Blog – SuperLiga over: Diiiinaaamooooo seeee looooo peeerdióóóó!!!!!
MARC NEUMANN
VivalaSuperLiga.com
Dynamo lost STOP in pee-kays STOP MVP Reis saves last penalty STOP (No. 8 STOP or No. 9) STOP bounces from cross bar STOP palo!! poste!! hierro!! metall!! STOP most entertaining moment in a rather tedious game STOP bilingual Telefutura commentators STOP good ref (Brit) STOP more tomorrow STOP or after tomorrow STOP congrats REVS STOP Good night VivaLaSuperLiga.com.
Not everything is all sunshine with SuperLiga, and among various reasons this one hit home [sic, sorry] last week. A little item in the Hollywoodreporter announced on July 30th:
"UEFA ... real winner of Euro 2008 ... earning $2 billion in revenue ... $1.1 billion net profit ...50% jump on 2004 in Portugal ... $1.2 billion, or 60% came from television rights ... Sponsoring 21% ... the remainder ... ticket sales and hospitality packages... Euro 2008 also with record audience figures ... average 155 million viewers saw each of the 31 matches."
Not bad.
FIFA, by the way, expects revenues of USD 3.2 billion for their 2007-2010 South Africa World Cup cycle.
Granted, those comparisons are of limited value. So what about UEFA Champions League?
Projected budget for the last CL season was 824.5 million. Euros, that is. Equals about USD 1.7 billion. In the group phase a participating team gets: 3 mio general participation fee, 2.4 mio total match money, plus 300K, viz. 600K for a draw viz. victory. That means in the group phase, you're in for somewhere between 5.4 mio and 9 mio Euros - that is not counting ticket sales, and market value compensation, and finals boni - which in 2007 added up to roughly 40 mio Euros for the CL winner, A.C. Milan.
To keep it real, keep it in mind: SuperLiga's prize money is USD 1 million. That may be a start, just not so super.
PS: Here's why SuperLiga can still be attractive to MLS players. Chivas USA defender Raphaël Wicky was recently quoted saying that the reason for unduly weight gain was eating fatty fast food with his teammates - because their meager salaries (USD 1000 monthly) wouldn't allow them to eat anything else.
A man worth 250 SuperLigas (hat tip to OANMedia.com)
SuperLiga didn't really score with us this year so far. The great rivalry between U.S. and Mexico didn't translate into camaraderie - at least not with us (what with TV viewer share remains to be seen).
Among the many distractions was and still is a wealth of external, football-related brainscatterers. Here's a little list with a bit of all and nothing that made life difficult for SuperLiga:
• Timing 1: Scheduling a tournament in the traditionally football-free month of the year is not a good idea.
• Timing 2: Scheduling a tournament in July of a year that has seen the entire month of June consumed by the EURO cup is not a good idea.
• Timing 3: Scheduling a tournament the month before the Summer Olympics is not a very good idea neither.
• Competition Overkill: As if EURO and Olympics wouldn't be enough, there's also the US Open Cup, and the CONCACAF Champions League to compete with SuperLiga.
Prominent EURO-no-show David Beckham would have helped (thanks to OANMedia.com for the pic)
Besides the blunders of MLS/force majeur scheduling, there are and have been plenty of dissonances within and during the SuperLiga as well:
While media coverage has been a great big deal more and more extended than last year, those voices asking for a makeover of the "mixed bag" SuperLiga, bitching about the mainly ad-money inspired competition's lack of inspiration and that the Mexicans just don't take the SuperLiga seriously, did strike a chord with our general feeling about SuperLiga.
And last but nor least, an infamous semi-final brawl, a broken arm and a bit of Mexican theatrics haven't been enough for heart-stopping turns of events, pee-kay decisions, bicicletas and a David Beckham bender from last year.
It's all just been a tad trivial and disengaging - of which we stand guilty as charged.
Another visualization of the lack of Beckham, this time with Angel (also add imaginary Cuauhtemoc; not pictured here on the courtesy OANMedia.com shot).
Blog – SuperLiga, so what?! (1) The lack of Bex Reason
MARC NEUMANN
VivalaSuperLiga.com
Yesterday night, the all-US final fixture of this year's SuperLiga got finalized: Dynamo against Revs, next Tuesday August 5th (why is a final on a Tuesday??).
Given that this is our first active reporting on this year's SuperLiga tournament, you might assume that we at VivaLaSuperLiga.com have boycotted the event for the past 2 1/2 weeks.
We haven't. We just failed. Quite happily.
Besides several real-world topics of interest some more intimate football reasons come to mind. E.g., on July 18th (real-world birthday of yours truly), our friends at OANMedia.com shot a certain David Beckham in the Meadowlands, at a Galaxy - Red Bulls Game. Ah, David Beckham.
SuperLiga having none of this in 2008 (picture courtesy and copyright OANMedia).
Which brings us to last year. Remember Beckham's thrilling MLS debut in the SuperLiga in the 72nd against D.C.? (D.C, BTW, was nearly as inexistent). Bex' semi-final free-kick? And then his heart-stopping collision with Salazar early in the final? And all the childish anticipation before?
"Quo vadis, SuperLiga?" (picture copyright by OANMedia.com)
The lack of David Beckham (and with him a rather carefully crafted designated player attraction) weighed heavily on this year's SuperLiga.
Kick-off is tomorrow "Saturay" (as it's spelled on the official site), with DC United facing off DC Guadalajara at 8pm.
Pride, Honor, Victory - honestly, does anyone care?
Ok, we'll try - along with every citizen of Guadalajara and Jalisco. Because they'll see no less than three team brands of this lovely Mexican city compete in this year's tournament: namely Atlante, Chivas and Chivas USA.
So let's hope for a lovely Guadalajara championship with plenty of torta ahogada y tequíla.
Many things football have happened since our indisposition began. Among the many missed stories:
• Futból Boricua: Puerto Rico Rising II (which referred to a much earlier post)
Pa' que tu lo sepas II: you would have read it here first. In English, at least. Maybe. But whatever: San Juan's El Nuevo Dia reported the birth of a Puerto Rican Soccer League (Sevilla, River Plate and Fluminense included). The link is dead, but the story's really true, check it out: http://www.prsoccer.org/index.php
• Futból Boricua 2: lost & tied
The Puerto Rican national team faced Honduras in the World Cup Qualification Qualifyer. It wasn't meant to be; in Honduras the Boricuas lost 0 : 4, in PR, they tied.
• Football: EURO Cup in Switzerland, Austria
After a boring, UEFA-censorship induced and Swiss-frustration loaded start it became good, watched plenty! So I didn't have the time to blog. The coolest goal in the competition was Dmitri Torbinski's 2:1 against the Netherlands. Kudos to the English hoolies (we celebrated the final with cucumber sandwiches and Pimm's in their honor).
In school I recall learning that African American figures such as Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Josephine Baker left the segregated United States for a Paris where they could live as people and not merely "negroes" or worse.
Today French of African descent are doing one better than their American cousins of the last century by gracing specially marked Euro 2008 packages of pudding and not just any pudding, but noir extra. Oui, oui. Even pouty William Gallas, the superb ex-Chelsea center-back last season's Arsenal captain, isn't too put off by promoting chocolate pudding for France.
The histories of the African American artists of the 20th century living in Paris are far different than those of the French national team who grew up living in the segregated ghetto suburbs of France, but any suggestion that the French are somehow more progressive when dealing with matters of race is laughable. Had Sarkozy his way in 2005 when sections of the French suburbs went alight the then French minister of the interior might have shown even more force than he did.
In a nation where there are little choices for kids from the suburbs you have either a choice to be a footballer on a pudding package or a resident of the notorious suburbs as featured in this video clip by director Romain Gavras. Problems of race might have changed in the last sixty years, but they have not diminished.
It hurts to restart coverage like that - especially after missing out on the super-juicy Ronaldo-transvestite drama - but now a couple of recent incidents demand quick clarification, among them:
TIME selected Kaká as No. 29 of TIME 100, their own ranking of the most important people in a print media magazine such as TIME.
That's nice.
Not so nice is that they let Kasey Keller take the religious angle in writing his homage.
Why? Because after cursory remarks about Kaká being special, Keller resorts to writing about Kaká's faith, famously displayed by his unduly display of the evangelical christian's underwear covered by the letters "I belong to Jesus."
Ah, Kasey! Of course, Kaká is free to pray in his underwear as long as he wishes, as long as he keeps it private. However, on a more principal note, Jesus, God et al. cannot have a leading part in football because football already is essentially religion. And see, it speaks to thee: "Thou shalt not have any other gods than me."
And if you don't believe me, here's proof, never has blasphemy been cheesier:
Our sincere apologies, but the other life is calling - lots of work waiting. Plus, I'll be gone for a while to where those guys are playing:
Vivalasuperliga.com will be back in a week or two. In the meantime, check out our favorite crush in the blogging world: http://petitemaoiste.blogspot.com/ - if my parsing of football was only half as proficient as Petite Maoïste's command of latino art/ fashion/ beauty/ female-identity-politics (not to mention her grasp on writing), I would dare calling her a sister publication!
Pa' que tu lo sepas: Puerto Rico is the island where governors get indicted for alleged corruption instead of resigning because of a hooker scandal. (And more allegedly P.R. Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá got only slapped in a politically motivated move - but whatever.)
More importantly, the national football team of Puerto Rico defeated the Dominican Republic yesterday, advancing by Peter Villegas' late 1:0 to the second CONCACAF qualification round for the FIFA world cup 2010 in South Africa.
Furthermore, Il Vocero reports that the national team of Puerto Rico has recently advanced from 195 to 168th in the FIFA national team ranking. If you watch the first part of their friendly against the Socawarriors from Trinidad & Tobago, you might think that even more is possible.
The next team to beat is nominally much stronger Honduras (FIFA ranked 58) which the Boricuas will face on June 14th.
Should Puerto Rico get past this hurdle they'd enter the real CONCACAF qualifying round - which should be a lot of fun given 3.5 million fanáticos on the island and roughly the same amount in the U.S. mainland.
StuartFranklin/GettyImages (note: not photoshopped, just ripped off)
Is this man:
o guilty of blatant tactical football blunders?
o the culprit of a shattering 0:4 loss against Germany?
o past his prime?
o ill / an alcoholic?
o a personal tragedy?
o a national tragedy?
o Jakob Kuhn, coach of the Swiss national team?
If bold is black (Cornel West), is Philip Anschutz Afro-American then? Just as his brothers David Beckham, Don Garber, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush? Perhaps Barack Obama really is changing this country.
Let me explain: On Wednesday, according to the New York Times, all those people and then some (Nike, Adidas, Visa, Anheuser-Busch etc.) convened (or video-conferred) for a $1250-a-table fundraiser for Harlem Youth Soccer / FC Harlem Lions (target: $300K cash for the construction of a 1 million dollar pitch development).
The benefit also featured a ceremony where Pele was presented with a lifetime achievement award by David Beckham, Reuters reported today (Adam Spangler's Thisisamericansoccer.com (TIAS) has more infos and some nice shots from the event).
That made me wonder: just another, slightly grander Beckham/MLS/football-for-all promotion for the U.S. soccer audience of the future?
Or, provided the NYT story's emphasis on the Harlem angle of the black-tie benefit is correct, is someone trying to lay the foundations for an inner city New York football club in Harlem?
In the latter case, you'd have to admire the visionary balls of MLS. Obviously, they've decided to get the Harlem Footballtrotters going, and to compete with brand names in baseball, basketball, and bebop.
MLS Jefe Don Garber, Edison Arantes do Nascimento, Irv Smalls, FC Harlem, and you-know-who. Picture courtesy of Adam Spangler's TIAS.
Maybe - if true - the bold move will pay off. But perhaps betting on the Barrio Bombers or the Williamsburg Wizards would have been less of a gentrifying gamble.
Not long ago, I deplored the minority reporting by the paper of record when it comes to soccer. Then the Cuban soccer defector story broke.
Let's see, where in the New York Times could this news possibly end up? Bingo! Prominently on the first page of last Saturday's sports section. The politics of soccer did the trick again! A reunion with the grandfather, a family left behind with the political enemy, an uncertain future - boy, can it get any better than that?
All the soccer news fit to print got an even stronger shot in the arm on Sunday. What better epitome for the politics of football than a Iraqi national soccer team player (among the guys who won the Asian Cup recently, remember?), fatally shot in Baghdad last Thursday?
None. And so the New York Times went on to print a photo of Monthir Khalaf on page 18 and added the caption "Iraqis Honor a Fallen Sports Hero."
After the Swissy Invasion, it's the Cubans turn. Since Tuesday, a total of 7 players of the Cuban under 23 football team have abandoned their national duties and deflected after tying with the U.S. [sic] in an Olympic qualifier. The missing defectors and an additional yellow card suspension left the Cuban team with only 10 players available for their game against Honduras (which they lost 0:2 yesterday).
"Give me your strikers, goal keepers, your huddled masses of defenders and midfielders yearning to breathe free!" Immigration country U.S.A. is alive and kicking.
The fugitive players, among them team captain Yenier Bermúdez and goal keeper José Manuel Miranda have told the St. Petersburg Times that they wanted to "principally play for the MLS and professional soccer".
And stay they well may - provided that the "dry foot rule" applies (U.S. practice to allow Cuban exiles to stay in the country if they're on U.S. soil). USL franchise Miami F.C. apparently already signaled - and later recanted - interest in hiring the Cubans, Reuters reports.
Here's a little old world patriotism immigration bit: despite recent losses of the greenback, even Swissies come to play football in the MLS.
First there was Raphaël Wicky who started with Chivas USA in February after sorting out transfer twists via the player agency branch of IFA. Hailing from Bundesliga's HSV and Swiss Super League's FC Sion (and a recent injury), Wicky's favorite gig is central defender although he can play anywhere in defense and defensive midfield.
Richard Scudamore's trial balloon of the 39th chamber of the EPL has crashed down rather abruptly, but he sure got something rolling. A good week after canceling the meeting with the pope of football, Joseph Blatter, in Zürich, Switzerland, blogs and media are still bustling. Malice and moderation engage with the madness and the method of Richard Scudamore.
"Hey, Sepp Blatter what's the matter?"
I don't want nobody to drown in working-class football nostalgia and beautiful game purism, but dare we just add here that football has already become the next laboratory of the capitalist ascent? Just like art, urban living, music, and whatever else is fun and cool, football has gone from proletarian commodity to spleen of the bohème and from there to being a luxury product of the higher strata of society.
It's also called gentrification. As the sell-out is happening around you, you watch your money joining the cash that's being stuffed into the pockets of the gentrifiers. With mandatory memberships (£30) for ticket buyer pre- and post-qualification (£50) we've been going down that road since a while.
"So, who is Richard Scudamore?" we asked, answered and stand completed, by the BBC's homonymous - at least in the google news overview - piece from February 20.
Now the BBC's website put the title "Where now for Scudamore?".
Lord Scudamore's Macchiavellian looking picture by itself is worth a klick, not to mention the emphasis on his Karl-Roveian achievements as advertiser and marketeer with the British Yellow Pages and Thomson Corporation in New York.
So, who is Richard Scudamore? At the end of a BBC radio interview with David Davies he put himself and FA CEO Brian Barwick in the category of "suits like us". That's probably not entirely off the mark.
If you manage to mute the bootlicking South China Morning Post reporter, here's a sample of Sir Scudamore lecturing on "platform-neutral bases" favoring convergence in the mobile media sector, property rights development in a maturing Chinese football broadcasting market, as well as the direct relationship approach of the EPL with broadcasters.
Scudamore's formation with Thomson in New York might have helped polish his content distribution savvy and prove specifically valuable for future dealings with the MLS and the U.S. market.
Coolly managing 200 mio. GBP in international EPL rights by next year: Sir Scudamore.
OK, it seems we have to interrupt our serious blog post backdating effort. Why? Because of EPL's chief executive Richard Scudamore's already infamous world league proposal. What's it all about? On February 10th, The International Herald Tribune's sports chief Rob Hughes put it quite aptly: If the world qua non-English investors already own 70% of the British Premier League, then why should the world go see the games in England? Regularly export EPL games, or the entire 39th round, to global super cities like Tokyo, Dubai, Beijing, New York and whatever.
Exclusive: Aldous Huxley on the Brave New World League!!
That our brave new world wants Reading, Birmingham and Sunderland to play all over the earth rings about as true as to say Italians have been waiting for Starbucks. Then again, Starbucks is thriving in Italy. Perhaps LA Galaxy's General Manager Alexis Lalas set the tone for things to come: "It's a no-brainer - when it comes to the United States you want as much bang for your buck as possible". U-S-A!! U-S- ... oh well.
FIFA and UEFA have voiced opposition, (hey: Platini and Blatter agreed for the first time! Just like Heidegger once predicted, where there's danger...), Franz Beckenbauer sees England's chances for a successful World Cup '18 bid in jeopardy, but the last chapter on the global expansion of national clubs beyond franchises is far from being written.
Stay tuned for more news from a world where football may be about to go Walmart and McDonalds. Or just klick for yourselves:
Upon reading the New York Times' recent ambitious and heartfelt story about Shamila Kohestani, currently New Jersey resident and captain of the Afghani women soccer team, I couldn't help myself thinking: why do New York Times 1000+ words features about soccer always have to have the touch of the exotic?
Because it's not the first time. Here's a list: In recent times we had the heartbreaking story about the FUGEES, immigrant and fugitive soccer youngsters and their struggle against a Southern mayor for the right to kick on a field somewhere in Georgia (this prime Sunday front page drama has already been made into a screenplay and bought by Universal).
Then recently there was a soccer entrepreneur story from Colorado paired with an environmental carbon emission offset narrative (kickglobalwarming.com [sic!]). Another time we learnt how Korean soccer fans and Christians in Queens combine their love for soccer with the love of God. A huge feature about soccer, hooliganism and racism in Europe before the World Cup 06 falls in the very same colonial category of the other as well as the story about the "ethnically diverse", immigrant sports (= soccer) town in Harrison, NJ.
Now, I read every single one of those stories with pleasure and I would not want to miss them.
However, the pattern behind it leads me to think that to some New York Times editors, soccer is a preferred projection target for dreams of exoticism and social otherness, most of the time mediated by the inclusion of a minority or other socially more or less marginal group. While the claim that soccer in the U.S. is in itself a relatively marginal phenomenon is not entirely without merit, the NYT minority reporting inflates the special case "soccer" beyond proportions. It emphasizes the difference between U.S. sports and the rest of the world and unfortunately allows only for a monocular perception instead of testing its limits by inclusion.
This isn't a cross-the-board reproach to NYT editors. The Times offers some (limited) soccer coverage in the sports section (kudos to George Vecsey's reporting from L'Angolo), and entertains a serious blogging effort. Still, these are for the initiated and advanced soccer fans. A larger audience will walk away from the NYTimes' reporting with the impression that soccer is a strange athletic discipline for the oppressed and the marginalized, for minorities and social hooligans, all of which are probably not very U.S. American.
I find that romantic, too - yet, I think this shoud be corrected.
Credit where credit's due: This viral ad for the new soccer game of FIFAStreet3 really works, even if it's fake. If you doubt it, do the producers the favor and start feverishly googling the Canadian martial arts guys from Team Ryouko in Toronto, the music or watch the high-resolution version of the ad on the FIFAStreet3 player in slow motion (hint: it's streamed from a EA server...).
Blog – It's the football, stupid! - Obama scores as soccer dad
MARC NEUMANN
VivalaSuperLiga.com
Surprise in the current issue of TIME Magazine: Barack Obama is juggling a football qua soccer ball. A photo in TIME's print edition shows the presidential hopeful in a gym. Surrounded by plenty of sports equipment he has chosen to engage with a football.
Here's a - really crappy, our apologies - shot of the photo (as TIME's own multimedia section does not seem to feature the pic):
Skeptics will say it's only an attempt to win over Clinton-friendly soccer moms, but so what? If Obama's "CHANGE" somehow pertains to the status of football in this country, then that's an end worthy the means.
Poor Hillary stands to loose more ground: It's the football, stupid!
4 goals and lots of pace, exciting to the last minute, yesterday's friendly between U.S. and Mexico was fun watching. Especially this morning on ESPN360.com.
For those not yet familiar with it: it's the sportscaster's web TV. Yup, video online. Its football programming share isn't that bad. And if you're a Verizon customer you can watch Italian league games in their entirety. And in addition to that Champions League, like the upcoming Roma vs. Liverpool. Live. On your computer. And the best thing: the RCN technology works just fine, visuals are OK.
The revenue-oriented development of Pier 40 closes in quickly. After last's week's article (we reported), the New York Times ran a lobbying article disguised as an opinion piece today.
Apparently, out of three development proposals, Related Companies' project to make Pier 40 a permanent home for the Cirque du Soleil, movie theater and more great mall culture included, has the best chances to be approved by the Hudson River Park Trust's trustees.
A second proposal calls for a new high school, among other things; athletic fields would be moved to the rooftop.
Finally, Pier 40 Partnership is the community-based and least-developmental approach and wants to keep playing fields where they are and preserve the character of Pier 40.
Photo by Robert Simko/The BPC Broadsheet
The weirdly inconsequential NYT article (it's really reporting AND opinion, thus lobbying) amounts to a murky endorsement of the Cirque du Soleil proposal while asking for more city funds for renovation of the pier. Smells like opportunism.
We suggest you go see for yourself whom to side with.
Check out, and support!, the community-friendly alternative and the site of the Pier Park & Playground Association @ http://www.pier40.org
Imagine it's ANC, and nobody's watching. African Nation's Cup, not African National Congress, that is.
For weeks people all over the place (e.g. on on Thisisamericansoccer.com) have been asking where to watch those games. Nevada Smiths carries at least the semifinals but it's not all the time on everybody's way and everybody's liking. Otherwise, not much going on. Not even the New York Times did an ANC reporting effort, probably due to her own little anti-soccer coverage crusade as one sometimes is compelled to call their journalist endeavors in all things football.
So it's up to the market then - enter the Wall Street Journal! In a sportswear, sponsoring and branding strategy feature about Puma the underdog [sic], the WSJ shows plenty of what is lacking in many other media outlets: interest in African football - errr, well, or at least in its marketability. Here's an example of the advertising you've been missing from ANC broadcasts rather unavailable to New York audiences - you'll probably get over it:
Heavyweight ad for a lightweight shoe, the v1.08 Puma.
Anyone still remembering lower Manhattan Pier 25 and 26 from about seven years ago? The makeshift Hudson River marine life museum, the crappy minigolf? Or two years later, the two-story balcony on the Hudson behind the beach volley courts?
They're gone, as will be the next downtown west side treasure soon: Pier 40. It's a fantastic place aesthetically and conceptually. Built in 1964 for the cruise ships of the Holland America Line, it had an electrolytic system to keep its piles from corroding. The system was shut down during the city's dark days in the 70s - for energy conservation.
Oscar (again!) on Pier 40. Who is Oscar Arrieta anyway?!
Nowadays Pier 40 is used as a parking lot, But best of all, it plays host to a bunch of soccer fields in the inner courtyard, indoors on the third floor and - most fabulously - on the roof. Leagues, kids, pick-ups - it was all happening there. There's little less sublime than kicking the ball on the roof of Pier 40 at sunset on a balmy summer's night: you're on the Hudson, behind you downtown Manhattan, in front of you Jersey and New York Bight, Ms. Liberty and Verrazzano included.
It might be soon gone, according to yesterday's New York Times story. A couple of community activists seem to oppose the dire fate toward which Pier 40 is heading, but given the pace of development that's been hitting the city lately, their chances are quite dim.
The New York Times reports today that the little rubber pieces that fall out of your boots after playing soccer on one of the city's 77 existing synthetic fields (and 23 under construction) may be a health hazard.
While what they're called sounds friendly, they're anything but. Those PAHs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are made of shredded car tires and those, while cost- and care-efficient, may be carcinogenic.
Who knew? The New York City Parks Department didn't and has asked the Health Department to look into it. Once the results are in, wouldn't it be great to go back to playing football on real grass (which VivalaSuperLiga.com has advocated before)?
Those two NFL Superbowl games today added to an amount of boredom that calls for a blog entry. So be it: American Football is awfully boring.
Yeah-yeah, I know, strategy.
I've given it several tries, went to see Superbowls and other games, sober and tipsy, in analytical and exuberant mood. Today I even watched in company, and no bad word shall cross my lips about the crowds watching the Giants and the Packers in lovely Kinsale Tavern in the Upper East Side (where they still cross out "London" in the word "Londonderry" on the map of the island of Ireland). Those folks seemed genuinely nice people trying to have a good time - except that they were probably bored to death. Sure, they could have complained a bit more about the referees' constant anti-NYGiants calls because that's usually fun. But obviously they were just too lackluster, and I don't blame them.
Because real thrill in American Football is rare. Stunning passes, catches and interceptions are just rare. And the lovely musings about the politics of extreme homoerotics (bugarrónes!) and race relations in that game only take you so far. There may be a moment of live crash test dummies, but let's face it: Projecting high testosterone into a display of high testosterone is dull. It's is about as sparkling as the beer advertised in the ubiquitous commercial breack.
So, here's something really fizzy: Zinedine Zidane to return and play in MLS. While we believe this is as plausible as using ICAHN STADIUM for football matches this summer, it's enough to give us sweet Zizou dreams. At least until Superbowl.
Oh dear, it's overtime in Green Bay. For even more excitement, here's some sizzling Zizou:
Memo to our readers: a rich, healthy, hearty, and happy new year!
First, a heartfelt thank you for your continued support and encouragement! We would not have been capable to pull off VivalaSuperLiga.com without your help (and this goes for all three of you)! After a brief hiatus of two months we at VivalaSuperLiga.com are bouncing back into the business of Soccer/Football coverage!
We look back to an exciting half a year since the launch of VivalaSuperLiga.com. During this intense and bustling time, we have achieved much but still strive for much more. Ahead of us lie the great expectations of a make or break year. Tackling our challenges is the paramount task ahead of us. And whatever they may be, we plan to tackle them head-on. VivalaSuperLiga.com wants to:
- do a complete relaunch and redesign of VivalaSuperLiga.com in WordPress
- increase VivalaSuperLiga.com's blogging frequency at least fourfold
- add interactive, comment features
- add quality reporting of the African Nations Cup, the EURO 08, Copa Libertadores, CONCACAF, Sudamericana, the Hyundai, Honda and every other winnable beaker out there
- start sending out VivalaSuperLiga.com newsletters and press digests
- go full throttle on SEO, Google Adsense, and behavioral and targeted marketing of VivalaSuperLiga.com
- will do real-world advertising campaigns for VivalaSuperLiga.com on the East Coast, West coast, Mexico and Argentina
- find world class sponsors and advertising partners
- add a portuguese version to the bi-lingual VivalaSuperLiga.com
- and much, much more!
Sounds good, doesn't it? Promise, we will start working on this list as soon as we've figured out what we actually want to do with VivalaSuperLiga.com.
Unfortunately, so far we haven't. It's a pity, we know.
So, what do you think we should do? Stick it up our arse, as an earlier post suggested? If you have a great idea, please let us know!
Until the results are in (all three of them), we will stagger ahead and give you a bit more of the irregular same, to lure you back every now and then to VivalaSuperLiga.com. For now, you will have to do with notes from the hiatus, see below.
Quite surprisingly, on the second last day of November 2007 Zürich's Letzigrund got visitors from Yorkville and East Harlem. Despite freezing temperatures fellow NYC soccer aficionado Michael and I happened to be both in Züri, and so we went to see the clear victory by the home team which sent FCZ to the next round in the UEFA cup (they lost five games in a row after that).
Transatlantic bottom line No.1: grass is gracious.
The natural surface is a) conducive to higher control of the ball, and b) makes even a boring game more enjoyable, as players happen to be more versatile in terms of speed and short distance sprints. Don't believe it? Just check out what Zürich's moody genius Yassine Chikhaoui did in that very game (Chikhaoui's performance turned out to be a little self-promotional pitch to Bayern Munich, but still...).
Hiatus Stop 2: 15 Dec. 2007, Fulham, London: Fulham FC - Newcastle United
Again it was freezing. And despite some chunks of gracious grass flying past our astonished heads in the second row (especially during Hameur Bouazza's sideline rushes and dribblings in the second half) it was actually quite a painful match, considering paying £45 per ticket. Unfortunately, the overtime penalty for Barton all but destroyed the romanticism of prehistoric chants ("Come on, Fulham!" , sung as mi - re - do - re) by elderly men remotely resembling Andy Capp at the Cottage to which you never walk alone along the Thames Path at sunset.
Besides the retro-charm of Fulham, we got a dose of Setanta reality: A fully hydraulic camera-Borg, full-clad in technical prostheses that were highly interesting even if they block the 45-quid-view.
Transatlantic bottom line No.2: Fulham is gracious. Prehistoric chants are OK, as long as the technology is worthy of the 21st century. ESPN, take note!
Hiatus Stop 3: Jan. 4 2008, Ocean Park, San Juan, Puerto Rico: During a nice game of recreational football on a Caribbean beach, with 5 relaxed Boricuas and 2 utterly crazy gringos, my friend and artist Ricardo Hernández broke two toes of his right foot after a collision in the sand.
Transatlantic bottom line No.3: Sand is dangerous, grass still gracious, and the frost hopefully over soon.
You too can purchase this at the Chelsea Megastore!
Allow me to begin with a couple disclosures: Firstly, I am a Chelsea
supporter. I can already hear the snickers and derision, but also make
no apologies. Secondly, I am an American. What's that? Oh. The
weeks following the departure of José Mourinho in many ways have placed
a question mark over my support, but at the end of the day this club
still has many of the players whom I most enjoy watching -- Didier
Drogba, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho to name a few.
Disappointing as Mourinho's exit was I still support the club that hein fact made successful. Roman Abramovich's money bought the team, but
it was Mourinho tactical nous that made Chelsea a winning club. In the
modern game of football, however winning is no longer sufficient so
long as there are global markets to be dominated and imaginations --
nay, paychecks -- to be won. In recent years it has been America's
footballing, erm, soccerballing imagination that has been Chelsea's
target.
To this end Chelsea Football Club have toured North America four
times in as many years during the August pre-season. As exciting as it
was as a supporter to watch them draw 1-1 with AC Milan at Giants
Stadium in late July 2005, I'm not sure in strictly footballing terms
what a tour of America or for that matter Asia brings to a club like
Chelsea or its rivals. Then again, tours of North America and Asia
never have been about football, the have been about selling jerseys.
Such money-spinning schemes have a cost, however in the form injury and
exhaustion. Last season the influential Joe Cole picked up an injury
in a match against the MLS All Stars that kept him out of most of the
entire 2006-2007 season, which also saw the English Premiership title
return to Old Trafford. Despite the cost Chelsea have not given up on
America and last week launched Chelsea FC - America, a Web site in the American idiom.
On the surface it makes complete sense -- different languages for
different markets. Chelsea already has Web sites in Chinese and Korean
as do other top clubs. FC Barcelona has sites in Catalan, Spanish,
English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. No other top clubs, however
have official sites in American nor should they. I possess no
scientific data about the demographic makeup of Chelsea supporters in
the United States, but cursory data by way of the supporters I see week
in week at Nevada Smiths in Manhattan suggests they aren't in need of
an American Chelsea site any more than Peter Kenyon is in need of a
comb. Most sing "Ten Men Went to Mow" and most bristle when Adriy
Shevchenko comes off the bench -- this lot knows football and knows
Chelsea. American fanatics of football for years have sought
authoritative coverage via satellite television, foreign magazines, and
Web sites and has at least once watched Spanish coverage of a World Cup
match because they could tolerate yet a baseball pundit's commentary.
Crudely executed find-and-replacement of "soccer" for "football" does
not in any way make for an authentic let alone intelligible user
experience. In fact at the bottom of Chelsea FC - Americais baldly offensive to American supporters and gives them no credit
whatsoever in understanding the club or football. At best the site is
a success for the baseball guys covering the World Cup, but at the
worst it is both disingenuous and a failure as the "home for Chelsea
members in America."
Crippled as I am being both a Blue and an American I know enough to
say Chelsea do better capturing the American imagination by spending
their Russian oil money on a proper forward line than on the rubbish Chelsea FC - Lite.
"I believe Cuauhtémoc can still make this his game."
"Despite his age."
"Cuauhtémoc Blanco doesn't like the cold."
"Love him or loathe him."
"Cuauhtémoc knows how to play in high altitude and warm weather."
"Blanco will go down to Mexico after the season."
Oh, get out, ESPN.
Cuauhtémoc Blanco brought more personality and more skill on that pitch than any other of the boys on the field. Where they would stumble and trip over and come across everything but the goal line he made smart openings and hit balls that kept the fire burning.
Ya nos hace falta.
No comment, just enjoy.
PS: A poor kick, mostly undisturbed by overt display of skill. Especially deployment of a coordinated effort to build up an attack was absent for most of the time. Not much of a fight neither, not a trace of all-or-nothing. Chicago coach Osorio brought in additional fire attacker Calen Carr with two minutes left. First Bruce Arena's Pablo Ángel concussion blunder, now a missed substitution that's hard to reconstruct. New England Revolution wins Eastern Conference 1 : 0 against Chicago Fire, will meet Houston or Kansas on November 18th, in the final final of the MLS playoffs.
So we've managed to avoid the worst playoff metaphor in the conference finals between Chicago and DC (hint: fire tends to burn, transitively and intransitively).
Now we're looking forward to dodge some more (some taurine in Old England anyone? Ahh, bullshit!). But first let's complain:
First a personal disclosure: I managed to miss all the goals in tonight's 2-2 draw between DC United and the Chicago Fire due to several adverse conditions. So I'm really thankful for replay and the ESPN match highlights.
One ESPN thing however not to be thankful for is the third-tier-sideways-close-to-the-corner-flag camera perspective ESPN choses to put on far too often. Why would I want to see the game from there if I could enjoy all the world-class marvels US sports camera work has to offer?! This may be good for outfield catches by the Nats against the Mets, but not for watching football.
Then, there was the instant prayer the Fire players chose to display shortly after they managed to save the tie until after the final whistle, topped by the inevitable "I belong to Jesus" t-shirt. Publicly thanking the supreme being for football fortune has recently been ruled out by FIFA and UEFA after Kaka's similar antics. One can or cannot be religious as much as one desires, in private. But in public, please: play, don't pray. Football already is religion (Nevada Smiths) - no need to put any other faith in play.
Finally, a) having playoffs and b) having them in November are questionable practices. It's a bit sad to see the best regular season team go home after a mere unfortunate 180 minutes. Besides, the thrill of a last game day championship decision validates every fixture of the entire season. There's always a reasonable chance for a league finale, especially if you have a leveling body like MLS. Also, becoming champion at midsummer's night might be more of a blast than shortly before starting to hibernate.
But notwithstanding all this narrow-minded nagging, not only were Boswell's two errors due to robotic man-marking conditioning exhilarating. The entire game was exciting, nerve-wracking, breath-taking and great fun to watch. More of the same, please!
Steve Nash: Wants to buy into Spurs. Photograph: Mark Avery/AP
The New York Times Sports Magazine reported that Canadian basketballer and Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash would one day "like to be an owner" of English football club Tottenham Hotspur.
Nash and Spurs appear an odd couple when one considers Nash's achievements in the NBA and whose paltry fortunes of have been for years overshadowed by their more successful North London rivals Arsenal. But, Nash is a keen follower of the Spurs and has been since he was young - as has been noted in footballing circles.
Nash's high profile interest probably is not enough to save Spurs from relegation -- they're currently languishing 18th in the English Premier League -- but the appointment of former Sevilla coach Juande Ramos as the new Spurs coach just might.
Hopefully the Spurs avoiding the drop is more likely than the New York Times actually using the Spurs' correct name. [Ed. note to NYT: Tottenham Hotspur or Spurs, but never Tottenham Hotspurs!]
While checking out the Huffington Post today, I was a bit surprised to find Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose and Franck Ribéry there. Bayern München's Lederhosen-clad offensive and creative department was photogenically illustrating the Miller/Coors merger.
"Mmmh, Coors Light!" (Photo HuffPo/AP)
OK, so Coors and Miller "beer" is represented by Bavarians holding 1-liter-steins containing real German brew; however, the Bavarians are in fact an Italian, a Pole and a French guy and some best athletes of Germany, worth about 60 million Euros; oh, and I should perhaps mention that one of the beer-guzzlers is actually a devout Muslim.
Right. And the photo editors at the HuffPo are drinking Kool-Aid.
OK, listen up, US-raised FOX Soccer Channel, ESPN and MLS commentators: There is AK and OK, OJ and PJ, but no PK.
It is called a penalty kick, has a clear semantics and etymology, and is pointing to a complex web of crime, guilt and punishment of sometimes Dostoyevskian proportions.
Pee-Kay, in turn, sounds wet, yellow, slippery and prone to decay. This suggests the wrong image.
Neither a Pee-Kay.
So, please, US-raised FOX Soccer Channel, ESPN and MLS commentators: just because the rest of the world says penalty or penalty kick, it doesn't mean you absolutely have to beg to differ.
Some of football's beauty is its internationalism. And even if the U.S. generally don't like that lefty stuff, please give it a try, or we'll start calling this country's capital punishment "DP".
So, three weeks ago, VivalaSuperLiga.com nagged about the absurd field occupation directives on Central Park's North Meadow. Footballers being thrown off an entirely empty pitch because it wasn't soccer season. Past Sunday, the tables were turned: a crisp, beautiful, bucolic Sunday afternoon, fields half-empty after the 3-years-old girls games had been battled to a decisive end, on the Northern tip of the Meadow three Mexican kids are kicking the ball around one of the goals.
Then, two entire baseball teams arrive, families and coolers in tow, to enjoy themselves in a game of softball. They settle on and around the diamond, start to warm up and play. Pretty nicely, actually, great entertainment. Then, an admonition of ordinary Park staff in their baby-hummers, at first this causes little commotion. That changed when a Central Park Conservancy officer pulled up in a real white car. Heated discussion ensued, but all the cursing didn't help: the softballers were shoed off the field, game over.
Congratulations, Central Park Conservancy! You alienated about 50 Dominicans and Puertoricans by rigidly following a questionable protocol.
No perks for soccer/softball jerks?
No sensibility to family values or the hispanic community living in the neighborhoods around the Northern parts of the Park who keep the ballgame alive in the city. No sense of proportion, no way you could have asked the soccer kids to move one field over to avoid insurance claims in case of softball-caused injury. Just because it's the rule: no more baseball or softball after Mid-September, no football before that.
This is utterly ludicrous.
So let us repeat: Give football/soccer and softball its due place in Central Park! Surely they can coexist.
VivalaSuperLiga.com therefore issues a second call to action! Send emails and letters to or call them at:
Douglas Blonsky
Central Park Conservancy President & Administrator
The Central Park Conservancy
14 East 60th Street
New York, NY 10021
212-310-6600
contact@centralparknyc.org
Following is VivalaSuperLiga.com's letter to Mr. Blonsky for your perusal:
Dear Mr. Blonsky
I am writing to you with a proposal for a policy change regarding soccer/football and baseball/softball in Central Park.
Please turn the Southeastern section of the North Meadow into a permanent, all-season soccer field for recreational practice and pick-up games until mid-September. At the same time, please do permanently reserve another section of the North Meadow for softball/baseball.
That way you can still preserve the seasonal preference for one of the sports while not alienating the other. And everybody would be happy.
I am convinced that soccer and baseball clearly can coexist.
So, on Labor Day, while taking a break from VivalaSuperLiga.com, the same thing that had happened to Steve Nash happened to us. We got shoed off the pitch in Central Park, by Central Park Conservancy Officials.
But unlike on the Great Lawn where the Central Park Conservancy exhibits minimal principle of pity by only disallowing football games being played and usage of cleats, on the North Meadow, they kick off soccer players altogether, even the recreational variant. And this while, mind you, virtually nobody was swinging a bat on the 16-acre open space between 96th and 104th Street at about 6.30pm.
Soccer-free North Meadow. (Picture by EasyNewYorkCity)
The explanation for the utterly absurd directive by the otherwise correctly acting Central Park Conservancy staff member: These are some of the city's best baseball fields, and they enjoy special protection.
Now, I do like baseball, as a matter of fact, I just watched the Mets batting Cincinnati off the field. But clearly, the Central Park Conservancy's policy of who gets to play on is not reflecting the actual demand for the facility (three and a half other soccer parties were kicked off too, total ratio soccer : baseball was about 3 to 1).
This has been going on for years now: football is banned from the North Meadow until the third week of September, when winter time allows to kick the ball only until 6ish at maximum and fall weather very often renders the pitch red-flag off limits anyway (which really hurts, given the nice fields, with goals and nets the Central Park Conservancy put up and which you may use if you own a permit).
Bottom line: this is utterly unfair. Give football/soccer its due place in Central Park! The Central Park Conservancy should make a good part of the 16 acres available for football fans and soccer aficionados for the entire season, not just for the peripheral months before Christmas!
VivalaSuperLiga.com therefore issues a call to action! Send emails and letters to or call them at:
Douglas Blonsky
President & Administrator
The Central Park Conservancy
14 East 60th Street
New York, NY 10021
212-310-6600
contact@centralparknyc.org
Following is VivalaSuperLiga.com's letter to Mr. Blonsky for your perusal:
Dear Mr. Blonsky
I am writing to you with a proposal for a policy change regarding soccer/football in Central Park.
On the Central Park Conservancy web page you are advertising the North Meadow as a place for soccer: "Participate in a game of soccer on the newly renovated North Meadow's 16 acres of lush green lawn." (http://www.centralparknyc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=programs_sports)
In reality, unfortunately, this is not possible.
In fact, as you surely know, with the exception of mid-September to November, soccer is banned from the North Meadow. Frequent closure of the North Meadow during this time for weather reasons and shorter days with less sunlight limit the possible soccer usage of the North Meadow even further.
Being a neighbor living nearby, I have been able in the past three years to observe that demand for soccer opportunities exceeds the offer on the North Meadow by far. (The same is valid for the Great Lawn).
I therefore want to propose to you the following: Please turn the Southeastern section of the North Meadow into a permanent, all-season soccer field for recreational practice and pick-up games.
I am sure this would not interfere with baseball in any ways, soccer and baseball clearly can coexist.
Mexico's C.F. Pachuca has won the first SuperLiga title, defeating the LA Galaxy 5 : 4. Pachuca prevailed after penalty kicks in a game of multiple opportunities squandered on both sides, miraculous saves, an own goal by Vargenas and a bicicletta by Klein in extremis after 94 minutes.
More than 100 minutes were played without David Beckham who left the game after a collision with Pachuca defender Fernando Salazar during an overeager challenge for the ball. Just moments earlier Peter Vargenas had opened the score for Pachuca by an own goal in the 28th minute of the first half.
A possible Beckham injury produced sustained moments of shock pertaining to the Galaxy, the MLS and the English national team. However, the anxiety was later on dispelled when the impeccably dressed superstar returned to the sideline to cheer on his team mates, apparently only with a sprained knee.
Picture by REUTERS
The Galaxy's Chris Klein equalized with a beautiful bicicletta just seconds before what would have been the final whistle. In the ensuing overtime both teams contrived to miss countless goal-scoring opportunities whilst respective keepers maintained parity up to the penalty kicks.
Pachuca and its Colombian goal keeper Miguel Calero came out on top. After routiniers Donovan and Xavier had missed kick no. 5 and 6 for the Galaxy those final shots for the trophy and the price money of $ 1 million (in the international comparison still a very moderate sum) culminated in yet another bitter defeat for the Galaxy.
Match Facts: Los Angeles Galaxy - C.F. Pachuca
Venue: The Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif.
Goals: Peter Vagenas (28th, own goal LA); Chris Klein (90 +3)
Yellow Cards: Leobardo Lopez (PAC), Fausto Pinto (PAC), Alan Gordon (GAL), Troy Roberts (GAL), Mike Randolph (GAL), Joe Cannon (GAL)
Pachuca: Miguel Calero, Leobardo Lopez, Julio Mansur, Jaime Correa, Damian Alvarez (Luis Gabriel Rey 92), Gabriel Caballero, Juan Cacho (Rafael Marquez Lugo 73), Fernando Salazar (Carlos Rodriguez, 35), Marvin Cabrera, Fausto Pinto, Christian Gimenez (Edy Brambila 87)
LA Galaxy: Joe Cannon, Chris Klein, Abel Xavier, Mike Randolph, Peter Vagenas, Landon Donovan, David Beckham (Alan Gordon 32), Troy Roberts Kevin Harmse (Cobi Jones 115), Kyle Martino (Edson Buddle 79), Carlos Pavon (Cobi Jones 54).
David Beckham; Frank Yallop (left) and David Beckham (Photos by Dennis Van Tine, OANMedia.com)
New York -- Had David Beckham not made a $250M transfer to the LA Galaxy earlier this year it would be
doubtful the high interest a press conference by the club on
the eve of their game against the New York Red Bulls would garner.
As it turned out, however the conference room at the Inter-Continental
Hotel in midtown Manhattan was crawling with journalists,
photographers, television camera crews. The New York Times sports
writer George Vescey was even spotted sitting quietly along with the
other assembled journalists waiting for MLS representative Dan
Courtemanche to announce the arrival of the one David Beckham and his
LA Galaxy coach Frank Yallop. After a few minutes delay Courtemanche
announced the arrival of Beckham and Coach Yallop and the press
conference was underway.
Among other things it was learned that former Galaxy captain Landon
Donovan and David Beckham had discussed the team's captaincy and
according to Coach Yallop Donovan thought it appropriate to turn over
the captain's armband to the senior Beckham. This is not an
insignificant gesture from arguably the most recognized and successful
American soccer player. The two have already combined to lethal effect
as witnessed in the second goal in the 2-0 SuperLiga semi-final defeat
of DC United.
On the whole Beckham was upbeat about his new life and career in the
United States and was not overly concerned with his congested
schedule. For example Wednesday of this week will see him playing a
friendly match for England against Germany at the new Wembley stadium
only for him to return to Los Angeles the next day to play in the local
derby against Chivas USA. Three days later on Sunday he'll play
against the Colorado Rapids, and then the following Wednesday in the
SuperLiga final againt FC Pachuca. Provided he's fit for all of them,
David Beckham will be playing three matches in eight days.
There are little signs of fatigue, however despite the Galaxy's 5-4
defeat by New York Red Bulls on Saturday in front of 66,237 at Giants
Stadium. Beckham played the full 90 minutes and provided two assists
in this thrilling goal fest. There defensive frailties notwithstanding
Galaxy and Beckham in particular are playing with an enthusiasm the
belies their poor standing in the MLS -- still just 14 points from 16
games played!
League position aside, Beckham still attracts crowds and still attracts journalists.
VivalaSuperLiga questions Frank Yallop and David Beckham
Damien Neva of VivalaSuperliga.com asks a question of LA Galaxy coach Frank Yallop at a press conference with David Beckham held at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Manhattan on 17 Aug. 2007.
United, United, what's the score?
David Beckham (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
In a SuperLiga semfinal lacking in midfield quality it was a trademark David Beckham free kick and assist that separated these two teams and sent LA Galaxy to the SuperLiga final to be played on 29 Aug. 2007 against Mexican side FC Pachuca.
Last week Galaxy fell 1-0 to United in a Major League Soccer match, which on the evening Beckham figured as a late substitute. Wednesday night however saw Beckham make his SuperLiga debut in characteristic fashion when in the 18th minute he earned his first yellow card for a late tackle on United's Jaime Moreno. As has been often observed, David Beckham never was a good tackler. Beckham certainly hasn't improved the tackling ratio between precision and enthusiasm any more than he had whilst earning thirteen yellow cards for Real Madrid last season.
DC United made their intent be known in the opening stages of the match when Jamie Moreno unleashed a blistering shot on goal in the 10th minute, which Galaxy's Joe Cannon did well to tip over the bar. Minutes later there was a goal mouth scramble when United's Joshua Gros unleashed a shot in the box only for Galaxy Abel Xavier to hoof the ball clear. Throughout the evening's contest United launched several attacks including shots that keeper Cannon did well to save, but were grossly inadequate when it came to finishing.
For all the back and forth and chronic loss of midfield possession between the two teams the deadlock was to be broken following Devon McTavish's foul resulting in a free kick for Galaxy near the opposition's penalty area. The Galaxy's most famous right foot in David Beckham stepped up to take the free kick and coolly placed the ball in the top right corner of Troy Perkins's net. The Home Depot Center erupted having witnessed their $250M midfielder effortlessly convert a free kick against extremely limited opposition. The goal was all but uncontested what with a badly placed defensive wall and an unmoved keeper standing on the line. Four minutes later Jaime Moreno had a nearly identical free kick to take for United, but sent the ball crashing into the defensive wall, which only further underscored the gap in talent between Beckham and the rest of the players on the pitch.
A minute after the interval Beckham was again at his best or just doing what most competent footballers would do when he sent the ball past United's ineffectual Joshua Gros for Landon Donovan to collect and put in the back of the net to make it 2-0. Wearing a cast on his arm, and a Full90 Performance Headguard otherwise known as a "header," Gros made little defensive effort and was easily beaten by Beckham's through ball to Donovan. Galaxy's number ten raced onto Beckham's pass to score and make it 2-0.
United looked desperate and ever the worse for wear as the match reached the advanced stages and never seriously threatened Cannon's goal during the last third of the game. Beckham was substituted 62nd minute and was treated to a Home Depot Center standing ovation.
In the end, Beckham's inclusion in the Galaxy's XI proved the difference in securing a Pachuca rematch in the 29 August SuperLiga final.
Match Facts: LA Galaxy - DC United
Venue: Home Depot Center, Los Angeles, CA
Goals: David Beckham (LA) 27, Donovan (LA) 47
Yellow Cards: David Beckham (LA) 18, Brian Carroll (DC) 59
LA Galaxy: Joe Cannon, Chris Klein, Ty Harden, Abel Xavier, Mike Randolph, Landon Donovan, David Beckham (Peter Vagenas 63), Kevin Harmse, Kyle Martino (Cobi Jones 71), Edson Buddle (Gavin Glinton 76), Carlos Pavon.
DC United: Troy Perkins, Bobby Boswell (Guy-Roland Kpene 66), Devon McTavish, Bryan Namoff, Greg Vanney (Christian Gomez 46), Fred (Justin Moose 86), Brian Carroll, Ben Olsen, Joshua Gros, Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio.
Onstad allows Rodriguez to tie the score in the first half (AP Photo/The Chronicle, Steve Campbell).
96º Fahrenheit and over 80% humidity, these are tough conditions for playing soccer, especially for 120 minutes. They are apt to explain 3 expulsions, 8 yellows, and 11 goals in a hotheaded game which could have been decided much earlier - and then maybe not.
All started little suited to please Pachuca president Jesus Martinez on his birthday. In the 4th minute Brian Mullan dribbled to the goal line causing vertigo in Pachuca's defensive lines, Mullan then passed back to Dwayne de Rosario whose shot bounced curiously off his leg into his own head and past Calero to open the score. After this curious goal by the Canadian international with the sharp facial hair cut, a revanche for Pachuca's CONCACAF cup semifinal loss to Houston from past March had just moved far away.
But Pachuca came back quickly. in the 12th minute, Dynamo's reserve defender Patrick Ianni put an arm around a Pachuca shoulder too dynamically, Christian Giménez went down right on the line of the penalty box. The occasionally shaky ref Ricardo Salazar gave a free kick for Pachuca, and tough-mindedly but defensibly sent Ianni off the field.
In the 28th Pachuca were able to capitalize for the first time from the formidable burden the Dynamos had to bear for the remaining game time: Juan Cacho was left alone and easily scored the equalizer after a beautiful rush and perfect preparation of Carlos Rodriguez from the left of the penalty box.
Short-handed Dynamo kept running and managed to dominate the end of the first half. Yet, a couple of great rushes by de Rosario who shone in the absence of Stuart Holden, and two tentative finishes by Waibel notwithstanding amounted to no change on the scoreboard. Who would play against "El gran beibi David Beckham" in the SuperLiga final two weeks from now, remained entirely open.+
Obviously intent on changing this, Pachuca, still one man up, started the second half with some fireworks. In minute 47, Caballero's beautiful dribbling skills lead him to the goal line from where he layed up perfectly for Alvarez. La Chilindrina missed by very little, as did Christian Gimenez one minute later when a "diagonal de la muerte" wasn't all that lethal after all.
Pachuca kept increasing the pressure, Houston tried to counter. But after Onstad and Calero for a while happily accepted multiple invitations to distinguish themselves, it was only logical that Pachuca took the lead with a stunning goal courtesy of Andres Chitiva. With a 180ª rotation shot just from outside the penalty area, Chitiva drilled a bouncing ball into the lower right corner of the goal, surprising just about everybody including Houston keeper Onstad in the 61st minute.
With temperatures still in the lower 90s, the game seemed all but over when Mullan feebly gave away a prime scoring opportunity in response. And because Brian Ching, on other occasions a dangerous striker didn't register one felicitous moment the entire evening (including in the penalty shootout), things started to look uncomfortable for Dynamo.
Still, out of nowhere, they heated up towards the end of regular play time: scorer Andres Chitiva got a yellow-red card instead of a penalty for taking a dive in the 84th, bringing the head count to equal again. That was all Dynamo needed: Eddie Robinson sank a beautiful header into the net after a high, tumbling 45 yards free kick by Richard Mulrooney - which should probably have been cleared by Pachuca's inattentive defense.
The semifinal went into overtime, and nearly 22'000 spectators at Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX started to entertain the idea of penalty kicks. Indeed, half an hour later the punishing meteorological conditions had taken their final toll: despite a further expulsion when Dynamo's Corey Ashe lost his cool against Correa after a rough tackle, a handful of good opportunities, e.g. a razor thin miss by a free kick by Luis Gabriel Rey and a one-on-one situation between Wondolowski and Calero, the score remained the same until the final whistle.
The ensuing penalty kicks went smoothly for three trials until Ching sent his penalty hitting the left post, only to see Damian "la Chilindrina" Alvaréz' very weak shot blocked by Onstad. Jospeh Ngwenya however, who had played a decent game so far, made a grossly negligent attempt at chipping the ball over Calero. Alas, the soft ball plumped into Calero's gloves, and the Colombian old hand could be seen grinning with disbelief and Schadenfreude.
In the final shot of this semifinal, Rafael Marquez Lugo held his nerve and kept "la gloria en sus pies", as the Telefutura commentators were jubilating.
SuperLiga fans can be satisfied with the outcome too. Having Pachuca as Aztec finalist in the SuperLiga will not only keep the quality level of this tournament up where it's been during earlier cross-border encounters. It will most certainly also bestow the SuperLiga final with a quota that makes us hopeful for a second installment of this young tournament next year.
Match Facts: C.F. Pachuca - Houston Dynamo
Venue: Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX
Goals: Dwayne de Rosario (HOU, 5), Juan Cacho (28), Andres Chitiva (67), Eddie Robinson (82)
Yellow Cards: Christian Chaco Gimenez (PAC), Damian Alvarez (PAC), Nate Jaqua (HOU), Andres Chitiva (PAC), Brian Mullan (HOU), Eddie Robinson (HOU), Jaime Correa (PAC), Joseph Ngwenya (HOU)
Red Card: Patrick Ianni (4th, HOU), Andres Chitiva (84, PAC), Corey Ashe (100, HOU)
Pachuca: Miguel Calero, Leobardo Lopez, Jaime Correa, Damian Alvarez, Gabriel Caballero, Juan Cacho (Rafael Marquez Lugo,73), Fernando Salazar, Carlos Rodriguez, Marvin Cabrera, Carlos Rodriguez, Fausto Pinto (Andres Chitiva, 46), Christian Gimenez (Luis Gabriel Rey, 80)
Houston Dynamo: Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel, Patrick Ianni, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan, Dwayne De Rosario (Corey Ashe, 79), Richard Mulrooney, Brian Ching, Nate Jaqua (Chris Wondolowski, 91), Joseph Ngwenya
Penalty kicks:
Wade Barrett centers against Calero - 1 : 0
Fernando Salazar sends Onstad into the wrong corner - 1 : 1
Calero moves early but to no avail, Wondolowski whacks it under the crossbar - 2 : 1
Gabriel Caballero very surely - 2 : 2
Richard Mulrooney finishes - 3 : 2
Luis Gabriel Rey aims beautifully, no chance for Onstad - 3 : 3
Brian Ching hits the post - 3 : 3
Damian "la Chilindrina" Alvarez's shot proves too weak - 3 : 3
Joseph Ngwenya, tries to chip it, fails miserably, has Calero laughing.
Rafael Marquez Lugo - la gloria en sus piez...! 4 : 3 - Pachuca Finalista!
David Beckham made his competitive debut for Los Angeles Galaxy as a 72nd minute substitute in their league defeat by DC United. The loss leaves Galaxy with just 14 points from 14 matches played and only two points above Western table bottom feeders Real Salt Lake.
This match was but a preview of Wednesday evening's semifinal match between United and Galaxy. Will Beckham making the starting XI? Will it matter?
David Beckham of the Los Angles Galaxy shouts at a referee 09 Aug at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. Beckham made his eagerly anticipated Major League Soccer debut here Thursday, coming on as a second-half substitute in the Los Angeles Galaxy's 1-0 loss to DC United.
The Guardian's Kevin McCarra has crafted a big article about a rather modest point: Goalkeepers are the Methuselahs in the English Premier league. The reason behind this is the old men's experience and maturity that significantly reduces the corporation's, uh, the F.C.'s risk exposure - or in McCarra's words, the lack of a risk-taker's mentality of "managers (...) considering the potential blunders of immature goalkeepers." Consequentially, those managers will recoil from taking a gamble on an immature young goalkeeper, when there is "so much money to be won and lost in the Premier League."
Fair enough - and a bit sad too.
Sure, a fielder can perhaps persist by having a couple of great games per season, something a goalkeeper hardly can (they are also rarely substituted, to state the obvious). Over the years, the keeper seems to gain mental strength as his excess of physical energy dwindles. However, I would stress that this is a gradual affair. Others are subject to the maturity want too: the more the defense moves to the fore, the more we can see an increase of the maturity/reliability need too. Defenders are quite in the same position as goalkeepers, just ask a certain centre left backer Paolo Maldini - who will turn 40 on June 26th next year.
So, what is one to make of these apparently sad, calculating and slightly geriatric times? I'd suggest more of SuperLiga. Because even if some of the players do not shy away from bone crushing tackles, they generally engage in an all-out attempt to score a goal - which has made for some entertaining nights of football in the past weeks.
And actually, I'm eager to see how Premier League veteran David Beckham fares amidst all that juvenile exuberance - once he returns to the Superliga from his pitching duties for the Yankees.
Already eliminated Club América travel back home with Morelia Monarcas; remote qualification for D.C. United, the runner-up in Group B, of the SuperLiga.
Monarchs flying down South Mexico.
The last game of of Superliga's Group B, an intra-national Mexican affair between Monarcas Morelia and Club América made one thing palpable: Mexican football is a distinct affair. In its bag there are always a couple of surprises. It was quite puzzling, for example, that the greatest roar of the evening could be heard in the 29th when the giant screen displayed live footage of Cuauhtemoc Blanco watching the game. Alright, the game was played in Toyota Park, Bridgewood, IL, Home of Chicago Fire and their star Cuauhtemoc Blanco, but yet - astonishing, the legend and myth of this one very special spectator, and how, at least for a moment, it made every actor on the field seem like an extra.
The second pleasant surprise on this evening was América's performance. More aware and awake, América was afar from the harmless and disinterested seniors' soccer squad that had freely given away points - and a shot for 1 million in price money - to their MLS adversaries in the group matches before. Instead, an entirely different team controlled, defeated and co-eliminated Morelia Monarcas, their fellow sportsmen from the Mexican Primera División, by 3 - 2. Whether national pride kicked in, or whether América wanted to secure its lead in terms of budget wasn't clear (read this quite interesting interview of Houston coach Dominic Kinnear), the outcome was.
The match really started off after just a few minutes of mutual gauging. In the 6th minute Juan Mosqueda gave a timid pass to Santiago Fernandez who only by very little didn't flick the ball into the back of the net. His shot was just a bit wide. Ten minutes later, the same América combination was successful: half fallen, half seated Mosqueda sends Fernandez the ball through about eight defending Morelia legs, Fernandez bends a mean flat shot from an even meaner angle past Moises Muñoz, 1 - 0 América.
Morelia reacted with a great free kick by Oscar Carrasco in the 18th and a 5 meter shot by Horacia Cervantes after an endless argy-bargy around the goal box in the 38th. Both times Morelia keeper Amando Navarrete proved that he had a good day. The reflex by which he deflected Cervantes' dangerous finish into corner was world class.
But América had their chances too, most notably a four against two situation that was carelessly squandered by Raúl Mendoza in the 36th minute. After Mauricio Romero missed another good opportunity for a header after a long free kick pass by Diego Martínez, it looked as if D.C. United would remotely advance to the semi-finals at half-time.
The impression proved a bit premature as the to and fro intensified in the second half. After a close miss by Morelia's Luis Landin and a lovely rush by Federico Insua into the penalty box from half-left before missing, the real fun began in form of an anarchic spectacle In the 53rd minute. Countless rolls of toilet paper thrown by América's collective celebratory cortex behind Morelia's goal pounded Moises Muñoz' territory. In other places they would call this a "flash roll" and declare it public art.
The unnerving manoeuver proved successful, in that it initiated the end of Morelia. Just a minute later, Mauricio Romero fouled substitute Rodrigo Lopez on his way to goal but outside the penalty box. Still, Romero got a red and América a penalty which Salvador Cabanas hammered in the net with considerable brutality.
Yet, the puzzled viewers who had already accepted the elimination of the second candidate for Mexican participation in the SuperLiga semifinals were still in for more. Gonzalo Choy who had seen one of his better shots blocked by Navarrete in the 64th, finally scored after a perfect cross by Luis Landin to bring Morelia back in the game. And a mere 6 minutes later Luis Landin tied the scores between ten Monarcas and the entire América team.
More hectic and suspense ensued for around ten minutes, until Federico Insua established the final score in the 84th minute and ended what was a principled performance by Club América.
That result may be bitter for Morelia, who had had a good shot at advancing against an already eliminated América. América's Aguilas, however embarrassing the fact that they showed their best game when it didn't really matter anymore, deserve to be commended for the effort they put in this last game of group B. It would be a pleasure to see both teams in similarly gyrating performances in a year's time when the Superliga goes into its next installment.
Before it will be time for Superliga semifinals, with Pachuca against Houston on August 14th, and the Galaxy against D.C. United one day later, when we might see the SuperLiga premiere of a certain David Beckham.
Match Facts: Monarcas Morelia vs. Club América
Venue: Toyota Park, Bridgewood, IL
Goals: Santiago Fernandez, Salvador Cabanas(56), Gonzalo Choy (67), Luis Landin (73), Federico Insua (85)
Yellow Cards: Rodrigo Inigo (AME, 37), Oscar Carrasco (MOR, 45 +2), Horacio Cervantes (MOR, 62))
Red Card: Mauricio Romero (MOR, 54
Morelia: Moises Muñoz, Diego Martinez, Marcio Batista (Ever Guzman, 46), Oscar Carrasco, Luis Landin, Gonzalo Choy (Adrian Aldrete, 68), Jose Hernandez (Gustavo Trujillo, 46), Hugo Sanchez, Horacio Cervantes (Ricardo Martinez, 68), Mauricio Romero, Jesus Castillo
América: Armando Navarrete, Ismael Rodriguez (Ricardo Rojas, 57), Diego Cervantez, Lucas Castroman (Rodrigo Lopez, 46), Santiago Fernandez (Salvador Cabanas, 46), Juan Mosqueda, Carlos Infante, Armando Sanchez. Rodrigo Inigo, Raul Mendoza (Federico Insua, 45+2), Jose Mosqueda
Tired legs finally caught up with DC United and Houston Dynamo in what was their final SuperLiga Group B match. A draw between the two teams would have been enough to see both teams automatically advance to the semifinal in a fortnight, but Dynamo’s Brian Ching put paid to that scenario with a 49th minute winner. At the final whistle United were left pulling for an upset by Group B whipping boys Club América to hold out any hope of advancing.
Considering the semifinal berth that was at stake the game proved heavy going with even heavier legs, which the American commentators on SuperLiga2007.com were at pains to remind viewers. Despite the apparent fatigue the players, an efficient Dynamo controlled much of the play in a match victory that sets them up to face Group A runners-up Pachuca in the semifinal on 14 Aug.
Dynamo’s Stuart Holden once again directed much of the play Wednesday evening along the right side of the park. In the 16th minute Holden did well to shake off his marker, sprint down the touch line, and fire in a cross that unfortunately for Dynamo went to no one. Moments like this evidence the extent to which Holden’s talent unmatched by his teammates ability to follow his movement and feed on his service.
Following the interval, Dynamo started brightly when Nate Jaqua hoofed the ball from the midfield into United’s box giving Brian Ching an opportunity to beat defender Josh Gros and send a high chip over keeper Troy Perkins into the net. The task of defending a one-nil lead at home is a task Dynamo handle quite well despite mounting pressure from United. United lacked a cutting edge in searching for an equalizer often coming close, but blowing it with jittery mistakes like United’s Bobby Boswell made in 67th minute when he missed an open goal after Luciano Emilio’s squared pass.
Dynamo protected their one-nil advantage until the final whistle. It wouldn’t be for another two nerve-wracking hours that United would learn their fate as eventual Group B runners-up and future semifinal opponents of the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Match Facts
Goals: Ching (Dynamo) 49
Bookings: Marc Burch (United) 61, Guy Roland (United) 86, Richard Mulrooney (Houston) 92+
Houston Dynamo: Zach Wells, Craig Waibel, Ryan Cochrane, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Corey Ashe (Ricardo Clark 68), Dwayne De Rosario, Richard Mulrooney, Stuart Holden, Brian Ching, Nate Jaqua (Joseph Ngwenya 76)
DC United: Troy Perkins, Bobby Boswell, Marc Burch (Jaime Moreno 63), Joshua Gros, Devon McTavish, Ben Olsen, Brian Carroll (Clyde Simms 83), Rod Dyachenko (Guy-Roland Kpene 35), Christian Gomez, Fred (Bryan Namoff 79), Luciano Emilio
Blog – el rumor: Boca to start MLS Franchise in 2008
Marc Neumann
VivalaSuperliga.com
SuperLiga takes up a lot of our attention, so pardon us if we’re a week late with the news that slipped past all but one other football medium.
The rumor that has us quite excited is that Boca Juniors, the fabled Argentinean football institution from the equally fabled neighborhood at the Río de la Plata will send a B-Team to play the MLS by 2008.
“Pero ché, que vengan!”
What's the rumor? Boca in the MLS? (AP)
This possibility must have everybody drooling: Football fans for the sport, Boca for the piece of the ad money cake, MLS and every U.S. Soccer official for the added value to their product. Who might be next? FFC Napoli? Newcastle or perhaps F.C. Porto?
In addition to the Boca Juniors franchise, the club is thinking about building a little sister stadium to the venerated Bombonera in Buenos Aires. Short-listed are Miami and New York City – where we hallucinate and see them already play at the Icahn Stadium on Ward’s Island under the Triboro Bridge.
But enough for now, please read for yourself in the Gaceta Tucumán and here.
A dearth of goals will prevent football from ever catching on in America. So it has been written. America moreover is simply not ready for football catenaccio, those cagey nil-nil borefests frequently on offer during the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. But what about the swashbuckling free-scoring football seen Wednesday evening at Pizza Hut Park wherein the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy beat FC Dallas six goals to five and eventually went on to win Group A? Whether or not North American television audiences will devour this peculiar strain of football in general or SuperLiga in particular is moot because the fact of the matter is that sport is already thriving.
As the scoreline not so subtly announces the style of football was a distinctly schoolyard affair. By the 18th minute Dallas were already trailing Galaxy by four goals to nil. At this point in many European leagues the leading team would stick ten men behind the ball and defend for the remaining 72 minutes. The remarkable about this match is that neither team followed the example set by their Continental cousins, but continued with an almost naïve enthusiasm for the game. Perhaps it is a product of the US$1m tournament prize, which is so comparatively low to the top Champions League prize of nearly €40m (awarded to winners AC Milan in 2007) that makes the cost of failure too high.
Whatever the case may be the Galaxy just plain got on with their schoolyard kick-about by netting four goals in the first 18 minutes. As early the 3rd minute Alan Gordon headed Landon Donovan's corner kick into the bottom right corner of Dario Sala's net to make it 1-0. Galaxy then hit Dallas on the break in the 11th minute to make it 2-0 when Donovan squared to Chris Klein who volleyed into the net. In the 15th minute Gordon scored again with a header this time from Ante Jazic to make it 3-0. Kevin Harmse then ran straight onto to goal past two Dallas defenders who did little more than hold his hand as he breached Sala's net to make it 4-0.
At 4-0 down Dallas refused to roll over and pressed the visitors with everything they had. To stop the hemorrhaging, FC Dallas's Steve Morrow replaced the ineffectual Ricardinho with Ghanaian Dominic Oduro. The Dallas pressure paid off in the 43rd minute when Drew Moor set up Arturo Alvarez to make it 4-1 at the half.
The second half began at canter with Dallas throwing forward all their men to lay siege to the Galaxy's goal. Dallas's Carlos Ruiz had a superb goal disallowed that he had scored with a bicycle kick after it was determined he was off side. The score stayed at 4-1 until the rampaging Juan Toja fought and won the ball in Galaxy's half and played a fancy one-two with Oduro and score to make it 4-2 in the 78th minute. Alvarez sensed a resurgence and pressed for a third goal making it 4-3 in the 82nd minute.
To quash this resurgence Galaxy skipper Donovan grabbed the game by the scruff when he hit Dallas on the break to make it 5-3 in the 84th minute. Referee Kevin Scott duly booked him for his incendiary gesture of dragging his fingers over his throat and mouthing the statement "Game over!"
But it wasn't over yet as there were still frantic minutes to be played in order to book a place in the semifinal. Carlos Ruiz fed off the scraps when Moor's header was blocked into his path enabling him to fire from close range making it 5-4 in the 90+ minute only for Galaxy to hit back with the tenth goal of the evening when Carlos Pavon made it 6-4. Dallas kept up the fight, however and Abe Thompson scored the eleventh and final goal in stoppage time to make it 6-5.
It must be said that FC Dallas in general and Juan Toja simply refused to give in to their opponents and fought the Galaxy for over ninety minutes. For their fighting efforts, however Dallas were awarded the wooden spoon for finishing last in Group A, which the Galaxy won outright. Had the Dallas defended as well as they were later scoring, then they might not have lost their chance in reaching the SuperLiga semifinal. Nevertheless, both teams have given the SuperLiga its most memorable match of the whole tournament thus far and North America a glimpse what football can be before it becomes completely transformed by money.
Match Facts
Goals: Alan Gordon (Galaxy ) 3; Chris Klein 1 (Galaxy) 12, Alan Gordon 2 (Galaxy) 15, Kevin Harmse (Galaxy ) 18, Arturo Alvarez (Dallas) 43, Juan Toja (Dallas) 78, Arturo Alvarez (Dallas) 82, Landon Donovan (Galaxy) 84, Carlos Ruiz (Dallas) 91+, Carlos Pavon (Galaxy) 95+, Abe Thompson 1 (Dallas) 96+
Bookings: Kevin Harmse (Galaxy) 13, Marcelo Saragosa (Dallas) 37, Juan Toja (Dallas) 48+, Alan Gordon (Galaxy) 49+, Arturo Alvarez (Dallas) 49+, Kelly Gray (Galaxy) 56, Ante Jazic (Galaxy) 58, Landon Donovan (Galaxy) 84, Carlos Ruiz (Dallas) 97+
FC Dallas: Dario Sala, Bobby Rhine (Aaron Pitchkolan 26), Drew Moor, Adrian Serioux, Chris Gbandi (Abe Thompson 75), Juan Toja, Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa (Dax McCarty 46), Arturo Alvarez, Ricardinho (Dominic Oduro 21), Carlos Ruiz
Los Angeles Galaxy: Joe Cannon, Ty Harden, Ante Jazic, Troy Roberts, Abel Xavier, Kelly Gray, Kevin Harmse (Quavas Kirk 55), Chris Klein, Peter Vagenas (Gavin Glinton 92+), Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon (Carlos Pavon 46)
At half time not much had happened. Pachuca had to churn out a win
to advance beyond group stage. Chivas Guadalajara eyed a tie. Together
they neutralized each other. Pachuca was eager, Chivas selectively more
dangerous. For most of the time Chivas's excellent defensive
distribution yielded control over much of the aerial and terrestrial
space needed by Pachuca. Both teams seemed to be lacking the last
decisive exploit. One leg, one step was always too many.
Notable exceptions started with 3 corner kicks de suite for Pachuca
- followed immediately by a Chivas counter in the 5th minute with
unsuccessful finish. The promising attempt by Omar Arellano was
annihilated by a great reflex of Pachuca keeper Miguel Calero. A
violent shot by Chivas' No.6 Omar Esparza in the 16th minute equally
missed the target. One minute later a lonesome Andres Chitiva got lost
in offense, and tried to act his way to a broken nose that was never
touched. Oscar-worthy, but Eddie Munster aka Chiqui-Dracula aka referee
Marco Antonio Rodriguez didn't whiff in his whistle.
In the 26th, Chitiva showed his footballer's qualities:
a pity Rafael Marquez Lugo failed miserably after having been set up
perfectly by the 27-years old Colombian attacker. Not much suspense to
account for after that. Not even Damian Alvares, nick-named la
chilindrina, a girl from a Mexican comedy show "El Chavo del 8" from
the 1970s that was mostly known for her elaborate crying, lived up to
his name.
The playing was pleasing, but goals were scarce.
Telefutura's commentators and their numerous references to gringos,
chacos, chilindrinas and chiqui-draculas were the real highlight, until
Carlos Rodriguez plucked one in the 43rd with what smelled strongly of
hand play, but sank it in the hands of very solid Miguel Calero. Hectic
remained in stoppage time of the first half with a close miss by El
Chaco Giménez in the 45th, and one by Chitiva immediately after.
Pachuca's a-changing
When play resumed in
the second half, the 14'069 spectators in Dick's Sporting Goods Park,
Commerce City, Colorado initially got more of the same. But a whole
array of shots wide and high on both sides by Arellano (51), Marquez
Lugo (52), Chivita (54), Jesus Cadillo (56, amazing save by Miguel
Calero) and el Chaco Giménez (57) and four offensive substitutions on
Pachuca's side got going what the audience had paid for. After a
beautifully bent free kick into the penalty box Rafael Marquez Lugo's
had his head in the sweet spot and opened the score in the 62nd.
Surprisingly, Chivas did not have any really stringent
play to bring on in order to put Pachuca under pressure. Chivas
Guadalajara's greatest opportunity, a dry shot aimed to the lower left
post of Pachuca's goal by Julio Nava in the 73rd minute provoked an
unbelievable save by 36-years old Miguel Calero. Mostly everything
after that was tactical, where Pachuca turned the table: They never got
in real difficulties, held on to their thin lead and sent Chivas on
their way to Guadalajara.
Reflecting on both matches of the night, the purely
gringo vs. mexican fixtures were very interesting to watch: Irrational
exuberance, very high physical ambitions and great entertainment value
over here; technical and tactical finesse, paired with a sometimes
painfully inefficient, unbearable lightness of playing on the other
side. The distance in between is huge, but sometimes the poles come
close - les extrèmes se touchent. It will be interesting to see what
happens with the extremes: once in tomorrow's repetition of purely MLS
and Primera División's fixtures of the last Superliga group phase
games, and then when they collide in the SuperLiga semifinals that will
take place on August 14 and 15.
Match Facts: Pachuca vs. CD Guadalajara
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
Goals: Rafael Marquez Lugo (Chaco Giménez)
Yellow Cards: Francisco Rodriguez (3), Braulio Godinez (23)
Pachuca:
Miguel Calero, Leobardo Lopez, Damian Alvarez, Gabriel Caballero,
Rafael Marquez Lugo, Andres Chitiva, Fernando Salazar, Carlos
Rodriguez, Christian Gimenez, Paul Aguilar, Braulio Godinez (Luís
Montes, 32)
CD Guadalajara:
Ernesto Michel, Francisco Rodriguez, Hector Reynoso (Patricio Araujo,
70), Omar Esparza, Gonzalo Pineda, Ramon Morales (Julio Nava, 68),
Jesus Padilla (Omar Bravo, 58), Jonny Magallon, Edgar Mejia, Sergio
Santana (Javier Hernandez, 69), Omar Arellano
Let's face it: tonight's most important football match wasn't a SuperLiga affair, neither played in Washington nor Houston, but in Amman, Jordan. Iraq's 1-0 win over Saudi-Arabia in the final of the Asia Cup probably made for some of the best news in the land of Euphrat and Tigris since quite a while. Besides the very politics in the fixture in itself, captain and Sunni Younis Mahmoud (who scored by a header in the 71st winning after a pass from a Mosul Kurd) asked the U.S. to withdraw. "I want America to go out," he said after the game. "Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, but out. I wish the American people didn't invade Iraq and, hopefully, it will be over soon," he told the Associated Press.
It is a precarious situation: Even if SI.com and the NYTimes were quick to feature the Iraqi victory online, most of the U.S. media don't seem to have more than a very foggy notion of the significance of this weird soccer thing which is sad, considering the opportunities for great photo-ops they are missing. On the other hand perhaps the U.S. wouldn't have marched into Iraq in the first place had they had a solid understanding of football.
However, back from pushing the speculative envelope to SuperLiga, Group B.
D.C.: No Déja Vu
In Washington, it very much looked a Déjà Vu at first: D.C. plays hearty football. They give the "esferico" a fast, technically sophisticated, decidedly joyful treatment mostly engineered by the triangle Fred, Luciano and the always ingenuous Christiano Gomez. They rightly open the score on a dry shot by Rob Dyachenko after a truly altruistic header by Christian Gómez in the 12th minute. But then Luciano Emilio fails to nail two, three goals (if this 28-years-old Brazilian attacker had just turned half of his career chances into goals he would be scoring in the premier league by now). Just like last Wednesday against Morelia, things could have gone from magic to tragic for D.C. by a single surprising equalizer by the Américanos hailing from the Mexican capital.
Alone this time, always sovereign Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres, a for lack of a better word idiotic attack by América defender Oscar Rojas that got him promptly and rightly expelled from the game after 15 minutes of the second half, and a consistently alert and controlled D.C. defense ever after made the difference this time. D.C. United never really ran a risk of loosing this game in the second half and held the lead over the whole distance.
Most of the exciting action, including a hit of the cross-bar by again masterly Christian Gómez, had taken place in the first half of this second rencontre in Group B of the Superliga. Less exciting, however, were the constantly raised elbows by, it seems, mostly América players. Neeo-colonialist note to FIFA: reinforce no tolerance with high elbows as in Europe years ago. The meanest and most cowardly, but also most efficient and injury-prone way to play dirty deserves no place anywhere else either.
Dynamo - Morelia: Play it again, Monarcas
Elbows also dominated some of the more displeasing scenes during the second SuperLiga match of the night, Houston against Morelia. Morelia's Horacio Cervantes showed little restraint in the 69th. Houston's Brian Mullan got a yellow card in the 78th after snubbing Diego Martinez who just had jumped into Eddie Robinson, his elbow to shoulder forming a perfect horizontal line. Ryan Cochrane had gone down in the 53rd with nose bleed after getting to know a Morelia angled forearm in aerial battle up close. Luckily the second half had started with a real brawl after a slap and shove between de Rosario and Arce in Dynamo's box.
Football was played too in Houston, and actually pretty fast: Joseph Ngwenya scored what will most definitely be the quickest SuperLiga goal for a long time. After eight seconds he was sent by Ching and sent the ball past Moises Muñoz to give Dynamo the lead after about 11 seconds into the game. Dynamo's Ching could have extended it with a flying header during the first half, but then Houston pulled a D.C. in the second: Morelia kept trying, Dynamo's defense took a collective break in the 74th, keeper Zach Wells didn't manage to get a hold on a harmless ball. Monarca Marcio Batista said thank you, and equalized in the 74th.
Dynamo's fervent attempts to take the lead back were fun to watch but ultimately too late, much like D.C. United against the same adversary this past Wednesday.
América's Eagles to fly home
Which leads us to some late-night calculus. In group B América can have a crack at some tactical details in its meaningless last group game against Morelia. A Morelia win in this match might still carry them past Houston Dynamo or D.C. United should one of them lose against the other. Even in the case of a tie between the MLS teams, Morelia may make it into the semifinals if they score a couple of goals.
Similarly interesting the situation in Group A where all teams still have a theoretical chance to advance. There's some suspense waiting in the wings of the last round of the first SuperLiga's last group phase game - except for Club América: Las Aguílas will be flying home after the next match.
Match Facts: D.C. United vs. Club América
Goals: Rob Dyachenko (12)
Yellow Cards: Alejandro Argüello (América), Marc Burch (D.C.), Germán Villa (América), Ismael Rodríguez (América), Luciano emilio (D.C.), Lucas Castroman (América)
Red Card: Oscar Rojas (América)
D.C. United: Troy Perkins, Marc Burch, Fred, Christian Gomez (Brian Memoff 80), Luciano Emilio (Guy-Roland Kpene 75), Ben Olson (Domenic Mediate, 88), Rod Dyachenko (Clyde Simms, 58), Brian Carroll, Joshua Gros, Devon McTavish, Bobby Boswell.
Club América: Armando Navarrete, Ricardo Rojas, Duilio Davino, Ismael Rodríguez, Oscar Rojas, Germán Villa, Alejandro Argüello, Alvín Mendoza, Juan Carlos Mosqueda, Fedérico Insúa, Salvador Cabañas (Rodrigo Lopez 66).
Referee: Carlos Batres (GUA)
Attendance: 18,604
***
Match Facts: Houston Dynamo vs. Monarcas Morelia
Goals: Jospeh Ngwenya (1), Marcio Batista (74),
Yellow Cards: Diego Martinez, Horacio Cervantes, Fernando Arce, Brian Mullan, Dwayne De Rosario
Houston Dynamo: Zach Wells, Craig Waibel, Eddie Robinson (Patrick Ianni, 61), Ryan Cochrane, Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan, Richard Mulrooney, Stuart Holden, Dwayne De Rosario (Chris Wondolowski 90), Joseph Ngwenya (Nate Jaqua, 67), Brian Ching (Corey Ashe, 87)
Monarcas Morelia: Moises Muñoz, Diego Martinez, Horacio Cervantes, Hugo Sanchez (Marcio Batista, 46), Omar Trujillo, Wilson Tiago (Edgar Solano, 83), Fernando Arce (Oscar Carrasco, 64), Adrian Aldrete, JesusCastillo (Alejandro Leyva, 58), José Alberto Hernández, Mauricio Romero
With Mexican international Omar Bravo's second goal for Club Deportivo Guadalajara against Los Angeles Galaxy Saturday night Group A is now wide open. Galaxy skipper Landon Donovan grabbed a late consolation goal following a defensive error by Jonny Magallón, but by that late stage in the match the damage had already been done by a rampant Chivas side that now sits atop Group A with four points.
Following a disappointing opening of the SuperLiga tournament that registered no Mexican victories the Chivas win was made all the more sweet having done so before a largely Chivas crowd at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. On the Galaxy bench was David Beckham who helplessly watched the anemic performance of his new team. It was more than a white strip that Beckham kept in moving from Madrid to Los Angeles - he has also taken on another side's mediocrity and inflated self-image.
If there was to be a goal scored in the first half against the Los Angeles Galaxy it likely would have resulted from a Chivas attack down the left against the nervous Galaxy right back Troy Roberts. Throughout much of Saturday evening's contest Chivas forward Omar Arellano terrified the 23-year-old Roberts. When Arellano or his peroxide blonde colleague Gonzalo Peneda didn't beat Roberts outright Roberts betrayed his nerves by hoofing the ball into the touch or making anxious backpasses to keeper Joe Cannon. Had it not been for Arellano's wastefulness as in the 34th minute when he missed an open goal, then the nil-nil scoreline might have been different.
The second half began with high tempo play by Chivas creating chances, but not goals. In the 53rd minute Arellano again had a goal-scoring opportunity, but failed to convert after spending too much time and the ball rather than shoot. Arellano was substituted three two minutes later to make way for forward Julio Nava. The opening goal came in the 59th minute when Pineda played a corner short to Omar Esparza who picked out Chivas defender Francisco Rodriguez to head past Galaxy's Joe Cannon. The Coliseum responded by emphatically chanting "Chivas, Chivas" and sending paper streamers onto the pitch calling to mind scenes of Latin American football on Spanish-language television.
Following Rodriguez's goal Galaxy were shocked into action, but sloppy in defense by allowing Chivas substitute Nava to find enough space to unleash a stinging shot from twenty-five yards, which went wide. When Galaxy were able to reach the final third their play suffered from miscommunication. In the 65th minute Donovan's well placed cross to Kelly Gray was disrupted when instead his teammate Carlos Pavon headed the ball high over the bar. Donovan could do little more than shake his head in disbelief.
In the 77th minute Chivas forward Sergio Santana made way for Omar Bravo. Two minutes later Frank Yallop responded in kind with a ballsy swap of right-back Troy Roberts with forward Gavin Clinton. This tactical gamble designed to get a Galaxy result, however had the opposite result when Bravo got on the end of a Ramón Morales cross to beat Abel Xavier and Ty Harden to make it 2-0 in the 82nd minute.
Donovan later scored in the 89th minute to give the defeat a respectable scoreline, but left the Galaxy's semifinal hopes to hang in the balance. Should David Beckham be fit to face FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park on Tuesday evening, he will need to put in a vintage performance to save his Galaxy as he saved Real Madrid last season.
Bookings: Kelly Gray (Galaxy) 31; Gonzalo Pineda (Chivas) 83
Los Angeles Galaxy: Joe Cannon, Ante Jazic, Troy Roberts (Gavin Glinton 76), Ty Harden, Abel Xavier, Quavas Kirk (Kevin Harmse 64), Landon Donovan, Kelly Gray (Edson Buddle 91+), Chris Klein, Carlos Pavon, Alan Gordon (Peter Vagenas 40).
CD Guadalajara: Ernesto Michel, Omar Esparza, Hector Reynoso, Francisco Rodriguez, Jonny Magallon, Sergio Santana (Omar Bravo 75), Gonzalo Pineda, Ramon Morales, Edgar Mejia, Jesus Padilla (Patricio Araujo 66), Omar Arellano (Julio Nava 57).
It's not easy being FC Dallas, but for the same part they don't make it easy for themselves. Wednesday night's SuperLiga opening match between FC Dallas and CD Guadalajara witnessed Dallas go a goal ahead, then level again by a dubious goal, and later have a man sent off. Saturday evening for Dallas against CF Pachuca was not all that different. For all Dallas's good work they were only able to hold their 1-0 advantage until then 87th minute when the conceded a penalty and Christian Gimenez converted from the spot to leave the game 1-1 at the death.
Saturday's match against CF Pachuca saw Dallas nearly go a goal ahead when defender Clarence Goodson headed past the pirate-scarfed Colombian keeper Miguel Calero only to have it disallowed by a 50/50 offside decision. The ruling was perhaps harsh as television replays suggested that Pachuca defender Fernando Salazar marginally played Goodson onside.
Still, though Dallas headed into the second half with their confidence high after steady work from the Brazilian forward Ricardinho who was at the center of several Dallas attacks in the final third. Ricardinho, however was later substituted making way for Ghanaian forward Dominic Oduro in the 71st minute. The change nearly paid off moments later in the 74th minute when strike-partner Carlos Ruiz picked out Oduro who headed wide just as the offside flag was raised.
Dallas were to make amends a minute later Dallas full back Bobby Rhine launched a ball into the center of the box toward Oduro who missed. Pachuca keeper Colero palmed away Rhine's cross and by doing so placed it on the path of an oncoming Carlos Ruiz who side footed into the back of Pachuca's net.
Dallas held the lead until the frantic final minutes of the match, where they were unlucky to concede penalty when Adrian Serioux felled Damián Alvarez in the box. The Canadian's untidy challenge was duly punished when Christian Gimenez sent Dallas keeper Dario Sala the wrong way slotting the ball to the right to make it 1-1 in the 89th minute.
The match concluded with mild acrimony between two teams, but the handbags came to nothing save a yellow card for Dallas's Juan Toja. At the whistle the draw left both teams to rue missed opportunities and lost points. FC Dallas and Pachuca will have all to play for on Tuesday night against Galaxy and Chivas respectively if they are to advance to a semifinal berth.
Match Facts
Goals: Carlos Ruiz (Dallas) 75; Christian Gimenez (Pachuca) pen 87
FC Dallas: Dario Sala, Bobby Rhine, Clarence Goodson, Chris Gbandi, Arturo Alvarez, Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa, Adrian Serioux, Juan Toja, Ricardinho (Dominic Oduro 71), Carlos Ruiz,
Pachuca: Miguel Calero, Marvin Cabrera (Paul Aguilar 83), Leobardo Lopez, Aquivaldo Mosquera, Damian Alvarez, Gabriel Caballero, Christian Gimenez, Carlos Rodriguez, Fernando Salazar, Rafael Marquez Lugo, Luis Gabriel Rey (Andres Chitiva 69)
The World Soccer on Yahoo! Sports reported in a headline that "Petrov joins Manchester United" referring to the Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov. The blue half of Manchester, England will beg to differ as the Bulgarian in fact signed for Manchester City on Thursday, 26 July.
The erroneous article teaser links a Reuters article here where the transfer is correctly reported as Petrov going to Manchester City.
Considering that Manchester United already possess in Ryan Giggs one of the greatest left wingers of the past fifteen years, the headline is all the more laughable and makes evident just how steep the learning curve is for American sports outlets reporting on world football.
Blog – Amputee Soccer in Liberia makes WSJ front page
Marc Neumann
VivalaSuperliga.com
There isn’t much like a Wall Street Journal frontpage story. Today’s daily dose of prime reporting features Michael M. Phillips’ articleabout Dennis Parker, an amputee and former death squad member serving Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor who now awaits trial in Den Hague.
Phillips tale of how amputated militia members and mutilated civilians mingle on crutches to engage as much in amputee soccer as in social healing and reintegration gives you one big lump in your throat.
Photo: Michael M. Phillipps, WSJ.com
On a lighter note, the photo of Parker’s Parmacotto jersey of the Squadra Azzurra makesthis article also a must-see, as it opens a new chapter in the never-ending story about football jerseys in conflict and war zones. When will someone finally write it?
Blog - Beckham guest-judging on "American Idol"? (NYT Op-Ed on Beckham)
Marc Neumann
VivalaSuperliga.com
Will Leitch is in the New York Times today, op-edding about Beckham coming to America. A cute little jab at British lad culture is his Beckham/Rooney comparison:
"If Rooney [a snarling, pub-crawling, double-barreled shotgun of a brawler] had come here, there’d be nothing left of the Minnesota Thunder but some shinguards and a few strands of hair. But Beckham? He wouldn’t look out of place guest-judging on “American Idol.”
At the final whistle Wednesday evening at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas the American clubs registered a distinctive advantage at P4 W2 D2 L0 with Houston Dynamo's one-nil victory over Club América. On the second evening of the SuperLiga tournament Major League Soccer champions Houston put in what is arguably the most competent performance and first clean sheet thus far by any team.
The lively Scottish-born left-winger Stuart Holden proved the difference in breaking the deadlock between Houston Dynamo and Club América. In the 39th minute Holden gave the SuperLiga a flash of artistry when he back-healed the ball to Barrett. The resultant ball to Barrett was ultimately smothered a Club América defender, but minutes later in the 41st minute Craig Waibel made a long throw-in to Holden, which he collected, lost his defender, and crossed the ball to forward Nat Jaqua who slotted past América's goalkeeper Armando Navarrete. The goal was just reward for a number of Dynamo attacks strung together from a series of overlapping play between Holden and left back Wade Barrett. By the half Holden's mark was already indelibly stamped on the match.
Contrast Holden's workrate with some spirited, but ultimately toothless attacks by Club América and it is no wonder the storied Mexican club lost. Around the 80th minute Club América's Salvador Cabañas latched on to a ball from the midfield and broke away toward goal. Facing a one-on-one situation with Dynamo's keeper Pat Onstad with two defenders breathing down his neck instead of shooting Cabañas collapsed in the penalty box. The Egyptian referee Samir Osman kept his whistle in his pocket and awarded no penalty and thus the precious chance for Club América to score was squandered.
Dynamo were not without their problems either most notably when minutes after Cabañas blew his chance, MLS Cup MVP Brian Ching who came on as a 75th minute substitute somehow conspired to miss a header from six yards out that midfielder Brian Mullan crossed into the box. Moments earlier Joseph Ngwenya had goal disallowed for having been offside, but rather confirmed the nearly one-way traffic produced by the Dynamo.
Overall the match was played with far less petulance and theatrics than the evening's earlier match between DC United and Monarcas Morelia or controversy as in Tuesday night's match between FC Dallas and Chivas Guadalajara. The well-worked goal and overall leadership make it clear that Stuart Holden is the Dynamo's star man and that the Dynamo are the SuperLiga team to beat. Without any of the four Mexican clubs having notched a win in what effectively is a tournament that is weighted with home-stadium advantage for clubs north of the border the weekend's matches will have that extra spice in what will surely be must-win matches for those clubs on the way to the SuperLiga Final in late August.
MARC NEUMANN
Thursday, 26 July, 2007, 12:00 AM ET
VivalaSuperliga.com
It could have been a refreshing, ambitious game of two teams committed to sightly, technical, offensive play. Instead, the 13'335 audience members at RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington D.C. witnessed a rather tattered, hectically paced match with an ultimately twisted outcome.
Most of the dubious honor for this can be awarded to referee Courtney Campbell. His omission to indicate stoppage time after 90 minutes, because he'd apparently missed the end of regular play, was among his minor offenses on this pleasant evening in the Washington Nationals' home base.
Campbell's erroneous, inconsistent and opportunistic use of the whistle was key to the evening. It encouraged what should be prevented in the first place: diving when there's no water and dramatic acting where there is no stage.
Those two competitions were born from Morelia's frustration after an amazing free kick by Argentinean striker Christian Gómez that gave the home team the lead in the 7th minute. For about fifteen minutes D.C. United's Gómez, Fred and Luciano Emilio dominated the game - and Morelia - nearly at will. The Monarcas, especially the Uruguayan Choy, seemed frustrated and perplexed - and didn't hold back with it.
Inexplicably, their drama caught on with referee Campbell. With the exception of the 34th minute, when Emilio emerged after brilliant preparation by Rod Dyachenko alone in front of Moises Muñoz only to send a ball in the stands (which from our vantage point seemed harder than scoring), the first half degenerated into a dripple of play interruptions, doubtful calls, and two yellow cards for D.C. (Gros and Dyachenko).
After half-time, Morelia coach José Luis Trejo must have told his team a thing or two: the Monarchs stopped the fluttering, and exhibited finally some serious traction towards D.C. keeper Troy Perkins.
The higher intensity eventually erupted in midfield in form of a veritable brawl. After more than three minutes during which Campbell was consulting and double-checking multiple times with just about everybody on his staff to convict the culprits, he finally took a wrong decision. Morelia's until then modest forward Luís Angel Landín was rightly sent off the field for his re-revanche assault on Bobby Boswell. Yet, the latter would have deserved to get under the shower as well for his very un-gentlemanly kick between the thighs of Landín.
A testosterone and adrenaline saturated atmosphere ensued. Continued confusion seemed to be the fate of the shattered game, when all of a sudden Morelia's Tiago hit the post in the 63rd. Shortly after, Choy who had started to show his qualities until his substitution, aimed precisely at the welcoming arms of Troy Perkins.
D.C. seemed to have taken notice and to bringing the game back under control with Fred hammering one over the cross bar in the 68th and Luciano Emilio unable to sink the ball into the net in his second golden opportunity of the game only a minute later.
With one more player on the pitch and more dramatic restraint, D.C. United seemed capable to hold the slim lead over the increasingly clamoring Mexicans when out of a not entirely stringent play by substitute Adrian Aldrete, Diego Martínez rightly earned the title of MVP of this game. The right defender sent a luscious half-volley kick from outside the penalty box straight in the meshes. Spanish speakers put it more aptly: GOLAASSSOOOOOO!
After that, mental and physical fatigue was taxing D.C. United who didn't produce much except for hectic and overhasty efforts usually stopped by a now self-confident Morelia defense. Only in the stoppage time did United pull themselves together one last time, but Muñoz nullified Emilio Luciano's third superb opportunity in minute 90 + 2 with a miraculous save, Campbell whistled for the last time on this after all entertaining second Superliga evening.
Match Facts
Goals: Christian Gomez (free kick, 7), Diego Martínez (Adrian Aldrete, 78)
Yellow Cards: Rod Dyachenko, Brian Carroll, Joshua Gros, Bobby Boswell (All D.C.), Gonzalo Choy (Morelia)
Red Card: Luis Ángel Landín (Morelia)
D.C. United: Troy Perkins, Marc Burch, Fred, Christian Gomez, Luciano Emilio, Ben Olson, Rod Dyachenko, Brian Carroll, Joshua Gros, Devon McTavish, Bobby Boswell (Nicholas Addlery, 66).
Monarcas Morelia: Moises Muñoz, Diego Martinez, Wilson Tiago, Marcio Batista (Oscar Carrasco 46), Luis Ángel Landín, Wanderson de Souza (Jesus Castillo 68), Gonzalo Choy (José Alberto Hernández 79), Hugo Sanchez, Horacio Cervantes, Mauricio Romero, Omar Trujillo (Adrian Aldrete, 46)
The first match between FC Dallas and Chivas Guadalajara of the inaugural season of the SuperLiga tournament at times lived up to the billing as the premier club football tournament in North America. Although not all moments in this match would make their way into a highlights video of the greatest moments of world football neither too would most group-stage openers of the modern day Champions League. Then again, a delightfully chipped goal, a dubious handball decision, and a contentious sending off made this match at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas memorable.
For all their attacking endeavor Chivas were unable to breakdown the scrappy defending by Dallas and some rather impressive saves by stand-in goalkeeper Ray Burse. On the night the American Burse was filling the gloves for Dario Sala and also was selected ahead of Trinidad & Tobago’s own number one, Shaka Hislop, who helped famously earn his country a precious point by drawing nil-nil against Sweden in last year’s World Cup.
The first fifteen minutes of the match clipped along at a feverish pace in both attacking and cheaply giving away possession. Despite rather shambolic defending FC Dallas – at one point Dallas defender Adrian Serioux and keeper Burse collided during an attempted clearance – wasteful Chivas forward Omar Arellano was simply unable to score and proved to be rather unlike Milan’s Kaká when Manchester United’s Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic collided in front of goal in last season’s Champions League semifinal.
Dallas held out until the second half and were rewarded when they hit Chivas on the break when during the 56th minute midfielder Arturo Alvarez chipped the Chivas keeper to give his team a 1-0 advantage. Dallas’s attempts to further break open the Chivas defense were fruitless in spite of the otherwise impressive workrate and creativity of the yellow-booted Brazilian striker Ricardinho. Ricardinho’s marauding runs up the left side of the pitch yielded inviting crosses, but more often than not was left wanting by teammates unable to get on the end of his crosses.
Chivas restored parity under dubious circumstances when substitute Jose Olvera appeared in television replays to have controlled the ball with his hand before volleying into the back of Burse’s net in the 67th minute. Subsequent Dallas appeals were denied referee Walter Quesada. The game further unraveled for Dallas when Drew Moor was elbowed in the penalty area by Chivas captain Hector Reynoso and then retaliated by pushing Reynoso’s face. This resulted in a straight red card for Moor in the 72nd minute. Despite the controversy, a bout of handbags preceding the red card, and overall physicality by which players flipped and tumbled under both sloppy and innocuous challenges, referee Quesada was able to keep a lid on the match where it simmered to a 1-1 conclusion.
If this sort of passion can be sustained throughout the tournament and even occasionally twinned with technical brilliance, then SuperLiga might well make it into those video highlights. Until then, North American audiences can settle for a prestigious club competition of their very own.
On Saturday FC Dallas are set to play Pachuca whereas Group A leaders Los Angeles Galaxy will be host to Chivas Guadalajara.
Match Facts
FC Dallas: Ray Burse, Drew Moor, Clarence Goodson, Adrian Serioux, Chris Gbandi, Juan Toja, Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa, Arturo Alvarez (Dominic Oduro 92+), Ricardinho (Bobby Rhine 82), Carlos Ruiz.
Unused Substitutes: Shaka Hislop, Dax McCarty, Aaron Pitchkolan, Abe Thompson, David Wagenfuhr
CD Guadalajara: Ernesto Michel, Mario de Luna, Juan Ocampo, Hector Reynoso, Sergio Avila (Antonio Olvera 66), Edgar Mejia, Omar Arellano, Xavier Baez, Julio Nava (Adrian Cardenas 85), Antonio Salazar (Jesus Padilla 57), Sergio Santana. Unused Substitutes: Paulo Cesar Chavez, Antonio Patlan, Edgar Solis, Alfredo Talavera
Official: Walter Quesada (CRC)
Goals: Arturo Alvarez (Dallas) 56; Jose Olvera (Chivas) 67
The Pachuca fans were singing “Cielito Lindo” in Carson’s Home Depot Center during the first half. They were a bit bored with the game, and rightly so. Andrés Chitiva and Luis Gabriel Rey could have made the difference when they approached Joe Cannon’s goal quite dangerously at least three times between the 5th and 45th minute of the otherwise disappointingly tame first half. The order of things would have been in order. Alas, neither Chitiva nor Rey scored – which they surely must have regretted later that evening.
After half-time, an enthralling exchange developed. For the Galaxy, Honduras international Carlos Pavon who had already missed a free header in the 25th minute, should have opened the score in the 2nd minute of the second half.
His miss from half-right position was quickly made good for by Alan Gordon. The Galaxy striker took the ball after a long and beautiful pass of veteran Landon Donovan, then made two steps and finished from a slightly left position just inside the penalty area. A goal well worth seeing.
It could have gotten even better for the Galaxy’s number 21: After a misunderstanding in Pachuca’s defense in the 58th, Gordon couldn’t believe the chance he had just left out. By then, the game had already fully grown into quick, offensive football - quite a spectacle.
In the 62nd, after a very close free kick for Pachuca by Christian “Chaco” Gimenez, the Galaxy’s counter attack amounted to the third missed opportunity for Pavon who got finally substituted three minutes thereafter.
Until the 77th, led by a towering Abel Xavier, the Galaxy annihilated Pachuca’s repeated and increasingly dangerous attempts at goal.
Then, finally, Damián Alvarez escapes the entire Galaxy defense, walks nearly to the end of the field and manages a pass to Rafael Marquez Lugo who finishes off over the motionless body of otherwise flawless keeper Joe Cannon.
The fun was far from being over: in the 80th minute, Cobi Jones literally shot down Landon Donovan. Donovan willy-nilly deviated the ball which then tumbled over Miguel Caldero and the line – thanks to Donovan’s half assist, half self-defense deviation, Galaxy had the lead back.
They wouldn’t surrender it until solid referee Carlos Batres called it a night about 3 minutes into stoppage time. The lagging and lacking team that didn’t stand the slightest chance against Chelsea F.C. last Saturday had just won against the champion of the 2007 Clausura in the Mexican Primera Division, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup earlier this spring and last year's Copa Sudamericana.
"We're very aware of how good they are," Galaxy coach Frank Yallop had said before the game, "but like they say, you have to play them all sooner or later."
They played them nicely for this SuperLiga's debut. With the Galaxy leading Group A, the SuperLiga has its first surprise. It is certainly a good thing that it has come rather sooner than later.
Match Facts
Goals: Alan Gordon (Donovan, Galaxy) 50; Rafael Marquez Lugo (Damián Alvarez, Pachuca); Landon Donovan (Cobi Jones, Galaxy) 81
Pachuca: Miguel Calero, Carlos Rodriguez, Marvin Cabrera, Aquivaldo Mosquera, Fernando Salazar (Damian Alvarez 56), Leobardo Lopez, Andres Chitiva (Jose Torres 92+), Christian Gimenez, Gabriel Caballero, Rafael Marquez Lugo, Luis Gabriel Rey (Victor Manon 87).
Unused Substitutes: Paul Aguilar, Braulio Godinez, Humberto Hernandez, Luis Montes
Los Angeles Galaxy: Joe Cannon, Ante Jazic, Ty Harden, Abel Xavier, Troy Roberts (Quavas Kirk 58), Kyle Martino (Cobi Jones 46), Landon Donovan, Kelly Gray, Chris Klein, Alan Gordon (Gavin Glinton 82), Carlos Pavon (Peter Vagenas 65).
Referee: Carlos Batres (GUA)
Goals: Alan Gordon (Donovan, Galaxy) 50; Rafael Marquez Lugo (Damián Alvarez, Pachuaca); Landon Donovan (Cobi Jones, Galaxy) 81
Attendance: 19, 317
2002, 2004, 2006, …these are but a few disappointing entries in the international football calendar of Los Albicelestes, Argentina’s national football team.Add to the list Copa América Venezuela 2007.
What began as a tournament of scintillating Argentinean football ended in ignominy with a 3-0 defeat to archrivals Brazil.Sunday’s cup final defeat for Argentina did not come from a fancily-coiffed penalty taker (Japan-South Korea 2002), an injury-time equalizer (Peru 2004), or string of freak substitutions that overlooked the team’s most creative winger since Maradona (Germany 2006).On the contrary, Argentina’s defeat was borne of coach Coco Basile’s tactical inflexibility and a disciplined, very physical Brazilian side unafraid to play canny counterattacking football.
The final was very much against the tournament’s grain of play or so I thought. Argentina were feted to prize the trophy from Brazil after several mesmerizing displays of attacking football during this tournament including what was arguably the goal of the competition when Lionel Messi chipped México’s Oswaldo Sanchez and a dour Brazil scraped past Uruguay on penalties.Argentina was to win and do so with flair against a Brazil conspicuously devoid of holidaying Kaká, Ronaldinho, and their newly reformed Ronaldo.
The loss is a yet another damning indictment of Argentinean football marveled for possessing some of the most brilliant players of the modern game, but somehow unsurprising in comparison with their recent footballing history of implosion.When brilliant players like Messi or Carlos Tevez are unable to lose their markers like they do in their respective leagues (La Liga and English Premiership) week after week or when seasoned defender with 115 caps Roberto Ayala put the ball into his own net, then the overall tactical nous of the coach must be questioned.In the last year they might have dazzled against the Méxicos and Serbia and Montenegros of the world, but Argentina were no match for the discipline, organization, and physicality of an otherwise unfancied Brazil.
Argentina might well recover in time for the South Africa 2010 especially considering the promise of the younger generation of players evidenced by Argentina’s progress in the U-20 World Cup Canada 2007.The quality of the players unquestionably is not in doubt, but the same cannot be said of the Argentinean senior team’s leadership.
It must have been after the 23rd attempt of Riquelme to center the ball after a corner or free kick. Or after the 23rd time the ball fell on one of these slightly taller standing Brazilian defenders' heads.
That was when the insight had become unalterable: Argentina would loose the final of the Copa America. Ghastly so. Spectators were to endure some more minutes of 'agonia' as Argentinian radio commentators called the remaining match time.
By then, over an hour of tactical inability had made for a one-sided pleasure: the Brazilians'.
Why el director tecnico Basile didn't tell Riquelme to try something different on that evening in Maracaibo is beyond us. That he wasn't capable to re-set his team to perseverance and fighting mode, as well.
It seems clear that Basile's home work did not include a lesson about Carlos Dunga, the seleçao's coach, and his past as a bone-hard defender at VfB Stuttgart. Didn't he realize that this Brazilian team meant more fouling and obstruction business than any national team under the banner of "ordem e progreso" before? That besides always dangerous counter-attacks, theirs was a quite nasty strategy of obstruction to not let Messi & co. even start to develop the irresistible magic they had shown in the weeks before?
The Argentinians' arrogance and inflexibility opened up a whole bunch of opportunities - the invitations to some of which the seleçao gladly accepted. They showed the class and coolness required to win. The 3:0 could - and should - have easily turned into a 5:0.
Bottom line: Brazil did everything right, Argentina only little. All the bigger will be the trauma around the mound of Río de la Plata after this - once again - historic loss against their neighbor from further North.
So there you had it, in the 61st minute in the Estadio Polideportivo Cachamay in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela: With its back to the goal Carlos Tevez sent Leo Messi whose delicate stop of the ball alone was an ode to slow motion on a wide screen TV. What followed was even better: two more steps and Messi irresistibly chipped the ball over Mexican keeper Sanchez. An outstanding goal - all the more when taking into account the beauty of Riquelme's sublime penalty and Heinze's opening of the score.
On the other side, the furiously infighting Mexicans had come quite close to scoring themselves and hit post and cross-bar at a time when it still might have mattered. In summary: Argentina's 3-0 victory over Mexico in this Copa America semi-final made for some pretty satisfying football watching.
This conclusion cannot possibly remain hidden from the U.S. press for long - or can it? "Bored sports fans should give soccer a chance during summer lull" tells us mesmerized Colby White of the Daily Texan in the headline about MLS and SuperLiga football in the USA. link
ully over soon.
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