HexagonalBlog

San Jose go 1-for-2 in MLS record chase

San Jose Earthquakes entered today's match at Portland Timbers with an opportunity to break two long-standing MLS records: become the first team in seven seasons to average more than two points per game and the first to reach that landmark twice (LA Galaxy 1998, Miami Fusion 2001, San Jose Earthquakes 2005), and set the individual goal-scoring mark in a season through two goals by Chris Wondolowski (Roy Lassiter's 27 goals in 1996). 

In the end, the Quakes had to settle for one of the two records as they drew 1-1 with the Timbers.  They finish the regular season with 66 points from 34 matches, two points shy of the 68 required, and one win short of 20 wins, which no MLS team has achieved since 1998.  (The LA Galaxy had 24 wins in 1998, of which two were shootout wins.)  Timbers players said during the week that they were in no mood to gift Wondolowski the record, but when the Quakes drew a penalty midway through the first half, there was no doubt who would take the kick.

So Chris Wondolowski will share MLS' goalscoring record with Lassiter and will almost certainly win Most Valuable Player for this season.  The Quakes will host return legs in all of the MLS Cup playoff ties and host the final should they reach it.  There's no way the league will allow the Final to be played at Buck Shaw Stadium so we'll have to find out if another site in the Bay Area will be available.

San Jose win Supporters' Shield, more records to follow?

The San Jose Earthquakes clinched the 2012 MLS Supporters Shield on Saturday night without having to kick a ball -- Sporting Kansas City's goalless draw in the NYC metro left San Jose with an unassailable 64 points.  The Quakes will now play the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League with perhaps an easier draw in the group stage.

The Quakes picked up another point today in a 2-2 draw against California Clásico rivals LA Galaxy, which sets up a history-making weekend.  If the Quakes win at Portland on the 28th they will become the fourth MLS side to win more than two points per match.  If Chris Wondolowski scores a goal (he scored one tonight to move up to 26 goals), he will equal Roy Lassiter's MLS single-season goalscoring record at 27 goals, and he scores two he will own the record outright.

13th time unlucky for Vucetich: Santos champions

Monterrey manager Víctor Manuel Vucetich has the enviable record of never having lost a final that his teams have contested, whether domestic or international.  That was a streak of 12 finals, but final #13 proved to be his undoing against a dominating Santos Laguna side in the Mexican Clausura final. 

The first leg ended 1-1 in Monterrey, but goals by Daniel Ludueña and Oribe Peralta gave Santos a 2-0 lead on the night and 3-1 in the series.  Monterrey never quit, however, and when Aldo De Nigris scored with 14 minutes on the clock, it set the stage for a dramatic finish.  Both teams had chances to score at the end, and I particularly remember the centering pass that Oswaldo Sánchez initially misplayed, then recovered to make a fantastic save against De Nigris right at the end, but Santos absorbed the pressure and finished as champions.

Santos were well-deserved winners of the Clausura, not just because of their performance in the tournament, but also because of their performance over the entire season.  Hérculez Gómez joined the team in January but made major contributions to the side in domestic and international play.  It doesn't make up for the CCL final, but it is a just reward for the quality of their players and their football.

WPS suspends operations, which is a nice way to say that they've folded

When a politician suspends his or her campaign, it effectively means the end of the campaign.  Even if it is restarted, all of the momentum generated has been lost and almost impossible to recover.  Sports league operations are no different, and especially soccer leagues in the USA.  So the news today that Women's Professional Soccer has suspended operations for the 2012 season is very bad.

Frowns and smiles in both halves of Monterrey

Both sides of the Clásico Regiomontano experienced different emotions during the weekend.

CONCACAF club champions Monterrey were knocked out of the FIFA Club World Cup by Japanese champions Kashiwa Reysol, 4-3 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 at the end of 120 minutes.  Reysol took the lead through their star midfielder Leander Domingues, but the Rayados equalized through Humberto Suazo five minutes later.  Monterrey had control of the match early on, and missed several opportunities for goal (two of them by Suazo), but Kashiwa pulled their way back into the contest through their team speed and organization.  After Suazo's goal, both teams played back-and-forth but with little precision in the final third of the pitch.  Penalties beckoned, and Kashiwa won the shootout despite shooting second, which doesn't always happen. Kashiwa will play Santos in one semifinal; Monterrey will play African champions Esperance on Wednesday.

Later in the day, UANL Tigres ended a 29-year wait for a Mexican league championship by defeating Santos 3-1 to win the finals series 4-1 on aggregate.  The match started in sensational fashion when referee Marco Rodríguez called a penalty in the 12th minute (correctly) and sent off Santos 'keeper Oswaldo Sánchez (incorrectly).  It could have been a devastating result for Santos, who had to take off Darwin Quintero and bring on replacement goalkeeper Miguel Becerra, but Becerra saved Lucas Lobos' penalty.  More incredibly, Santos took the lead and evened the aggregate series on Oribe Peralta's strike in the goal area.  The second half saw Tigres take control of the match and settle the championship tie with goals from Danilinho and Mexican U-20 striker Alan Pulido.  Felipe Baloy of Santos and Israel Jiménez of Tigres were sent off for an altercation in the 70th minute. 

Tigres will play CONCACAF Champions League football next season, and will also enter the first stage of the 2012 Copa Libertadores against a Chilean representative in January.  (Cruz Azul and Guadalajara have berths to the group stage of the Libertadores.)  It's a chance for them to continue Mexican club football's strong performances in South America and make a lot more money than they ever would in CONCACAF.

América in crisis

Club América had a disastrous first half of the Mexican season, finishing second-from-last in the Apertura tournament.  It represents a total collapse for a side that finished consistently in Mexico's top six over the last two seasons. (However, América have not won a domestic title since the 2005 Clausura and have not advanced beyond the quarterfinals in three of the last four short tournaments.)

There is a sports adage that a team can't replace all of its players but it can replace its coach.  América did replace its coach -- Carlos Reinoso resigned and was replaced by Alfredo Tena -- but to little effect.  So the club is now taking the remarkable step of placing its entire squad on the transfer list.  When you think about the names on the América squad, such as Argentines Matías Vuoso and Daniel Montenegro, Ecuadorian Christián Benítez, Uruguayan winger Vicente Sánchez and Colombian defender Aquivaldo Mosquera, it is a very expensive bath by the Mexican giants.  América plan on turning to its youth academy system for half of its squad in the second half of the season, which effectively concedes a playoff appearance for at least one or two tournaments.

The turnover has also extended to the boardroom of América as club president Michel Bauer announced his resignation last night.  The Eagles will experience some more turbulent winds in the days to come.

Santos-Morelia abandoned due to gunfire

Scary scenes in Torreón last night as the Primera match between Santos and Morelia was abandoned due to a gunfight between drug cartels and Mexican police.  It happened around the 40 minute mark of a match that was 0-0 when the sounds of gunfire could be heard.  Players, referees, and technical staff ran for the tunnels while spectators crawled into the spaces in front of the seats.  What had happened was that a criminal group traveling in a three car caravan failed to stop at a police checkpoint near the stadium and the occupants engaged the police in a confrontation that left a soldier injured.  One of the abandoned cars contained a cache of small arms.

You can find photos and videos of the incident at Medio Tiempo and at Argentina's sports daily Olé.

Drug cartel violence has become a lamentable feature of Mexican life in the last five years, but I have never heard of such violence interrupting a Mexican football league match, and according to the reporter at Medio Tiempo it has never happened before. 

Klinsmann's first selections

A look at Jürgen Klinsmann's selection list for the USA friendly match vs Mexico reveals a high level of turnover from the squad that faced Mexico in the Gold Cup final.  Some of the changes were forced by injury (Zach Loyd), others by the start of the European domestic season (Clint Dempsey) or by players' unsettled situations at their clubs (Michael Bradley).   Nevertheless, it looks like Klinsmann is attempting to groom the next generation of the national team at every generic position.

The inclusion of DC United's Bill Hamid is a case in point.  Hahnemann is too old to be thought of as a replacement for Tim Howard, and Nick Rimando is a quality keeper but approximately the same age as Howard. I'm interested in seeing how Hamid makes the transition from MLS to international play, and hopefully he will get to play half of the match tomorrow night. 

The most intriguing selections are on the defensive line which has seen the highest level of turnover.  Bornstein, Lichaj, Onyewu, and Spector have been placed on the sidelines and Loyd, Orozco, Pearce and Castillo brought in. Klinsmann will be the latest coach who will try to find a regular starter at left back and it appears that he will look to Pearce and Castillo to fill that role. 

The midfield sees the return of Kyle Beckerman and Ricardo Clark from varying degrees of exile from the national team.  Beckerman has been arguably the best American midfielder in Major League Soccer over the past two seasons but found it difficult to get a call during the Bradley era.  It will be very interesting to see how he is used in the midfield and how he performs. 

The forward line has also experienced some turnover, not just with call-ups but also players shifting position.  Adu remains in the squad but listed as a forward, as are Beasley and Donovan.  Klinsmann has also decided to give another look to Buddle, who had a moderately successful first season at Ingolstadt.  One surprising omission was Chris Wondolowski, who is having another good year for the SJ Earthquakes, but perhaps Klinsmann will select him for one of the two friendlies in September.

Another selection list that has drawn interest has been Klinsmann's coaching staff for this game.  The selection of Martín Vázquez was not at all a surprise since he has worked with Klinsmann at Bayern Munich.  Mark Verstegen (Athletes' Performance) worked with Klinsmann when he was the German national team coach and is well-known for his individualized training programs for pro and amateur athletes.  (His facility in the Phoenix area is really fantastic.)  Tomorrow's match also sees the return of Thomas Dooley and Tab Ramos to the USA sidelines and the incorporation of Claudio Reyna as a liaison between the senior team and the junior national teams.

With the exception of Hamid the player pool hasn't expanded all that much, although there are players called up who have not been selected for the national team in quite some time.  The real changes to the national team, at least in the short term, will be in its interaction with the junior national teams.

Klinsmann's hire goes much deeper than the national team post

I've held off on making comment about the dismissal of Bob Bradley and the selection of Jürgen Klinsmann to the head of the US national team until today's introduction to the media in New York City.  I wanted to hear from Gulati, but more so from Klinsmann, about the reasons for this change and the overarching vision for the US national programs in the coming years.

Bradley out

US men's national team coach Bob Bradley has been relieved of his position by the US Soccer Federation.

A replacement has not been named at this time, but the Federation says that it will have a "further announcement" tomorrow, whatever that might mean.

The US do have a big friendly match against Mexico in two weeks' time, but the selection of the national team coach should not -- must not -- be dictated by that event.

I'll have more to write later.