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, zeballosRelated posts
Nunez, Zeballos keep Cruz Azul unbeaten, send to quarterfinals with 2-1 win
October 21, 2009
Ramon Nunez and Pablo Zeballos scored second-half goals to rally Cruz Azul to a 2-1 victory over Saprissa on Tuesday, sending it to the quarterfinals as at least one of possibly two unbeaten teams.
Cruz Azul already had clinched its place in the knockout round and heads to the final eight with a 5-1-0 record, atop Group C with 16 points. Fellow Mexican club Pumas has a chance also to finish the Group Stage unbeaten, needing a win or draw Thursday in its last match against Comunicaciones.
Saprissa entered the day with a chance to advance, but was eliminated before kickoff when the Columbus Crew scored a second-half goal and drew 1-1 at the Puerto Rico Islanders.
Columbus finished with eight points, eight behind Cruz Azul and three ahead of Saprissa in third place. Even if Saprissa had won, it had lost at home to Columbus and drew its away leg, surrendering the tiebreaker advantage.
It was the second straight year Saprissa failed to advance past the Group Stage. Last season, Saprissa won only one of its last three matches to be edged out by Cruz Azul for a berth.
Anticipating a chance at the quarterfinals, a boisterous crowd at Estadio Saprissa greeted both teams, which struggled to created chances in the first half.
Saprissa took the lead four minutes before halftime when Armando Alonso created enough space along the right to launch a cross between two defenders and feed Kendall Watson, who stuck a side-footed volley at the corner of the six-yard box to beat Cruz Azul keeper Yosgart Gutierrez.
Gutierrez had to punch away another chance four minutes into the second half, keeping Cruz Azul within a goal and giving Nunez his opportunity to equalize.
Hector Gutierrez stipped the ball just outside the area and quickly fed Zeballos in the middle of the box. With his back to goal, Zeballos was able to hold off defender Alexander Robinson before dropping a ball into the path of Nunez, who ran on to the roller and volleyed a right-footed blast from the top of the 18 for his second goal of the tournament.
Zeballos then added the winner in the 82nd, running unmarked at the back post onto a low, rolling cross from Nunez and easily finishing for his fifth goal in the Champions League. Zeballos finished with four goals in last year’s championship.
Cruz Azul, which advanced all the way to last season’s finals before falling to fellow Mexican side Atlante, will learn its quarterfinal opponent on November 17, when CONCACAF conducts its Championship Round draw at its New York headquarters.
Costa Rica – SAN JOSE
Tags: alexander robinson, armando alonso, berth, boisterous crowd, club pumas, COLUMBUS, columbus crew, Costa Rica, cruz azul, enough space, four minutes, group stage, Hector Gutierrez, kickoff, knockout, last match, New York, Pablo Zeballos, Puerto Rico, puerto rico islanders, quarterfinals, San Jose, saprissa, unbeaten teams, volley, watson, zeballosRelated posts
Cruz Azul rallies for 3-3 draw with Puerto Rico
September 16, 2009
Alejandro Vela scored with four minutes remaining to complete Cruz Azul’s rally from a two-goal deficit for a 3-3 draw with the Puerto Rico Islanders Tuesday night in a rematch of last season’s CONCACAF Champions League semifinals.
Vela converted a cross from Javier Orozco for an easy tap-in at the back post to increase the Mexican side’s lead atop Group C.
Pablo Zeballos scored a pair of goals, one in each half, to pace Cruz Azul, which improved to seven points as the Group Stage reached its midpoint.
Nicholas Addlery scored one goal and helped on another for Puerto Rico, which earned its first point in three games.
The Islanders, who already have qualified for the playoffs in the United Soccer Leagues First Division – the second tier of North American pro soccer, were the more aggressive team in the first half, hitting the woodwork in the second minute when Jonathan Steele volleyed a cross from Noah Delgado off the right post.
Cruz Azul had more possession and chances in the second half, creating its first corner in the 49th, but Puerto Rico did not retreat into a shell, striking the bar with Jonathan Steele’s right-footer from distance in the 55th.
Zeballos pulled Cruz Azul within 3-2 in the 68th, taking a cross from Jamie Lozano, settling with a touch of his left foot just outside the 18, turning and driving a bouncing shot past goalkeeper Bill Gaudette.
Vela equalized in the 86th. Alejandros Castro worked free on the right, forwarded the ball to Orozco, whose rolling cross found Vela just inside the 6-yard box at the back post.
Puerto Rico had the better possession and chances in the first 45 minutes.
Puerto Rico took the lead in the 24th when Scott Jones looped a cleared corner kick back into the top of the area. The ball pinged off John Krause’s head and landed at the feet of Mexican defender Cristian Arrieta, who converted for an early lead.
Zeballos equalized 10 minutes later, taking a ball on the left side of the area, spinning outside to create space from Krause and driving a right-footed shot into the opposite side netting.
Puerto Rico reclaimed the lead in the 40th minute. Addlery sent Fabrice Noel through with a side-heel flick from a throw-in that the Haitian one-touched past Cruz Azul defender Joel Huqui, chased down the ball and toe-poked it past goalkeeper Yosgart Gutierrez.
Addlery then reacted to a loose ball in the area four minutes later to secure a two-goal advantage for Puerto Rico heading into halftime.
Puerto Rico had scored only two goals in its previous four Champions League games this season, including its 1-0 win over Toronto FC in Canada in the first leg of the Preliminary Round.
Cruz Azul lost 2-0 to Puerto Rico in the first leg of last season’s semifinals in March, but won the second leg 3-1 in Mexico City and prevailed on penalties.
Cruz Azul hadn’t allowed a goal in three games – since a 6-2 victory over Herediano in the first leg of the Preliminary Round.
BAYAMON, Puerto Rico
Tags: aggressive team, Alejandro Vela, arrieta, Bill Gaudette, Canada, champions league semifinals, corner kick, Cristian Arrieta, Cruz, cruz azul, group stage, john krause, jonathan steele, left foot, nicholas addlery, North American, orozco, Puerto Rico, puerto rico islanders, united soccer leagues, vela, zeballosRelated posts
Cruz Azul dominates Saprissa, wins 2-0
August 20, 2009
Veteran Christian Riveros and little used Joel Hiqui scored in the first 36 minutes and Cruz Azul easily beat Saprissa 2-0 Wednesday to join the Columbus Crew atop Group C in the CONCACAF Champions League.
With much of the match played in rain, heavy at times, the Cementeros dominated possession and chances, even without several of their first-line regulars.
Saprissa has won all three of its games so far in the Costa Rican league, struggled to create anything against the perennial Mexican power.
Alejandra Vela found plenty of space down the left and helped create the first goal in the 14th minute by sprinting clear before sending a cross to Riveros, who leapt unmarked in the middle of area to drive a ball past Saprissa keeper Yader Balladares.
Hiqui, a 26-year-old defender whose only appearances this season were in Cruz Azul’s Preliminary Round matches against Herediano, needed only a touch to double the lead in the 36th. Ramon Nunez swung a free kick from near the far touchline and Hiqui just got the top of his head to the ball, deflecting it in off the underside of the crossbar.
Cruz Azul continued to dominate with Pablo Zeballos getting several chances in the second half. A header from a Vela cross skipped just wide of the far post in the 59th minute, and he was in alone against Balladares in the 75th before pushing a right-footed shot just wide right.
Saprissa gained a little more possession toward the end, but rarely created anything threatening.
The result left the Mexican and U.S. giant atop their group, after Columbus won its opener against the Puerto Rico Islanders 2-0 on Tuesday.
The two will face off on Wednesday, August 26, in Mexico City while Saprissa will try to recover with a home game against the Islanders a day earlier.
MEXICO CITY
Tags: 59th minute, Christian Riveros, city source, COLUMBUS, concacaf champions league, crossbar, cruz azul, face off, far post, free kick, Joel Hiqui, mexico city, Pablo Zeballos, possession, Puerto Rico, puerto rico islanders, Ramon Nunez, regulars, riveros, saprissa, second half, space down, touchline, U.S., zeballosRelated posts
Cruz Azul held 0-0, advances easily to Group Stage
August 6, 2009
MEXICO CITY – Cruz Azul easily returned to the Group Stage of the CONCACAF Champions League, settling for a 0-0 draw with Herediano on Wednesday night and advancing thanks to its dominating first-leg win a week ago.
Last year’s runner-up to Atlante, Cruz Azul had numerous chances as it did in its 6-2 victory in Costa Rica, but were thwarted by shots high, wide and some desperate defending.
Herediano also created chances, but its commitment forward to overturn a four-goal deficit left it vulnerable to counterattacks, which came down both sides.
Cruz Azul will join Group C with the Columbus Crew, Saprissa of Costa Rica and the Puerto Rico Islanders. It will open at home against Saprissa on August 19.
The Azulinos used several of the players from last week’s victory, including Javier Orozco, who had three goals.
While Herediano had several chances in the first half, the second half was almost all Cruz Azul, with Pablo Zeballos missed just wide of the right post on a header in the 51st , three minutes later when he turned and shot just off target again, and once more in the 70th when an unmarked header from the edge of the six-yard box skipped wide of the right post.
Alejandro Vela broke in alone on Herediano keeper Adrian de Lemos in the 41st minute, but Christhian Montero raced back and swept away the ball with a sliding tackle on the left side of the penalty area.
Herediano’s best chance came in the 26th, when Marvin Borbon’s free kick from 25 meters forced Cruz Azul keeper Yosgart Gutierrez to push it over the bar. Second-half substitute Jose Guity was unable to get his extended right leg to a cross through the six-yard box from Andy Herron in the 69th minute.
De Lemos scrambled most of the night to diffuse dangerous situations, while Guitierez had to make a handful of dramatic leaping saves.
Cruz Azul’s advancement secures a fourth berth in the Group Stage for Mexico for the second straight year.
Tags: adrian de lemos, Alejandro Vela, Andy Herron, berth, borbon, columbus crew, concacaf, concacaf champions league, Costa Rica, cruz azul, dangerous situations, free kick, group stage, guity, herediano, Herron, Javier Orozco, Jose, Marvin Borbon, Mexico, mexico city, montero, orozco, Pablo Zeballos, Puerto Rico, puerto rico islanders, three minutes, zeballosRelated posts
Cruz Azul held 0-0, advances easily to Group Stage
August 6, 2009
MEXICO CITY – Cruz Azul easily returned to the Group Stage of the CONCACAF Champions League, settling for a 0-0 draw with Herediano on Wednesday night and advancing thanks to its dominating first-leg win a week ago.
Last year’s runner-up to Atlante, Cruz Azul had numerous chances as it did in its 6-2 victory in Costa Rica, but were thwarted by shots high, wide and some desperate defending.
Herediano also created chances, but its commitment forward to overturn a four-goal deficit left it vulnerable to counterattacks, which came down both sides.
Cruz Azul will join Group C with the Columbus Crew, Saprissa of Costa Rica and the Puerto Rico Islanders. It will open at home against Saprissa on August 19.
The Azulinos used several of the players from last week’s victory, including Javier Orozco, who had three goals.
While Herediano had several chances in the first half, the second half was almost all Cruz Azul, with Pablo Zeballos missed just wide of the right post on a header in the 51st , three minutes later when he turned and shot just off target again, and once more in the 70th when an unmarked header from the edge of the six-yard box skipped wide of the right post.
Alejandro Vela broke in alone on Herediano keeper Adrian de Lemos in the 41st minute, but Christhian Montero raced back and swept away the ball with a sliding tackle on the left side of the penalty area.
Herediano’s best chance came in the 26th, when Marvin Borbon’s free kick from 25 meters forced Cruz Azul keeper Yosgart Gutierrez to push it over the bar. Second-half substitute Jose Guity was unable to get his extended right leg to a cross through the six-yard box from Andy Herron in the 69th minute.
De Lemos scrambled most of the night to diffuse dangerous situations, while Guitierez had to make a handful of dramatic leaping saves.
Cruz Azul’s advancement secures a fourth berth in the Group Stage for Mexico for the second straight year.
Go to Source
Tags: adrian de lemos, Alejandro Vela, Andy Herron, berth, columbus crew, concacaf, concacaf champions league, Costa Rica, cruz azul, dangerous situations, free kick, group stage, guity, herediano, Herron, Javier Orozco, Jose, Marvin Borbon, Mexico, mexico city, montero, orozco, Pablo Zeballos, Puerto Rico, puerto rico islanders, target, three minutes, zeballosRelated posts
Orozco scores three more, Cruz Azul rolls over Herediano 6-2
July 31, 2009
HEREDIA, Costa Rica—Javier Orozco scored three goals to lead Cruz Azul of Mexico to a 6-2 victory over 10-man Herediano of Costa Rica on Thursday in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round series.
Alejandro Vela gave Cruz Azul the lead in the second minute, tapping in a cross at the right post after a Cristian Riveros cross sailed over Herediano goalkeeper Adrian de Lemos.
Herediano played nearly the entire second half down a man after Eduardo Gomez was sent off with a red card in the 48th minute.
Orozco , who lead the Champions League last year with seven goals, scored his first goal of the night two minutes later when he settled a pass from Vela and lifted his shot over De Lemos. Seven minutes later Orozco gave Cruz Azul a 3-0 lead when he placed his shot in the lower left corner.
Andy Herron cut the lead to two goals a minute later, volleying a long ball and beating goalkeeper Yosgart Gutierrez with a low shot to the right corner.
The match featured several players from both teams who played in the Gold Cup semifinal last week Mexico won on penalty kicks. What was built up as somewhat of a redemption chance for the Costa Rican side turned out to be another triumph for the Mexicans.
Cruz Azul, which lost last season’s finals to Atlante in May, never let up throughout the match. In the 70th minute, Emmanuel Villa headed in a cross by Jamie Lozano to put the Mexican squad up 4-1.
Orozco added his third goal and Champions League leading 10th overall in the 74th minute, all but assuring a berth in the Group Stage of the competition. The winner on aggregate will advance to join the USA’s Columbus Crew, Saprissa of Costa Rica and either Toronto FC or the Puerto Rico Islanders in Group C.
Cristhian Montero cut the lead to 5-2 when he placed a deflected cross from Christhian Blanco past Cruz Azul keeper Jose Corona.
Pablo Zeballos completed the scoring in the 88th minute, finishing a final counter.
The two teams meet again on Wednesday in Mexico City.
Tags: adrian de lemos, Alejandro Vela, columbus crew, competition, Costa Rica, cristhian, cristian riveros, cruz azul, cup semifinal, eduardo gomez, Emmanuel Villa, Goalkeeper, group stage, heredia costa rica, herediano, Herron, Jamie Lozano, Jose, Mexico, mexico city, montero, orozco, penalty kicks, puerto rico islanders, saprissa, toronto fc, zeballosRelated posts
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