âºGood week for Mexican Teams in the Copa Libertadores
There was a lot of action this week in what Pele calls the beautiful game of soccer and the three Mexican teams (Chivas, Atlas, and America) in the Copa Libertadores defeated three of South America’s best teams (Santos, Boca Juniors, and River Plate).
On Tuesday, April 8, Maradona saw his Boca Juniors lose to Atlas 3-1. Captain for Atlas, Bruno Marioni lead the way with two goals after the game was 1-1. The loss puts Boca Juniors in danger of not advancing to the 2nd round. Atlas with a game to play leads Group Three with 10 points, Colo Colo of Chile has 9, and Boca Juniors 7.
The next day, Pele saw Santos lose to Chivas 3-2. Omar Arellano scored early for Chivas and Javier Francisco Rodriguez scored in the 34th minute to give Chivas a 2-0 lead. Santos scored five minutes later but could not get any closer as Sergio Alejandro Santana scored in the 47th minute to put Chivas up for good. Columbia’s Cucuta Deportivo wins Group Six with 11 points, and with a game to play Santos has a one point edge over Chivas (7-6).
Chivas will need some help to advance to the next round as Santos plays at home against a Cucuta Deportivo team that has nothing to play for. Let’s not forget about America who though they are in dead last in the Mexican league, they were able to defeat River Plate 4-3. How that is possible? I do not know but in a very close group where every team has a chance, America leads Group Five with 9 points, River Plate is second only by goal differential. Peru’s Universidad de San Martin is third with 6 points, and Chile’s Universidad Catolica is fourth by goal differential.
âºBad Week for the MLS in the CONCACAF Champions Cup
Though the United States soccer team regularly defeats the Mexican national team, Major League Soccer had a week to regret. MLS Cup Champion Houston Dynamo could not score a goal against Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa in the two game series and lost 3-0. MLS Supporter Shield Champion D.C. United defeated Pachuca 2-1 in the second leg but was defeated 2-0 in the first leg, giving MLS no finalists in this year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup. Pachuca will play Deportivo Saprissa for the championship and the winner also qualifies for the FIFA World Club Championship.
Which leads me to this question, why cover teams that can’t beat a team from Costa Rica at the club level? An old Claudio Suarez, Duilio Davino, and Cuauhtemoc Blanco will not win support from fans of soccer. No offense to Deportivo Saprissa but if MLS is to get any support from the Latino community, MLS teams need to be able to win some important matches.
âºUEFA’s European Champions League and Cup Semifinals set
In Europe, FC Barcelona defeated Germany’s Schalke 1-0 in both games of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Mexican nationals, Giovani dos Santos and Rafa Marquez both came into the game late as substitues and Giovani had a shot on goal in the 79th minute but missed. Barcelona in the only non-English team left and now faces England’s Manchester United in a battle of giants in the semifinals. The other semifinal is between England’s Chelsea and Liverpool.
In the UEFA Cup, Carlos Salcido had a bad game, committing three fouls, giving away a free kick, and missing a shot in a quarterfinal match against Fiorentina. Fiorentina of Italy defeated PSV Eindhoven in Eindhoven to advance to the semifinals of the UEFA Cup where they will play Rangers of Scoland. The other semifinal is between Germany’s Bayern Munich and Russia’s FC Zenit-St. Petersburg.
âºBig Name Managers Will be Interviewed This Week for Mexican Job
Justino Compean, president of the Federation of Mexican Football (FMF) said that Portuguese manager, Jose Mourinho, formerly of Chelsea and Michael Lippi, manager of the 2006 World Cup Champions Italy, will be interviewed in the following days for the position of manager of the Mexican National Team.
Luis Felipe Scolari, manager of the 2002 World Cup Champion Brazil and currently with Portugal; Jose Pekerman, formerly with Argentina’s 2006 World Cup team and now with Toluca, and 2002 manager of the Mexican National Team, Javier “Vasco” Aguirre have also been mentioned as potential managers. None of these potential candidates will come cheaply but Compean made it clear that after Hugo Sanchez, “money is not an obstacle, whatever it costs, we want a winner.”
âºWho do you think should be manager of the Mexican National Team?
âºWhat do you think of Major League Soccer and its teams?
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