Five CCL quarterfinal berths to be decided in last round

October 3, 2009

With three berths already clinched, the final five CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal spots will be decided on the final matchday of the Group Stage.

Joining Cruz Azul in the knockout stage are fellow Mexican squads Pumas and Pachuca, while Toluca missed an opportunity to claim its place by losing 2-0 to Marathon in San Pedro Sula Thursday night.

Pumas, which sits atop Group D, advanced with a 2-1 win against W Connection Wednesday night in Mexico City. Paco Palencia and Oscar Rojas scored second-half goals for Pumas, which has earned a seeded quarterfinal berth as a result of winning the group.
The race for the second berth from Group D is wide open. Comunicaciones and Real Espana are level with six points apiece after five matches and W Connection has four points. On October 21, the Savonetta Boys host Real Espana, which snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Comunicaciones 2-0 on Wednesday night in San Pedro Sula.

Fredy Thompson’s own-goal and Carlos Pavon’s fourth goal of the tournament kept the Honduran side alive. Comunicaciones is home for Pumas on October 22.

In its first win against the Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium, Pachuca sealed a knockout stage berth with a 1-0 victory Wednesday night. Edgar Ramirez scored the lone goal for Los Tuzos, which leads Group A with 12 points.

“I am satisfied with my team’s performance tonight,” Pachuca coach Guillermo Rivarola said. “The team was smart and was able to dictate the rhythm of the game and that gave us a chance to take home the three points.”

Arabe Unido thrashed winless Metapan 6-0 Tuesday night to move a step closer to the quarterfinals. Orlando Rodriguez scored three goals and Camilo Aguirre added two for the Panamanian squad, which is three points ahead of the Houston Dynamo heading into the final day of the group stage.

The second berth will be decided on October 21 when Arabe Unido and Pachuca meet in Estadio Hidalgo, while Houston travels to El Salvador to take on Metapan.

“Overall I was happy with the way the guys played,” Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. “[The loss] puts us in a difficult position. We know what we have to do now, go to El Salvador and win and hope that Pachuca beat Arabe Unido.”

The Columbus Crew was minutes away from clinching a berth in the quarterfinals, but Alexander Robinson scored a dramatic second-half stoppage time equalizer for Deportivo Saprissa in a 1-1 draw at Crew Stadium Tuesday night.

“It was live or die,” Saprissa coach Jeaustin Campos said. “We tried to move forward and made substitutes to try to score and we gave them a lot of space. Sometimes we showed some weakness in the defense but that’s what we had to do to play for the tie.”

The Crew is second in Group C with seven points, two in front of Saprissa while the Puerto Rico Islanders, a surprise semifinalist a year ago, was eliminated from advancement with a 2-0 loss at Estadio Azul Tuesday night.

On Oct.ober20, Columbus can advance with a draw against Puerto Rico in Bayamon, while Saprissa is home for Cruz Azul.

“We still have a chance,” Columbus coach Robert Warzycha said. “It’s going to be an important game in Puerto Rico. The guys know that.”

Toluca is three points clear of both D.C. United and Marathon in Group B, but failed to become the fourth Mexican team to
advance to the knockout stages when Marathon handed Diablos Rojos its first loss of the group stage on Thursday.

Walter Martinez and Carlos Mejia scored first-half goals for Marathon, which travels to Trinidad to take on winless San Juan Jabloteh on October 22. Christian Gomez and Boyzzz Khumalo scored two goals apiece and Fred scored the other goal to lead D.C. United to a 5-1 thumping of Jabloteh on Wednesday night at RFK Stadium.

D.C. heads to Nemesio Diaz to take on Toluca on October 20 and could potentially go through as long as they match Marathon’s result. A year ago, the Major League Soccer team had just one point from six group stage matches.

“This year we’ve treated the game very importantly, no matter who is on the field,” D.C. coach Tommy Soehn said. “We’ve taken the time to make sure we understand what the games are about. It’s never easy with all the travel, but still understanding that we’re looking to qualify and now we’ve put ourselves in a good way to do that.”

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Tags: Carlos Pavon, concacaf champions league, cruz azul, fredy thompson, game losing streak, houston dynamo, lone goal, los tuzos, matchday, night in mexico, oscar rojas, pachuca, Paco Palencia, pumas, rivarola, robertson stadium, san pedro sula

Pachuca tries to forget Santos loss before CCL clash

September 29, 2009

It was a day Pachuca will like to forget. And the Mexican side wants to forget it quickly.

Pachuca probably still will have its 4-0 Mexican league loss to Santos Laguna on Sunday in mind when it takes on Major League Soccer side Houston Dynamo Wednesday in a CONCACAF Champions League Group A matchup.

The game could serve as a distraction for Los Tuzos after two consecutive losses in the Apertura.

Facing Houston could serve as a focal point to rebound from the defeats. After all, “Los Tuzos”(Gophers) lead Group A and could put themselves in a position to finish atop the standings and clinch a slot in the next round with a win against the Dynamo.

It will be a brief distraction from the fact Pachuca sits in fourth place with 16 points in the Mexican league’s Group Two standings and an America side, unbeaten in its last eight, next on the schedule.

“I think it’s important to finish in first place in the tournament,” said Pachuca’s Ulises Mendívil, who scored twice in the Tuzos’ 4-0 win against Metapan last week. “There are still two games two play and we have the opportunity to close (group play) playing well.”
(“Yo creo que ponernos en primer lugar en este torneo es importante, todavía quedan dos partidos y tenemos la oportunidad de cerrar bien.”)

In other words, the Champions League serves as a consolation for Pachuca, which has nine points, two better than both Houston and Panamanian side Arabe Unido, which faces Metapan of El Salvador on Tuesday.

But the Dynamo are hungry for a win and know the chance to take the group lead is an achievable task. And Houston will also be looking for some retribution. Pachuca beat the Dynamo 2-0 with goals by Edgar Benitez and Paul Aguilar at Estadio Hidalgo.

Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad had said Houston has to beat Pachuca to be “considered one of the better teams in CONCACAF.”

They’ll have their opportunity this time in front of their home Robertson Stadium crowd.

The Dynamo, who lead the MLS Western Conference standings with 43 points, will also have momentum.

Houston is coming off what has been one of the club’s better performances in the Champions League: a 5-1 win against Arabe Unido.

Stuart Holden scored twice and Corey Ashe, Eddie Robinson and William Weaver also had goals.

Robinson, who had surgery on his knee earlier this season, made his 2009 debut with the Dynamo in the match.

It was his first game since November 26 when the Dynamo played El Salvador’s Luis Angel Firpo’s in last year’s Champions League.

He was ejected late in that match and had not played since.

“This was a perfect night to come back,” said Robinson after playing against Arabe Unido last week. “It wasn’t hot, it was a fun game. I enjoyed it and I just have to keep working.

“I wasn’t sure a couple months ago if I was going to be able to contribute to the team this year in any capacity. But now, I am definitely going to push the guys that are on the first team.”

Expect for Robinson to contribute against Pachuca. He is considered to have the capability to change the pace of a game.

And a change of pace is what Pachuca is hoping for. But first it must forget its most recent outing, despite its proximity.

Arabe Unido will be looking to rebound from the one-sided loss to Houston. Tuesday’s defeat was only the second this season – the other being to Olimpia of Honduras in the Preliminary Round – and it has won eight of its other 12 games to sit comfortably atop the Panamanian league by four points.

The five goals allowed against the Dynamo equaled the number of goals it permitted in its other 10 games combined since August 9 – including Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Tauro.

By contrast, Metapan has been in a tailspin that has seen it eliminated from quarterfinal contention in the Champions League and fall to seventh in the Salvadoran league. At least Emerson Unama scored in the 42nd minute of a 2-1 loss to Municipal Lemeno on Sunday to end a nearly 3½-game goalless streak.

By Ivan Orozco

Tags: champions league group, concacaf champions league, consecutive losses, distraction, gophers, group play, hidalgo, houston dynamo, lead group, los tuzos, Major League Soccer, matchup, pachuca, pat onstad, Paul Aguilar, retribution, robertson stadium, santos laguna, stadium crowd, ulises

Pachuca tops 10-man Dynamo 2-0

September 17, 2009

Edgar Benitez and Paul Nicholas Aguilar gave Pachuca a goal in each half and helped defeat a 10-man Houston Dynamo 2-0 in a much anticipated CONCACAF Champions League match between the U.S. and Mexican powers Wednesday night.

Pachuca, unbeaten in five straight, moved into second place in the group, one point behind Panama’s Arabe Unido. Houston, which stretched its winless streak to five games in all competitions, fell to third alone with three points from three matches.

After sustained pressure in the offensive third, Pachuca took the deserved lead in the 26th minute. Benitez received a long ball, turned on Houston defender Bobby Bowell and ran to goal. With Dynamo defenders closing, the Paraguayan striker beat Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall low inside the far post from 16 meters.

Houston’s hopes worsened in first-half stoppage time when Dominic Oduro was sent off after receiving his second yellow card for a tackle from behind on Christian Gimenez.

Pachuca attacked from the outset, putting Hall under pressure immediately. In the eighth minute, Benitez cut inside of Ryan Cochrane and fired a low shot that Hall got a piece of before it deflected out for a corner kick.
One minute later Benitez got an open shot off a second corner, but he fired well over the crossbar from the edge of the six-yard box.

In the 22nd minute, Gimenez forced Hall to dive to his left to grab a long distance attempt.
Nine minutes after Benitez’s goal, Hall was forced to make a double save, first denying Gimenez by getting his left arm on a first-time attempt from eight meters and then stopping Juan Carlos Chaco’s rebound.

On one of Houston’s rare scoring chances came when Craig Waibel’s chip from 35 meters went off the back of the top netting three minutes before halftime.

With the man advantage, the Tuzos dominated possession and Aguilar added an insurance goal in the 74th minute. Gimenez played the ball to Aguilar near the top of the 18-yard box and was able to turn and make a run along the edge of the area before putting his deflected left-footed shot inside the near post.

The loss was the 17th in 18 games (with one draw) by Major League Soccer teams when playing in Mexico sides in competitive play. That draw came a year ago when the Dynamo tied Pumas 4-4 in Champions League group play. MLS teams have been outscored 60-14 in Mexico.

Both teams return to Champions League play Tuesday night when Houston returns to Robertson Stadium to take on Arabe Unido, while Pachuca heads to El Salvador to take on winless Metapan.

PACHUCA, Mexico

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Tags: arabe unido, bowell, christian gimenez, concacaf champions league, corner kick, craig waibel, dominic oduro, Edgar Benitez, eighth minute, El Salvador, far post, Houston, houston dynamo, insurance goal, Juan Carlos Chaco, man advantage, Mexico, Panama, paul nicholas, Paul Nicholas Aguilar, robertson stadium, ryan cochrane, stoppage time, tally hall, time attempt, U.S., winless streak, yellow card

Struggling Atlante faces Dynamo side seeking redemption in Champions League quarters

February 24, 2009

Houston and Atlante get the opportunity to right themselves Tuesday when they launch Champions League quarterfinal play in a meeting at Robertson Stadium on the University of Houston Campus.

Atlante is struggling in the Mexican Clausura, limping along in last place in Group 1 with one victory and seven points in seven games. As the Potros are almost halfway through their spring campaign, time is running short for a meaningful spring reversal. That’s what makes Tuesday’s visit to Houston so critical for manager José Guadalupe Cruz’s side. A strong finish in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League tournament would provide something positive for the Cancun club.

Temperatures for the 9 p.m. kickoff are expected to be mild, and the conditions should be near ideal. Atlante hosts the second leg March 3 at Estadio Quintana Roo along the Yucatan Peninsula. The series winner meets Canada’s Montreal Impact or Mexico’s Santos Laguna in the tournament semifinals.

Atlante needed an 81st-minute goal from Luis Gabriel Rey to earn a 1-1 draw and a point on the road at San Luis on Saturday. The Colombian forward has been one of the bright spots in the Mexican spring campaign, leading his side with four goals and two assists.

On the other hand, that means Rey has either scored or assisted on six of Atlante’s eight goals so far, and the lack of production throughout the lineup is surely a worry for Cruz. Since clinching first place in its Champions League group in October, Atlante has won just three of 13 matches in Mexican league play.

Cruz’s team is certainly taking the quarterfinal series opener seriously, having arrived in Texas on Sunday to begin preparing for Tuesday’s contest.

Houston’s efforts at fortune reversal aren’t about overcoming recent woes. Rather, it’s a matter of redemption following last year’s stunning first-round exit in the Major League Soccer playoffs.

Now, manager Dominic Kinnear’s team is tightly focused on dual goals: getting a good start to the 2009 MLS campaign next month, and advancing into the Champions League semifinals.

The Dynamo defense looks as strong as ever. Although results in pre-season friendlies can sometimes be misleading, Kinnear can certainly by encouraged by a string of generally strong outings. The club has blanked fellow MLS club FC Dallas twice in preseason friendlies, shut out the L.A. Galaxy in a friendly in Southern California and also kept a clean sheet against Sweden’s Hammarby IF last week in a scoreless draw.

Stuart Holden’s availability remains unknown. The young attacker, who is expected to replace Dwayne De Rosario as Houston’s midfield engine, lost his father last week after a prolonged battle with cancer. He missed the last few days of the team’s preseason trip to California, and it is unclear when he will rejoin the team.

Otherwise, the team is healthy and should have everyone available for selection.

By: Steve Davis

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Tags: atlante, campaign time, Canada, Cancun, cancun club, champions league group, concacaf champions league, CONCACAF Champions' Cup, Dallas, Dominic Kinnear, dwayne de rosario, Guadalupe Cruz, Houston, houston campus, Impact, la galaxy, luis gabriel, Luis Gabriel Rey, Major League Soccer, mexican clausura, mexican spring, Mexico, Montreal, montreal impact, quarterfinal series, quintana roo, robertson stadium, rsquo, San, Santos, santos laguna, series winner, soccer playoffs, Southern California, spring campaign, Steve DavisGo, Stuart Holden, Sweden, Texas, yucatan peninsula

With “De Ro” gone, Dynamo girds for new MLS season, Champions League quarters

February 17, 2009

Despite a late start in preseason training and a significant personnel change, Houston Dynamo players and coaches say they are ready and eager for the quarterfinal CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.

Houston and Mexico’s Atlante will be the first sides to meet, beginning their two-leg series February 24 at Robertson Stadium in Houston. The return leg is a week later in Cancun.

The Dynamo began training February 2, later than most fellow Major League Soccer clubs, and much later than most teams remaining sides in the Champions League.

Most Mexican teams started in January or earlier following a short winter break after the fall Apertura. Atlante already has played five matches in the Mexican Clausura (the spring season). The Dynamo, meanwhile, have eased into their preseason training with just four friendlies so far. The match against Atlante will represent the Dynamo’s first competitive contest since clinching a Champions League quarterfinal spot with a 1-0 win over CD Luis Angel Firpo on November 26.

“We know Atlante has a little bit of an advantage, because they’ve played some games already,” Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson said. “But we’ll be ready.”

They may be ready, but they’ll be without offensive engine Dwayne De Rosario, who was traded in January to Toronto during the MLS offseason. Stuart Holden, a well-regarded young attacker, will fill the void. Still, Houston is bound to miss De Rosario, who played a big part in steering his side through Champions League group play last summer and fall.

De Rosario’s 88th-minute, 30-meter strike gave his team a 2-1 win over Panama’s San Francisco FC during Group B play. And he supplied the corner kick that Brian Ching headed in for that quarterfinal-clinching win over Firpo in November.

Houston has a term of redemption ahead in MLS; the Dynamo was heavily favored to eliminate the New York Red Bulls in last year’s MLS playoffs, but fell in perhaps the most shocking post-season upset in league history. Houston players are focused on doing more this year in Major League Soccer, but manager Dominic Kinnear promised that Champions League performance wouldn’t suffer because of it.

“I’m taking it seriously, and I know the players are, too,” Kinnear said. As for the late start, he said thought the players needed a bit of an extended break after playing in 50 matches last year.

“We’ve had some player movement, but not a ton,” the manager said. “Everything kind of sustains itself. We’ve got the same coaching staff, the same formation. There’s no drastic changes in how we do things. Everybody knows what to expect from the first day. So I don’t think it was necessary to start earlier.”

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