HexagonalBlog

Monterrey land in Japan for Club World Cup

CONCACAF champions Monterrey landed in Japan this morning in advance of their match against the winner of Japanese champions Kashiwa Reysol and Oceania champions Auckland City.  Monterrey have the slightly easier path to the finals as they would face South American champions Santos in the semifinal instead of Barcelona, but of course they would have to get past the survivor of the preliminary round first.  Pachuca had a team every bit as good as Monterrey in 2007, and they lost to Etoile du Sahel in the first round.  The best CONCACAF performance at the Club World Cup remains that of a non-Mexican club: Saprissa in 2005.

Monterrey will bring their top squad to Japan, including Humberto Suazo, Aldo de Nigris, Walter Ayoví, and César Delgado.  Coach Juan Manuel Vucetich believes that his squad can be competitive due to the experience that many members of his squad have at international club and country competitions, and there is a case to be made about experience being important.  If Monterrey play Kashiwa in the first round -- which I think is very likely -- I would be very interested in seeing how Monterrey's defense matches up against Kashiwa's midfield, especially J-League MVP Leander Domingues.

No word yet on whether the team will eat sushi or shower with bottled water, as other sportsmen who recently traveled within the country have done.

Bradley's challenge -- and US Soccer's opportunity

I had been holding off on writing a post on Bob Bradley's new job as Egypt national team manager until there were firm news of an agreement.  (The usual busyness with business is another reason.)  Bradley had been linked with foreign jobs before, but those links appeared to be ephemeral.  So when Bradley received overtures from the Egyptian national team and Santos Laguna, US soccer observers could be forgiven for feeling incredulous.   In the end, the Santos position whose negotiations at one point appeared to be "80% complete" fell through, and the Egyptian federation's overture proved to be genuine.  Bradley is now the new head coach of Egypt, and his tenure will start in earnest when Egypt play Brazil in Qatar on 14 November.

Ticos represent in A-League Grand Final

If you're still awake or just waking up, the Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC are playing in the Grand Final of Australia's A-League right now.  The match is on live on Fox Soccer Channel.  How nice of the A-League to finish up their activities before the Aussie Rules season starts next weekend.

There is some CONCACAF interest in the Grand Final, as Costa Rica's Carlos Hernández and Marvin Angulo have prominent roles for Melbourne Victory. Carlos Hernández was third in the league with 12 goals scored (tied with Barbados' Paul Ifill!).

UPDATE: It finished 1-1, and Sydney won on penalties.  Angulo missed his penalty during the shootout (Hernández did not participate). 

CONCACAFer making news in Asia

The group stage of the Asian Champions League concluded today, and a CONCACAF player figured in the biggest result of the day, and one of the biggest upsets of the group stage.  Indonesian side Sriwijaya FC came back from 0-2 down to defeat Chinese team Shandong Luneng 4-2, which earned them their first points in the group stage and eliminated Shandong in the process.  St. Kitts/Nevis' Keith Gumbs scored the opening goal that started the comeback in the second half. 

Gumbs has carved out quite a career for himself in the lower-profile Asian leagues.  He's scored close to 200 goals for his hometown club in St. Kitts and Nevis, and then moved around to Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia.