Chivas looked like a mess coming into Sunday's game against America. They fired their manager after 17 days on the job (and no losses in three games) and the turmoil may have taken away from their focus.
Then, when new manager Francisco "Paco" Ramirez did not start Javier "Chicharo" Hernandez, one of the club's hottest scorers, it looked difficult. Salvador Cabañas' absence though helped as Chivas were able to pull out a 1-0 win over America on Sunday.
Chivas have a crucial match at Pumas next week; a victory there would all but send the club through to the Liguilla. Regardless, they dealt America a tough setback as America now return home, a place where they haven't won this season, with a load of pressure.
Showing posts with label America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label America. Show all posts
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Classic brawl
It really was too bad that Omar Arellano was fired. We had a little story set to go on Goal.com about Arellano, his thoughts on the Clasico with America and his involvement in the huge brawl in the mid-80s between the teams.
This is quite an impressive brawl. I'll still share it with you here, but too bad there won't be a manager on Sunday that played a direct role in it.
This is quite an impressive brawl. I'll still share it with you here, but too bad there won't be a manager on Sunday that played a direct role in it.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Midweek kickaround
Some random thoughts and links to fill the morning/afternoon:
- I didn't actually get to write about the attendance figures for my PE column. In case you hadn't noticed, attendance figures around the league are sagging. MLS Daily does an excellent breakdown of this so you can click on this link to check out the figures.
Now, it's a little early in the season to say that the sky is falling or anything but there have been some wretched attendance figures around the league thus far.
* Real Salt Lake drew 11,806 to their season opener against Columbus. Yes, it was on a Thursday night but the game kicked off their home schedule. And it was against the defending champions. They actually drew 13 less fans to a Saturday match against DC United about 10 days later.
* FC Dallas drew 6,524 fans to a Sunday afternoon match against Chivas USA.
* The Galaxy drew 23,317 fans Saturday against Chivas USA. Now, it wasn't the most poorly-attended Clasico they hosted - only 18,260 showed up in June 2006 to watch Chivas-Galaxy, but it was just the second time the Galaxy did not sell out a Clasico.
* The Galaxy also drew just 18,013 to their home opener. It was the first time since the Galaxy moved to Home Depot Center that they have drawn fewer than 20,000 to their home opener.
* Kansas City, Columbus and San Jose (twice) have played home games with fewer than 10,000 in the seats.
Anyway, I'm not going to make any sort of final judgments on this - it's still too early to do so - but this certainly bears watching.
ADD: Thanks to Michoacano, I remembered to add the second part of this attendance thoughts. Not all attendance figures have been negative. Seattle has made a splash in their games, averaging just under 30,000 in three home dates. Chivas USA also has enjoyed a bit of a rise in attendance, which is encouraging.
So while the overall figures look bleak there are some stats to be encouraged by.
- Fredy Montero won't face any sort of criminal charges for an alleged sexual assault. That's good. MLS has nowhere near the media exposure of the major American sports leagues, but it also doesn't have many of the off-the-field problems those leagues deal with either. Last thing we needed was for one of the brighter young imports acting badly. Well now, not sure if he did or didn't act badly but at least there was nothing criminal about his behavior.
- President Obama threw his support behind a US World Cup bid. Here's what he had to say about the matter, according to a US Soccer press release:
Hosting another successful World Cup is important for the continued growth of the sport in the United States. And it is important to me personally. As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together. As a father, I saw that same spirit of unity alive on the fields and sidelines of my own daughters’ soccer games in Chicago. Soccer is truly the world’s sport, and the World Cup promotes camaraderie and friendly competition across the globe. That is why this bid is about much more than a game. It is about the United States of America inviting the world to gather all across our great country in celebration of our common hopes and dreams.
- San Diego might be one of the venues for some possible World Cup games. Or it might not. The Union-Tribune's Mark Zeigler looks at "America's Finest City" and their prospects of potentially hosting World Cup matches.
- In case you aren't aware, Chivas and America will play on Sunday in the best football rivalry north of Boca-River on this side of the world. I'd put them in the same category and I'm not about to say one is better than the other. Of course, I follow the Mexican superclasico more but that's natural. My family's from Mexico.
Anyway, Chivas didn't look very good against Lanus on Tuesday in Copa Libertadores although they could have won the game had they not had a late goal disallowed.
And for overall coverage of the game and the Mexican league, stop by Goal.com. I'm treating it as a national team game and will have a lot of coverage before the game and on matchday.
- I didn't actually get to write about the attendance figures for my PE column. In case you hadn't noticed, attendance figures around the league are sagging. MLS Daily does an excellent breakdown of this so you can click on this link to check out the figures.
Now, it's a little early in the season to say that the sky is falling or anything but there have been some wretched attendance figures around the league thus far.
* Real Salt Lake drew 11,806 to their season opener against Columbus. Yes, it was on a Thursday night but the game kicked off their home schedule. And it was against the defending champions. They actually drew 13 less fans to a Saturday match against DC United about 10 days later.
* FC Dallas drew 6,524 fans to a Sunday afternoon match against Chivas USA.
* The Galaxy drew 23,317 fans Saturday against Chivas USA. Now, it wasn't the most poorly-attended Clasico they hosted - only 18,260 showed up in June 2006 to watch Chivas-Galaxy, but it was just the second time the Galaxy did not sell out a Clasico.
* The Galaxy also drew just 18,013 to their home opener. It was the first time since the Galaxy moved to Home Depot Center that they have drawn fewer than 20,000 to their home opener.
* Kansas City, Columbus and San Jose (twice) have played home games with fewer than 10,000 in the seats.
Anyway, I'm not going to make any sort of final judgments on this - it's still too early to do so - but this certainly bears watching.
ADD: Thanks to Michoacano, I remembered to add the second part of this attendance thoughts. Not all attendance figures have been negative. Seattle has made a splash in their games, averaging just under 30,000 in three home dates. Chivas USA also has enjoyed a bit of a rise in attendance, which is encouraging.
So while the overall figures look bleak there are some stats to be encouraged by.
- Fredy Montero won't face any sort of criminal charges for an alleged sexual assault. That's good. MLS has nowhere near the media exposure of the major American sports leagues, but it also doesn't have many of the off-the-field problems those leagues deal with either. Last thing we needed was for one of the brighter young imports acting badly. Well now, not sure if he did or didn't act badly but at least there was nothing criminal about his behavior.
- President Obama threw his support behind a US World Cup bid. Here's what he had to say about the matter, according to a US Soccer press release:
Hosting another successful World Cup is important for the continued growth of the sport in the United States. And it is important to me personally. As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together. As a father, I saw that same spirit of unity alive on the fields and sidelines of my own daughters’ soccer games in Chicago. Soccer is truly the world’s sport, and the World Cup promotes camaraderie and friendly competition across the globe. That is why this bid is about much more than a game. It is about the United States of America inviting the world to gather all across our great country in celebration of our common hopes and dreams.
- San Diego might be one of the venues for some possible World Cup games. Or it might not. The Union-Tribune's Mark Zeigler looks at "America's Finest City" and their prospects of potentially hosting World Cup matches.
- In case you aren't aware, Chivas and America will play on Sunday in the best football rivalry north of Boca-River on this side of the world. I'd put them in the same category and I'm not about to say one is better than the other. Of course, I follow the Mexican superclasico more but that's natural. My family's from Mexico.
Anyway, Chivas didn't look very good against Lanus on Tuesday in Copa Libertadores although they could have won the game had they not had a late goal disallowed.
And for overall coverage of the game and the Mexican league, stop by Goal.com. I'm treating it as a national team game and will have a lot of coverage before the game and on matchday.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Porous defending
Indios are one of the worst teams in Mexico. They are on the brink of going back to the Primera A as they have a tough road ahead of them in the final four games of the Clausura 2009 season.
But America's crappy defense sure made them look good on Sunday. If America play like this next week against Chivas, the Clasico Nacional won't be much of a contest.
It's actually a bad thing for Chivas that the game is not in Estadio Azteca. America have yet to win there this season.
But America's crappy defense sure made them look good on Sunday. If America play like this next week against Chivas, the Clasico Nacional won't be much of a contest.
It's actually a bad thing for Chivas that the game is not in Estadio Azteca. America have yet to win there this season.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Illustrious quartet
Not all outlets have done this but I've seen on several places how this tournament between Milan, Inter and Chelsea has been scheduled for this summer.
Um... there's this other team called Club America who are also participating in the tournament. Not sure if you've heard of them. I know, you guys barely pay attention to what goes on south of the border, but clearly you must have heard of one of the most popular clubs in the Western Hemisphere.
Ahem.
America, Chelsea, Inter Milan and AC Milan will play in a four team tournament this summer across six US cities. For America, this match presents an opportunity the club does not often have, and that's to measure up against top European clubs. America has played the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United before but it's a good opportunity for the team to play some high-caliber preseason friendlies while making some money in the process.
This series is expected to draw massive crowds as well, since NFL stadiums or other large stadiums have been called on, including the new Dallas Cowboys stadium, which will have played host to a Gold Cup match there prior to this game.
Here's the full slate of games, that kicks off between America and Inter Milan
Sunday, July 19
Club America vs. Inter Milan, Palo Alto 4 p.m. PT
Tuesday, July 21
Chelsea vs. Inter Milan, Pasadena 8 p.m. PT
Wednesday, July 22
AC Milan vs. Club America, Atlanta, 4 p.m. PT
Friday, July 24
AC Milan vs. Chelsea, Baltimore, 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, July 26
AC Milan vs. Inter Milan, Foxborough, Mass., 2 p.m. PT
Sunday, July 26
Chelsea FC vs. Club America, Arlington, Texas, 4 p.m. PT
Um... there's this other team called Club America who are also participating in the tournament. Not sure if you've heard of them. I know, you guys barely pay attention to what goes on south of the border, but clearly you must have heard of one of the most popular clubs in the Western Hemisphere.
Ahem.
America, Chelsea, Inter Milan and AC Milan will play in a four team tournament this summer across six US cities. For America, this match presents an opportunity the club does not often have, and that's to measure up against top European clubs. America has played the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United before but it's a good opportunity for the team to play some high-caliber preseason friendlies while making some money in the process.
This series is expected to draw massive crowds as well, since NFL stadiums or other large stadiums have been called on, including the new Dallas Cowboys stadium, which will have played host to a Gold Cup match there prior to this game.
Here's the full slate of games, that kicks off between America and Inter Milan
Sunday, July 19
Club America vs. Inter Milan, Palo Alto 4 p.m. PT
Tuesday, July 21
Chelsea vs. Inter Milan, Pasadena 8 p.m. PT
Wednesday, July 22
AC Milan vs. Club America, Atlanta, 4 p.m. PT
Friday, July 24
AC Milan vs. Chelsea, Baltimore, 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, July 26
AC Milan vs. Inter Milan, Foxborough, Mass., 2 p.m. PT
Sunday, July 26
Chelsea FC vs. Club America, Arlington, Texas, 4 p.m. PT
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Chucho takes over
Jesus "Chucho" Ramirez took over as coach of America Wednesday, a day after America fired Ramon Diaz.
Ramirez led Mexico to the U-17 world title in 2005 and has stayed with the federation since then. However, he left now to take on the task of managing a giant, and perhaps the allure of America was too much to resist.
America have been a mess since Cuauhtemoc Blanco left, and haven't reached the playoffs since the Clausura 07 season. Daniel Brailovsky seemed to have been doing okay but he was fired before he really had the chance to get his feet underneath him and since then America has gone through Ruben Omar Romano and Ramon Diaz since.
Ramirez led Mexico to the U-17 world title in 2005 and has stayed with the federation since then. However, he left now to take on the task of managing a giant, and perhaps the allure of America was too much to resist.
America have been a mess since Cuauhtemoc Blanco left, and haven't reached the playoffs since the Clausura 07 season. Daniel Brailovsky seemed to have been doing okay but he was fired before he really had the chance to get his feet underneath him and since then America has gone through Ruben Omar Romano and Ramon Diaz since.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Catching up
Busy day today for me. Been running around as usual but wanted to take time to share a few stories.
* Club America sacked coach Ramon Angel Diaz. No big surprise. Diaz's America team looked average at best, and that's not the way you want a team to look after investing millions of dollars on offseason acquisitions.
* We're about 24 hours away from US-Mexico. The last time the US played Mexico to open the Hex was in 2001, and I watched the game at the Royal Falconer pub in Redlands. I was a metro reporter (no sports writing, lame!) back then so I left work early to watch the game, and that was one of the few places showing it (I worked in Moreno Valley at the time, some 20-40 minutes away depending on traffic).
* I thought about doing a positional comparison between the US and Mexico but Goal.com did it for me. It's worth a read.
* So is this. My man Joel Aceves getting bit-time play, in the LA Times. Nice. It's a column by LA Times columnist Hector Tobar, trying to paint a picture of the game and the rivalry for non-sports folks.
* And I leave you with a song that I've been humming to myself the last few weeks. Can you guess why?
* Club America sacked coach Ramon Angel Diaz. No big surprise. Diaz's America team looked average at best, and that's not the way you want a team to look after investing millions of dollars on offseason acquisitions.
* We're about 24 hours away from US-Mexico. The last time the US played Mexico to open the Hex was in 2001, and I watched the game at the Royal Falconer pub in Redlands. I was a metro reporter (no sports writing, lame!) back then so I left work early to watch the game, and that was one of the few places showing it (I worked in Moreno Valley at the time, some 20-40 minutes away depending on traffic).
* I thought about doing a positional comparison between the US and Mexico but Goal.com did it for me. It's worth a read.
* So is this. My man Joel Aceves getting bit-time play, in the LA Times. Nice. It's a column by LA Times columnist Hector Tobar, trying to paint a picture of the game and the rivalry for non-sports folks.
* And I leave you with a song that I've been humming to myself the last few weeks. Can you guess why?
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Winners and losers
Chivas and America each had a chance to advance to Sunday's InterLiga final but only one wound up with a shot of reaching Copa Libertadores. Atlas spoiled America's party with a 4-1 win while Chivas routed a hapless Tigres side 4-2 and both Guadalajara clubs moved on.
Here's how the respective newspapers in Guadalajara and Mexico City saw it.
First, Mural featured the jubilant local sides:
Reforma followed with one simple word:
Here's how the respective newspapers in Guadalajara and Mexico City saw it.
First, Mural featured the jubilant local sides:
Reforma followed with one simple word:
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
InterLiga highlights
Chivas and America each won by 3-1 scores and are each close to clinching a spot in Sunday's final.
For Chivas, Carlos Ochoa scored a pair of late goals as they beat Atlas in the Clasico Tapatio. Atlas looked very weak while Chivas showed signs that they'll be contenders. Ochoa, though, had several chances before his first goal that he should have put away.
America, meanwhile, also had their way with Tigres. Salvador Cabanas is a great player and was responsible for two of the goals. Still, he'd have been better off keeping his long hair.
For Chivas, Carlos Ochoa scored a pair of late goals as they beat Atlas in the Clasico Tapatio. Atlas looked very weak while Chivas showed signs that they'll be contenders. Ochoa, though, had several chances before his first goal that he should have put away.
America, meanwhile, also had their way with Tigres. Salvador Cabanas is a great player and was responsible for two of the goals. Still, he'd have been better off keeping his long hair.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Clasico highlights
It wasn't a Clasico for the ages but Chivas and America played to a thrilling 1-1 draw nonetheless on Saturday in Robertson Stadium. Jean Beausejour scored a goal for America and gave a hint of his skill and the potential he has in adding to America's attack. But Chivas got one back early in the second half off a set piece.
The game drew more than 30,000 to Robertson Stadium.
In case you missed it, here are the highlights.
The game drew more than 30,000 to Robertson Stadium.
In case you missed it, here are the highlights.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Los goles
Top 10 Clasico goals, according to Televisa. Anyone care to put names and dates to the golazos? I can only muster some of them, the more recent ones - Bofo, Reynoso, etc.
First Clasico of 09
Chivas and America will renew their hostilities tonight in Houston in an InterLiga match.The covers above are from Mural (in Guadalajara) and Reforma (in Mexico City). As an aside, I saw the Mural cover first and figured there would be lone America player gracing Reforma's cover but Carlos Ochoa showed up there as well. I wonder why the Mural people didn't include an America player and only showed the Chiva nacion member. Is it because there are more Chivas fans in Mexico City than there are America fans in Guadalajara? I wonder...
Anyway, the projected starting lineups are as follows:
Chivas: Michel; Ocampo, Reynoso, Mejia; Solis, Araujo, Baez,, Morales, Ponce; Ochoa, Medina.
America: Ochoa; Castillo, Ortiz, Valenzuela, Sanchez; Beausejour, Pardo, Vera, Chitiva; Cabanas, De Pinho.
"Panchito" Mendoza is slated to be on the bench for Chivas.
This will be the first time Chivas and America meet in InterLiga. They've played many, many times before but never in this scenario. They've actually met in Copa Libertadores before, in 98, and have played in the playoffs many times before as well, most recently in 2007. Expect a lively match tonight, probably the liveliest and most energetic game Robertson Stadium has ever seen.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Pardo returns home
Pavel Pardo is no longer part of El Tri in Europe contingent.
America has re-acquired Pardo's services from Stuttgart and the former America captain will once again defend America's colors.
For America, the move is great. They bring back a former star who knows very well what it takes to succeed with America. Pardo helped America win two championships during his time there. He brings instant leadership as well as capable soccer skills. America has struggled in recent seasons and along with Edgar Castillo and Juan Carlos Valenzuela, Pardo makes America's offseason acquisitions a decent catch.
For Pardo, though, the move is questionable. Pardo had done well in his time with Stuttgart and was a key part of their 06-07 championship and can still play in Europe. However, personal reasons many times trump sporting ones and a return to Mexico was what suited Pardo best right now.
ADD: I inadvertently left out a link to the story from Universal.
America has re-acquired Pardo's services from Stuttgart and the former America captain will once again defend America's colors.
For America, the move is great. They bring back a former star who knows very well what it takes to succeed with America. Pardo helped America win two championships during his time there. He brings instant leadership as well as capable soccer skills. America has struggled in recent seasons and along with Edgar Castillo and Juan Carlos Valenzuela, Pardo makes America's offseason acquisitions a decent catch.
For Pardo, though, the move is questionable. Pardo had done well in his time with Stuttgart and was a key part of their 06-07 championship and can still play in Europe. However, personal reasons many times trump sporting ones and a return to Mexico was what suited Pardo best right now.
ADD: I inadvertently left out a link to the story from Universal.
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