Posts Categorized as ‘South of the Border’

South of the Border

Santos Hope To Break Curse of Superlider As Liguilla Kicks Off

One of the beauties of a playoff system in sports is that chance that anything can happen. No matter how powerful a team may appear before a match or tie, there is always the chance that the underdog will turn everything on its head and

Many think of that underdog spirit as something uniquely American, but it certainly seems to have permeated the country’s Southern border in recent years.

One of the most intriguing storylines entering the start of the Mexican Liguila, an eight-team playoff to decide the champion of the tournament, is Santos Laguna looking the shake the curse of the superlider. The superlider, or the points leader after the regular season and one would assume the squad that is typically the favorite to win it all, has failed to make it out of the quaterfinal round the past five consecutive tries. The last team that finished first in the regular season that has gone on to win the silverware is Pachuca in the 2007 Clausura.

In addition to having the most points (four points clear of runner-up Monterrey) at season’s close, Santos also had the most goals of the campaign, helped by five league goals from American striker Herculez Gomez. Gomez and Los Guerreros will do their best to ward off the curse that has befallen previous leaders as they take on Jaguares. (more…)

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South of the Border

Cunningham Confident Cremas Can Win Title After Goal Helps Put Side Top

American forward Jeff Cunningham scored the opening goal for Comunicaciones in the side’s 3-0 victory against Juventud Retalteca on Sunday that put los Cremas on top of the Guatemalan Liga Nacional table.

He put away a left-footed blast that fell to him after a teammate ducked out of the way of a cross that developed after a corner was taken short in the 12th minute.

The goal, Cunningham’s fourth of the campaign, provided a boost for the forward who had hit a dry spell since starting off hot after going south of the border.

“Well, the match today is an important win for the team, and the goal is very important for me because it’s been very difficult the past three or four matches not scoring and having several chances to do so,” Cunningham told USA10Kit. “My confidence was a bit low coming into the match, but now I get a goal and I’m happy, and hopefully it will open the floodgates to many more goals.” (more…)

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10 Kit Essay, Gold Cup, South of the Border

Gold Cup match fixing must serve as wake up call

This summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup was played against a backdrop of scandal, finger-pointing and disgrace off the pitch, but that didn’t seem to carry over to the matches. Now, with Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl receiving confirmation Thursday that FIFA and Interpol investigations of match fixing show something was amiss with a handful of matches, we’re forced to believe even the pitch wasn’t spared from corruption.

Wahl’s report (which you should read in full if you haven’t yet) features a betting-industry insider who is suspicious of every match played by Cuba and Grenada and also El Salvador’s opening 5-0 loss to Mexico. The suspicions come from in-game betting in which bettors wager on future events, such as how many more goals will be scored during the remainder of a game. The majority of the action is in Asia, and a Singaporean newspaper received a tip before the tournament that a syndicate from the Asian nation would have a hand in Gold Cup match results.

The FIFA/Interpol investigation was announced in mid-June with German magazine Der Spiegel reporting there was suspicious betting action on three games, both 5-0 results and one 4-0 game (I’ve got to be honest, I’m not 100% sure this is the original article because I don’t know German, but it is about the Gold Cup and match fixing).

Obviously these allegations – revelations, perhaps – should be troubling to all fans of sport, but the Gold Cup matches mentioned are particularly disturbing to me because I was there. I covered the matches on the first day of the Gold Cup for USA10Kit as I would cover any other match, expecting both teams to put their best effort forward to win. They both finished 5-0, and at the time nothing really seemed out of place.

I thought Mexico’s midfield was very good. I thought El Salvador was badly in need of Arturo Alvarez and was unlucky to lose by such a wide margin. I dismissed Costa Rica’s drubbing of Cuba as simply a show of strength from the Central Americans.

And now? Now I’m not sure what to think. (more…)

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Featured, South of the Border, U.S. Soccer

Red-Carded Restrepo May Be on To Greener Pastures

After receiving a red card in America de Cali’s crucial away match in the Colombian league playoff against Once Caldas, Diego Restrepo is unsure of his future. The former UVA and U.S. U-17 national team player was sent off late in the loss Thursday night, and his team immediately conceded two goals, and was eliminated.

“For 70 minutes I was man of the match, I was playing really well,” Restrepo said. “And then I had a little bit of a cramping problem, and the referee thought I was wasting time, and gave me a yellow card. Like five minutes after that, there was a through ball and I came out and unfortunately I took out the forward, and he gave me my second yellow. Then they scored two goals right away, it was a tough match.”

Restrepo won’t be available on Sunday when America travels to Boyaca to take on Patriotas in the home and away dual for survival. That may give a chance for a debut to America’s other American ‘keeper, Kevin Piedrahita. (more…)

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South of the Border, United States

Second Straight CCL Win Mexico Won’t Prove as Easy for MLS or That’s Why They Play The Games

Update: Well, lucky for me it’s dinner time, so I’m going to microwave a crow Hot Pocket and congratulate Seattle on a big win. Perhaps this is the start of a 30-plus-match MLS winning streak in Mexico.

JON ARNOLD — So the match starts in a matter of minutes, but after overwhelming guilt for forgetting the CONCACAF Champions League in my news roundup this morning, I wanted to get a quick post up about tonight’s CCL matches. Specifically, Seattle is in Monterrey to take on the Rayados.

Last week, FC Dallas managed to notch a 1-0 victory and finally put an end to MLS’ dreadful losing streak in matches in Mexico. It won’t be so easy for a second straight win. For one, Dallas was able to benefit from a Pumas side that was playing several young players, some reserves. Tonight it will be Seattle hoping to do the same, as they flew straight from Dallas after a MLS match, are back in Seattle on the weekend for a date with the Columbus Crew, and then host Dallas in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal. (more…)

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South of the Border

Homage to Cienciano

Isaac Heath – Eight years ago a small provincial soccer club from Cusco, Peru shocked the Latin American soccer world by triumphing over two Argentine giants back to back en route to winning both the Copa Sudamericana (South America’s UEFA Cup)  and the Recopa (The match between the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana champions). With the victory, Cienciano became the first Peruvian team ever to win an international championship. In fact, they had not even (and still have not) hoisted the trophy of their own domestic league.

As the Sudamericana got rolling this week with Cesar Vallejo, another small market Peruvian team, taking the field against Independiente Santa Fe, one can’t help but reminisce on the magic that Cienciano brought for both their city and country back in the 2003-2004 seasons.

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South of the Border

Kings of South America

Isaac Heath- Uruguay is the best team in South America. No, they did not get lucky to make the semifinals in last years(yes, I did not forget Gyans missed penalty in the quarters) World Cup, and there was no luck in their dismantling of Paraguay in Sunday’s Copa America final either. Move over Brazil and Argentina, the true kings of South American football have arrived.

For anyone who watched the Copa America in its entirety, Uruguay from start to finish seemed to be a level ahead of everyone else in the field. The Celeste struggled with a few early draws and held on to beat Mexico to make it through to the next round, but from watching them play you had the feeling that they were on the edge of something special all along.

Sunday was special.

Paraguay, while a surprise finalist, is no slouch. As I have argued before in various pieces and pod casts here on USA10kit, they are one of the most difficult teams to beat in the world and rarely find themselves beaten as soundly as they were in the Copa America final.

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South of the Border

Corona: Scoring First Top Division Goal in Club History Can’t Be Described With Words

JON ARNOLD — Playing in the first Primera Division match in club history, Club Tijuana was on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline after 13 minutes, searching for their first goal.

That goal would come just before the halftime break when Joe Corona, a 21-year-old American winger, knocked the ball past Monarcas keeper Federico Vilar and into the net after Vilar saved a blast from one of Corona’s teammates but left the rebound for Corona’s taking.

The crowd at Estadio Caliente erupted in cheers, surging forward in the stands to get a closer look as Corona and his teammates celebrated the historic goal on the field.

“It was a great feeling, something you can’t describe with words,” Corona said via Facebook. “It was a great time, before the half, because we knew it would bring confidence levels up for the second half.” (more…)

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10 Kit Essay, South of the Border

As Mexico’s Primera Opens, More Reason Than Ever for U.S.A. Fans to Tune In

JON ARNOLD — The Primera, Mexico’s top division, opens tonight and there has never been as much reason for fans of the United States men’s national team to track the domestic league of our neighbors to the South.

Not that there wasn’t plenty of reason already. The league is probably the most accessible in the country, with almost all games easily accessed on television and more resources in the United States devoted to media coverage of the league than any other soccer league. And plenty of fans exist. The games do great numbers on the ratings dial and the broadcasters reap plenty of advertisers hoping to reach a coveted demographic that is tuning in weekend after weekend.

Of course, as we know, that’s still not your typical USMNT fan. While I’m not saying they don’t exist, you’re unlikely to find a group of USMNT fans sitting at the bar huddled around the Tecos-Toluca match this evening. Far more likely, after they’re done talking USMNT and MLS, they move to the EPL, La Liga or other European leagues.

And that’s all well and good. Nothing wrong with that. There are many reasons your average fan of the Americans, and/or MLS, isn’t paying much attention to FMF’s top competition. (more…)

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