Trinidad overwhelmed 4-1 in U-20 opener

September 25, 2009

Trinidad & Tobago surrendered three second-half goals and was overwhelmed 4-1 by Egypt and a partisan crowd of 84,000 in the opening game of the Under-20 World Cup on Thursday.

Egypt’s Afrato and Trinidad’s Jean Luc Rochford traded first-half goals six minutes apart, but a pair of strikes by Hussam Arafat in the 51st minute and in injury time, and another goal by Mohammed Talaat in the 59th sunk the Caribbean islanders.

Trinidad had the better of play early with Egyptian keeper Aly Lofty palming away Rochford’s free kick from the edge of the area. But buoyed by the home crowd, Egypt began to assert itself and took the lead on Afrato’s goal in the 30th minute.

Rochford equalized six minutes later, finishing after Jake Thomson worked his way free along the right and sent a ball across the box.

Egypt regained control quickly in the second half, with Trinidad keeper Glenroy Samuel making a dramatic save to deny Arafat’s header. But on the resulting corner, Samuel’s punch fell to Arafat, who finished from the edge of the penalty area.

Talaat’s goal and Arafat’s second came amid a dominant performance by the Pharaohs, which outshot the Soca Warriors 24-7 and 9-5 with shots on goal.

Trinidad will try to recover with its next game, on Monday, against Italy in Cairo.

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt

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Tags: arafat, Cairo, caribbean islanders, dominant performance, free kick, home crowd, hussam, injury time, jean luc, mohammed, partisan crowd, pharaohs, rochford, shots on goal, six minutes, soca warriors, talaat, thomson, World Cup

PENDING: Mexico seek vital victory over US at Azteca

August 12, 2009

Mexico will seek to continue its dominance over the United States at Azteca Stadium on Wednesday as the CONCACAF regional rivals clash in a 2010 World Cup qualifier.

Mexico go into the match lying in fourth place in the six-nation final group, from which three teams advance directly to the World Cup finals in South Africa. The fourth-placed team must play off against a team from South America for a berth.

Costa Rica leads North American regional qualifying with 12 points to 10 for the US squad. Honduras is third with Mexico in fourth.

Mexico received a massive morale boost heading into the match with a 5-0 victory over the United States in the Gold Cup final on July 26.

But that was against a young US side that didn’t include stars such as Landon Donovan.

On Wednesday US coach Bob Bradley will field a full-strength team as the Americans vie for a first-ever victory over Mexico at Azteca. They have only managed one draw there – a goalless draw in a 1997 World Cup qualifier.

“The difficulty is everything but the soccer,” Donovan said of the challenge of taking on Mexico at Azteca – where the altitude, poor air quality and fiercely partisan crowd of 100,000 all play a role.

“They use all of the outside influences to their advantage, but that?s not an excuse anymore for us. We?re not going to use it as an excuse.

“We?re not going for a point,” Donovan said. “We?re going there to win the game and we?re going to keep playing the way we?re playing.”

Donovan was referring to the form that has seen the United States win three of their five qualifiers to date, and reach the final of the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Bradley has recalled an number of players who skipped the Gold Cup, including defender Oguchi Onyewu of AC Milan, Fulham midfielder Clint Dempsey, Hull’s Jozy Altidore and the Los Angeles Galaxy’s Donovan.

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre’s squad includes his Gold Cup champions along with defender Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven), Andres Guardado (Deportivo la Coruna) and veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Chicago Fire).

Aguirre replaced Sven Goran Eriksson in April and after a defeat at El Salvador saw his side down Trinidad and Tobago in World Cup qualifying on June 10.

Despite Mexico’s struggles in this qualifying campaign, Aguirre insists his side have what it takes.

“It?s not a dark scenario,” he said. “Why the heck were we going to be out of the World Cup? They have to give us a chance. If there was one game left and we had to win and have two rivals lose, then I would say it was tough. But things are different. Things have improved.”

Costa Rica will be trying to maintain their spot atop the standings when they travel to Honduras, while Trinidad and Tobago host El Salvador.

Honduras coach Reinaldo Rueda, who also turned to a young squad in the Gold Cup, has recalled his best to take on the Ticos in the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula.

David Suazo of Inter Milan is still out with a leg injury, but Rueda has the services of captain Amado Guevara from Toronto FC, Tottenham midfielder Wilson Palacios, Parma?s Julio de Leon, Carlo Costly and Carlos Pavon.

Honduras have seven points from five matches. While they are lying third, they are three points behind the United States, just one in front of Mexico and only two ahead of El Salvador – who will be seeking to gain ground at winless Trinidad and Tobago.

MEXICO CITY (AFP)

Tags: ac milan, Altidore, Andres Guardado, andres guardado deportivo la coruna, azteca stadium, bob bradley, captain Amado Guevara, Carlo Costly, Carlos Pavon, carlos salcido, carlos salcido psv, carlos salcido psv eindhoven, Chicago, Clint Dempsey, coach bob, Costa Rica, cup champions, David Suazo, final group, fulham, HULL, Javier Aguirre, jozy altidore, Julio de Leon, landon donovan, Los Angeles, los angeles galaxy, Mexico, mexico city, Milan, partisan crowd, poor air quality, reinaldo rueda, san pedro sula, South America, Sven Goran Eriksson, Tobago, world cup finals, world cup qualifier

Mexico downs Haiti 4-0 with two goals by Sabah

July 20, 2009

ARLINGTON, Texas -Mexico earned the last berth in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals with 4-0 win against Haiti on Sunday, dominating the Caribbean side before a capacity crowd at the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium.

Miguel Sabah scored twice, Giovani dos Santos sent in another and Pablo Barrera added one for El Tri in what was the first sporting event ever held at the new state-of-the-art home of the National Football League club.

The crowd of 82,252 – the third largest for a Gold Cup game in the United States — saw Mexico control possession and earn a match against Costa Rica in Thursday’s semifinals at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Costa Rica beat Guadeloupe 5-1 in the early match.

The doubleheader was not only the first sporting event at the $1.15 billion stadium. It was also the largest soccer crowd in Texas history.

Thousands watched on the giant 180-foot (55-meter) by 50-foot (15-meter) high-definition television screen from standing room only areas scattered throughout the stadium.

The previous state record was a friendly match between Mexican side America and FC Barcelona at Houston’s Reliant stadium in August 2006 with a crowd of 70,550.

The only larger U.S. Gold Cup crowds were the 1998 final at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum between Mexico and the United States (91,255) and the 1996 final (88,155) in Los Angeles between Mexico and Brazil.

And the Mexico partisan crowd Sunday probably left pleased with what it saw on the new artificial turf field.

Mexico, was without coach Javier Aguirre for the second straight game, opened the scoring with a goal by Sabah, his third of the tournament.

Assistant coach Mario Carrillo filled in for Aguirre while he serves a three-match suspension.

Sabah opened the scoring when he sent in the rebound off a missed Israel Castro penalty kick in the 23nd minute. Castro’s shot was blocked by Haiti goalkeeper Jean Zephirin, sending it back into the middle of the penalty box where Sabah was charging in.

He finished the play by poking in the ball with his right foot.

Jamaican referee Courtney Campbell whistled a penalty kick against Haiti when defender Frantz Bertin stopped a Sabah shot with his right hand at the mouth of the goal when Zephirin was already beat.

Bertin’s handball earned him a yellow card.

Sabah’s second goal came in the 63rd minute via a header off a Giovani dos Santos corner kick.

Sabah’s two scores give him the tournament lead with four, one more than Panama’s Blaz Perez. Panama was eliminated by the United States on Saturday.

Sabah could have added another to his total in the 25th minute.

He sent a left-footed shot at an empty net, but Haiti’s Pierre Bruny kept the ball out. Sabah was trying to finish a play that included a Zepherin save on a point-blank Dos Santos shot.

It wouldn’t take too long for dos Santos to send in his first goal of the tournament and his third with Mexico’s senior team.

Dos Santos, a member of Mexico’s 2005 Under-17 World Cup championship team, sent a left-footed blast from the edge of the arc in the 42nd minute past Zepherin for a 2-0 halftime lead.

Barrera, a substitute in the 59th minute, sent a one-time shot off a dos Santos corner kick in the 82nd minute to cap El Tri’s scoring.

Mexico kept attacking a Haiti team, who pressured and tried to close off spaces when El Tri possessed the ball and looked for a chance at a counter attack.

Haiti did manage to move the ball up field on occasion.

Coach Jairo Rios team had its first shot on goal in the 33rd minute when Mones Chery sent a left-footed shot from about 25 meters and had it slapped over the crossbar by Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.

Haiti moved its lines up in the second half but couldn’t generate clear looks at goal.

By Ivan Orozco

Tags: artificial turf field, capacity crowd, concacaf gold cup, concacaf gold cup semifinals, dallas cowboys, fc barcelona, football league club, friendly match, high definition television, los angeles memorial coliseum, mexico and the united states, national football league, partisan crowd, soccer crowd, soldier field, u s gold

Mexico tops Guadeloupe 2-0

July 13, 2009

GLENDALE, Arizona – Goals in each half were enough Sunday to give Mexico a 2-0 win against short-handed Guadeloupe and finish it on top of Group C in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

A partisan crowd of 23,876 at the University of Phoenix Stadium watched an El Tri squad without manager Javier Aguirre rake in a much needed win thanks in part to Gerardo Torrado and Miguel Sabah.

Torrado scored in the 42nd minute and Sabah sent one into the net five minutes after coming in as a substitute in the 80th minute.

Both goals and a spectacular save by goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa helped relieve some pressure off El Tri and its officials.

Mexico was coming off a 1-1 draw against Panama where it had Aguirre ejected, leading to a three-match suspension.

Aguirre watched the match in a luxury box sitting between Mexican federation president Justino Compean and director of national teams Nestor De La Torre.

A place in the quarterfinals was guaranteed for Mexico prior to the match but Aguirre’s team wanted to avoid a third-place finish in the group and a match against the two-time defending champion United States in Philadelphia.

Instead, Mexico will travel to Dallas to face Haiti in one of two quarterfinal matches to be held at the Dallas Cowboys New Stadium next Sunday.

Guadeloupe, who had Alain Vertot (72nd minute) and Ludovic Gotin (79th) ejected, is slated to take on Costa Rica in the first game of the doubleheader in Dallas.

Mexico capitalized on the two-man advantage with a barage of in the second half but the damage already had been done.

Torrado’s goal made the early difference.

Torrado sent a right-footed blast from about 25 meters to the lower-right corner of the net. Guadeloupe goalkeeper Marius Fausta got a piece of Torrado’s shot but couldn’t keep it out.

That marked Torrado’s fifth goal with the national team and his first of the tournament.

The scoring play was set up by the wing play of right-back Efrain Juarez, who made his first start for El Tri in the Gold Cup.

Juarez floated a pass from right to left to Torrado, who stood unmarked. The Mexican captain loaded and fired his shot to open up the score.

Sabah scored via a header off a Pablo Barrera corner kick.

Ochoa’s save was just as important. He kept out a Larry Clavier header with a diving save to his right, redirecting the shot over the crossbar in the 79th minute.

That was Guadeloupe’s only shot of the match, while Fausta faced 16 from Mexico.

A motivated Mexico came out pressuring Guadeloupe’s defense early in the match. El Tri sent its lines forward looking for an early score.

Mexico created a couple of early scoring opportunities.

It’s first came 35 seconds into the match.

Forward Alberto Medina sent a shot that looked more like a cross from left to right, but Fausta slapped the ball away for the save near the mouth of the goal.

Omar Bravo sent a blast from about 25 meters zooming just left of Fausta’s left post in the 11th minute. Mexico midfielder Israel Castro sent a similar shot 10 minutes later.

Mexico controlled possession for most of the first half. El Tri outshot the Gwada Boys 10-0 in opening 45 minutes.

Guadeloupe couldn’t generate any form of offense.

But perhaps Guadeloupe was not looking for many goals. It often kept at least eight players behind the ball , perhaps playing for the draw.

After all, Guadeloupe had already secured at least a second-place finish in the group.

By: Ivan Orozco

Tags: Alain Vertot, alberto medina, Arizona, barage, CONCACAF Champions' Cup, concacaf gold cup, Costa Rica, Dallas, dallas cowboys, dallas cowboys new stadium, doubleheader, el tri, fausta, federation president, fifth goal, gerardo torrado, Glendale, glendale arizona, guadeloupe, guillermo ochoa, Haiti, israel, Ivan Orozco, Javier Aguirre, Justino Compean, Larry Clavier, Ludovic Gotin, man advantage, Mexico, Miguel Sabah, Nestor De La, New Stadium, omar bravo, Pablo Barrera, Panama, partisan crowd, Philadelphia, quarterfinal matches, Sabah, time defending champion, Tri, United States, university of phoenix, university of phoenix stadium

Mexico’s Aguirre handed three-match suspension

July 12, 2009

NEW YORK – Mexico manager Javier Aguirre will be suspended three matches for his actions during Thursday night’s Gold Cup Group C match against Panama, the CONCACAF Disciplinary Committee ruled Saturday.

In addition, the Mexican Football Federation will be fined $25,000 for the conduct of its bench personnel, who engaged in “serious irresponsible behavior” against Panamanian midfielder Ricardo Phillips and others that precipitated an unruly reaction from the partisan crowd at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.

Aguirre’s suspension will commence with Mexico’s final group game Sunday against Guadeloupe and make him eligible to return for the final July 26 at Giants Stadium in suburban New York. If eliminated before the semifinals, any remaining games would be served in World Cup qualifying.

Aguirre initiated a fracas at midfield of the 1-1 draw in the 80th minute when he left the technical area surrounding the Mexican bench to stop a loose ball that Phillips had been dribbling. Referee Joel Aguilar whistled the play dead when Phillips had let the ball exit the field of play but continued to play the ball as if it were live.

The Mexican coach extended his leg to block the ball, but instead made contact with Phillips, who fell, regained his feet and shoved Aguirre. That prompted Mexican bench personnel to respond by pushing Phillips and a fracas ensued, with debris showering the field from the crowd. The match was interrupted for approximately 12 minutes until order could be restored.

After reviewing video and several reports from numerous officials on site, including the match commissioner, referee, assistant referees and others, the disciplinary committee determined that while Aguirre was not attempting to injure Phillips, he did leave his designated area to engage in activities that resulted in contact and instigated the incident.

“The committee acknowledged that Mr. Aguirre is well known to them as a responsible person and it was their belief that this was an aberration rather than any aspect of his normal behavior,” CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer wrote in his letter to Mexican Football Federation General Secretary Decio de Maria informing him of the decision.

The disciplinary committee chaired by David Sabir, the general secretary of the Bermuda Football Association, also included Central American Football Union (UNCAF) President Rafael Tinoco of Guatemala and Tony James of Jamaica, the immediate past chairman of the panel.

Tinoco and James were called by Blazer to replace standing members Hector Gonzales of Mexico and Mike Edwards of the United States, who were excluded to remove any appearance of a conflict of interest.

The committee took special note of the “exemplary behavior of Mexican goalkeeper Memo Ochoa in attempting to get the spectators to allow the game to restart and in helping lead Ricardo Phillips…to a safe exit from the playing field.”

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Tags: assistant referees, CONCACAF Champions' Cup, disciplinary committee, final group, football federation, fracas, giants stadium, gold cup, group game, irresponsible behavior, loose ball, midfield, panamanian, partisan crowd, phillips and others, play dead, Reliant Stadium, remaining games, responsible person

Perez gives Panama 1-1 draw with Mexico

July 10, 2009

HOUSTON – Mexico and Panama drew 1-1 Thurday night, a match which included a 12-minute delay late in the second half for pushing and shoving match with players leaving the bench and debris from the stands.

The result clinched quarterfinal berths for Canada, the United States and Guadeloupe, which beat Nicaragua 2-0 earlier in the evening.

The match finished with three players ejected as well as a coach — Mexican manager Javier Aguirre.

What was already a tense match turned ugly when Panama’s Ricardo Phillips pushed Aguirre near the Mexican bench. Phillips reacted after Aguirre appeared to kick him as Phillips dribbled the ball down the sideline. Aguirre extended his leg to stop the ball and made contact with Phillips.

Phillips pushed the coach and Mexico’s bench immediately reacted.

Soon drink cups and other items rained onto the field from the stands, mostly toward Panama players and its bench.

Panama players on the bench walked to the middle of the field in protest while Mexican players tried to calm the partisan crowd.

Peace was restored but not after both teams lost momentum.

The match was testy early but reached a peak when Mexico midfielder Luis Noriega and Panama’s Armando Gun were shown straight red cards for a mini-altercation during first-half injury time.

Gun took umbrage at a foul by Giovani dos Santos near Panama’s bench. He reacted and Noriega responded to Gun’s aggression, prompting a brief skirmish between both teams.

That’s when referee Joel Aguilar took out his red card and showed it to Noriega and Gun.

Players from both sides also exchanged pushes earlier in the match that totaled 25 fouls (Mexico 16, Panama nine) in the first 45 minutes.

Things perhaps heated after Panama’s Blas Perez led an elbow to the back of Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa in the 14th minute while Ochoa went up for a long centered pass that sailed over the crossbar.

Ochoa laid inside his goal for a couple of minutes, reaching for his lower back. He remained in the match.

The fighting overshadowed the match that featured goals by Mexico’s Miguel Sabah and Panama’s Perez.

Sabah scored 10 minutes into the match. Perez scored 19 minutes later.

Sabah sent Giovanni dos Santos’ rolling cross to the opposite post to beat Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, sending his shot into the lower right corner of the net.

Dos Santos broke away with only the goalkeeper to beat when Israel Martinez filtered a pass through Panama defenders near the left sideline.

Dos Santos then sprinted about 40 yards before sending the ball for Sabah, who finished for his first goal in four caps with El Tri.

It was also the 500th goal in Gold Cup history.

Sabah was the Mexican Clausura scoring champion in his first season with Monarcas Morelia.

It was Panama’s leaders and national icons that helped “La Marea Roja,” the Red Wave. It was those same leaders that are very familiar with Mexican soccer.

That includes Perez.

The Panama forward and Felipe Baloy play in the Mexican Premier division.

Perez tied the game in the 29th minute after he forced his way through two Mexican defenders. He tapped in a bouncing ball near the mouth of the goal past Ochoa.

Perez, who plays for Pachuca, reached a Baloy pass via header while Mexico defenders Jose Castro and Jonny Magallon watched the play develop.

Mexican defenders displayed their displeasure briefly pointing fingers, pointing at the ground near the scene of the defensive mishap while screaming at each other.

Baloy, who has made a career in Mexico playing for Monterrey, out-jumped his man near the penalty mark to send the ball to Blas.

By Ivan Orozco

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Tags: aguilar, altercation, armando, Armando Gun, berths, Canada, CONCACAF Champions' Cup, couple of minutes, crossbar, drink cups, Felipe Baloy, giovanni, guadeloupe, guillermo ochoa, Gun, Houston, injury time, israel, Ivan Orozco, Javier Aguirre, Joel Aguilar, Jose, luis noriega, Marea Roja, Mexico, midfielder, Miguel Sabah, minute delay, Monterrey, Morelia, Nicaragua, Panama, partisan crowd, red cards, Ricardo Phillips, Sabah, Santos, sideline, skirmish, time gun, Tri, United States

Impact seeking advantage from record crowd against Santos Laguna

February 24, 2009

If the Montreal Impact loses any advantage by playing its Champions League quarterfinal against Santos Laguna indoors, it will certainly make it back in numbers.

Wednesday’s first leg should draw a club record crowd of 50,000 to Olympic Stadium, giving the Impact an advantage of deafening noise if not winter climate.

Impact management set a crowd target of 30,000, but the overwhelming response shattered that mark with weeks to go.

The result will be a largely blue-clad, Montreal partisan crowd, the size of which has not been seen since the heyday of the Montreal Manic of the now-defunct North American Soccer League.

What those making history will see is an Impact team rounding into form despite being out of season since October.

The Impact has been training since early January, starting with conditioning and then on tactics. After gathering and working in the Montreal area, the club toured Italy for two weeks, then returned home and has been training on Olympic Stadium’s pitch for the past several days.

The club was undefeated in its training period (7-0-2), albeit against semi-pro clubs and low-level Italian sides.

But, perhaps, the most important thing going for Montreal is continuity. Coming into the game, coach John Limniatis will field virtually the same side that nearly won Champions League Group C, thanks to a number of key off-season re-signings.

Back are midfielder Tony Donatelli, forward Roberto Brown, defender Nevio Pizzolitto and team player of the year and goalkeeper Matt Jordan. The club also bolstered its offense adding Cuban Eduardo Sebrango and welcoming back Peter Byers after his failed bid to catch on with San Jose of Major League Soccer.

The Impact will look to take advantage of their familiarity and chemistry against a Santos Laguna club off to a slow start in the Mexican Clausura.

After failing to win any of its first four matches, Daniel Guzman’s side has won two of its last three.

Despite its start, the Torreon-based club has the advantage of being in mid-season form, and features notable Mexican internationals in goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, midfielder Fernando Arce and striker Mattias Vuoso.

Strikers Carlos Quintero and Christian Benitez will look to use their speed and guile, respectively, to exploit an Impact defense that relied heavily on Jordan to advance to the quarterfinals.

Benitez should give Santos a boost, having returned Sunday from a shoulder injury, entering as a substitute in a 2-0 win over Monterrey.

Santos Laguna has scored a mere five goals in seven games, highlighted by a goalless drought of 368 minutes. Fatigue could also be a factor, considering the quarterfinal match will be Santos Laguna’s fourth in 11 days.

However, the record crowd and roof that will contain noise could be the most critical element.

Montreal allowed only one goal in four home games through the Preliminary Round and Group Stage played at Saputo Stadium, which sits adjacent to Olympic Stadium. The bigger stage may make a Montreal match even more daunting.

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