MLS Crashes and Burns in CCL. Again.

Cruz Azul's Mario Pavone scored a hat trick as Azul demolished Sporting KC.

Remember last week when there was a little more than cautious optimism about MLS sides in CONCACAF Champions League play?  Reigning MLS Cup champs Sporting Kansas City took down Cruz Azul at home, and the LA Galaxy managed to hold off the Xolos of Tijuana.  Even San Jose managed to fight back late to earn a home draw against Toluca.  Things looked fairly bright.  If all three MLS clubs could pull a sweep in Mexico, it would guarantee that an MLS club would make the CCL final and have a chance to play for the trophy and a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Then reality set in starting on Tuesday night, really harsh reality.

That night the LA Galaxy took on the Xolos at Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, and things went rotten quite quickly.  The 1-0 lead they had from winning at home evaporated in less than a minute.  The Galaxy couldn't clear their own box and the ball finally managed to fall to Xolo Jaime Ayovi, who easily knocked in the first goal of the match on 57 seconds, equalizing the aggregate.  By halftime, the Galaxy found themselves down 3-1.  Oops.  Still, the Xolos didn't have a road goal, and the Galaxy scored one through Robbie Keane out of halftime to make it 3-2.  One more goal and the Galaxy could take the series on road goals.  However, things fell apart in the last ten minutes Richard Ruiz scored for Tijuana in the 82nd, which put the Galaxy into full kitchen sink mode.  Keane managed his brace in the 85th, but they Galaxy were never able to tally the last needed goal and fell to the Xolos by a 4-3 aggregate.  The Galaxy fought hard, but just could not overcome the dreadful first half.

The first of two ties on Wednesday night involved Toluca hosting the San Jose Earthquakes, who came into the match tied 1-1 after yet another Goonie style comeback at Buck Shaw last week.  As an MLS fan, you have to hand it to the Quakes who were playing at 9,000 ft, much higher than Rio Tinto Stadium or even Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.   The Quakes actually took the lead in the tie in the 56h minute through Ty Harden, but Toluca equalized 13 minutes later, sending the tie into extra time.  In the 96th minute Alan Gordon appeared to tally his second of the tie, but the goal was ruled out for offside.  It was really close call, but if you freeze fame the replay, he certainly looked even.  At any rate, the match ended up going into penalties, where Toluca picked up the victory 5-4.  The Quakes might feel a bit hard done by, but they certainly represented the league well.

That was certainly not the case for defending MLS Cup Champs Sporting Kansas City.  Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm still a little bitter over the MLS Cup final, and Cruz Azul is my favorite Liga MX side, so this probably isn't unbiased, but SKC laid a total egg at Estadio Azul.  Backup 'keeper Erick Kronberg got hammered and Azul blew up the the KC defense who suffered while Aurelien Collin sat on the bench.  They did their best keystone cop impression and Mario Pavone scored a hat trick on the way to a 5-1 victory in the match and 5-2 on aggregate.  It was a clueless performance from the champs, who from what I managed to see, didn't really look all that interested.  That's nice, because the supposed "best team in MLS" got obliterated on Mexican soil.  It was a result that I think sets the league back 2 or 3 years in CCL play.  Thanks Peter Vermes.  Why don't you let somebody who wants to play in next time, say, Seattle or RSL?

At any rate, MLS bows out yet again without even getting a team into the semis, let alone into the finals.  Both Houston and Canadian Champions Montreal were eliminated in the group stage.  For us RSL fans, we can continue to hold on to "we're the only ones to make the final," which stings a little as Portland was handed our spot when the qualification rules were changed AFTER the MLS season and playoffs last year, which doesn't seem fair, but whatever.  Next year we'll have the Timbers. the Red Bulls, and Sporting KC in as well as DC United (thanks to RSL's own massive egg laid in the US Open Cup final, and probably Vancouver, TFC, or Montreal provided they win the Canadian Championship.  I don't expect anything from DC United barring a massive improvement, Portland still has issues on the road and has only managed draws in it's first two home matches this season, Thierry Henry will probably come up with a reason not to play, and I really can't see Sporting KC doing any better.  So uh, maybe we hope TFC wins and goes in?  That's the ticket.

Another year, another disappointment for MLS fans.

Mixed Results for MLS at the End of CCL Group Stage.

The group stage of the 2013-2014 CONCACAF Champions League wrapped up last night, and it was a mixed summer for MLS squads.  This year the LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, San Jose Earthquakes, and Sporting Kansas City filled the four US slots in the tournament while fellow MLS side Montreal Impact took the one Canadian slot available.  Three of the five MLS clubs will be moving on, but each one will face a tough Liga Mx side in the quarterfinals.

As RSL found out last year, the new tourney format with 8 groups and only the winner advancing is quite unforgiving.  The Dynamo learned this lesson last night as well as they fell to Arabe Unido 1-0 in Panama, which knocked them out of the tournament.  Of course, they continued to participate in what to me is a disturbing trend, MLS clubs fielding weaker sides in these matches.  Now, it's hard to blame the Dynamo for doing this when they have their regular season finale this weekend with the playoffs on the line, but it still goes to show where most MLS clubs rank this tournament.

Also in action last night were the LA Galaxy who traveled to El Salvador to take on to take on Isidro Metapan.  The Galaxy also fielded a weakened side, but their passage to the next round was already assured.  However, Metapan forward Nicholas Munoz dropped an insane 4 goals on the defending MLS Champs to crush them 4-0.  The Galaxy dropped from the 1 to the 6 seed in the next round with the loss, which as we'll see in a minute, created an interesting matchup.

Wednesday night Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes secured their passage to the knockout rounds as well.  Sporting held Honduran side Olimpia to a 0-0 draw at Sporting Park and the Quakes managed a 1-0 win over Heredia at Buck Shaw, thanks to a goal from Chris Wondolowski.

With all that said, here are the CCL Quarterfinal pairings, with the higher seed listed first:

Toluca vs San Jose Earthquakes
Cruz Azul vs Sporting Kansas City
Club Tijuana vs LA Galaxy
Arabe Unido vs Alajuelense

Honestly, I don't see much hope for MLS sides in this draw.  The Liga MX sides will be into their second half and the MLS sides will be looking at preseason type form.  Toluca should smash the the Quakes.  Sporting could have a shot at Cruz Azul if they can win at home.  The most interesting matchup is Tijuana and Herculez Gomez vs the Galaxy.  The Xolos haven't exactly been setting Liga Mx on fire, currently placed 12th out of 18.  However I still think this is going to be a tough ask for the Galaxy.  Should be a great tie to watch though.  Maybe Fox Sports 1 will actually show it, if not I can watch it on the Mexican broadcast I guess.  I'm sure Fox will have better things to show, like 20 consecutive replays of it's highlights show.

MLS Preseason: Revs, RSL Pick Up Wins, Chivas USA Falls.

Time to start getting excited MLS fans, the preseason action is starting to heat up and the regulars are starting to see some more time on the pitch. Clubs have been playing at various venues and competitions this year, as usual. The New England Revolution, LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, and NY Red Bulls have been fighting it out in Arizona. Meanwhile, Chivas USA took on Mexico Primera Division side Tijuana in San Diego.

First to Arizona, where the Revs took on the Galaxy in the first match of the Desert Diamond Cup. Just two minutes into the match, Benny Feilhaber put the Revs in front with an awesome bicycle kick. Edson Buddle later equalized for LA. At full time, the Revs took the win 3-2, behind a Jeremiah White goal in the 74th minute.

The second game of the cup was between RSL and New York Red Bulls. Paulo Jr scored the only goal of the match on 75 minutes to snatch the victory for RSL. Both teams fielded a team heavy on youngsters and trialists.

The news wasn't as great for Chivas USA as they squared off against Mexican side Tijuana in San Diego. The Xolos roughed up Chivas pretty good, beating them 5-2 in a match that featured 34 fouls, 7 yellows, and 1 red card. The conditions were far from ideal for Chivas though, as the crowd was heavily pro-Xolos, and the Mexican side is in midseason form through their Clausura 2012 campaign.

Mexico Match Thoughts: Morelia vs. Tijuana

The 2012 Mexican Clausura got underway last night in Morelia. Monarcas hosted Tijuana, hoping to get their campaign off to a 3 point start. However, the Xolos had other ideas and fought them to a nasty 1-1 draw at full time.

The match really did look like the first match of a new season. Neither side looked to be particularly fit or sharp on the ball. There was a lot of pushing and shoving, and a ton of diving and simulation, which in the end became part of the theme of the evening.

Morelia controlled the ball for most of the first half, except for a few flashes of possession and half chances for the Xolos. Still, it didn't look like they were really pushing it. Honestly, the match was so out of control at times that I was surprised there was only one yellow at half time. That particular card was issued to Morelia's Jorge Ocampo for a 7th minute challenge on Xolo's 'keeper Cirilo Saucedo.

Morelia also got the first goal of the game on 23 minutes, making the pressure they were generating on offense finally count. Coming up the pitch, they got three players in behind the Xolos' defense and Saucedo had no chance. Rafa Marquez Lugo slotted the goal home to make it 1-0.

It looked like that was gonna be all she wrote for the first half and for the Xolos' night. However, all hell broke loose on a Tijuana counter in first half stoppage time. Xolos striker Duvier Riascos tangled with Morelia's Adrian Alderete just to the left of the Morelia goal. The two players basically went down on top of each other and slid over the end line. Originally, the referee ruled a goal kick and gave Riascos a yellow card for diving. However, upon talking to the near side linesman he overruled himself, waiving off the yellow card and awarding Xolos a penalty. Replays showed there was little, if any contact on the play. My high school Spanish is pretty rusty, but the announcers just kept saying "No, no, no." At any rate, Jose Sand nailed the spot kick on the last kick of the half and it was 1-1 at the interval.

The second half was just as scrappy as the first, but featured a ton of diving, especially as Xolos tried to waste time. Riascos spent more time on his back than he did on his feet. In the 57th minute Morelia's Joao Rojas tried his own dive in the penalty area move, but this time the ref gave the yellow card and trusted his instinct. It was pretty brazen.

Morelia did have a chance to win it late. In the 84th minute striker Miguel Sabah managed to get his head to the ball, only to find his shot go just wide of the target. The match finished 1-1 as Xolos' time wasting tactics took their toll, and I'm sure they'll more than take the point on the road.

Mexico Match Thoughts: Cruz Azul vs. Tijuana

So as I'm trying to decide which Mexican Primera Division club to support, and Cruz is one of the front runners. Mostly because of two things. One, I've seen them play live, which is pretty cool, and two I like their style and the buzz around their stadium.

For this match, they geared up for Tijuana. The Perro Rojinegros came into the match hoping for some kind of result from Estadio Azul to move away from the bottom of the table.

For awhile it looked like they might get their way. If I'm honest with you, it wasn't that exciting of a match to watch. Much of the first half was spent in the midfield for both clubs, and good chances seemed few and far between.

Tijuana did make the most of their big chance though. Dayro Moreno was probably the most dangerous player for them the entire night. In the 22nd minute he got his head on the end of a gorgeous early cross and gave the keeper no chance. The ball rippled the back of the net to make 0-1 to the visitors.

Cruz came out more intent on protecting their turf in the second half. It didn't take them long to equalize. Edixon Perea headed in the tying goal in the 48th, and Emanuel Villa gave La Machina the lead for good in the 68th. Villa later earned his second yellow and was sent off in the 77th minute. Tijuana put the Azul goal under pressure in the final minutes, but couldn't convert. The match ended 2-1 to Cruz Azul.

The win puts Cruz in 3rd place behind Chivas and Pumas. The loss drops Tijuana to 15th with only Atlas, Morelia, and Atlante behind them at present.