After eight months and 76 matches, we've come to the end of the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League. Atlante have a 2-0 aggregate lead over Cruz Azul and will seek to wrap up the series and secure their place in Abu Dhabi for the FIFA Club World Cup later this year.
I won't be able to liveblog the match, but consider this to be an open thread on the match. I trust you all will behave yourselves...enjoy the match tonight.
Well, I'm here after all.
Atlante 0-0 Cruz Azul (agg 2-0) F
2112: And that's it for this season's edition of the CONCACAF Champions League. Not so surprising that the champion would be Mexican, but quite surprising that the champions are Atlante. It's been quite a tournament, and over the following days I'll review the CCL and share my thoughts on it. In the meantime, good night, and congratulations to Atlante!
2111: And Federico Vilar takes the Champions League trophy and lifts it high in the air. Atlante are the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League winners! The trophy looks like one of those hand-held fans with a golden soccer ball in it! I'm sure it looks gorgeous to the Atlante players.
2109: And now Atlante come up to receive their medals.
2108: I don't see Jack Warner anywhere...that is a CONCACAF official giving out the medals but I don't know who he is.
2106: The referees get their medals. And Cruz Azul players receive their runners' up medals.
2105: The stage is ready, and the models, dignitaries, and players are about to ascend. You know, whoever picked the models chose very well!
2103: So, Atlante finish the Champions League with 12 matches played, six wins, four draws, and two losses. Cruz Azul came through the preliminary round, played 14 matches, won eight, drew two and lost four.
The second leg was anticlimactic, but Atlante did all of the hard work in Mexico City, and they are deserved champions of the first CONCACAF Champions League. It makes up for a poor domestic campaign, and now they have six months to retool before they head out to Dubai.
The Atlante bench runs toward their teammates in the center of the field, and the crowd exults, but it's not a particularly wild celebration or something.
2056: ATLANTE WIN 2008-09 CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
2056: FULL TIME Atlante 0-0 Cruz Azul (agg 2-0)
2055: Atlante bench on their feet with their Champions shirts, waiting to erupt. Just seconds remaining.
2054: Five of those goals Orozco scored were against Belize's Hankook Verdes, but they all count.
2053: Into stoppage time, and three more minutes to go.
2051: Cruz Azul will finish the Champions League with one honor -- Javier Orozco wins the CCL's Golden Boot with 7 goals.
2049: Seeing out the last rites. The action has slowed to a crawl. A big banner in the Atlante end says "Hello Dubai"
2046: All smiles among the Atlante fans, as we enter the 84th minute. Atlante are about to claim their second CONCACAF championship.
2043: A free kick to Cruz Azul sails well wide of the defensive wall, and that sums up La Máquina's night. And season.
2041: Just over ten minutes to go in a subdued final match. The downside of having a final between two clubs from the same country. Perhaps the flu outbreak and the resulting delay took the air out of the final series.
2038: Bermúdez pops up behind the Cruz Azul defense and almost clinches the cup, but his shot at the near post goes just wide.
2036: Fifteen minutes to go, and Atlante are almost there. Cruz Azul can still win it, of course, but they have used up all three substitutes.
2032: A quick note about the stadium in Cancún: the authorities did allow the stadium to be open without restrictions, but the club has seemed to limit attendance. You do see fans grouped together. More here.
2029: Atlante are starting to take control of the match. Pereyra puts in a great through ball on the left. He's been the best player on the field tonight.
2027: I just noticed that Zeballos has been substituted out. It really does appear that Cruz Azul have conceded the Champions League to Atlante.
2026: Then again, we are finding out why this team finished bottom of the league during the Clausura tournament.
2025: I'm not getting La Máquina's play right now...not only are they playing for a CONCACAF title, they're also playing for jobs next season!
2022: Half an hour to go. Cruz Azul better get a move on.
2016: Two penetrating balls from Pereyra on the left force sprawling deflections by the Cruz Azul backline. The second cross was the better of the two and nearly found Márquez Lugo.
2010: Atlante start out with some decent chances, but Zeballos makes an audacious lob from midfield and it...just clears the crossbar! Vilar was way out; that would have been the goal of the tournament.
2008: The last 45 minutes of this year's CONCACAF Champions League are underway.
A subdued first half in Cancún, just the way Atlante like it. They're only 45 minutes away from their second CONCACAF club championship. There was some but not enough goalmouth action by either side, and way too much Benito Archundia. Hopefully all that will change in the second half.
1953: HALFTIME Atlante 0-0 Cruz Azul (agg 2-0)
1952: Into the lone minute of stoppage time.
1949: Two minutes to go in the first half.
1947: And Ovalle...okay, this is getting ridiculous. Six cards in less than ten minutes? What is Archundia doing?
1946: Add Gabriel Pereyra to the suspended list for next season.
1941: Atlante respond quickly, and Rey's shot on goal is saved by Blanco. End to end action now.
1941: Corner to Cruz Azul, worked to the far post, and Zeballo's effort is well saved low.
1940: Some lazy defending by Atlante, and Vilar makes a good and quick save off Vela in front of goal.
1939: José Guerrero will also miss the first match of next year's Champions League. A flurry of yellows in the last three minutes -- four of them!
1935: Pablo Zeballos has just been shown a yellow card, and he will miss the first game of next season's CCL. I doubt he knows or cares about that right now.
1930: Halfway through the first half, and Cruz Azul don't seem to be chasing the game. They're two goals behind on the road; what are they waiting for?
1929: Another low cross by Pereyra that Blanco fails to meet, but Márquez Lugo isn't able to get to the ball in time.
1926: Corner to Atlante --great cut inside by Navarro and he strikes a fierce bending ball that Blanco blocks back (good reflex save), and Rey misses his header off the rebound.
1925: Atlante are more than content to surge forward on counterattacks, and they look quite dangerous
1924: It does look like the stadium is more than half full. And the end sections are full.
1921: Muted atmosphere at the Quintana Roo stadium. Perhaps it will improve as the match goes on.
1918: Joining the match in progress...Cruz Azul are making some decent chances on goal, but Atlante's central defense have positioned themselves well. And Vilar came out at the right time to block a clear chance on goal.
The announcers mentioned before kickoff that the stadium was deliberately kept half-full as a lingering result of the flu.
Posted by: Peter C | May 12, 2009 at 07:51 PM