, while others are not. "We have to get the groups on the same page. It's going to be a little challenging."
Because of the number of games in group play and weather conditions, Nowak really wanted versatile players on the squad "We would like to have options."
Brad and Parky missed the Olympic deadline by only one year, and Nowak says this was a factor in the decision. "Team chemistry". Nowak says they thought about other players, but he feels good about the choice.
Here are the team alternates, by the way: Goalkeeper: Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract)
Defender: Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew)
Midfielder: Dax McCarty (FC Dallas)
Forward: Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)
Sal Zizzo wasn't picked - Nowak seems to imply that Hamburg didn't want to release him, but ultimately says there wasn't room for Sal on the roster.
CONCACAF Qualifying isn't a controversy Nowak wants to get into. "That's not my concern. My concern is to get these guys ready for Japan."
"We did everything in our power to get them on the field," Nowak says of players in transition with club teams.
I ask Peter what he's looking for from players in the preparation matches. It turns out he wants to acclimatize the players to the weather conditions more than anything.
Having asked my question, I'm signing off now. The whole conference will be podcast on the U.S. Soccer site later.
.
Read more...
GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (out of contract), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
Peter says he has evaluated the whole roster and Olympic team needs. "We wanted to field two competitive teams."
"We feel very good about the players" He also says the group for the Olympics is difficult.
Nowak now talks about working with player agents, managers and teams to bring in players and to compromise on player selection.
Michel Parkhurst, Brad Guzan and Brian McBride are the overage players selected. "He's underrated defender in our league," Nowak says of Parkhurst. He liked Parky's performance in the Gold Cup.
Nowak talks about how Robbie Rogers has come on strong recently. "He's developed not only his strengths, but his weaknesses."
Nowak says that Donovan was considered for the team, but that a lot of factors went into selection, including wanting a strong team for WC qualifying. He talks then about Kljestan, about how he is an experienced and versatile player. "It's time for him to shine on the international level."
Nowak is asked by Luis Arroyave about Chad Barrett's exclusion. "If I would have 30 places, everybody would get in," said Nowak. It seems he was more inclined to go with versatile forards who can also play in the midfield. He says nice things about Chad's progress, though, thanks him for helping the team qualify.
Nowak on McBride "He's going to be vital to this team. He brings great experience. For his career, this Olympics will be the cherry on the cake."
Nowak talks about the difficulties of the schedule - with CONCACAF qualifiers in the way. "The senior team is very important also."
Nowak talks about how the guys in season are match-fit, while others are not. "We have to get the groups on the same page. It's going to be a little challenging."
Because of the number of games in group play and weather conditions, Nowak really wanted versatile players on the squad "We would like to have options."
Brad and Parky missed the Olympic deadline by only one year, and Nowak says this was a factor in the decision. "Team chemistry". Nowak says they thought about other players, but he feels good about the choice.
Here are the team alternates, by the way: Goalkeeper: Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract)
Defender: Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew)
Midfielder: Dax McCarty (FC Dallas)
Forward: Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)
Sal Zizzo wasn't picked - Nowak seems to imply that Hamburg didn't want to release him, but ultimately says there wasn't room for Sal on the roster.
CONCACAF Qualifying isn't a controversy Nowak wants to get into. "That's not my concern. My concern is to get these guys ready for Japan."
"We did everything in our power to get them on the field," Nowak says of players in transition with club teams.
I ask Peter what he's looking for from players in the preparation matches. It turns out he wants to acclimatize the players to the weather conditions more than anything.
Having asked my question, I'm signing off now. The whole conference will be podcast on the U.S. Soccer site later.
.
Read more...
Carey-ing the load
When Chivas USA acquired Carey Talley, I figured he'd man the right back slot until Lawson Vaughn was healthy enough. I didn't realize that he'd become such an integral part of the squad, so much so that The Law may not play right back provided he gets back healthy and Talley stays healthy.
I had the chance to catch up with Carey after the match as he was holding his new but fully drenched Santos Laguna jersey.
I asked Carey a few questions about the match and Sunday's now-decisive game against New England. Then, I grabbed some stuff he had to say about Edgar Castillo right before Edgar walked out so it may end aprubtly.
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Matias Vuoso on loss
Matias Vuoso spoke to reporters after the match. He's a Spanish speaker so read on if you want to hear his palabras.
Vuoso kept it brief. He basically said that Chivas had one chance and put it away while Santos had many but couldn't do anything with them.
Here's his audio.
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Kljestan on match
Sacha Klejstan likely played his second-to-last game with Chivas USA for a while. Later today, he will probably be a part of the United States' Olympic roster.
If that's the case, he's going out with a bang.
Sacha served up a perfect ball to Ante Razov, who did what he does best and buried the ball in the back of the net for the only goal in Wednesday's 1-0 win over Santos Laguna.
Sacha had probably one of his better performances of the season. Though his finishing skills and killer instinct need improving, Kljestan is a fine player nevertheless. The hope is he'll round out his game soon enough.
Anyway, here's Sacha from after the match on Wednesday.
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Complicated scenarios
Through two games, all teams in Group B are still alive and, as far as we can tell, each team has a chance of crashing out of the tournament on Sunday.
That means Santos, who have zero points in two games, still have hopes while New England, with six points in two games, might still not advance.
How does that work out? Well, like I said, it's complicated.
First of all, here's a link to what some colleagues were discussing in the press box. Nick Green on his 100 Percent Soccer blog breaks down the tiebreaking scenarios. I let him do the work on Wednesday as I had a lot of stuff to get off my plate and by the time I wanted to figure it out on my own, the topic had been discussed and figured out... we think. It's complicated, rememeber.
Okay, let's see here. New England has six points, but if Chivas beats the Revs, both will be on six points. If Pachuca beats Santos, all three would be on six points and Santos would be out with zero. You can't go to head-to-head because New England beat Pachuca, Pachuca beat Chivas and Chivas would have beaten New England.
Next tiebreaker is goal differential. Entering Sunday, it's New England with plus two, and Pachuca and Chivas are even. Nick points out that if one team can advance on goal differential over the other, it goes through first. So if Pachuca wins 2-0 and Chivas wins 1-0, Pachuca goes through on the better goal differential and you go back to the top with Chivas and Revs. If that's the case, Chivas beats the Revs on head-to-head and New England's out.
I guess the easiest thing is this: if New England wins or draws, they're through. If Chivas and Pachuca both win, the club who wins by more goals is also probably through, and the Revs are in trouble.
On the other end of the spectrum, if Santos beats Pachuca and New England beats Chivas, the Revs win the group with nine points while the other three would each have three points. Then, you'd repeat the tiebreaking scenarios above.
Seriously, my head is starting to hurt.
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That means Santos, who have zero points in two games, still have hopes while New England, with six points in two games, might still not advance.
How does that work out? Well, like I said, it's complicated.
First of all, here's a link to what some colleagues were discussing in the press box. Nick Green on his 100 Percent Soccer blog breaks down the tiebreaking scenarios. I let him do the work on Wednesday as I had a lot of stuff to get off my plate and by the time I wanted to figure it out on my own, the topic had been discussed and figured out... we think. It's complicated, rememeber.
Okay, let's see here. New England has six points, but if Chivas beats the Revs, both will be on six points. If Pachuca beats Santos, all three would be on six points and Santos would be out with zero. You can't go to head-to-head because New England beat Pachuca, Pachuca beat Chivas and Chivas would have beaten New England.
Next tiebreaker is goal differential. Entering Sunday, it's New England with plus two, and Pachuca and Chivas are even. Nick points out that if one team can advance on goal differential over the other, it goes through first. So if Pachuca wins 2-0 and Chivas wins 1-0, Pachuca goes through on the better goal differential and you go back to the top with Chivas and Revs. If that's the case, Chivas beats the Revs on head-to-head and New England's out.
I guess the easiest thing is this: if New England wins or draws, they're through. If Chivas and Pachuca both win, the club who wins by more goals is also probably through, and the Revs are in trouble.
On the other end of the spectrum, if Santos beats Pachuca and New England beats Chivas, the Revs win the group with nine points while the other three would each have three points. Then, you'd repeat the tiebreaking scenarios above.
Seriously, my head is starting to hurt.
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One for the ages
In their short history, Chivas USA has gone through quite a bit. For a while, every positive thing was a first: the first win, the first winning streak, the first time they were over .500, the first time they were top of table, etc.
Still, in Year Four, those string of firsts is not stopping. Three days after their first-ever match in an international club competition, Chivas USA may have scored one of their best victories ever.
Wednesday's 1-0 win over Santos Laguna was their first against a Mexican club in an official competition. More importantly, it put Chivas in position to reach the SuperLiga semifinals, which would be the furthest Chivas have ever advanced in any tournament.
Beyond that, though, the match showed that Chivas can play with top-notch Mexican competition. On Sunday, Chivas hung with Pachuca but couldn't get the result. On Wednesday, Chivas got the result - against the reigning Mexican league champions no less.
In the first half, Chivas was hanging in there but Santos were clearly the better side. But when Jesse Marsch and Ante Razov came in, the club instantly improved. The lack of depth has hampered Chivas this season but the club has quality player, including Razov who showed he can finish with the best of them.
In terms of historic significance, I'd put this win right up there with the victory over Houston in the 2006 playoffs. On Wednesday, I don't think many gave Chivas a chance. The last week has been nothing if not hectic for the club. First, there was the always-heated game against the Galaxy. Then the Brad Guzan transfer, which alone could have derailed the club's attention. SuperLiga came soon after and the club had to focus and deal with fatigue while trying to avoid a letdown against Pachuca.
Although they had to hang on for their dear lives at the end of Wednesday's match, Chivas did and showed character in doing so.
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Edgar in two languages
Edgar Castillo was a popular player following Wednesday's match. Because he can speak English and is a key player for Santos Laguna, it was easier for the English reporters to deal with him. In general, it's easier to deal with anyone directly when you don't lose anything in translation.
But Edgar did field some questions in Spanish. Here's audio of both.
Edgar, of course, is from New Mexico and left to test his luck in Mexico. He was spurned by youth coaches here as he was deemed not good enough to progress further in ODP when he was part of the program. He turned down the chance to play for the US and accepted the Mexican national team's call up instead. But most of our regular readers probably already knew all that.
He did field some of those questions and in fact towards the end of one clip a colleague, Peter Brown of the awesome Champions Soccer Radio Network, began to ask him about his background and such. I stopped recording at that point, well, at least on this file, because I wanted to keep some of the stuff separate. I may post that interview later but Peter will probably use that on his show at some point.
Anyway, here's his comments in English and in Spanish. Edgar is a man of few words. He seems more comfortable answering questions in Spanish probably because that's what he's used to and he's probably picked up the same old recycled phrases you often hear from Mexican soccer players.
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Abby is out
Abby Wambach fractured both her tibia and fibula bones in her left leg and will miss the upcoming Olympics. The play happened in the first half of the United States' 1-0 win over Brazil.
Wambach, who was looking for goal number 100 in her storied career, will have surgery on Thursday and will likely require a minimum of 12 weeks to recover.
Losing a player of her caliber damages the United States' chances of walking away with even a bronze medal. Amy Rodriguez and Natasha Kai will probably have more pressure on them to put goals away but as Andrea was saying earlier nobody is the big power forward that Wambach is.
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Wambach, who was looking for goal number 100 in her storied career, will have surgery on Thursday and will likely require a minimum of 12 weeks to recover.
Losing a player of her caliber damages the United States' chances of walking away with even a bronze medal. Amy Rodriguez and Natasha Kai will probably have more pressure on them to put goals away but as Andrea was saying earlier nobody is the big power forward that Wambach is.
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Talley it up
Carey Talley battled Edgar Castillo all match long, and the two exchanged jerseys as the match ended. I don't know where Castillo put his Talley jersey, but Talley had Castillo's with him (you can just see it on the edge of the picture).
Of course, the Talley jersey his kid is wearing here wasn't from this game.
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Of course, the Talley jersey his kid is wearing here wasn't from this game.
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Santos coach talks U.S. players
Daniel Guzman didn't participate in a post-match press conference. When I caught up to him in the mixed zone, he was actually being asked about whether or not, with the success of a Mexican-American like Edgar Castillo, he was interested in bringing in more U.S. players. Here's his response. I didn't translate, because the Chivas USA media officer is translating in the background. Just listen carefully.