Pumas enjoying CCL amid Mexican league woes

September 15, 2009

Pumas has lost seven of its eight games in the Mexican Apertura. At least it has the CONCACAF Champions League.

UNAM, which has won both of its group stage matches, can all but confirm a trip to the knockout stage with a victory on the road against W Connection Wednesday night at Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, Trinidad.

No doubt Pumas will be pleased to leave Mexico after a 2-1 loss to Pachuca at Estadio Olimpico Universitario in a rematch of May’s Clausura championship on Sunday. Martin Bravo put the hosts in front in the 21st minute, but Pumas conceded two goals after halftime to suffer yet another loss to increase the scrutiny of coach Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti.

“Quitting? Yes, it has crossed my mind, but I don’t have the right to do that because when things were going right I participated. I reaped the rewards. I was happy,” Ferretti said. “Now that things are bad I’m going to jump ship like a rat? No, I have to stick with it.”

Pumas are 12 points behind Group 3 leaders Cruz Azul and are only in front of Queretaro, which saw its coach fired, in the entire league.

Chivas, which suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to San Luis on the weekend, also parted with its coach. Could Ferretti be next?

“Just three months ago, I was parading with the club through Ciudad Universitaria,” Ferretti said. “Today you all have the right to scream at me, everybody in Ciudad Universitaria and I’m going to take it. If management doesn’t think I should continue, fine. They made a decision to bring me here, too.”

Pumas face a W Connection team that is searching for its first points of the group stage. W Connection played Ma Pau SC to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday before falling to Joe Public, 2-1, on Saturday night. The Savonetta Boys fell to fourth place in the Digicel Pro League, three points behind third-place Caledonia AIA.

Comunicaciones will host Real Espana in a battle for second place in Group D on Thursday night. Comunicaciones remains undefeated in Guatemala’s Apertura after a 1-0 win at Suchitepéquez on Sunday. Transito Montepeque struck for the lone goal in the 37th minute for Los Cremas, which are 4-5-0 in the league.

Real Espana bounced back from a disappointing home loss to Platense to defeat Victoria 2-0 at Estadio Francisco Morazan Sunday night. Jairo Daniel Puerto Herrera scored both goals in a nine-minute span midway through the second half for Real Espana, which is in fourth place in Honduras’ Apertura, one point behind CD Motagua.

By Dylan Butler

Tags: aia, chivas, ciudad universitaria, clausura, concacaf champions league, cruz azul, Daniel Puerto, Dylan Butler, eight games, entire league, francisco morazan, Guatemala, Honduras, joe public, knockout stage, Manny Ramjohn, marabella trinidad, Martin Bravo, mexican apertura, Mexico, no doubt, PAU, queretaro, Ricardo, San, scrutiny, thursday night, Trinidad, tuca, UNAM, Victoria, W. Connection

Spain’s sporting state of grace

June 16, 2009

Pau Gasol’s triumph with the LA Lakers has prompted more articles in the Spanish media celebrating the country’s incredible run of sporting success.

Gasol was a vital cog in the Lakers machine this season and joins a long list of Spanish champions in individual and team sports.

Spain’s soccer team, after winning Euro 2008, has cemented its hold on the number one ranking by extending its unbeaten run to 33 matches, Barcelona strolled to the Champions League title last month with a humbling of holders Manchester United, Rafael Nadal is the top-ranked men’s tennis player and Spain Davis Cup champions, Jorge Lorenzo is joint leader in the MotoGP world championships and Carlos Sastre won the 2008 Tour de France, the third Spanish victory in a row.

“Another success for Spanish sport,” Nadal wrote of Gasol on his website on Tuesday. “It’s hard to take in everything that we are achieving,” he added. “We should be very proud.”

“Gasol has passed a new milestone for Spanish sport, even if there are not that many goals left to achieve,” said sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky.

Writing in Marca newspaper on Tuesday, columnist Santiago Segurola said the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 were a turning point for the country, changing the way people outside Spain viewed the nation and laying the foundations for today’s sporting achievements.

While Spain might not be the strongest sporting nation overall, it was among those that produced the widest variety of champions, almost all in sports with huge media impact, he added.

However, the recent success of athletes like Gasol and Nadal could be a mixed blessing for the team bidding to bring the Olympic Games to Madrid in 2016.

It helps raise the nation’s global profile but also serves to underline the relative weakness of Spain in the key Olympic sports of athletics and swimming.

“We are enjoying the luxury but lacking in the basics,” Segurola wrote.

Spain’s performance at the last Olympics in Beijing, where they came 14th in the medals table behind the likes of Jamaica, Netherlands and Ukraine, underscored their athletes’ deficiencies, Juan Bautista Martinez wrote in Tuesday’s La Vanguardia.

But at a time of economic crisis, with unemployment soaring and firms closing down, sport had become a kind of motor of society that had helped lift damp spirits, he said. “When everything is going down the tubes, sport comes to the rescue.”

Whether or not Madrid pips Chicago, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro to win the right to host the 2016 summer Games, the elusive dream for many Spaniards remains winning the soccer World Cup for the first time.

If Fernando Torres, David Villa, Xavi and Andres Iniesta maintain anything like their current form, South Africa next year could well be the icing on the cake for this over-achieving nation of 40 million people.

PAU: Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol reaches for a rebound in the 3rd quarter during Game 4 of their NBA Finals series against the Orlando Magic in Orlando, Florida June 11, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Kolczynski

INIESTA: Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta holds the trophy after their Champions League final victory against Manchester United at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, May 27, 2009. REUTERS/Darren Staples

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