Mexican Domination Continues in CONCACAF

The inaugural CONCACAF Champions League quarter-finals took place this past week with Mexican teams continuing their dominance of the region’s premier cross-border club prize.

In 43 years of the antecedent Champions’ Cup tournament, Mexican clubs lifted the trophy on 24 occasions. Atlante, Cruz Azul, and Santos Laguna remain alive this year in a draw that increasingly resembles last season’s UEFA tournament when it took English teams to eliminate English teams.

Mexico’s only casualty so far are Universidad Nacional—2-0 aggregate losers to Cruz Azul in the quarter-finals. The semi-finals see Santos Laguna hosting Atlante while Cruz Azul travel to meet Puerto Rico Islanders—an unlikely opponent from United Soccer Leagues First Division, the second tier of professional soccer in North America.

Puerto Rico, along with their USL adversaries Montreal Impact, have breathed life into an otherwise stale competition that has failed to gather the public’s interest. The Islanders, under the guidance of former Northern Ireland striker Colin Clarke, qualified for the first time in their short six-year history via the Caribbean Championship.

Clarke’s men caused a huge shock in the preliminary round by defeating Costa Rican powerhouse Alajuelense 3-2 on aggregate—a team that won the Champions’ Cup as recently as 2004. Their successful run continued when, after narrowly emerging from the group stages, they prevailed 3-1 on aggregate against Marathón of Honduras to reach the last four.

The Irishman has had mixed experiences in his managerial career in the U.S. over the last decade with abrupt stints at a number of lower level clubs. His sole MLS appointment at FC Dallas ended in dismay at the end of 2006 when he was dismissed for failing to translate three years of promising regular season form into play-off success.

In two years with the Islanders, Clarke has transformed a team of USL also-rans into championship contenders. They finished top of the regular season table last year before losing the play-off title decider 2-1 against Vancouver Whitecaps.

Clarke’s popularity with the natives has escalated to the point that he now combines his club role with that of Puerto Rican national team manager.

Montreal appeared certain to become the second USL team to reach the semi-finals when they took a 2-1 half-time lead against Santos Laguna in Torreón to build a 4-1 aggregate advantage. Santos’ Argentine striker Matias Vuoso scored twice as Montreal dangerously retreated toward their own penalty area, but the hosts still needed two goals as normal time expired.

Unbelievably, Colombian international Carlos Quintero supplied the required strikes in the third and fourth minutes of injury time to complete an amazing turnaround as the Canadians shrivelled under relentless pressure.

Despite such a cruel exit, the entire Montreal soccer community can be proud of their team’s progression to the quarter-finals. While the tournament has been characterised by feeble attendances, Impact have impressed with average crowds approaching 20,000 for their five home games—almost 7,000 higher than any other club.

Their first leg encounter with Santos Laguna was switched from their 13,034 capacity Stade Saputo to the adjacent Olympic Stadium to meet unprecedented demand for tickets—a staggering 55,571 fans inspired a 2-0 win for the 2008 Canadian Cup winners.

Montreal were in the running for one of two MLS expansion slots being granted in 2011. Liverpool co-owner George Gillett expressed his interest in jointly investing with club owner Joey Saputo, but the bid was rescinded last November stating concerns around meeting the necessary capital requirements in the current economic environment.

The success of the two USL clubs proved to be an acute embarrassment for Major League Soccer. New England Revolution and Chivas USA stumbled against weak opposition in the preliminary round while D.C. United limped to a single point from six group games—the lowest of all 16 teams.

Houston Dynamo soldiered on as the sole MLS flag-bearers until being dismantled by Atlante in the second leg of their quarter-final. After conceding a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Robertson Stadium, the Dynamo travelled to Cancún looking for their first ever win on Mexican soil.

Woeful defending quickly shattered that possibility as Atlante strolled to a 3-0 win.

MLS and USL teams are severely hampered at this stage of the tournament as their respective seasons have yet to commence.

Puerto Rico’s league season starts on April 18, at which point the Mexican Clausura championship will be in Round 14 of 17. Should the Islanders manage to reach the two-legged Champions League final, the first leg will be played four days after their league opener with Vancouver.

Four of the previous seven CONCACAF finals have been all-Mexican affairs. Despite the heroics of Clarke’s team, another such occasion seems highly likely.

CONCACAF: The Road to South Africa

This article was written for the February 21, 2009 edition of RedMatchday magazine.

The fourth and final round of CONCACAF’s convoluted World Cup qualifying process began last week with six remaining nations competing for three automatic places in next summer’s Finals. Recent protocol suggests that the USA and Mexico easily progress along with one other, but this year’s tournament could bring a shock to the region.

Team USA could not have wished for a better start to their campaign as they cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win over Sven-Goran Eriksson’s misfiring Mexican team. While the road to South Africa looks clear for the Stars and Stripes, the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol has reached a crossroads – whether they continue onwards or seek a change of direction remains to be seen.

There was much to be admired in the opening game from an American perspective. Faced with the prospect of a hostile atmosphere on home soil – so often the case in big city stadiums where large numbers of passionate immigrants out-sing and outnumber American fans – the US Soccer Federation opted to play this fixture in the intimate confines of Columbus Crew’s 23,000-seat Crew Stadium. Freezing Mid-West temperatures added a second discomforting factor for the visitors to contend with – they failed dismally to rise to the challenge.

After Tim Howard had produced a significant third-minute stop to deny Tottenham’s teenage striker Giovani Dos Santos, the hosts seized control of the game. Rangers’ winger DaMarcus Beasley justified the faith shown in him by manager Bob Bradley with a stirring performance on the left flank which belied his inactivity at Ibrox. His efforts were matched on the opposite touchline by the industry of Fulham’s Clint Dempsey, while Bradley’s son Michael further showcased his goalscoring ability from a deep-lying central midfield role with strikes in the closing minutes of each half.

The 21-year-old gained prominence last season with 16 goals for unfashionable Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie. That was enough to earn a move to Borussia Mönchengladbach last summer, but this season has been a struggle for Bradley as the former Bundesliga powerhouse fights for survival in Germany’s top flight in their first season back after a brief stint in the second division. Bradley’s selection has attracted accusations of nepotism in the past, but the denunciations will surely end after this fine display.

One minor disappointment for the US was the performance of recent Celtic trialist Sacha Kljestan alongside Bradley in the centre of midfield, but even this should have a silver lining. Kljestan notched a hat-trick – his first goals for his country – in last month’s 3-2 friendly win over a shadow Sweden squad, and he has become an established figure in the national team following his impressive displays during last August’s Olympic Games – notably in a 2-2 draw with fancied Holland. This, however, was his first taste of international football at the highest level.

The 23-year-old Californian was guilty of surrendering possession far too easily on far too many occasions, but he will learn from his mistakes. Coach Bradley’s risky decision to select the Chivas USA player ahead of Houston Dynamo’s reliable holding man Ricardo Clark did not backfire and the experience gained by Kljestan will help in developing his potential as one of the team’s pivotal playmakers in the run-up to next summer. Kljestan’s hopes of a transfer to the SPL champions may have been dashed by the Parkhead club’s unwillingness to meet Major League Soccer’s lofty valuation, but a move to Europe in the near future remains likely.

By contrast, the future for Eriksson’s side appears less than rosy. Their cause was not helped on 65 minutes when, already trailing to Bradley’s scrambled opener, skipper Rafael Marquez committed a heinous challenge on Tim Howard. He was rightfully dismissed. It is not the first time the Barcelona defender has let his country down in this fixture. He was sent off in the closing minutes of their 2002 World Cup encounter in South Korea for a similar assault on Cobi Jones as the US again won 2-0.

The captain’s act of folly could not have been more ill-timed with Mexico pushing hard for an equaliser. Seconds earlier, Dos Santos had contrived to miscue his volley from Pavel Pardo’s free-kick across the face of Howard’s goal before failing to divert the returned ball into an empty net from one yard out. Marquez launched his attack on the Everton goalkeeper as he gathered the subsequent cross into the penalty area.

Mexico’s misconduct did not end there. Assistant coach Paco Ramirez struck Frankie Hejduk with a petulant slap as the players made their way to the dressing rooms, but to the American right-back’s great credit he ignored the provocation. Eriksson’s greatest failing during his time with England was his reluctance to curtail the self-absorbed indulgences of his star players. Unless he can quickly instil a sense of discipline into his current squad he may be heading for an even quicker exit than the one he experienced with Manchester City.

Despite reaching their highest ever FIFA ranking of fourth less than three years ago, Mexico are fortunate to remain in contention at this point. Three home wins in the previous round were undermined by defeats away to Jamaica and group-winning Honduras. Ultimately, a second half equaliser in Canada sealed a 2-2 draw which was enough to see them sneak through ahead of the Reggae Boyz on goal difference. Three further defeats in friendlies, including last month’s loss to the unfamiliar Swedes, have heaped the pressure on Eriksson. Next up is a vital double-header at the end of March: firstly Costa Rica visit the famed Estadio Azteca in Mexico City before El Tri head back to Honduras for what could be a make-or-break tie.

Anything less than four points could result in the former England manager being relieved of his employment.