Clausura 2012: Quarter Finals Second Legs Preview

Just a quick note to mention that the second legs of the quarter finals begin today (Sat 5th), and equally importantly that my predictions for the first legs came off pretty well! Tigres were indeed the only home team to win in the first legs, 1-0 over Morelia, for whom Miguel Sabah looked less than match fit. América overturned Pachuca 3-1 at the Estadio Hidalgo, Pachuca having a perfectly good goal disallowed for offside. I was wrong about América's overdependence on Chucho Benitez though, instead "El Hobbit" Christian Bermudez scored twice. This was far and away his most important contribution to the team since he followed his ex boss at Atlante Miguel Herrera to América at the start of the tournament - up to now he's frequently only been noticed when trudging off to be substituted after another anonimous performance in yellow.

Santos won an exciting game at Jaguares 4-3, with Martinez (2) and Rey scoring for the home team, Daniel Ludueña (2), Oribe Peralta and finally Darwin Quintero getting the goals for the visitors.

Finally, Monterrey were too good for Los Xolos of Tijuana, who, despite a stirring performance in front of 16,000 beer slinging bajacalifornianos now need to overturn a 2-1 deficit in the second leg. No away goals rule remember, plus the lower seeded team needs to win the tie outright to prevent the higher seeded team from progressing.

Likely semi final first leg line up: Tiges v Santos, América v Monterrey.

You read it here first! ;-)

La Liguilla Runners and Riders

A rather nasty ear infection, along with one or two other reasons (like laziness), has prevented me from updating this blog in the last month, but just in case anyone out there in the bloggoverse is reading tonight (Weds 2nd) sees the first legs of the quarter finals of Mexico's Clausura 2012. América travel to Pachuca to open proceedings, followed by Monterrey's visit to Tijuana. Tomorrow night Jaguares entertain Santos, followed by Tigres v Morelia.

The away sides in the first legs are all at least nominal favourites in each of the ties, by virtue of finishing higher in the league table. An aggregate draw over two legs will take the higher placed team through to the semi finals. Having said all that only nine points separated first place from eighth in the final table, so no gulf in class exists within the qualifiers. Santos will be trying to conquer the curse of the superlider, as the team who finishes first rarely if ever wins the tournament.

Notable absentees from the knock out stage are Chivas, Cruz Azul and Pumas - only América of Mexico's big four have made it through. Cruz Azul's failure to beat América in the final league fixture sealed their fate, but Pumas were never really in contention at any stage. The Chivas "revival" was a false dawn - they lost their last five fixtures, including the superclásico and a paricularly ignominious defeat at Tigres which saw three of their players sent off, amongst them Olympic squad members Erick Torres and Marco Fabian. Chivas' Guadalajara neighbours Tecos Estudiantes were the relegated team. To complete the misery for the country's second city Atlas finished the tournament having scored just seven goals in 17 games, only a resolute defence maintaining their Primera Division status.

Predictions? As always predictions in Mexican football are open to derision, due to the inconsistency of the teams. I'll go for Tigres to be the only home team in the first legs to go through, mainly because Lucas Lobos has maintained his form through their recent stutter but also because Morelia's top scorer Miguel Sabah hasn't played for a month due to injury. América should have too much for Pachuca, though they are too dependent on Chucho Benitez for goals (14 out of 30 in the league stage).

Tijuana might fancy their chances against Monterrey, who last week overcame Santos to retain the CONCACAF Champions League. Santos need to pick themselves up and conquer the curse of the superlider, but Jaguares strikers Jackson Martinez and Luis Rey (eight goals each) will exploit any weekness in the Santos defence. Tijuana's qualification is a tremendous achievement in their first season at this level. Hopefully their success will continue, and their stadium will experience the kind of development that will enable this Brit in Baja to get hold of a match ticket occasionally!

Hasta luego...

Mexico's Under 23s are London Bound, Santos Stay First

The Mexican Preolympic squad secured qualification for the 2012 Olympics on Saturday after a 3-1 victory over Canada in the CONCACAF Semi Finals. This followed routine victories over Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras and (eventually) Panama in the group stages. The other qualifier from the region is Honduras, who saw off El Salvador 3-2 after Extra Time in the other Semi. Earlier the Salvadoreans had eliminated the USA with a late equaliser in their final group match, the USA having lost their second game to Canada. The stars of the Mexican qualifying campaign have been Alan Pulido of Tigres and Marco Fabián of Chivas, with five and four goals respectively. The tournament ends tonight in Kansas City with a largely pointless final between the two qualifiers.

Meanwhile, while the nation's attention has been on Olympic qualification, Santos, Tigres and Monterrey have all continued their good form domestically. Santos won 3-1 at Toluca on Sunday lunchtime, with Oribe Peralta, Cristian Suárez and Darwin Quintero sharing the goals. Tigres destroyed erstwhile form team Monarcas 4-1 on Saturday evening - Lucas Lobos was the main architect with a goal and two assists. The real drama of the weekend was at the Azteca on Sunday afternoon, where Los Rayados (the "striped ones") of Monterrey twice came from behind to beat América 3-2.

Chucho Benitez opened the scoring for América in the first half, before "El Chupete" Suazo equalised at the start of the second half, with what seemed like his first touch of the game. The game was then delayed for seven minutes due to the "spidercam" breaking down whilst at pitch level. Benitez headed his team back into the lead before substitute Abraham Carreño equalised with five minutes of normal time remaining. Finally, in the fifth minute of ten added on, Angel Reyna scored a deserved winner against the club which fired him during the previous tournament. To add insult to injury he celebrated in the "archer" style, a celebration normally associated with América.

Elsewhere, Cruz Azul managed to win against San Luis, and also managed not to have a player sent off for an off the ball headbutt - Emanuel Villa had emulated his team mate Néstor Araujo the week before against Puebla. Omar Bravo scored a brace in a 3-1 win. Pumas played out another dismal 0-0, this time at Atlas, and the other game played in Jalisco was heading the same way until a farcical own goal with five minutes to go gave Estudiantes an unlikely win over the previously resurgent Chivas. Estudiantes, however, are doomed for the drop.

Next weekend there are two big derbies to look forward to, with the Monterrey derby between Los Rayados and Tigres on Saturday evening, and then on Easter Sunday the Súper Clásico, between Chivas and América. Can't wait!

Penalties All Round as Santos Stay First

Another busy week in Mexican football kicked off with the return legs of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarter Finals. Monterrey completed an emphatic 7-2 aggregate victory over Morelia, whilst Santos overturned a first leg deficit to beat Seattle Sounders 7-3, Hercules Gomez and Cristian Suárez each finding the net twice. Pumas atoned for their embarassing reverse in San Salvador the week before to see off Isidro Metapán 8-0 on the night, 9-2 on aggregate, though a season ending injury to Paraguayan defender Darío Veron spoiled the evening. The performance of the round, however, wasn't by a Mexican side at all, but by Aron Winter's Toronto, who won 2-1 in Carson to eliminate LA Galaxy. The Canucks will meet Santos in the Semi Finals, whilst Pumas v Monterrey guarantees at least one Mexican finalist. Meanwhile in the Libertadores Cruz Azul top their group after a scoreless draw at home to Corinthians of Brazil, and a single goal victory over Defensor Sporting of Uruguay keeps Chivas' qualification hopes alive.

The week's league fixtures began on Friday evening with Morelia putting recent disappointments behind them with a 2-1 away victory over the doomed Estudiantes Tecos. Edgar Lugo scored twice in the first 22 minutes (meaning my fantasy team had scored more points in one quarter of one game than it managed in the whole of the previous week!), but Tecos fought back, only to squander an opportunity to equalise from the spot courtesy of the Chilean Rodrigo Ruiz. Ruiz is known universally as Pony in Mexico, and a crash course in Cockney rhyming slang would explain why his nickname is appropriate on this occasion ("Pony and Trap" = Cr*p).

On Saturday the Chivas revival lost momentum in an uninspiring 0-0 draw at lowly Querétaro, whilst Darwin Quintero marked his return to Santos' starting line up with the only goal at Cruz Azul. Oribe Peralta took a horrible penalty which missed the target in the first half - Hercules Gomez wasn't even in the squad. A Mauro Cejas hat trick (including a penalty) ended Pachuca's goal drought and helped his side to defeat Atlante 3-2 at home, whilst Atlas' defensive form came to an end with a 3-0 reverse at home to Jaguares, Jackson Martinez scored twice. Tigres ground out a 1-0 at home to Tijuana with Lucas Lobos getting the only goal with yet another penalty.

The penalty glut of the weekend continued on Sunday lunchtime, with Iván Alonso successfully converting for Toluca after visitors Monterrey had started the game stronger - Nery Cardozo got a late equaliser for the Rayados to give them a deserved point. Meanwhile Wilmer Aguirre converted at Puebla to give San Luis a rare win. Finally, in the weekend's big game each side scored from the spot, but a late goal from sub Vicente Vuoso gave América a 2-1 win over Pumas. Santos stay stop on goals scored from Morelia, with Tigres and América just a point behind.

Hércules' Strength Shoots Santos Into First!

An eventful week in Mexican football began with the Quarter Final first legs of the CONCACAF Champions League, with all four Mexican clubs in action. Defending Champions Monterrey won 3-1 in Morelia, whilst Santos and Pumas both lost their away legs 2-1, in Seattle and El Salvador respectively, Pumas going down in front of a crowd of 4,000 against Isidro Metapán. In the other tie a late goal from Landon Donovan gave LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw in Toronto.

Monarcas of Morelia then completed a wretched week by losing 2-1 at home to Toluca on Friday evening, despite Iván Alonso going goalless for an unlikely second week. In the night's other fixture América failed to beat nine man Tijuana; the final score was 1-1 in the Estadio Caliente. Monterrey continued a good week's work by demolishing the Gallos Blancos of Querétaro 4-1 at home on Saturday, whilst Tigres struggled to a 2-2 draw in Chiapas against Jaguares. Most worrying for them was Lucas Lobos going off injured early in the second half.

It was Santos who finished the weekend at the top of the table after a 3-1 home victory over the suddenly out of form Puebla. Hércules Gomez scored the first two for the hosts, whilst a miscued attempt at his hat trick presented Oribe Peralta with the third. Gomez' fellow USA international Damarcus Beasley had earlier put Puebla ahead. Elsewhere there were scoreless draws between San Luis and Pachuca and between Atlante and Atlas. Pumas and Estudiantes also played out a 0-0 in Sunday's only game.

By far the most drama this weekend was presented at the Estadio Omnilife, where Chivas continued their revival with another come from behind 2-1 victory, this time over Cruz Azul. The visitors took the lead midway through the first half when Argentinan striker Emanuel Villa followed up his compatriot Gimenez' long distance free kick, which Luis Michel had pushed against the corner of the goal frame. Los Cementeros failed to build on their lead, however, and invited more and more pressure upon themselves. The final quarter of the match was played almost exclusively in the visitors' half, and with just a minute and a half to go Erick Torres scored a deserved equaliser, his shot deflecting in off Néstor Araujo.

Then, deep into injury time and with the ball long gone, the aforementioned Araujo took it upon himself to headbutt the aforementioned Torres in the away teams box, an incident spotted immediately by the officials. Araujo received an inevitable red card for his outburst of stupidity (against a fellow member of the country´s Preolympic Squad), and, after all the predictable histrionics and time wasting from the defending team Héctor Reynoso, for the second week running, buried his penalty to give the home team a dramatic victory. Chivas are now 12th, just 4 points away from a qualifying place in the Liguilla with seven games to play.

Monarcas Make Their Mark, Chivas Chuffed!

Monarcas of Morelia lead the Primera Division of Mexico after nine games, their continued presence at the top being due to a thumping 3-0 victory at bottom of the table Querétaro. The goals came from strikers Rafa Márquez Lugo, Miguel Sabah and midfielder Edgar Lugo, the result leading directly to the dismissal of Gallos Blancos' manager José Saturnino Cardozo, a harsh decision considering they reached the semi finals of the last tournament under his stewardship - I'm sure he didn't demand the sale of free-scoring Uruguayan Carlos Bueno, whose goals got them to such a strong finish in the first place. Cardozo has already been replaced by Argentinian Ángel David Comizzo, who is returning having only left the club during last season, such is the managerial merry-go-round in Mexico (a bit like Chelsea, maybe!).

At least Comizzo will have little fear of relegation, with Estudiantes Tecos falling further behind in the struggle to survive, after a 2-0 home defeat by new boys Tijuana. Los Xolos only need six points from their last eight games to ensure survival in their first season in the top division, which would be a tremendous achievement in a part of the republic with little or no footballing tradition (trust me, I live in Baja California!), though they should really be gunning for la Liguilla, only being four points off the lead and sitting in fifth spot. They'll hope to continue their fine form next weekend at home to América, who currently lie second after defeating Jaguares 2-0 in the Azteca. My Américanista brother in law has managed to procure a ticket for the game through a hospitality company, the price of which I won't embarrass him by repeating - suffice to say I paid less for an FA Cup Final ticket a few years back. The 33,333 capacity Estadio Caliente is sold out for the season, meaning tickets are as rare as hen's teeth and hence the rather poor pun which gives this blog it's name (I'm yet to be successful, by the way).

Other notable results from week 9 included Cruz Azul's 4-3 home win over Monterrey, which included a brace from Argentinian Chapo Gimenez and Omar Bravo's first for the home team at the ninth time of asking (against his old club to boot). Cruz Azul (nicknamed Los Cementeros after the cement company which gives them their name) are proving difficult to beat, though find themselves in ninth place after five draws and only three wins so far. Santos are the top scorers with 16, Oribe Peralta finally finding the shooting boots he mislaid at the end of the last tournament in time to score four in a fine 5-2 home win over moribund San Luis. Defending champions Tigres are third, Lucas Lobos responding quickly to a defensive error to fire home into the roof of the net to give the university side a 1-0 victory over Atlante. Pachuca remain in the qualfying positions despite a forgettable 0-0 in the Estadio Jalisco against lowly Atlas.

Elsewhere in the lower half of the table there were encouraging wins for Pumas, who ran out surprise 2-0 victors at Toluca, leading scorer Iván Alonso for once suffering a scoreless week, and more notably Chivas of Guadalajara, who came from behind to win 2-1 away at Puebla, a result being attributed to the "Cruyff Effect", the former chain-smoker and Dutch master having recently been appointed to the club in an advisory capacity. Next week they'll be tested against stiffer opposition, at home to Cruz Azul.

Mexico Fall to Classy Colombia

Mexico were unable to extend their unbeaten start to the year as far as a second game as they lost 2-0 to a classy and confident Colombia in front of a crowd of more than 51,000 in Miami on Wednesday night (29/02/12). A much changed line up from that which defeated Venezuela in January, including players based in Europe, was unable to make possessional dominance count, as "El Tri" fell to a goal in each half. The first came after Jesús Zavala (Monterrey) misdirected a defensive header into the path of Dorlon Pabon (Atlético Nacional of Bogota), whose right footed drive from a narrow angle was parried by Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio of France), allowing Falcao (Atlético Madrid) to open the scoring in the 37th minute.

Mexico nearly struck back before the break, Giovanni Dos Santos (theoretically a still Tottenham player) playing Man. United's Chicharito cleverly through to round the keeper, though covering defenders were able to smother the eventual shot after he was pushed wide. On the hour Juan Cuadrado (Lecce) found himself in acres of space in the Mexican penalty area to make it 2-0 after good work down the left by Pablo Armero (Udinese).

This was only the second defeat experienced by Chepo De La Torre since he took over as manager of the Mexican national football team at the start of 2011. He has a lot of work to do before Mexico are next in action, against Wales on May 27th in New Jersey.