2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying: USMNT

The 2010 FIFA World Cup officially kicked off for most of the soccer playing world yesterday (CONMEBOL has already started their qualifiers) as the Qualifying draw was held in Durban, South Africa. CONCACAF will be using three groups during the first group stage, with knock out matches deciding who makes it into the groups. The USA found out that it will be in Group 1, which will break down like this:

Group 1:
- Winner of Dominica/Barbados vs. USA
- Winner of Turks and Caicos Islands/S. Lucia vs. Guatemala
- Winner of Aruba/Antigua and Barbuda vs. Cuba
- Winner of Bermuda/Cayman Islands vs. Trinidad and Tobago

Most are expecting the USA to face Barbados in a home/away series in order to advance to the group phase. The groups are expected to shake out to look like this:

Group 1
USA
Guatemala
T&T
Cuba

Group 2
Mexico
Jamaica
Honduras
Canada

Group 3
Costa Rica
Guyana
Panama
Haiti

The USA definitely has a better group than Mexico & Canada do. Guatemala has never been a push over and as we faced them twice this year, drawing 0-0 and winning 1-0, playing them twice again this round should be interesting, especially in Guatemala.

T&T qualified for the last World Cup, but at last that I had heard, their regular players hadn't made peace with the T&T football federation, so who knows who will be playing for them in the Qualifying.

Cuba is definitely the weakest link in this possible group. The USA hasn't had any trouble with the Cubans in recent memory. Granted that a match in Havana would be one of the more "interesting" matches that the USMNT has played in recent years, I do not see the potential two matches against Cuba as anything other than 6 points, 4 at the least.

All in all, the USMNT were drawn into a pretty easy path to the Hexagonal stage of the CONCACAF Qualifying. Considering that only two teams from each group advance, the two that move on from Group 2 will be the most watched in CONACACAF. Will Canada be able to grind out points in potential trips to Jamaica or Honduras? How about the potential trip to Azteca? Will the Canadian's do as the USSF has done in the past and try and schedule the Mexico match for Toronto when the weather is just above freezing?

I am looking forward to these matches. I want to see the USA advance based on some very good, solid performances and not just the ones that are at home.

CONCACAF Champions League

As first reported by Steve Goff, CONCACAF will be scraping the Champions Cup after the 2008 tournament in favor of a "UEFA style" Champions League. It will run from Summer of 2008 to the spring of 2009 and MLS will have four clubs taking part: DC United, Houston Dynamo, New England Revolution & CD Chivas USA. The Revolution & Chivas USA will have to play in the preliminary round to gain entry into the group stage, were as DC United & Houston have already qualified for the group stage. This tournament sounds like something I thought of a time ago, I hope that it works out.

Before we get to the Champions league, we have the final rendition of the Champions Cup to deal with. As of this last Sunday, two final spots in the eight club tournament are up for grabs, which go to the 2007 Mexican League Torneo de Apertura champion & the third place club from the Torneo Interclubes de UNCAF 2007. The current qualifiers are:

- DC United (MLS Supporters Shield Winners)
- Houston Dynamo (MLS Cup Champions)
- Pachuca CF (2007 Mexican League Torneo de Clausura champion)
- Harbour View FC (CFU Champion)
- Deportivo Saprissa (UNCAF)
- CD Motagua (UNCAF)

LD Alajuelense will face CSD Municipal in a third-place series in the Torneo Interclubes de UNCAF 2007 to determine the third UNCAF club to advance to the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The 2007 Mexican League Torneo de Apertura champion will be determined in December as the Mexican League playoffs are only entering the Quarter Final stages.

USA vs. Mexico: Round III

Here is the funny thing, USMNT matches are usually never a surprise once they are actually announced by the USSF. We mostly hear rumors at first of the USA playing matches in Tampa or in LA or some place. We had two recent rumors that the USA is scheduling a trip down to South Africa to face the 2010 World Cup hosts in November and the September 9th match in Mexico City against our southern rivals, Mexico.

Well, the Mexico trip just became a reality as the USSF announced the match today. Add this to the confirmed/rumored scheduled and we now have five away matches scheduled for the rest of 2008, which is a drastic change from last year and the beginning of this year. Unfortunately, this match doesn't really get me that excited as the other ones do and this actually bothers me.

Yes, playing a match against Mexico in any situation is a good match for the USMNT. Mexico is not only the other top side in CONCACAF, and as they finished third in the Copa America, one could argue that they are honestly the third best side in the Western hemisphere. Playing against Mexico in Mexico City, Azteca no less, is a golden opportunity for the USMNT, if for nothing else than the chance to get the younger guys used to having bags of urine and batteries tossed at them before they have to go there for World Cup qualifying.

So why am I not as excited as I should be, or others are?

I guess it is because this is the third act of the same dance that we have had this year with Mexico. Yes, I understand that the venue change makes it an entirely different ballgame, but I think that we might have short sighted ourselves by getting another Mexico friendly in the same calendar year. Couldn't we have called up Peru and seen if they wanted a visitor on the 9th? How about another match in Europe?

Don't get me wrong, I am happy that this match has been scheduled. In fact, if the USSF worked it out that every year (minus World Cup Qualifying years) USA and Mexico have a home/away series of friendlies, I wouldn't be upset. I just think that as we have already danced twice this year, there has got to be other dance partners out there that we haven't seen before? Maybe try and see if Iraq wants to meet up in Rome or something. We are probably going to play them in the Confederations Cup in 2009 anyways.

In any case, I am happy to see that the USSF has scheduled another match for the USMNT and that this new match will be outside of the USA. Matches like these should be scheduled. Playing away from home gives guys a different feeling and prepares them better for the World Cup qualifying.

Now I gotta figure out how to get my company to pay for me to go to Mexico....

Week off: Oh What a Week it was!

So right after the USMNT “got” bye the Canadian National team and booked their trip to the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final, I too took a trip. I ended up going out to Iowa for wedding related issues. While I was out in Des Moines I was able to catch the Gold Cup final at The Royal Mile (if you ever get to Des Moines, check it out, the place is awesome).

That was one helluva match. Bocanegra being a monster on the backline, Tim Howard having a great match, Donovan stepping up and not chocking on the PK, and Benny’s goal. Damn that was a good game.

I was glad to see Mexico come out firing and pushing the Americans back. The entire tournament it had been the USA storming out of the gates, but this match was different from the other five. Yes the score line was the same, but I saw a different USA come out in the second half. One that was down a goal for the first time since January and needed to recapture its lost form. They did that in the form of Ricardo Clark. His play in the second half injected a much needed presence in the midfield which woke up the Americans. Too bad we couldn’t win the game 2-0.

Hats off to the USMNT for winning their second straight Gold Cup and booking a trip to South Africa in 2009.

So right after that, or during it (I really don’t remember) I saw that Thierry Henry finally decided to make the move to Spain and join Barcelona. I honestly think that this move came one year too late and cost Barcelona the Champions League and La Liga this last season. This move also has pretty much sunk Arsenal for their 2007/08 season.

Without Henry, Wenger (if he is still around next season) has a much larger task at hand, and no real incentive to draw star players to the Gunners. Next season, pretty much as this last season went, the EPL “Big Three” will be Manchester United, Chelsea & Liverpool. Sorry Nigel.

So when I returned to DC from Iowa, I went straight into a week long Microsoft training class. Having to study for two tests in one week forced me to miss my first home DC United match of the season. Pissed me off too, it looked like a good one. I was happy to see (DVR is god) that after we went down a goal, that the entire squad stepped up their play and we were able to get a PK for our efforts. Hopefully Kpene’s injury doesn’t keep him off the field for too long. Getting the offense in gear is a good sign.

The other big United news this week was the Facundo Erpen for Greg Vanney trade that just happened. I really don’t know how to rate this one. On one hand you have a very talented, but very erratic young Argentine defender who could have become a longtime defender for the club; and on the other you have an experienced US player who instantly brings solid defensive experience to a backline that has been anything less than stable. Trading Erpen does keep the club from having to use a Senior International roster spot next year, giving the club a chance to bring in an other experienced defender or (heaven forbid) a possible replacement for either Gomez or Moreno. Trading Erpen also allows us in Blog land to retire the phrase: Erpen had his usual gaff/flub/SNAFU/…ect. I do wish him well in Colorado.

I do like the move of bringing in Vanney. Considering that he at most will stick with the club for this season and maybe next, the time he is here should be a god send for helping Boswell and Namoff as they move more and more into the USMNT spotlight. Having Vanney’s experience assist their talent should get them more playing time, as well as giving Troy a little bit less work to do over the course of the season.

Now we have the Copa America and Bradley’s first loss. You knew it was coming and you knew that if it didn’t come from Mexico, Argentina was going to serve that big L on a dish served cold. We all knew that we would loose to Argentina, the fact that we even got a goal in my mind was the surprise. Yes it was a PK, but I was shocked we even held them in the first half.

After watching the match again on DVR, I saw that Bornstein played a great match, much better than any he had in the Copa America. Ben Olsen provided the same thing that he has been doing for DC United, he was the energy bomb that the squad needed to run. Once he left the field and Argentina decided to bring on Aimar, the match was over. I had hoped for a better score line considering that we held them in the first half, but 4-1, in a match with a USA B/C team against the best Argentina has to offer…that ain’t half bad. This loss will go so much farther in getting our guys ready for World Cup Qualifying than any of the Gold Cup matches will.

Match Recap: USA 2 - 1 Canada

A couple of days ago I wrote this little piece about the growing complaints from losing players and coaches about how they felt that CONCACAF had rigged the Gold Cup to get the dream match up of the USA vs. Mexico in the tournament final.

After watching the USA vs. Canada, I think I need to change my position. The USA were gift wrapped that match tonight. Sure, Hejduk's goal wasn't something that the ref manipulated, but that second and game winning goal was definitely one that a PK was questionable on. Yes, there were stretches of the match where the US played very strong soccer, but the better team was Canada.

Yes, Michael Bradley had been given a 1 match vacation due to his horrible, horrible tackle late in the second half, which if the ref was under orders to favor the USA, he might have not given a red card for. However that was a situation where the ref had no choice and had he not given a red card, it would have been the smoking gun. It is a shame too, Bradley had been playing a really great match in the defensive midfield role, up until he completely lost his mind and decided to hack a guy.

Well, CONCACAF have half of their dream final, now Mexico has to take care of business; or the refs, who knows?

Yet again, Eddie Johnson shows why he is a shitty US forward. He is slow with the ball, doesn't know how to make a decision to save his life and shoots like a 3 year old; I take better shots with Vodka. He doesn't even have the understanding of his position to know that if two of your teammates are making a 2 on 1 run with the ball at goal, you run you dumb ass after them to be in a position to collect a rebound. Beasley tried to pass to Donovan who wiped big time yet still kept the ball. If Johnson had a fucking clue as to what his job on the field was, he would have been an other option for Donovan to pass to, instead, EJ was no where to be found and yet another US attack flamed out.

Somebody get him a copy of the 2002 World Cup Final. Ronaldo score one of his goals off of a rebound that Kahn did not smother. Goals come from rebounds, but they only come from rebounds when a player actually gets into a scoring position.

As for the rest of the side...I am not sure. Deuce still created alot of plays for the US, but when he was in on goal, it seemed like a hip hop track went off in his head and he got the urge to dance and be a disco star. Shoot the damn ball!

Hejduk scored a great goal, but he has a vacation this Sunday as well. Pablo "Hulk Smash" Mastroeni played a great game and with Bradley out for the final, whatever was making him limp had better get cleared up soon.

Donovan did pretty good, but at the end when he was the only guy running the right side, I hoped he would have made better runs with the ball. It was only around the 86th minute that he started running for the corner, which I think he needed to do sooner.

Beasley needed to get into more of the game. Canada did a very good job of clogging the midfield, which limited DMB's chances.

Overall, it wasn't a great performance by the USA. I am still waiting for full effort by the entire side. Maybe Coach Bob needs to finally settle on 11 guys and put them out there.

So, they are in the final, which we all expected...but this US team is not the one that we all expected. I guess this is a sign of the changing US Soccer landscape. A few years ago we expected tough games in our region, then we started to roll the other teams and now we expect, damn near demand them to walk over the little CONCACAF nations. I remember all sorts of people demanding that we send our second string team to the Gold Cup as the competition was light. I for one am glad we didn't, as we wouldn't be in the final.

A note for the future: Canada is for real. That is a side that will be one of the toughest CONCACAF opponents we face in qualifying. Playing them at BMO Field will be a war. Guatemala will be tough in qualifying, as will Panama and Mexico. Now the big question: Are they all going to be tough because they are getting better, or because we are getting worse?

Copa Oro Rigged? Say it ain't so!

So after the weekend of Quarter Final action in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, new complaints were heard from losing teams that CONCACAF has rigged the tournament to ensure that the USA vs. Mexico dream final will take place. Costa Rican head coach, Hernan Medford stated that CONCACAF had already determined when and where the two teams would be playing their Quarter Final matches before their last group phase matches took place. So based on that, he feels that CONCACAF are favoring the two teams.

Panama seems to be feeling something of the same poison. Ives highlights this on his site, as the Panamanian captain, Felipe Baloy says that the calls were all going the USA's way in their match up on Saturday. He says that the USA vs. Mexico result is what CONCACAF wants.

So, is that happening?

I am not sure, but I doubt it. I do think that CONCACAF, in order to get the most out of their little regional championship, does want and hope that the final match up will be the USA vs. Mexico. That is the biggest draw in the region and should provide the most revenue. So I think that they would want that result to happen.

Are they actively manipulating the events of the matches and the final results? I don't think so. CONCACAF and its refs can give penalty kicks, but they still don't account for the other 7 goals that the USA has scored in the tournament thus far. Yes, the second goal on Saturday was off of a free kick, which if you want to say was due to the ref giving the call, but the USA still had to convert the free kick, which Bocanegra did very well.

As for the cards issue, didn't Gooch get tossed from the first game? Haven't there been at least 7 times a USA player has been called offsides when it is clear as day that he was still onsides? If anything, the officiating thus far in the tournament has been negative against the USA. The same complaints that Medford brought up from the Costa Rica/Mexico match were brought up after the USA vs. Guatemala match. Guatemala were tackling just as hard as the USA, but the US players were getting called out for fouls and given cards.

I think that the biggest problem in this tournament (and I have already brought this up before) is that with the exception of the Mexican ref Benito Archundia, CONCACAF doesn't have good officials. Their experience is limited to piss poor leagues and the majority of the refs that called up for international duty are not international quality. You rarely see a UEFA ref allow a match to get so out of hand that they are handing out Yellow Cards like they are dinner rolls, yet in a CONCACAF match, it is damn near common practice.

Because of the poor officiating, the teams that can actually adapt to the horrible calls are the ones that can actually rise to the occasion. So in a sort of twisted way, all those years of the USA getting the short end of the stick while playing in CONCACAF has sort of trained us to expect bad calls and to have our team adapt to them. Add to this the fact that our squad has probably become the fittest squad in the region and probably has more talent in our B Squad than most Q Squads, the other nations have to result to a more physical type of play, which as in the case of the Panama match, plays right into the poor officiating of the CONCACAF refs. As we watched the match on Saturday, my girlfriend asked me why Panama was playing like a bunch of thugs, always chopping down guys. I told her I thought it was the only way they felt that they could handle our players, as they couldn't match their talent or work rate.

Is CONCACAF trying to ensure that the final has USA vs. Mexico? I doubt it. I think we would have seen several more PKs called in the Mexico matches than we did. The fact that we have only seen one PK for Mexico (and it was in their 2-1 loss to Honduras) makes me feel that CONCACAF isn't trying to get the Mexicans into the final. The only real way CONCACAF has affected the tournament was when they announced that there would be no invited guests. Considering that in past tournaments, the USA or Mexico have pretty much only been ousted from the tournament by an invited guest, CONCACAF went a long way towards stacking the deck against the rest of the region.

Match Recap: USA 4 - 0 El Salvador

I liked the result. Good to see Twellman finally get his goal, at home no less.

The USMNT secured first place in Group B and will either play Guadalupe or the Group C 3rd place side on Saturday at Foxboro. This means everyone has more than enough time to get some rest in preparation for the Quarter Finals.

Is El Salvador really that bad? I say that because they came out flat in the first half but they actually pressed in the second half, but they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Their shots were horrible. I can't really think that they are that bad, but considering this is CONCACAF, who's to say?

The officiating crew was a little better tonight. The linesmen still messed up several offsides calls, most of them against El Salvador. The ref did one thing tonight that should have been done in the Guatemala match; he took control of the physical play early by giving several guys cards. I think it helped the tempo of the match and could have saved the first match.

Gooch picked up an other Yellow Card tonight, I guess he is lucky that they reset in the Quarter Finals. He could have been given a second one near the end of the second half. It looked like he damn near put his elbow through an El Salvadorian forward's head. I really hope that he maybe slows his play down a bit, without affecting his play.

Michael Bradley scared me tonight. Not only did he pick up a Yellow card for a really bad tackle, but he made several more harsh challenges that were pretty late on the ball. He was lucky not to get another card.

Feilhaber looked pretty good. Several of his passes were a little soft, but overall I though he did well. I am pretty sure we will see him in the midfield for the rest of the tournament.

Pablo "Hulk Smash" Mastroeni returned from his World Cup three match banning, only to get another yellow card. Pablo did all right tonight. His composure in the defensive midfield helped out as Donovan and Beasley made their forward runs along with Feilhaber, Spector and Bradley.

Spector had a much better match tonight than I have seen from him in a long time. I would keep Hejduk on the bench and have Spector and Simek duke it out for the right back position.

Twellman and Ching worked really well up front, especially with Deuce behind them. Deuce was the friggin man in the midfield in the second half, especially once Ching came on. I liked how Twellman and Ching were looking for each other, but someone needs to teach Ching how to cross, he either sends the ball straight up in the air or right along the ground. If EJ is out with his knee problem (haven't heard either way) having Twellman and Ching play off each other doesn't look like a bad pairing.

Beasley was a real powder keg on the wings. His two goals were very good, his first one he was in the right place at the right time and his second one his speed got him on line with Deuce's pass. Good to see that he is playing like the old DMB that we needed last summer.

Overall, I really don't have that much to say. I think that the fact that this is the third match together and the fact that El Salvador decided to try for the draw in the first half did more for the result than anything else. Hopefully it took the guys three matches to gel together and now they will be able to roll to Soldier Field and the finals.

CONCACAF Officiating: Horrible

So I waited until today to jot down my thoughts from the second of three first round matches in the Gold Cup. The USA won 2-0 yesterday over T&T from goals by Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson. Unfortunately, yesterday's match was more of the same crap I saw Thursday night. The officiating was again horrendous, the US team itself was just good enough to win and the FSC production crew were terrible.

The USA played essentially an entirely different squad against T&T from the one that played Guatemala but the same problems were showing up in this match as the Thursday night match. Our passes were either too soft or they were off target, our play off the ball was lacking and our attempts at finishing were pretty poor (including Ching's goal).

After watching the entire match, I came away with some positives, but not many. Justin Mapp proved that he belongs on this team. He was alive and always running and trying to get into open positions. He and Beasley are going to have a good fight for that left midfielder spot. Kasey Keller was Kasey Keller. He was a rock in the back and didn't give up many gaffes. The only other real positive I saw was the combined play of Donovan and Twellman once Twellman came on. Those two played well off of each other and the T&T defenders were having fits with them. Was that due to the T&T defenders being worn out? I am not sure, but I liked what I saw and having them start up front in the next match wouldn't be a bad idea.

The FSC crew...well, they really need to learn that the live action on teh field is what they need to show. Having the camera show the coaches as a guy is streaking up the sideline with the ball, or just showing the goalkeeper when a free kick is being taken, neither are what the viewers want to see. Please, get the rest of the matches right.

Now for the officiating. After the Thursday night match, I was upset at how the CONCACAF crew handled the match. I felt that they really didn't have a grasp as to what they were supposed to be calling. Some times the ref would decide that a tackle was earth shattering, but a similar one two minutes later was nothing. They got the cards right in the first match, so don't get me wrong, but the ref was utterly hopeless in calling an even match. Then in the second match yesterday, the far linesman was consistent...consistent in failing to correctly call a player offsides. There were three separate times where Eddie Johnson was called offsides, two of them a T&T players was dead even with him. It got to the point where I gave up anytime we had the ball, I figured we would be called offsides.

I was beginning to think that there was some massive conspiracy going on against the USA, which there might be (if there is, they need to get over it and just continue to score goals). However, after attending today's MLS match at RFK between DC United & Red Bull New York, I am beginning to believe that the actual problem is the CONCACAF officiating in general. Today there were too many offsides calls when the player was dead even with a defender as the ball was played, yet he was called offsides. There were too many calls ignored, just to be called at a different time. Based on the officiating I have seen over this season and in the Gold Cup, I would have to say that when you compare the CONCACAF crews to the UEFA crews, there is a huge difference. The UEFA crews call better matches. Bundesliga, La Liga, EPL, Serie A, UEFA matches, they all call better matches with the calls down the line. Is it really a wonder why FIFA did not call in any CONCACAF refs for the World Cup last year?

My thinking on this is that as a region, this is yet an other gripe fans will have with CONCACAF and an other gripe that will be ignored by Jack Warner because it isn't something that will make him money to look into. However, I think that this is an issue that might actually see some level of change, as the USSF has decided to hire full time refs, and as they will get more and more proper training, one can hope that they will use that better training to actually make better calls in their matches.

Match Recap: USA 1 - 0 Guatemala

I haven't felt this bad after a USA win...ever.

That was one horrible match tonight. The officiating was awful. The play of the USA was deplorable. The Guatemalans were completely gutless and the FSC production staff should be taken out back and shot.

First off, the officiating was awful. The referee practically did everything that he could to get a result for Guatemala. I am not saying that the cards he gave out to the USA players were wrong; they weren't. Hejduk had a WWE headlock on the Guatemalan player that he took down, so he deserved a yellow card. Gooches first yellow was a little soft, but everything that Gooch does looks like he is breaking bones, so the ref probably felt that he needed to card him. His second yellow was stupid. Bocanegra's card was a soft one, but by the rules, he deserved it.

My biggest complaint was how the ref really failed to make the same calls against the Guatemalans. There were four or five times when Beasley was laid out and the ref never even looked twice at him. Carlos Ruiz (who I utterly fucking hate now) took out Gooch and Bocanegra so many times, that I lost count. The ref should not be allowed to ref again.

With the two following exceptions: the goal and Tim Howard's play, the rest of the USA looked like they had just been put together 20 minutes before the match started. Where was the side that took it to Ecuador? How about the side that took everything that Mexico threw at them? How about the group that served China four goals? The goal was very nice; Beasley with the header pass and Twellman with the instinct to pounce and pass. But he rest of the match was pretty bad. The funny thing is, it got worse once Guatemala opened up and stopped putting 10 guys behind the ball.

Uh, hello!? Did the USA fail to say that the Eddie Johnson who has 9 goals in MLS was the one who was called up and not the shitty forward of last year? How many times do I have to see that guy pass the ball? He is a fucking forward, his sole mission is to try to get shots on the goal. He barely had one shot on goal. When he had chances to actually take a chance on goal, he looked for a way to pass the ball away.

What the hell happened to our backline? I gave up on Bornstein around the 40th minute mark and Hejduk really didn't show me that much either. I would rather see DeMerit and Simek get starts on Saturday...oh wait, one of them will have to start, Gooch has to sit the match out. Howard did well, evern though there were several shakey moments in the second half by his defenders. I am hoping that the guys give Keller a better ride on Saturday.

So, the USA came out and finally scored against Guatemala in 2007. I am happy that they were able to do that. I am extremely unhappy at how they played. I really hope that Nowak has the guys running laps around the stadium right now. I am not sure if T&T will come out with the same game plan as Guatemala did (they should, as Guatemala has pretty much shown twice that it really does work) and bunker and hassel the players. Regardless of how T&T comes out, the USA has got to get their act together. The passing out of the midfield needs to be crisper and more accurate. The defenders need to get better support form the midfield in linking up together. I would say about 10 minutes of the match tonight was wasted by the defenders passing between themselves as they tried to get a midfielder to come back and help link up the attack. I want to see the midfield that we had against Ecuador and China. The midfield that showed up tonight, they can go home.

In a parting note, I would like to say that FSC has got some of the worst camera men and producers in the sports business. There were at least 4 different times when the camera was focused on the Guatemalan coach and not the match, yet we here the FSC announcers calling out a play, 2 of them were right at the goals. They have two days now, maybe they should borrow some tapes from ESPN and watch how to produce a proper soccer match.

Pachuca are Champions of CONCACAF

Pachuca outlasted Chivas de Guadalajara last night after 120 minutes of scoreless soccer, to win 7-6 on Penalty kicks and claim the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Pachuca will now represent CONCACAF in the 2007 FIFA World Club Cup which will take place in Japan. This is the second straight time that a Mexican club will take part in the tournament, as Club America played in the December tournament last year, finishing 5th out of 6 clubs.

You almost had to expect that of the two CONCACAF clubs, Pachuca would finish the tournament on top. They made history last year by becoming the first non-CONMEBOL club to win the Copa Sudamericana. Where Club America failed in the FIFA World Club Cup last year, I have a feeling that Pachuca will make a better showing.

DC United Recap: CONCACAF Champions Cup

Well, it was a better match than the last time in Mexico.

So Jamie finally scored and we finally saw Fred. I think we saw alot more in this match. I saw Emilio and Gomez basically get smothered out of the match, something we should be prepared to see over the entire MLS season.

Regardless of the fact that Chivas kept Gomez and Emilio from really getting too involved in the match, I wasn't that upset with the scoreline or the performance of United. 2-1 is a respectable scoreline, one I didn't want to see unless we dropped in the 2, but nothing to really be ashamed about. The performance overall, was a good one. Our ball control, for the most part, was very good. Player support for the guy on the ball needs to improve, and I expect that it will. Passing out of the defense needs to improve as well, which we will have to wait and see how it does.

So the 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup is no more for DC United. They went 2-1-1 in the tournament and made the semi-finals. The biggest thing about their performances in each match is that they never looked like they were overmatched. Not playing on a pitch that looked like it had clumps of grass every meter; not in two very cold down pour's and not at altitude against one of the best clubs in the Western Hemisphere. If the performance over the last four matches is any indication of how DC United will do in the MLS season, things are definitely looking up for sure.

Benny was definitely my man of the match. Jamie put in his best performance of the tournament as well. Troy... I have to say, as a former goalkeeper, letting a ball go straight through your hands and into the net is devastating. I was impressed with how he recovered himself to come up with three huge saves in the last 15 minutes of the match. He should have another strong season in the nets.

Well, Chivas now have their chance to match what Club America did last season and try and go to the FIFA Club World Cup. I have to say it, I wasn't impressed with Chivas after the first match and I still haven't changed my opinion about them. Chivas, at best, looked like a good MLS club. Yes, some of their passing was crisper than 85% of MLS clubs, but I never really saw them outclassing DC United. I probably saw four separate times where Chivas was starting to show the "class" that they were supposed to have. You exclude those times and it looked like a good MLS match.

So now United travel up to Denver to visit DSG Park and take on the Colorado Rapids. Assuming that United play this Saturday as they did today, I have no problem predicting a 3-0 victory for United.

News & Opinions: 3/30/2007

USA vs. Guatemala
God that sucked to watch. What a chicken shit type of approach the Guatemalan's took to the match. They should have just stayed home if they were going to just play hacking soccer. How bad was the officiating? How many times was Simek kicked at when he was sent to the ground in the first half? Christ, I was glad no one was red carded for retaliation.

The end result should be one for the players and the coaching staff to look to when they get back together for the Gold Cup camp. Use that match as an example of how they should expect teams to play them, and prepare for it and have better game plans to counter it.

Nobody really did that well against Guatemala. Feilhaber and Bradley looked good in the midfield, but Bradley worked much better when he had Donovan in front of him with Cooper and Johnson up front. Johnson needs to go back to KC and get his groove back.

Oh well, Bob might not be at the helm in June, but I think he should be. Who else is head and shoulders better?

DC United get Fred
DC United has finally added Fred to their official line-up and he has a good chance of playing this Tuesday against Chivas in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Hopefully, Fred and Emilio will provide enough support for Gomez and Moreno that they all last the entire MLS season and we get a 5th ring.

Ives seems to think that Fred will be the X-Factor for United this season, go check it out, Ives is picking United for the MLS Cup.

How many more days until United vs. Chivas II?

Cleetus moves back to the Big City!
Red Bull New York traded for Clint Mathis today. Not sure why, considering Bruce Arena once suggested that Cleetus needed mental help. Oh well, I guess once they shipped Guevara out West, they needed someone to fill the role of Village Idiot.

Weekend Update: A lot happening

Well, over the last week, a lot has happened over the world of football. The English FA Cup semi-finals are set; Mr. Fred goes to Washington; MLS gets more jersey sponsors.

FA Cup Semi-Finals
Both Manchester United and Chelsea continued their runs towards each other in the FA Cup, with both clubs winning their Quarter Final replays. Manchester United have the easier route as they will face Watford in the Semi-Finals, with Chelsea facing Blackburn.

I fully expect to see a Chelsea vs. Manchester United FA Cup final at the new Wembly Stadium this season. Unless Blackburn’s defense can hold against the seemingly resurgent Chelsea offense, Chelsea will go through. I can’t see Watford breaking down the United defense, nor do I see them really holding Rooney and Ronaldo from finding the back of the net. The FA should get their dream final, especially one that will highlight the opening of Wembly.

Fred joins DC United
DC United has signed Brazilian midfielder Fred from the Australian A-League. With the international transfer letter the only thing holding up Fred from starting for United against Chivas in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup Semi-Final second leg, things are finally falling into place for DC United. All of the off season moves are starting to come into place and based on several reports, the offensive build up of the club is looking miles ahead of last years side. Hell, even without Fred, Emilio himself has raised the attacking bar for United.

Two more MLS Jersey Sponsorships
LA seemed to have been able to screw themselves out of a deal with Citibank and went with Herbalife for their jersey sponsorship. Toronto FC went with BMO Banking to sponsor their jerseys. Am I the only one who thinks LA’s jersey’s look stupid? At least there will be more money going into the clubs and giving other clubs a chance to get a better understanding of the deals.

USMNT Preview
I will have a preview for tomorrow’s USMNT match vs. Ecuador. The US roster looks interesting, I am very eager to see who gets the starting line-ups in this first match.

DC United vs. Chivas Highlights

Here are some highlights from last night's match.

More Warner, when will it end?

Am I the only one who is trying to figure out why no one else opposed this?

Isn't there anyone in the USSF or even the MFA that feels that they could do a better job running CONCACAF?

I guess when a gangster runs the region, he can decide if he has opponents.

1-1: DC United recap

Well, I learned that in a cold, wet, rainy hostile stadium, Budweiser almost tastes good.

Besides that, I watched a very good soccer game between DC United and Chivas, the real Chivas. I saw a pre-season United absorb everything that a midseason Mexican powerhouse could throw at them, and really only give up one mistake the entire match. I also saw two guys show their worth: Bobby Boswell & Emilio.

Tonight's match was what I really expected the first Olimpia match to look like. United looked like they were in pre-season form. Our offense was never really clicking and our runs were rampant and off sequence. Our defense, for the most part was very strong, yet looked erratic at times. Facundo Erpen had at times the match of his life and at other times, a very horrible match. If we get anything out of this match tonight is that for 90 minutes, we showed that we can go blow for blow with the best in CONCACAF and still remain standing.

Emilio had a less than stellar match, then again coming off of his last two, he really didn't have anywhere else to go but down. He had some really nice runs and passes, but he was never really able to get through the final step and get a really good shot on goal....until the 90th minute when he headed in United's goal. This guy is a striker of every facet of the term. He can work the match for 89 minutes, then in that last minute, he strikes. Thank god he is in United black & red.

My Man of The Match was Bobby Boswell. That boy was all over the place in the back line. Everytime Erpen was beat or made a shotty kick, Boswell was there to clean it up. Boswell shut down their central forwards and was huge for our defense. That guy is growing right before our eyes. I expect him to start getting offers from overseas as soon as the 2008 January transfer window.

So we have a 1-1 goal aggregate on our hands. Considering that we scored both goals and the last one came in the 90th minute, I have no problem with 1-1 heading down to Guadalajara. Is it 2-0 like Houston has with Pachuca? No, but then again, we could be down 1-0. Assuming that Troy continues to get his thigh better and can have better ball distribution and we get Fred on the roster and can get him into the squad, we might have a chance heading into the second leg. I really don't think at this point that we will advance...but this is the thing; Chivas really didn't impress me tonight.

For a club that has half of the Mexican National Squad on its starting roster and for such a powerhouse of a club, Chivas really didn't look that special. Yes they have great passing and their attack is very fast, but (maybe it was the rain) their finishing isn't the best thing since sliced bread. Their only goal came from a deflection and it was an own goal at that. Granted now that I have said this, they will execute like the Harlem Globetrotters and we will get a replay of the PUMAs home match two years ago. That said, I really don't see Chivas as having that great an attack.

So where does this all lead? Our attack needs to get much better and get everyone back on the same page that we were on against Olimpia. If that is to happen, we have a fighting chance in the second leg. Our defense, while very good/lucky tonight, needs to step it up an extra notch. If these two things occur, then I will eat my words and we should get a result in Mexico. If they don't...well, we should be ready for the MLS season opener.

DC United Preview: CONCACAF Champions Cup vs. Chivas

2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup: Semi Finals Leg 1
DC United vs. Chivas de Guadalajara
8:00pm, 3/15/2007
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

So the Semi Finals are here, with two Mexican clubs (Chivas & Pachuca) taking on two American clubs (DC United & Houston Dynamo). The two Mexican clubs are traveling north of the border for the first legs of the Semi Final series, which now both take place tonight.

DC United are sporting just about the same squad that defeated CD Olimpia 7-3 over two legs in the Quarter Finals. Goalkeeper Troy Perkins has recovered from his thigh strain and is expected to start tonight. In my opinion, the biggest key factor is that United have been able to get two more weeks of training under their belts, along with a full friendly against Honduran side Motagua last Friday, in which they were able to continue their offensive output with 4 goals.

Ok, the two Olimpia matches and the Motagua match were just the warm up. Now the big boys have come into town. Regardless of whatever anyone says, Olimpia might have been in mid-season form, but they sucked. Chivas are currently level with Pachuca at the top of the Mexican First Division. Yes they lost to W Connection in their first leg of their Quarter Final series, but they took care of business in the return leg and really should have won by about 5 goals.

Tonight's match and the away leg in Mexico will not be anything like the Olimpia matches. I expect to see a much stronger attacking and defending side taking on DC United. I fully expect Chivas to test our defense and to see how efficient our offense really is. The two home matches two years ago against PUMAS and Catolica are what I expect more than the two Olimpia matches. That said, I also expect to see a much different DC United club than the side that took on PUMAS and Catolica. We have a much stronger attack, composed midfield and a lot more experience in the defense and goal.

I really do not know what to expect in tonight’s match. As it is raining now, I am hoping that the weather conditions cause enough problems for the Chivas defense that Emilio, Moreno and Gomez can sneak in a couple of goals to have some type of aggregate lead going into the altitude in Mexico. Hopefully our defense will be able to either step it up as they did last season, or do just enough to keep the wheels from coming off of the wagon and we get a route handed to us at home.

See you all out there, expect 25,000 people. :)

CONCACAF Champions Cup Previews

I found three separate CONCACAF Champions Cup previews; CNN/SI.com has a preview that really focuses on the fact that on the club level, MLS is Mexico's bitch; ESPNsoccernet has a more balanced viewpoint (if there can really be a balanced view of this, at least Carlisle didn't bring up the 5-0 ass raping that PUMAS gave United two years ago) and highlights the players to watch; and David Lifton provides an in-depth report from DC United's training sessions in Florida.

So the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup is just about here. Houston hosts the defending Copa Sudamericana champions, Pachuca tomorrow night in what should be a packed house. Houston has some injury issues, as illustrated in the ESPN article but as Pachuca has a tough match at the end of the week against Tigres, there is a chance that Pachuca sits some of their big guns hoping for an even result for the return leg.

Thursday night, DC United hosts Chivas at RFK Stadium in the first leg. I spoke with my ticket rep and he said that about 15,000 tickets have been sold for the match and that they are still taking orders, so every United supporter who goes out for this match up had be ready to yell and scream for our boys. To give you an idea of how many people the Front Office is expecting, they have opened about 20 sections of the 400 level and are preparing to open several 500 level sections. If you haven't picked up your tickets yet, go here right now and get them!

Steve Goff has mentioned that Troy Perkins was looking strong in goal yesterday during training, so unless someone else has a knock that hasn't been reported, United should be able to field a full strength side, which is a very, very good thing.

I hope to post a preview tomorrow for the Houston vs. Pachuca match. That damn thing called work has been keeping me from really posting anything (doing a 50 PC desktop rollout alone sucks) so if I miss that preview, I will definitely have a preview for the DC United vs. Chivas match up.

T&T Imploded?

I saw this over at Du Nord, but you can check out their main page for the bulk of the info.

It appears that Trinidad & Tobago have closed up shop for it's National Team program, due to lack of funds. So right now the Soca Warriors won't be playing any matches in the foreseeable future. Aren't they scheduled to take part in the Gold Cup?

Yup, they are and they are grouped with the USA in Group B.

So, assuming that ol' Jackie Warner can't get his own country back into gear with a national team, what does this do to the make up of the Gold Cup? I would assume that CONCACAF would just bring in another Carribean side to take their place, Jamaica or such?

This is a very sad reflection on CONCACAF, one of their members has to shut up shop less than a year after qualifying for the World Cup.

Gold Cup Groups Announced

The groups for the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup were announced today:

Group A: Canada, Costa Rica, Guadeloupe and Haiti
Group B: USA, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador
Group C: Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Cuba

The USA will play it’s first two matches at the Home Depot Center then its final match at Gillette Stadium in New England.

If there is anything near a tough group for a Gold Cup, this “might” be something like it. Guatemala will be a known opponent as the USA will play them about 2 months before the Gold Cup in a friendly match in Frisco Texas. El Salvador should not be that difficult of an opponent. T&T should pose some small amount of trouble, but nothing too major.

This isn’t that bad a road for the USA, the only real thing that I don’t like is that they won’t really be playing near me (at least driving distance). Oh well, I hope their matches are on TV at least.