The Sven-Goran Eriksson reign in Mexico almost came to an abrupt end last night as Mexico qualified for the final round of CONCACAF world cup qualifying on goal difference.
Mexico lost 1-0 to Honduras and finished the game with only nine players after having having two players sent off in the last five minutes. Gerardo Torrado was shown a red card when he pocked up his second yellow card for a tackle on Carlos Costly while Arsenal striker Carlos Vela was given a straight red one minute later for kicking Ramon Nunez. Both players will miss Mexico’s first game in the qualifying round.
It was a good night for U.S. soccer Wednesday as the U.S. kids beat Guatemala 2-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
Already assured of qualifying for the next rounf of World Cup qualifying matches, U.S. coach Bob Bradley took this opportunity to play what essentially was his second string team. And he must have been pleased with the results.
The American team dominated possession of the ball throughout the game using short crisp passes. This was a skillful and dominating display from the U.S. albeit against a weak opponent, but skillful and dominating nonetheless. Perhaps the only negative: the quality of finishing did not match the quality of the passing.
The MLS Cup this weekend matches features the Columbus Crew, the best team during the MLS regular season, against the New York Red Bulls, the Cinderella team in the playoffs. Buy MLS Cup Tickets
This game promises to be open and entertaining with two of the best players in the league going head-to-head. New York’s Juan Pablo Angel and Guillermo Barros Schelotto of Columbus, both of them candidates for the league MVP award. Together, these South American stars combined for 21 goals, and thrilled MLS fans with their explosive skills this past season.
Some of the MLS events that are scheduled this week as we count down to the MLS Cup on Sunday.
League Announcements
Goal of the Year will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday) around 5 p.m. ET
The MVP will be unveiled Thursday live on ESPN News around 4:45 p.m. ET
The Commissioner’s press conference will be Friday and he is expected to reveal some competition-related news.
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Can’t make the trip to L.A.? Get behind the scenes updates from most of the events surrounding MLS Cup 2008 by signing up for MLS_Insider’s Twitter feed.
The January transfer window is right around a corner and speculation is already ramping up about who will go going where. The global financial crisis is really starting to hit teams. Even Chelsea is sacking scouts to save money. Some experts in London’s financial sector believe that 11 clubs will be effectively up for sale in the first quarter of 2009. Obviously this would make most teams sellers in the January transfer window instead of buyers
A look at the winners and losers after the weekend’s action in the English Premier League.
Winners
Aston Villa
Only their second win over a Big Four team in 35 attempts (the other being against Chelsea in the final days of Jose Mourinho’s reign last September). Villa are the team most likely to challenge the big four for a Champions League place. As this performance shows they have the skill to compete with anyone in the Premier League. The question for them is whether they have the consistency to grind out victories week in and week out. If they did, then Arsenal fans should be very worried because Champions League soccer is not guaranteed for them next season.
The New York Red Bulls improbable playoff journey continued Saturday whehn they beat RSL 1-0 to qualify for the MLS Cup against Columbus. Buy MLS Cup Tickets
Dave van den Bergh got the goal midway through the first half that earned the Red Bulls their first-ever appearance in the MLS Cup but the story of this game was the missed opportunities for Real Salt Lake.
Cheered on by a crowd of 20,008 RS: attacked all game outshooting New York 24-11. Four of those shots hit the woodwork and and Red Bulls goalkeeper Danny Cepero made several brillant saves to deny RSL again and again,
Tonight we’ll find out who is the “Best in the West” (sort of). Technically, RSL already has that title, as it has survived longer than any other Western Conference squad. NYRB luckily jumped into the West via the ridiculous MLS playoff rules, so now they will go after the Western Conference Championship, even though their city sits east of the Mississippi River.
Despite the geographic irregularities, tonight’s game has all the makings of a classic. Two underdog teams that qualified for the playoffs in the regular season’s final game will face off for the right to take on Columbus in the MLS Cup Final. As I mentioned earlier this week, I like RSL over NYRB 2-1.
I will begin this review by fully disclosing my bias. I think Will Ferrell is very funny. Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers were all very funny films, in my opinion. A ton of people out there would disagree with me, for sure, but a good number also enjoy Mr. Ferrell’s brand of humor. So, with that being said…
I still didn’t really like Kicking & Screaming, a soccer film Ferrell released in 2005. Did it make me laugh? Sure, at times. But overall, it felt like one of those movies where they just kind of flesh out an idea and then count on Ferrell to be able to improv his way to a $100,000,000 box office. It didn’t happen this time.
Argentina is one of the most famous teams in the world and it’s line-up contains some of the best players in the world including Messi, Tevez, Mascherano, Heinz and Gutierrez. They are of course led now by Diego Maradona one of the greatest footballers ever.
As one of the most popular teams in the world, demand for Argentina tickets is always high and we have been your ticket source for friendlies against the likes of Mexico, U.S. and Scotland as well as world cup qualifying games.
