Puddle's 2012 CCL Quarterfinal Preview

I want to point all of the Puddle's readers that are interested in MLS, Mexico Primera Division, and CONCACAF Champions League to an excellent article on FoxSoccer.com about the Mexican sides that will be participating in the last 8 of CCL. Eben Lehman does a great job hashing out the chances of each side. Check out the article HERE.


Also here's my take on the Quarter-Final matchups:


Morelia vs. Monterrey
The defending CCL Champs will probably be the underdog in this one. However, Humberto Suazo's in form return to the club should help bolster Monterrey and give them a better chance to defend their title. However, Morelia has been in great form and I'll give them the edge in this one. Might be tricky with the 2nd leg being at Monterrey though.

Seattle Sounders FC vs. Santos Laguna
The advantage that Santos is going to have here is that they're in midseason form, and are playing pretty well. Seattle is just coming off the end of preseason. Plus the second leg is in Mexico. I look for Seattle to put a up a great fight, but come up short. They must NOT let Santos secure an away goal, that will be a key. If they can come out of the Clink with a clean sheet, they'll have a much better chance. I'll take Santos though.

Toronto FC vs. LA Galaxy
I look for Toronto to be much improved this year, and to sew up their first MLS playoff spot. However, I just don't see them overcoming the Galaxy here. Tough draw for them, especially with the second leg being in LA. I think TFC is leaps and bounds better than before, but the Galaxy are just too good for this matchup.

UNAM Pumas vs. Isidro Metapan
Remember when the Rapids said Metapan were the weakest team in that group? Oops. Metapan could be a sleeper here. Pumas have not been all that great in league play, and were less than stellar at times in the CCL group stage. The winner of this series gets either Morelia or Monterrey, so while I think Metapan will takes this, I think it will ultimately be the winner of Morelia/Monterrey in the final.

CONCACAF Champions League: FC Dallas vs. Pumas

So this is my first blog about a bad night for MLS in CONCACAF Champions League play. A few weeks back FC Dallas gave the league a lift by beating Pumas in Mexico to become the first MLS team to win on Mexican soil. That all seems so long ago.

Obviously Pumas really didn't take Dallas seriously in that one. Tonight was a whole different story. They came into Dallas looking to paste the Hoops, with the local Mexican population behind them, and that's exactly what happened.

Dallas spurted and sputtered right out of the gate. They did get some possession, but they just never really got off the ground. They looked like an exhausted team that was just giving up. Even Brek Shea was nowhere to be found tonight.

Things really got interesting in minute 42. The match had been pretty physical, but it went up a level. Pumas player Luis Fuentes head butted Jackson, who replied with an elbow to the Mexican's head. Both players received red cards and were ejected. That was about all that was exciting in the first half though. It ended scoreless.


The match didn't end scoreless though. Through moat of it, Dallas had done a pretty good job absorbing the Pumas pressure. They couldn't do it for 90 minutes though. Pumas tallied two goals late. One by Aguirre in the 84th, and another by Izazola in stoppage time to give Pumas the 0-2 win. Not a good effort at all from Dallas.

Throughout the entire match, FC Dallas failed to register a shot on goal. Pumas takes over the group lead and TFC is right there with Dallas.