Houston claims away point

August 28, 2009

LA CHORRERA – After 11 yellow cards, five ejections and a floodlight failure seconds before the final whistle, host Arabe Unido tied the Houston Dynamo 1-1 in a bizarre CONCACAF Champions League match at the Estadio Agustin Sanchez.

The result left both teams even atop the Group A table on four points, with Arabe ahead slightly on goal difference.

Trinidadian referee Neal Brizan issued red cards early and often as Arabe and Houston had two and three players sent off, respectively.

Kei Kamara had given the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 69th minute, when the Panmanian side was already down two players. The 24-year-old gathered in a long ball from the back and took it to the top of the area before firing a shot past goalkeeper Carlos Bejarano.

In the lead up to the goal, Arabe players made claims for a foul near the Houston penalty box. Brizan let play proceed and Houston wasted no time in advancing the ball swiftly forward.

In the 81st minute, the Dynamo’s Andrew Hainault was issued his second yellow card. Five minutes later, US international Stuart Holden received two cautions for dissent in a matter of seconds and was given his marching orders. Corey Ashe was shown a straight red 10 minutes into the second half.

Arabe took advantage of its extra man and space to the level the game in the first minute of stoppage time.
From the right side of the box, Jose Justavino sent a cross to the far post for Orlando Rodriguez to head past Dynamo goalkeeper Talmon Hall for his third goal of the competition.

Arabe’s David Daniels was expelled in the 11 minutes into the game, while teammate Omar Camarago, despite lengthy pleas to the contrary, was dismissed in the 67th minute.

Houston, which defeated El Salvador’s Isidro Metapan 1-0 last week, returns to Champions League play on September 16 at Pachuca. Arabe Unido, a 4-1 winner over Pachuca in its group stage opener last Wednesday, will play away for the first time on September 15 against Isidro Metapan.

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Tags: Arabe, ashe, bejarano, Carlos Bejarano, concacaf champions league, david daniels, ejections, El Salvador, extra man, far post, floodlight failure, goal difference, group stage, hainault, Houston, houston dynamo, isidro metapan, Jose, la chorrera, Neal Brizan, Orlando, penalty box, red cards, s david, stoppage time, Stuart Holden, U.S., yellow card

Teams to learn CONCACAF Champions League fate in Thursday’s draw

June 11, 2009

NEW YORK – Teams will learn their CONCACAF Champions League fate Thursday when the draw will set the Preliminary Round pairings and allocate the sides for the Group Stage.

Eight teams will be seeded directly into the Group Stage: Toluca and Pumas UNAM from Mexico, the Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo from the United States, Costa Rica’s Saprissa, Marathon of Honduras, Isidro Metapan from El Salvador and either Comunicaciones or Municipal of Guatemala.

The other 16 teams will be entered in the Preliminary Round draw. Teams in Pot A: Cruz Azul and Pachuca from Mexico, the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United from the United States, either Vancouver or Toronto from Canada, Olimpia of Honduras, Liberia of Costa Rica and Arabe Unido or the Panamanian Apertura champion, will be drawn against the teams in Pot B: Chalatenango of El Salvador, Real Espana of Honduras, Herediano of Costa Rica, the Puerto Rico Islanders, Trinidadian sides W Connection and San Juan Jabloteh and the No. 2 teams from Panama and Guatemala.

No team will be pitted against another team from the same country, except for potentially the third-placed teams from Honduras and Costa Rica, for the two legs scheduled to be played July 28-30 and August 4-6. Honduras and Costa Rica received a third berth due to the forfeiture of places by Belize and Nicaragua because of inadequate stadia and their third teams will be considered wildcards for the purpose of the draw.

CONCACAF Deputy General Secretary Italo Zanzi will conduct the draw with the assistance of Mary Lynn Blanks at the confederation’s headquarters in New York City. The draw will be recorded at the CONCACAF’s Trump Tower television studio and be available for viewing later Thursday at CONCACAF.com.

After the Preliminary Round is set, a second draw will be conducted to establish the groups, once more using the principle that no two teams from the same country will be placed in the same group with the exception of Costa Rica and Honduras.

The Group Stage will begin the week of September 18 and continue for six rounds, finishing on October 22. Two teams from each group will qualify for the Championship Round, and will learn their path through the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals in a subsequent draw to be held later this year.

Three berths remain undecided in the 24-team field: Canada’s lone berth as well as the second berths from Guatemala and Panama. Although Comunicaciones has claimed one of Guatemala’s berths, it still is awaiting to learn if it will be seeded directly into the Group Stage or be forced into the Preliminary Round.

Preliminary Round Seedings
Pot A
Cruz Azul (MEX), Pachuca (MEX), New York Red Bulls (USA), D.C. United (USA), Vancouver Whitecaps or Toronto (CAN), Olimpia (HON), Liberia (CRC), Arabe Unido or Apertura champion (PAN)
Pot B
Arabe Unido or Apertura champion (PAN), Comunicaciones or Jalapa (GUA), Chalatenango (SLV), Real Espana (HON), Herediano (CRC), W Connection (TRI), Puerto Rico Islanders (PUR), San Juan Jabloteh (TRI)

Group Stage Seedings
Toluca (MEX), Pumas UNAM (MEX) Columbus Crew (USA), Houston Dynamo (USA), Saprissa (CRC), Marathon (HON), Comunicaciones or Municipal (GUA), Metapan (SLV)

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