HexagonalBlog

MLS Cup returns to Frisco

That was the big announcement from Frisco, TX today.  Maybe the stadium facilities will be completed by then.

I enjoyed my time in Dallas, and the people couldn't be friendlier, but I had to laugh when I heard one of the officials say that a number of league personnel felt that last year's MLS Cup was one of the best ever held.  Surely they couldn't have been talking about the match on the field!

A solid, clear win

The USA's 5-0 victory against an experimental Norwegian side will be encouraging to Bruce Arena and his players, and will give them a boost after the false start against Canada last week.  Perhaps the one player who will be most encouraged will be Taylor Twellman, who until today had not been able to translate his goal-scoring prowess in MLS to success at the international level.   I watched bits and pieces of the match and the USA looked to be in control throughout -- which you might expect when you're playing a squad of second-stringers and debutants. 

These matches don't mean a lot except for building confidence.  Five goals go a long way toward doing just that.

The updated Champions Cup schedule

On Monday CONCACAF held a draw to determine the order of matches for the semifinal and final rounds of the Champions' Cup.  Now we have a complete schedule of the tournament, where the team listed first is the home team for the first leg:

Quarterfinals (22 February & 8 March)

QF1: Portmore United vs. América
QF2: New England Revolution vs. Alajuelense
QF3: Olimpia vs. Toluca
QF4: LA Galaxy vs. Saprissa

Semifinals (21-23 March & 28-30 March)

SF1: QF2 vs. QF1
SF2: QF3 vs.  QF4

Final (11-13 April & 18-20 April)

1st leg: SF2 vs. SF1
2nd leg: SF1 vs. SF2

It really is good to see CONCACAF scheduling the entire Champions' Cup tournament well in advance. 

Houston gets a new name

But not really...the ex-Earthquakes, who were then called the Houston MLS team, are now Houston 1836 - 1836 being the year that the Republic of Texas was born.  I guess the period of having MLS clubs with nicknames as part of the team (like the other American sports teams) is now a thing of the past.

The logo's not bad.  Any Texas team has to have a star in its logo.  I like the team colors, too, but I'm guessing that the players would like some light-colored jerseys for home matches in Houston during the summer.

The start of the Copa Libertadores

Right now I'm watching Chivas gore Colo Colo in the preliminary round of the Copa Libertadores (3-1 at 86' as I'm writing this just went final).  What's impressive about this result is that the match is in Santiago.  So yet again, a Mexican club has obtained an impressive away result in the South American club competitions.  Chivas has not been playing well as of late in Mexico (their Apertura record was especially bad), but they should be the third Mexican team in the Libertadores.

There is one question I have: why does Chilean soccer suck?  It's not like you can blame Chile's problems at club/national level on a crappy economy.

I didn't watch the USA-Canada match

Looks like I didn't miss anything.

Except for Freddy Adu receiving a cap...I guess this means that Ghana won't be able to play him.

The silver lining from this match is that the World Cup is in June and not January.   Thankfully.

Good News/Bad News for USA

The good news:

USA sold out its World Cup allocation, with four times the demand for available tickets.  The USSF will ask FIFA for more.

The bad news:

Chris Albright suffered a knee injury (partially torn meniscus).  He could be back in time for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup but he will miss the upcoming series of friendlies with the national team.

Mastroeni hurt in practice

Colorado Rapids defensive midfielder Pablo Mastroeni suffered a torn quadriceps muscle while doing crossing exercises at the US national team training camp.  He'll be out 6-8 weeks - as if Bruce Arena could use some more injury problems. 

To take his place, Kerry Zavagnin and Bobby Boswell will be invited to camp.

Happy New Year!!

Sorry for the extended absence, but I hope all of you had an enjoyable holiday season.  2006 should be a very eventful year in so many respects!  Most of the domestic leagues in North America are still on break, but there have been some news on the national team front.

• Ricardo La Volpe can't seem to stay out of controversy.  First he attracted a lot of criticism in the press for calling up the Argentine-Mexican Guillermo Franco and the Brazilian-Mexican Zinha; now he wants another Argentine - ex-Boca midfielder Walter Gaitán - to switch his citizenship so that he can play for Mexico.   The proposed move is hitting some nationalist nerves in Mexico, but after reading some of the statements by former players and club officials, I begin to understand their point.  It's not as if we are talking about players who have some family tie (however thin) to the country - and even in such cases, bringing in such players was controversial in the USA, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago.   What really sticks in the craw of Mexican soccer officials is that Gaitán is being considered while a player like Cuauhtemoc Blanco stands on the sidelines.    I don't see this issue going away anytime soon.
• The MLS-based members of the US national team pool  started their training camp last week, and they will be in Carson, CA for the next three weeks.  The big news, however, was made by someone not in the camp: Claudio Reyna's broken ankle.  He should be healthy in time for the World Cup, but his injury emphasizes how much Bruce Arena needs a healthy squad (and the luck that that involves).  After Reyna there aren't too many good options for running the midfield.
• There are two stories from Trinidad & Tobago's preparations - first, the decision by Fulham 'keeper Tony Warner to play for the Soca Warriors, and second, the national government's request for World Cup tickets in the wake of a controversy surrounding the agency selling tickets in T&T (the T&T Express claims that it was owned by a relative of Jack Warner).  I haven't been able to read the articles but I'll try to get more comments later.  For the moment I don't know if it's a true scandal or a case of the government not having enough to do (or both).

I'm trying to translate my three big review posts on the Spanish-language version of this site.  But writing this blog in one language is a lot of work, let alone two!