HexagonalBlog

No more guests in the Gold Cup

CONCACAF is not always known for making sound football decisions.  But today they made one by ending the practice of guest teams in the Gold Cup and returning it to a proper continental tournament.  Mexico, Canada, and the USA will qualify automatically, with four teams qualifying from the Caribbean and five from Central America. 

Come to think of it, it would be nice if Copa America were a proper continental tournament as well.  Perhaps the North and South American confederations could get together and have one big tournament!  I wonder who has thought of that!

It's Medford

Costa Rica's football federation named former national team star Hernán Medford to head the senior team.  It's going to be a popular choice, given Medford's success as a player and a coach with Saprissa.  His last game in charge of the Purple Monsters will be Sunday, and two of his close assistants with Saprissa will join him on the national team.

Medford will have his work cut out for him.  The federation is strapped for cash, and of course there's always the relationship with the press.  Not only will he have to integrate the younger players into the team, he will also have to help improve the soccer infrastructure in the country, especially in the lower divisions.  If the Executive Committee can resist the urge to fire Medford on a whim, this partnership might be successful.  Nevertheless, if I were Medford, I would insist that my contract be honored no matter what.

USA going to Copa America '07

Here's the story from the AP.  And the press release from the USSF.

This decision goes a long way toward reversing Bob Contiguglia's biggest mistake during his years running the USSF.

Tomorrow would be nice

It is now the end of October, and we still have no word on the Caribbean qualifying tournament for next year's CONCACAF Champions Cup.   As far as I know, no match schedule has been released nor has a list of participating teams appeared.  At this time last year, the CFU tournament was approaching the semifinal phase. 

It would be nice if CONCACAF or the CFU would let us know soon if the CFU tournament is going to happen, and when it might take place.   But tomorrow would be better.

UNCAF Semifinals begin

Tonight is the first leg of the semifinal round of the UNCAF Torneo Interclubes.  Both semifinals were to be played today but Puntarenas-Marquense was postponed to mid-day on Wednesday.  The Guatemalan side experienced a cancelled flight and wasn't able to arrive in Puntarenas today, so the two clubs agreed to play the following day.

I'll update this post with scores as soon as I find out.

UPDATE (10:40pm):  The match in La Ceiba just finished; it ended 2-2.  I could only follow it via text commentary on Honduras' La Prensa site.  It seemed an exciting match, both teams scored goals five minutes apart on two occasions.

(First leg home team listed first and their score listed first for both legs.)

Victoria 2-4 Olímpia (2:2, 0:2)
Puntarenas 2-0 Marquense (2:0, 0:0)

The arrival of MLS Radio

KC Wizards star Jimmy Conrad isn't in the playoffs this year, but he and broadcast partner Sean Wheelock are keeping themselves busy with a new internet radio show on MLSnet.com.   It's an hour-long show that will broadcast once a week until the week of the MLS Cup, when it will then broadcast daily.  Maybe MLS will offer more ventures like this in the future.

You can call into the show and send the pair email questions, or you can listen to the show's podcast if you can't listen to it live.

Who do the players want in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica's search for a national team coach is reaching its conclusion, and the final list contains five names of managers who have coached in and out of the country.  Today's Al Día has results of a survey of 60 First Division players on their preferences for national team boss, and a plurality selected Saprissa coach (and former national team star) Hernán Medford.  Medford's choice was significant in that he received at least one vote from a player at the six First Division clubs polled, including Saprissa.  The second choice was the Colombian Carlos Restrepo, who manages Brujas FC.

So what are the players looking for in the new manager, whoever he is?  One player said "El próximo técnico de la selección tiene que conocer la idiosincrasia del tico, los recursos con que cuenta; no puede venir pensando que las cosas son como en Europa [The next manager has to understand the idiosyncrasies of the Costa Rican player and the resources that he will have; he can't go thinking that things here are the same as in Europe]"  This opinion was shared by a majority of the players, which shouldn't be a surprise; you could substitute Mexican or American for Costa Rican and hear the same thing in those countries.  A minority preferred a foreign coach who had international experience.

See you in Dallas

Well I won the only lottery I'll ever win in my life  - the MLS Cup ticket lottery!  So I will be in Dallas during that weekend for the Cup festivities, and hopefully for some of the fan-related parties and forums.  Construction should be finished on Pizza Hut Park by now (is it??) , so it might be easier to get there.  Anyway, if you see me during MLS Cup weekend give me a holler.  I'm easy to spot.

Does anyone want to win this?

The MLS Cup playoffs begin today (probably less than 30 minutes after this post is published), and once again the leaders for most of the regular season may not make it to Frisco on November 12.  What's more, of the top two teams in either conference - DC United, New England Revolution, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo (or Dynamo Houston) - only the Revs are entering the playoffs on a hot streak.  For that reason this round is especially hard to predict, and MLS clubs approach a two-leg series with a different mentality than teams in the rest of the world, so predictions are harder still. 

The New England Revolution have a real chance to be what Los Angeles Galaxy were last season: a side that was inconsistent at times during the regular season but turned it on at the right time in order to win the MLS Cup.  They took 17 of the final 21 points during the regular season, and the return of Shalrie Joseph will be vital to their hopes.  Their series with Chicago looks to be a classic 2-3 matchup: very tight, very competitive, likely to last beyond 180 minutes.  DC United and NY Red Bulls will be have a number of interesting storylines - Bruce Arena vs. Arena's former team, Josmer Altidore vs. Freddy Adu, Gomito vs. Amado - but DCU "should" win if they return to their previous dominating form.  There were way too many conditionals in that last sentence, so this series is also up in the air. 

I've thought since the middle of the season that the MLS Cup final will feature a team from Texas, but "Which team?" was the question.  FC Dallas started hot, cooled off, and then staggered across the finish line.  Fortunately they are facing a team that has also faded down the stretch (Colorado took only 5 of the last 21 points, Dallas took 6 of 21).  Again, FCD should win this series, but there are too many other factors to say definitively that that will happen.  As in the Eastern Conference, the 2-3 matchup is more competitive, but I think that the Dynamo have enough talent to take the series over Chivas USA (whose coach should win MLS Coach of the Year easily). 

Overall, I think the favored team has about a 60% chance of winning the series, but if I were to put my head on the block and make a choice, I would pick DCU and New England in the East final, and Houston and FCD in the West.  In five minutes the playoff begin, so the moment of truth will arrive soon enough.

The draw for the 2007 CWC

Thursday was the draw for the FIFA Club World Championship, and Club América will play the Asian Champions League winner in the preliminary round.  The winner of that game will play Barcelona in one of the semifinals.  So again a tough road  for the CONCACAF champions this year.

Here's the complete draw:

Match 1: Auckland City FC (Oceania champion) vs. Al-Ahly (CAF champion)
Match 2: Club América (CONCACAF champion) vs. Chonbuk Motors (AFC champion)

SF1: Match 1 winner vs. Internacional  (CONMEBOL champion)
SF2: Match 2 winner vs. Barcelona (UEFA champion)

Final: Semifinal winners