HexagonalBlog

CONCACAF Champions League, Quarterfinal 1st Leg [Thursday's match]

Sorry for being so late, but it was a long day at work.  One of those days...

Anyway, the first leg matches of the quarterfinal round conclude tonight with the match between Marathón and the Puerto Rico Islanders.  I'll be able to liveblog the second half.

Puerto Rico Islanders 2-1 Marathón F

CONCACAF Champions League, Quarterfinal 1st Leg [Wednesday's matches]

The quarterfinal stage of the CONCACAF Champions League continues with a twin-bill. Kickoff times in Arizona time (GMT -7). Commentaries after the jump, and you're welcome to send comments to Twitter: hexablog.

Montreal Impact 2-0 Santos Laguna F
Cruz Azul 1-0 UNAM F

CONCACAF Champions League, Quarterfinal 1st Leg [Tuesday's match]

The CONCACAF Champions League resumes with the quarterfinal round.  Tonight's match will be liveblogged:

Houston 1-1 Atlante F

Commentary after the jump.  You can also send comments to my Twitter channel hexablog.

Time for the Champions League to resume

It's time for the Champions League to resume -- over there, and over here.  Let's concentrate on the action over here.

When I look at the final eight teams, none of the five sides currently in league play are in optimum condition.   Atlante and Pumas are bottom of their groups, Santos are second from bottom in theirs, and Cruz Azul is second in Group 2 (which is middle of the pack overall).  Marathón are leading the Honduran Clausura, but they are dealing with a long injury list.  All three of the teams that haven't started their seasons will host the first leg of their quarterfinal series, so if they do not have a healthy lead at the end of their match, they will not win their series.  That is especially true of Montreal and Houston, but I think Puerto Rico might have a chance even if they only win by 1-0.

Oh, I almost forgot:  away goals count this time, so none of the home teams in the first leg can be content with a score draw.  A 1-1 scoreline would be bad, 2-2 almost fatal, but 0-0 would keep the home team in the tie.

In the end, the Champions League is likely still to be won by a Mexican side, but it could come down to the side with the most momentum.

Hernan Medford out of a job

Hernán Medford had complained about the comparisons being made between his tenure as Costa Rican national team coach and Rodrigo Kenton's more successful stint (so far).  Medford had found work with León in the Mexican second division at the beginning of the year, but his stay only lasted eight weeks.  Medford was on the precipice after securing just five points in five league matches, but the tipping point was a tour of exhibition matches last week in Costa Rica during which León lost all three games. 

Perhaps the critics had a point.

Puntarenas director shooting: the aftermath

Adrián Castro, the president of Puntarenas FC who was murdered on Monday, was laid to rest today.  The story surrounding his death and the succession of the club directorship continues to develop.  Costa Rican press was reporting that Castro's 22-year-old son would assume the presidency of Puntarenas, but further reports say that the owner of Mexico's Atlético Celaya (who owns 50% of Puntarenas) has not yet approved the move.

Meanwhile, Castro's office at the football club was vandalized during the night.  What's odd about the break-in is that nothing was taken from the office, but it was left in a total mess.  It's also the second time in a week that such a group has attacked the Puntarenas club offices.  Could there be a power struggle within the group that resulted in Castro's death?  Or does it have something to do with Castro's business dealings?  Or might it have something to do with Municipal de Puntarenas, who could go down for having an ineligible player who was registered with PFC?

As I said, the story continues to develop.

The leagues south of the border

We're more than a month into the split-season tournaments in Mexico and Central America, so here's a round-up of action in the leagues down there:

In Mexico, Pachuca are top of the pack after Round 5.  They lead Group 1 and have scored the most goals from the opening five matches.  Chivas lead a tight Group 2 and Toluca lead Group 3.  Tonight is a rare midweek schedule of matches, with all eighteen Primera sides playing on the same day.

Give it up for Ramonense: they are top of the charts in Costa Rica for the first time in 36 years.  They have 11 points from 6 matches and lead Puntarenas on goal difference.  And it doesn't appear to be a fluke, either: two of their three wins were against Alajuelense and Saprissa.

Guatemala's Clausura tournament started two weeks ago and Heredia are the only side with two wins from both matches.  Comunicaciones, Xinabajul, Xelajú MC, and Jalapa are close behind on four points.

In Honduras, Olimpia lead the Clausura with 11 points from 6 matches, and are followed by surprise outfit Real Juventud on 10 points.  Marathón could leapfrog both of them into first place if they defeat Real in San Pedro Sula tonight.

After four rounds of the Clausura in El Salvador, Isidro Metapán lead on 11 points, while Firpo and Nejapa follow on eight points.  Those three teams are the only unbeaten sides in the tournament.

And in Nicaragua, after five rounds Diriangén and Real Estelí - the two big clubs in Nicaraguan football - lead the Clausura on 11 and 10 points, respectively.  The tournament is already throwing out some lopsided results; Walter Ferreti have already scored 16 goals (and allowed 4), but lie in third place thanks to three draws.  Bluefields FC are rock bottom on zero points, having allowed 22 goals without scoring a single one.

Panama's championship hasn't started yet (to the best of my knowledge), and information is hard to get from Belize.

Costa Rican club director assassinated

The founder and president of Costa Rica's Puntarenas FC, Adrián Castro, was assassinated yesterday afternoon while traveling on a local road.  It appears to be a professional hit; Castro's truck was ambushed by a pair riding on a motorcycle and the rider in the rear of the bike fired two fatal shots at Castro from close range.  Castro was a business magnate in Costa Rica with over 30 companies in sporting, real estate, and export interests, and had been in periodic trouble with the local authorities for tax evasion and fraud.  Last weekend there was an attack on the club headquarters by a gang of (allegedly rival) fans, although it's not certain that that attack had anything to do with yesterday's shooting.

Needless to say, Puntarenas' league matches have been postponed until further notice.

Hexagonal 2009: Round 1

[I meant to put this out on Thursday, but time constraints kept me from doing so.  Lesson learned for next time.]

Photo: ISISports.com

USA 2-0 Mexico

The USA's defeat of their arch-rival -- the third consecutive 2-0 result between these two teams in Columbus -- was not a surprise to either camp, and perhaps that is the biggest news of all.  Even so, up until the final minutes of the first half Mexico were very much in the game, and could have equalized on a couple of occasions in the second half.  As I've said on a number of occasions, we will be hearing more from dos Santos for years to come.  Despite Mexico's performance they suffered two blows that turned the match: first, the point-blank save by Howard on dos Santos' effort in the goal area, and second, the forced substitution of Castillo.  The poached goal by Michael Bradley deflated Mexico's spirits terribly, and it showed in the second half.  Bradley gave an excellent all-round performance and shifted between defensive and offensive roles very well.  His second goal at the end was a testament to his opportunistic use of space left by the advancing Mexican midfield.  And Bradley didn't get himself carded, which was a bonus.

The USA will savor this performance for a few minutes, but Bob Bradley will remind the side that nine qualifiers remain, starting with a trip to El Salvador that Tim Howard will not be able to make.  The midfield played better than in previous qualifiers, but the team as a whole still hasn't played a focused match over 90 minutes.  While the strikers have contributed well to defensive duties (Dempsey stands out in this regard), it would be nice to see them contributing to the offense as well.  For Mexico, the despair deepens and clouds continue to gather over Eriksson (no matter how often the FMF leadership gives him vocal support).   Looking at the match analysis on the Mexican websites, one word that has appeared a lot has been "nervous".  It's the kind of adjective that can only appear when Mexico is facing its biggest rival, and it appears for reasons that I fail to understand.  On the positive side, Mexico will have eight more matches against opponents who don't trigger such a psychological response.  On the negative side, it will open its home Hexagonal campaign without Márquez or Osorio.

Photo: Jose Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images

El Salvador 2-2 Trinidad & Tobago

By the foot of Osael Romero, El Salvador preserved a point in their opening match against Trinidad & Tobago.  It's fitting that the match ended in a draw, because there are no winners at the end of the night.  El Salvador needed to win this game, and T&T needed a road victory in the only venue where it could realistically happen.  T&T did everything possible to win the match in the first half; first Edwards scored after seven minutes, then Yorke converted a penalty.  El Salvador was a non-factor in the first 45 minutes as the Soca Warriors midfield reigned.  But in football there is a second half of 45 minutes, and T&T took their foot off the gas and ceded territory, and the match, to the Salvadorans.  

The match will be costly to both sides in so many ways.  Shawn Martín could miss the first half of the Hexagonal after breaking his leg in a collision with T&T 'keeper Clayton Ince.  Dwight Yorke will be suspended for at least the next two Hexagonal matches after getting himself a red card after the match had completed.  He was already out for the match against Honduras after receiving a yellow, and it was another irresponsible act from a team captain in the Hexagonal.

 H/T soccerbyives.net

Costa Rica 2-0 Honduras

It is nice to be proven right by events, even if it doesn't happen too often.  Andy Furtado continued his good form with the national team (he was leading scorer of the UNCAF Nations Cup) by firing Costa Rica to a vital win (their first in eight home qualifiers against Honduras).  But it might not have happened had David Suazo figured out how to score.  Honduras are a very streaky team, capable of either scoring goals in bunches and running out 3-1 or 4-0 winners, and just as capable of missing sitters and hitting the woodwork and losing 0-1.  The first half was theirs, but the second half belonged to Costa Rica, who were much closer to their third goal than Honduras to their first.  Now Costa Rica will go off to Mexico City, where a merry band of ticos will accompany them.  Honduras will go to Port-of-Spain and try to grab some away points.

Round 1 of Hexagonal 2009 as it happened

The final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying is now underway.  Here's a synopsis for the first matchday as it happened.

Results:

Costa Rica 2-0 Honduras F
El Salvador 2-2 Trinidad & Tobago F
USA 2-0 Mexico F

Live commentaries after the jump.