Mexico again leads way into Champions League quarters

October 24, 2009

The Mexican clubs are back. So is one team from U.S. Major League Soccer. But there will be no teams from the Caribbean in this season’s CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.

Mexican teams won each of the four groups, further proving the Mexican Primera Division is the strongest league in the region.

Cruz Azul was the only team to complete the group stage undefeated following a 2-1 win against Saprissa in Costa Rica Tuesday. Ramon Nunez and Pablo Zeballos struck for second half goals for La Maquina, which finished 5-1-0 in Group C. A year ago, Cruz Azul lost to Atlante in the two-leg finals.

“I saw a determined Saprissa squad, with a strong will, but they never dominated the match,” Cruz Azul coach Enrique Meza said.

The victory, though, wasn’t without cost as Alejandro Vela fractured his fibula early in the match and will be lost for the remainder of the season.

Led by Ulises Mendivil, who leads all scorers in the Champions League with nine goals, Pachuca also won five of six matches to cruise to the quarterfinals as the Group A winner.

Pumas’ bid to go through undefeated was ruined Thursday night when Comunicaciones struck twice in the opening half for a 2-1 win in Guatemala City. But Pumas still finished atop Group D with 13 points to advance to the quarterfinals for a second straight year. That was the same total for Toluca, Group B winners, which finished the group stage with a 1-1 draw against D.C. United.

A year after just one Central American team advanced out of the group stage, the region sent three squads to the quarterfinals this time. Marathon returned to the knockout stage, clinching its berth on the final matchday. The Honduran side defeated San Juan Jabloteh 4-2 in Port-of-Spain on Thursday, ending D.C. United’s hopes of advancement.

It is joined by Arabe Unido, which finished second in Group A, also clinching its berth on the final day of the group stage. The Panamanians lost to Pachuca 2-0, but were aided by Metapan, which stopped the Houston Dynamo from a second straight quarterfinal bid with its first group stage victory.

The third Central American squad to qualify for the knockout stage is Comunicaciones, which needed a win against Pumas on Thursday night to advance.

Major League Soccer sends one team to the quarterfinals for a second straight year as the Columbus Crew claimed the second berth out of Group C with a 1-1 draw against the Puerto Rico Islanders Tuesday night in Bayamon.

“The Champions League is very important,” Columbus coach Robert Warzycha told MLSnet.com. “We are pleased that we are playing in the competition, but we’re happy all the games are out of the way and we can concentrate on the league. We accomplished our goal, which is to get to the next round.”

The quarterfinalists will learn their knockout round opponents on November 17 when the draw at the confederation’s New York headquarters will set the pairings for the final eight.

The group winners will be drawn against one of the four teams that finished in second place, with no team playing another that it faced in the Group Stage in the two-leg series.

The teams that finished second will host the first leg of the quarterfinals the week of March 9-11, with the group winners hosting the second leg the week of March 16-18.

By Dylan Butler

Tags: Alejandro Vela, C. A, Caribbean, Central American, champions league quarterfinals, COLUMBUS, concacaf champions league, Costa Rica, cruz azul, d c united, D.C., Dylan Butler, Enrique Meza, fibula, group stage, guatemala city, Houston, knockout stage, la maquina, Major League Soccer, matchday, mendivil, metapan, Mexico, New York, Pablo Zeballos, panamanians, port of spain, Primera Division, Puerto Rico, Ramon Nunez, robert warzycha, san juan, san juan jabloteh, Ulises Mendivil, zeballos

Arsenal´s Nasri sidelined with broken leg

July 21, 2009

Arsenal and French international midfielder Samir Nasri has been ruled out of action for six to eight weeks after breaking his leg in training on Tuesday.

Nasri broke his right fibula during a training match at Arsenal’s summer camp in Bad Waltersdorf, in southeastern Austria, said Andreas Neubauer, a spokesman for camp organiser International Football Camps Styria (IFCS).

The 22-year-old Frenchman, who has 15 international caps, was taken to hospital in nearby Hartberg for tests.

He is now set to miss France’s next World Cup qualifying match against the Faroe Islands on August 12.

The young Gunner, who joined Arsene Wenger’s team last year from French side Marseille, could also miss two further qualifiers again Romania on September 5 and Serbia on September 9.

Arsenal arrived at their training camp on Monday and were due to play a friendly against local side Columbia Floridsdorf on Tuesday evening.

VIENNA (AFP)

Tags: andreas neubauer, bad waltersdorf, broken leg, camp organiser, Columbia, faroe islands, fibula, football camps, France, french international, french side, frenchman, gunner, hartberg, international caps, international football, Marseille, midfielder, miss france, Samir Nasri, september 9, southeastern Austria, training camp, tuesday evening, Vienna

Vela diagnosed with sprain

July 8, 2009

HOUSTON – Carlos Vela’s injury is not as serious as first feared.

At least that’s what Mexico team doctor Radames Gaxiola told reporters in an official statement.

“The injury that is present is medial tibial pain, affecting the ligaments on the right leg,” Gaxiola said. “In simplest terms, he has a sprain.”

Vela injured his right foot early in Mexico’s 2-0 win against Nicaragua Sunday in both teams’ Gold Cup opener in Oakland.

He fell awkwardly after a challenge in the first half and it was initially feared the injury was a fracture. The striker limped off the field 11 minutes into the match.

“In the fifth minute of the first half, Carlos Vela was spun around by a rival player who leaned against him which caused Carlos to incur pain on his right leg,” Gaxiola said.

Vela was taken to a bay area hospital in an ambulance after the Nicaragua game. Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said it was a precautionary measure taken by the team doctor.

“Upon initial treatment, he felt pain on his right fibula. For that reason, after the game I went with him to a hospital to take X-rays and fortunately after evaluating the results it was determined that it was not a fracture,” Gaxiola said.

Vela returned to the team hotel in Oakland in crutches.

It is not clear if Vela will be available to play against Panama at Reliant Stadium Thursday.

By Ivan Orozco

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Tags: ambulance, Carlos, Carlos Vela, CONCACAF Champions' Cup, crutches, fibula, fracture, Gaxiola, gold cup, Houston, initial treatment, ivan, Ivan Orozco, Javier Aguirre, ligaments, Mexico, mexico team, Nicaragua, Oakland, Panama, Reliant Stadium, right foot, sprain, striker, team doctor, team hotel, x rays

Santos Laguna struggling in Mexican league as Champions League quarterfinals loom

February 17, 2009

Perhaps a return to the CONCACAF Champions League is what Santos Laguna needs to break out of its early season malaise.

Santos has only one win in five games of the Mexican Clausura championship and had gone 368 minutes without a goal until Daniel Ludena scored in the 50th minute of Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Guadalajara. Until Ludena’s tally, Juan Rodriguez had the only goal in Santos’ season, a 42nd-minute penalty kick in a 2-1 loss to America in the season opener.

The victory did little for Santos’ season prospects, leaving it 14th in the 18-team league.

It was a busy off-season for Santos, which claimed the last of eight playoff berths in the Apertura championship before upsetting top-seeded San Luis 5-2 on aggregate in the opening round of the playoffs. It was eliminated by eventual champion Toluca 2-1 in the semifinals.

Gone is American-born defender Edgar Castillo. The 22-year-old and member of the Mexican under-23 team transferred to America after two years with Santos. Also having departed for America is Argentine defender Fernando Ortiz, while Oribe Peralta, a 25-year-old striker who scored eight goals in 72 appearances has joined Jaguares on loan.

To replace them, Santos has acquired Ecuadoran international Pedro Quinonez, a midfielder who had 10 goals in 113 appearances with El Nacional in Ecuador, diminutive 21-year-old Colombian striker Carlos Quintero for a reported $4 million from Deportivo Pereira and 23-year-old central midfielder Juan Carlos Mosqueda from America.

But Santos is missing Christian Benitez, the Ecuadoran international striker who suffered a shoulder injury in a 0-0 draw against Puebla on February 1, his first match after fracturing his right fibula in November. Benitez, considered one of top foreign strikers in Mexico’s Primera Division, has scored 27 goals in 50 appearances since joining the club from El Nacional in 2007.

A year after nearly being relegated, Santos captured the 2008 Clausura title, defeating Cruz Azul 3-2 on aggregate for its third title. The club also enjoyed a successful inaugural Champions League campaign, finishing atop Group D with 10 points in six matches.

Santos, one of four Mexican clubs in the final eight, will meet the Montreal Impact, which joins the Puerto Rico Islanders as United Soccer Leagues First Division teams to advance to the knockout stage.

The first leg will be played at Olympic Stadium on February 25 in Montreal. The second leg will be in Torreon, Mexico on March 5.

By Dylan Butler

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