Yuckiness

The fallout from both Wendesday's Chivas-Everton match and the swine flu in Mexico has been, well, as Mural put it - Fuchila!

* Chivas and San Luis made it through to the second round of Libertadores where they'll play Sao Paulo and Nacional (Uruguay) respectively, but where will they play?

* Because of the swine flu, it seems Mexico is not an option for Chivas and/or San Luis to host South American teams. Colombia was in line to play host to games as the two Mexican teams were all set to play their home legs in Bogota but the Colombian government said no. FMF officials had said Chile might be an option but everything is seemingly up in the air, and when government officials get involved and are emphatic against something like a soccer game, it makes it hard to get around that.

* I was wondering if this might mean we'd have a Libertadores game here in LA but I read somewhere that the idea of playing those games in the US had been kicked around but discarded. Guess it'd be hard for Nacional to get from Montevideo to Los Angeles for a midweek game.

* I really hope that the series isn't reduced to a one-off game for both, with the matches being played at Sao Paulo and Montevideo, but that could be an option. Chivas at Sao Paulo for a winner-take-all series. A neutral site, even if it's in that country, would be preferable, but a two-leg series would still be the most ideal thing. Don't know, just seems there are a lot of people throwing up roadblocks and if Colombia already said no, if Chile was already hostile in their treatment of Chivas, I wonder if any South American country will say yes to Chivas and San Luis at this point.

* Getting back to the spitting incident, Chivas president Pedro Saez had some damage control and said he was surprised a player of Reynoso's caliber would do such an act. Mural ran a great picture of the incident:

The Everton player said afterward: "I hope he doesn't have some sort of disease." Ouch.

Tying their way through

Guadalajara tied Everton 1-1 in Chile on Wednesday and advanced to the second round of Copa Libertadores. They needed just a draw to get by and they did just that.

Of course, the week wasn't an uneventful one. Because of their travel from Mexico City to Santiago, the locals were not exactly welcoming to players while they were out and about in Viña Del Mar.

Which prompted this cartoon from Terrazas:

Chiva tells Everton: Your countrymen treated me like a pig.
To wit Everton replies: And because of you, they'll treat me like trash.

The game wasn't without incident though as there were a pair of red cards at the end of the match.

Orozco scores

Michael Orozco scored a goal for San Luis in a Copa Libertadores match on Wednesday.

Orozco scored on a header late in their game against Universitario. The goal gave San Luis a 2-1 lead and would have been the match-winner had San Luis not allowed a goal in the 90th minute.

Orozco is the second American to score a goal in Copa Libertadores. The first was... do you know? I'll put the answer in the comments.

Terrible defending

Chivas beat Everton 6-2 on Wednesday, destroyed them actually. It didn't seem like Everton put up a tough fight. Their defense actually looked downright awful.



Not sure what this means in the grand scheme of things, if Chivas has what it takes to make a run at the Copa title, or if Everton is just a bad team. But for now, it keeps Efrain Flores' job safe and puts Chivas atop Group 6 in Copa Libertadores.

Four in action

Four Mexican teams will be in action on Wednesday and none of the results will count towards league play.

Chivas will play Everton in Copa Libertadores play in Mexico. Meanwhile Santos visits Montreal and Cruz Azul hosts Pumas in CONCACAF Champions League play.

In terms of results, Chivas' poor form could carry over into cup. Chivas need a victory over Everton as they need to maximize their home points. Chivas can ill afford to get a point and put themselves in position to get a road win or two just to advance. If they win, everything's fine in Copa. A draw or loss, and maybe the grumblings over Efrain Flores' job grow louder.

Meanwhile, Santos seems to be taking their Champions League effort seriously - at least that's what coach Daniel Guzman said.

This is in contrast to Pumas and Cruz Azul. However, Cruz Azul have six players out and suspended and will be forced to use backups.

Pumas, meanwhile, is fielding young players. They won't even bother to try and hide the fact that they are using only young players.. but given their horrendous league form, that may be a good thing.

Pachuca's out

No Copa Libertadores for Pachuca.

Universidad de Chile lost in Pachuca 2-1 on Wednesday but the Chileans got the road goal they needed and won on the tiebreaker as the aggregate series finished tied at 2-2.

The following statistic would take some actual research but it's been a while since Mexico did not get three teams into Copa Libertadores. Not sure how many years but it seems each year three Mexican teams are in the tournament and most of the time they all get past the first round.

Here are the highlights:

Pachuca's opponent: U de Chile

San Luis and Chivas are already in Copa Libertadores but Pachuca could add to the number of Mexican teams in South America's top international tournament. Pachuca will face Universidad de Chile on Wednesday in the first of two legs that will determine a spot in the tournament proper.

Most of us are familiar with Pachuca, as they've done well in Mexican league play and have met MLS clubs in various competitions in recent years. But what's the deal with their opponents? The Touchline's Sean Grybos took a look at U de Chile ahead of the clubs' play-in series:

Copa Libertadores Preview: Universidad de Chile

In the Preliminary Round, Pachuca will play in a home-and-away series against Universidad de Chile. Pachuca travels to Chile on January 28 and hosts Universidad on February 4. The away goals rule will be utilized if needed. The winner will advance to the Group Stage.

The side qualified for South America’s most prestigious tournament by winning the Group Stage of Chile’s Clausura 2008. In the stage, the club scored 38 points on a 12-2-4 record. Since 2004, a domestic title has eluded La U.

Stadium: Estadio Nacional: With a capacity for over 77,000 supporters, the Santiago-based stadium is also used by the Chilean national team.

Manager: Sergio Markarián: After his successful 2008 run at Mexico’s Cruz Azul where he lead the side to the finals of both the 2008 Clausura and 2008 Apertura, the Uruguayan manager moved to Universidad. Will he find the same amount of success in Chile?

Key Squad Members

Manuel Villalobos: The 28-year-old forward is a capable scorer. He came up through the youth ranks of rivals Colo-Colo but now calls La U home.

Rafael Olarra: This is the defender’s third stint with the club after several forays in Europe. Will the 30-year-old captain be able to organize the back against an efficient Pachuca attack?

Miguel Pinto: The 25-year-old goalkeeper has spent his entire career at the U starting over 100 league games since 2004.

Now, the Cup

CD Guadalajara is through to Copa Libertadores. After winning the finals on penalties, Chivas has reached Copa Libertadores directly and will advance to Group 6 of the tournament proper.

Atlas meanwhile came back from a 3-0 deficit only to crash out of the tournanement on penalties... lots of them.

Here's what the residents of Guadalajara awoke to this morning:


Chivas will make up Group 6 along with Lanus of Argentina, Everton of Chile and Caracas of Venezuela. San Luis will also participate in the tournament and will be in a group along with San Lorenzo of Argentina, Libertad of Paraguay and Universitario of Peru. Meanwhile, Pachuca, who beat Atlas, will play U de Chile in a play-in series.