CCC08: Semifinals Tonight, Tomorrow

I’m presently in negotiations with the wife about catching both semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup (no sex for how long, now?), but have kept and will keep as close a watch on the proceedings as I can. As such, a preview post of some sort seems appropriate…even if I’ll be doing more cribbing than original work. A schedule for the semifinals, who plays who when and where, shows on CONCACAF’s official site (tucked way down at the bottom of this)…even if current news too often does not…

CF Pachuca v. DC United (1st Leg; home team first)
(Tonight, FSC, 7 p.m. PST – so, yeah, 10 p.m. PST…wish I lived on the East Coast right now)
Unfortunately, I didn’t catch Pachuca’s escape from Honduras’ CD Motagua in the second leg of the quarterfinals, but know the Mexican team ain’t what it was as recently as one year ago. Still, count Steve Goff – or, looking between the copy and the headline, it’s more accurate to say the Post’s headline writer – among those who still believe DC has their work cut out. He’s mainly using history as the frame, but, as that article points out, DC has done a couple things, both big picture (roster changes) and small (resting people on Saturday; managing their arrival), to get up for this game. Soccer America’s preview goes into a little more detail personnel-wise – and good thing, so you know who you’re watching as well as what – but there’s not a lot about Pachuca’s relative slide since 2007. Here’s to hoping that’s an edge and that a result of some kind will follow. If, however, you want to get really depressed, just review the hard data passed on by Sideline Views…thanks for the smile, guys…

Houston Dynamo v. Deportivo Saprissa (same as above)
(April 2, FSC, 7 p.m. PST)
I never thought I’d type this, but, in spite of the fact they’re playing a Mexican squad, I like DC’s chances better. To begin – or to conclude, rather – Saprissa gets the second leg; given what I’ve read about the atmosphere down there, getting a result tomorrow night only grows in importance. Given that, nagging injury issues, players starting out of position (Brian Mullan: you should be farther upfield, son) and hints of indifference in crucial positions (cough…defense…cough, cough) certainly prompt some concern. Things like that need to be corrected yesterday; Jeff Carlisle, in his semifinal preview for ESPN.com, points to why:

“…their opponents, Costa Rican champions Saprissa, will be brimming with confidence. The ‘Monstruo Morado,’ fresh of their 2007 Apertura triumph, have been laying waste to their domestic league in the current Clausura tournament, sporting an unbeaten record that has seen them win nine of their 10 matches.”

As for direct observation, I saw a little of the Saprissa’s first leg, quarterfinal loss to Mexico’s Atlante FC, a game they played from the back-foot. Even then, however, they showed the ability to break quickly. Atlante contained this pretty well on the night I watched, but Saprissa ran them over 3-0 on the return leg. I dunno. Doubts about Houston’s “D” didn’t fully blossom until I got the full measure of how well and often Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi violated it this weekend; confidence, good or bad, carries over from such performances, so it’ll be up to Houston to get their heads back to frosty.

UPDATE: The Houston Chronicle provides word on the latest injuries for both teams – and, hey, it’s three a piece, 50/50.

Well, here’s to hoping I get to catch at least some of both games…without giving up too much…

GREAT OUTDOORS
– Haven’t been doing this lately and I miss it….unlike the Daily Sweeper. In light of the gap, I thought I’d pass on a video clip that has probably made the rounds dozens of times over. But – because key portions of my brain stopped developing around the second grade – I still absolutely shit my trousers every time I watch it. Enjoy.

The Crew Attack: Columbus’ Hopes and Options

With the Columbus Crew’s defense preview out of the way, it’s time to turn to the Crew’s offense. Before going any farther, let me just acknowledge one thing: offense and defense don’t separate perfectly in soccer; anyone who has seen Frankie Hejduk blaze down the right side to fire in crosses (of whatever quality) knows this. That said, the discussion below focuses on players for whom offense is the primary responsibility.

Before looking forward, however, let me take a second (or a paragraph) to look back – though, given 2007, I don’t expect Crew fans to feel enthusiasm for joining me. Until the arrival of Guillermo Barros Schelotto, the Crew struggled with scoring – and things didn’t so much turn around as improve thereafter. The 2007 Crew would never be mistaken for an offensive power. Most observers point to the absence of a quality forward and, for what it’s worth, I agree with most people. The Crew tried to address this problem in the off-season, but they have so far failed to find their man (thanks for the freakin’ memories, Maciej Zurawski).

Even if they missed out on a high(er)-profile acquisition, the Crew has done some restocking with players on trial like Nigeria’s Emanuel Ekpo and Brazilian Guilherme So; neither player has formally signed with the club, but both were in the works last I read with Ekpo being the closer. There’s also Nicolas Hernandez’s arrival to consider with the question of whether this is “Nico Mark’06” or Nico Mark’07” preceding him. Talk of a couple forwards shipping to Columbus from the Honduran league (Brazilian Jocimar Nascimento and…some other dude) means more reinforcements may yet show.

However all those pan out, what we can all count on is the return of some players, plus signs of promising development for them. The Crew appears as ready as they’re going to get for the 2008 season. The question is whether it’s enough.

Crew Preview Coming…Followed by Other Junk….Help!

It has been said that the first day of any league’s season feels like Christmas Day.  If that hasn’t been said, well, I’m saying it here.  The thing is, this cuts both ways: much like with Christmas, you find an avalanche of obligations on top of you before you know it, never mind being prepared.

I seriously need to write team-specific previews for both the Columbus Crew (here) and the Colorado Rapids (there) before the season starts.  But I’ve got a couple big items I promised myself I’d do prior to the start of the season as well.  But because I take the verb “need” seriously, I’ll be cranking out the Rapids and Crew previews over the next two days.

By way of format, I’ll break down each team in the two vaguest possible ways: defense and offense.  And I think that’s appropriate: midfield complicates position-by-position reviews because what is a midfielder but a forward playing farther from goal or a defender pushing the bubble of safety further upfield?  Don’t answer that, by the way.  It’s just rhetorical justification.

So, look for previews of both team’s defenses tomorrow and for both team’s offenses on Friday.  The Big Picture stuff – conference previews and the ever-dodgy preseason power rankings – come before Thursday next week, just in time for First Kick.  And there’s more CONCACAF Champs’ Cup stuff to do before this week is over.

One last thing: the Daily Sweeper won’t be daily for the next couple weeks, especially on the days I’m doing Major League Soccer Links for Laurie on The Offside while she’s away.

OK, that’s it.  Daily Sweeper coming later.

GREAT OUTDOORS
– From Fark.com comes this reminder of how geeks shared their geeky obsessions before the Web: fanzines.  The page displays covers from old Sci-fi fanzines inspired by Star Trek, Star Wars, Dr. Who, hell, even Quantum Leap (“I am Scott Bacula!  I’ve come to suck your blood!  Bleh!”).  The Star Wars covers are the most, um, out there.

– How long do friggin’ Tuataras live?  (Fark.com)

– It seems different cultures count money in different ways.  (haha.nu).

CCC08: Dynamo v. Municipal, A Modest Preview

What’s the balance between the differences and similarities heading into Leg #2 of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal between the Houston Dynamo and Guatemala’s CSD Municipal? In other words, how much work do I have to do in order to update the information from the mess of a preview I compiled before the first leg?

Well, why not start with that first leg? Municipal proved a better team than I expected certainly. Even before pre-season conditioning and the altitude got the better of the Dynamo, the Guatemalans rather reliably menaced the Dynamo goal; I’d actually argue that, in spite of the increased general pressure, they looked better in the opening half…though, at the same time, they had their best chance early in the second (and I’m still thanking Gonzalo Romero for the nearly implausible shank). The Dynamo held fast in the end and even managed to send a fright or two into Municipal’s defense.

CCC08: DC v. Harbour View, on RFK’s Resplendent Surface

Given the still–frequent references to the playing surface in Jamaica, I expect DC United will elevate their play to the realms art tonight, stroking the ball across the canvas that is RFK’s playing surface.

I kid, I kid. I imagine a plug-ugly win will send DC fans home happy.

We’re not far from the kick-off of the decisive second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC) quarterfinal series between DC and Jamaica’s Harbour View FC (HVFC). Only a couple minor changes to report: DC will, indeed, miss Jaime Moreno for tonight’s game, but the Jamaicans arguably have it worse: they’ll be missing Rafeik Thomas, a semi-hot scorer for the club of late, and Kemeel Wolfe courtesy of visa issues. And don’t forget the team chef…that one’s a killer. Otherwise, the preview that preceded the entire series covers the Big Picture…though, there’s that little matter of the first leg to cover.

(UPDATE: USSoccerplayas.com linked to a Jamaica Gleaner article that does really well with flagging HVFC’s players to watch, what to expect for tactics (more of the same).  And, to add a personal emphasis unrelated to that, I wanted to highlight my concerns about DC’s ability to get its offense firing.  They’re not exactly ripping the nets, with one goal per game setting the high-water mark in recent outings.  I get into my belief they need to score early below, but it bears emphasizing: finding the net is plenty hard, but trying on tired legs only makes it harder.)

I’d argue DC held the edge in both play and style over the first 50, 60 minutes, before pre-season legs undermined their efforts. One competitive game and one week’s further conditioning shouldn’t greatly alter that equation so pressing for an early advantage seems a good tack to take for the hosts. Their capacity to make that pressing count relies on their ability to score – which relies in turn on syncing their play, something Jeff Carlisle smartly flagged in his one-stop CCC08 second leg preview for ESPN.com:

The Week Ahead (CCC08) and the Season Ahead (Umm…)

With the countdown to First-Kick showing just 12 days+some minutes, it’s becoming jarringly apparent that Major League Soccer (MLS), um, soccer will commence seriously humping my brain…and several days before I’m prepared for the trauma. Here I thought I’d have time for as many season previews as I cared to type. It’s time to ratchet back and plan ahead a little – a process that starts with this week.

Today to Friday ought to be pretty easy: I’ll be watching and pondering the CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC) quaterfinal second legs. FOX Soccer Channel’s schedule tells me I’m only on the hook for three games this week: DC United v. Harbour View FC (that’s Tuesday, March 18, 8 p.m. PST (yeah, I’m watching the replay); Houston Dynamo v. CSD Municipal (Wednesday, March 19, 5:30 p.m. PST…going to be tight); and Deportivo Saprissa v. Atlante FC (March 20, 9 p.m. PST). Truth to tell, the absence of CF Pachuca v. CD Motagua disappoints just a little, but I’ll take the game off as well. Expect previews for the quarters involving MLS clubs at the very least – and feel free to read ahead with Jeff Carlisle’s CCC08 preview for ESPN.

But it’s the shape of the season coverage that really has me thinking. Whatever I do, I’m planning on a split that roughly follows this pattern: 1/2 my Columbus Crew/Colorado Rapids project; 1/2 everything else MLS. How to handle that remains a bit of a mystery. For instance, how to mention my piqued curiosity about Red Bull New York flirting with Claudio Reyna as attacking mid (receives some discussion in ESPN’s ’08 Red Bulls preview)? Or pointing to the factors I believe will make Real Salt Lake 2008 (or, RSL.08) the strongest team in that club’s short history? Or what about one-time #1 draft-pick Chris Carrieri’s retirement?

The more I think about it, the more I lean toward reviving the Daily Sweeper – that’s in spite of all the nasty things I’ve written and thought about it. Add that to the power rankings, collective power rankings, watching a bunch of Crew and Rapids games and, yeah, I think that’s enough for one hobby (what on earth will happen to my enthusiasm for collecting men’s room novelty condoms?!).

That’s what to expect for MLS coverage on my corner of Center Holds It in the year ahead. I’m guessing my co-authors will add some things of their own, but won’t make them promise anything.

(What Passes for) Columbus Crew News

On the soccer front, this is one slow friggin’ week in Columbus Crew news.  The only thing going seems to be Eddie Gaven’s “superb ball” or “excellent serve” to Josmer Altidore, which set up the penalty kick in the “Mini-Yanquis” win over Panama.  Good to see the kid do something positive.  (Now shave.  Wait.  Don’t.  You’re probably sick of getting pulled over by cops for driving underage.  But, dude, your beard looks worse than mine.)  After that, it’s all rumors of coming players, pissed-off fans, and ’08 season previews.  Oh, there’s also the front office, non-soccer bullshit that MLSnet.com official sites enjoy posting.

Taking them in turn…

– Soccer Insider reported that the Crew are taking an interest in Flavor-of-the-mon…, er, Argentine d/m (that’s defender/midfielder, not dungeon master) Matias Almeyda.  My first question is how an Argie ended up in Norway.  Less mysterious, after a moment’s thought, anyway, is why the Crew would go after a defender/midfielder given their more desperate need at forward: in a name, Marcos Gonzalez and, in a (conjugated) verb, gone.  WVHooligan gives a bit of history on the player, while a (new-to-me) site, Crewture, digs around what could motivate Almeyda to head to Columbus….and, for what it’s worth, he seems simultaneously skeptical and hopeful about the potential move.  Put me down as skeptical as well…moving on…

– Maybe Guillermo Barros Schelotto hepped him to life in Columbus.  Then again, maybe not…and the locals are pissed.  Really pissed.  For what it’s worth, fans – e.g. people madly in love with their team – get kind of weird about players.  Well, they can’t all be Duncan Oughton, I guess.  It’s worth remembering real people wear your club’s jersey  and, face it, real people are fickle, weird, and neurotic animals; they can screw up, wind up unhappy on the job, etc., just like anyone else.  Another part of it is the automatic – dare I say robotic? – adulation players give, and are expected to give, to the fans.  I guess what I’m getting at is, I’d pay less attention to what a player says – which, judging by the repetition of some particular inanities are pure pre-programmed bullshit 80% of the time – than what they do on the field.  If Schelotto dreams of Argentina every time he passes the ball, I can live with it; just so long as he passes the ball well and to the guys in yellow (or black).

– It’s preview season and I saw my first one for the Crew: WVHooligan’s.  I’ll turn in one of my own before the season starts – I anticipate an exhaustively, even stupidly, thorough affair – but recommend that one (and, thank the maker, that’ll be the only one this year; I’m doing conference previews only).  I’ll flag other ones as I see them.

– Finally, the corporate garbage…nah, I’m not going to post it.  I can’t see the point unless I’m going to mock it.

CCC08: CSD Municipal v. Houston Dynamo – Harder Questions

This is where things get tricky…and not a little confusing. To begin, when searching for Club Social y Deportivo Municipal, the “Social y” bit is vital: if you try “CD Municipal,” you’ll hit a wall damned quick. If you look at the Global corner of ESPN.com, you will find a section for La Liga Nacional de Guatemala. But you’ll also notice they’re calling the current campaign Clausura 2007 and, when you check results by club, you’ll see some blank results in the past – all of which tells me they need to either hire more interns to make sense of this mess, or higher a Guatemalan to run the space. Then again, having just checked Los Rojos official site (the club’s nickname, by the way) going Guatemalan may not be the answer. Sure, my severely limited Spanish handicaps the effort, but the site lists a February 24th win over Heredia as the club’s “ultimo partido,” rather than their most recent loss to Jalapa, which came on March 1…incidentally, the worst team in Guatemala’s La Liga…well, that is if you check Puesto en Liga on Los Rojos’ official site and not ESPN.com. Wait. Crap, their last game was actually a loss to Petapa…jesus, people. Hire more interns.

Look, all I want to do is figure out how these guys are doing and I can’t even confirm that the Clausura 2008…sorry, Clausura 2007 (?) started in November.

Then again, that probably doesn’t matter in the grand scheme. The half of Jeff Carlisle’s preview for ESPN.com devoted to the Houston Dynamo’s CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC) quarterfinal tie passes on some good dish on the Guatemalan side – specifically, that they have had better periods in front of goal and, by way of curiosity, there are some former Major League Soccer vets on their roster. Guys like old Columbus Crew midfielder Freddy Garcia, to give on example. Turn to the Wikipedia entry on CSD Municipal and you’ll not only learn this is Carlos Ruiz’ former club, but that is Guatemala’s most successful and, apparently, most popular clubs. Not only have they won 25 league titles, plus a buttload of cups, they secured Guatemala’s lone CCC win back in ’74. Club success aside, Municipal still keeps the leading scorer in their history on the books: Juan Carlos Plata, who it seems is tied with Ruiz as all-time scorer with the Guatemalan national team.

Another former Crew player, Mario Rodriguez, rounds up Carlisle’s list of players to watch. That’s not much, but the bigger question is who the Dynamo has available to take on this side. There, the problems begin in the midfield and, potentially, extend back to the middle, where a new Houston player raises cause for concern.

CCC08: Harbour View FC v. DC United – The Ever-Deepening Hole

Major League Soccer (MLS) enters the lists for the CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC) today, beginning the DC United’s quarterfinal tie against Jamaica’s Harbour View FC (HVFC…hmm, sounds like a communist guerrilla outfit, doesn’t it?). With multiple outlets noting HFVC’s present struggles in their domestic league – I mean, Portmore United is running away with the Jamaican National Premier League (JNPL; can I just call it J-Nipple?) – the temptation to look ahead to the tournament’s semifinals may get the better of fans. Let’s just hope DC’s players don’t succumb as well.

Remember, guys, you’re out there to make all of us look good…and we’ll remember if you cock it up.

It’s not just HVFC’s form that pencils “advantage DC” into the game program. The parade of new faces shapes the talking points for DC as opposed to who’s out through injury – which is in sharp contrast to talk out of the Houston Dynamo camp. Ben Olsen’s absence isn’t great news, but that’s about the end of it.  After that, the focus turns to: how the defensive pairing of Gonzalo Peralta and Gonzalo Martinez works together, a duo Jeff Carlisle dubs the “Gonzo defense.”; how, and how well, Marcelo Gallardo will run the game (or if we will even play); who will pair with Emilio Luciano up top, etc.  Nice problems to have, really, heading into the season’s first real competition.

CONCACAF Champions’ Cup: Preliminaries and Previews

UPDATE: And this one has to go up high.  To my shame and embarrassment, I failed utterly to see Amado Guevara’s name on Motagua’s roster.  And, yes, it’s there on the CONCACAF official site roster.  I have no excuse.  Guevara is suited up in #20.

It was a conspiracy, an act of collusion between my two East Coast partners on this site. We entered discussions as to who was going to cover what in this week of tournaments – e.g. Olympic qualifying and the CONCACAF Champions Cup – and, apparently, I lost. We played some game, Ryan had a number in his head, I was supposed to guess the number, I guessed wrong, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I lost, so I’m covering the CONCACAF Champions Cup for Center Holds It. And I’m not happy about it.

OK, that’s a big lie. I volunteered. In truth, I wake up most days thankful the other two contributors tolerate my rambling and off-subject posts. Besides, Breton knows more about the players in Olympic qualifying than I do so it’s a good fit. I, on the other hand, have a lot of learning to do. After all, only two of the clubs in the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup come from Major League Soccer (MLS): DC United and the Houston Dynamo. That leaves six clubs, more or less, for me to figure out. That project begins below.

Before getting to that, CONCACAF’s official site posted a couple useful items: rosters each of the eight clubs will take into the quarterfinals. They also posted a tournament bracket, so we can all see who gets who now and in the semifinals to come. One thing that caught my eye there: assuming all three get past the first round, DC, not the Dynamo, gets Mexico’s CF Pachuca; here I thought there was some kind of rule. Again, assuming all goes as expected, Houston would get Mexico’s Atlante FC in the semis.

Rounding out the eight-team competition bracket are Harbour View FC (Jamaica), CD Motagua (Honduras), Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica), and CSD Municipal (Guatemala). I’ll get previews ahead of all the games, hopefully sooner than I did today. Ideally, future editions will gain from observations made during previous games. For now, though, I’m stuck with the web…and my gringo-specific/limited research skills. Opening day features just one game: CD Motagua versus CF Pachuca. I mentioned everything going according to plan in the previous paragraph; a big theme of these previews will be the odds of the smaller teams upsetting plans. What can we expect out of Motagua tonight?

Who is this Club Deportivo Motagua? First, let’s pause to thank that nerd for inventing Wikipedia….OK, done. The wiki entry dubs Motagua is “one of the most successful and renowned in Honduras.” Then again, it also contains some beautiful, Babelfish passages:

“The metropolitan club is one of the best of Honduras and Central America and already has accumulated many championships, being also an old acquaintance of the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, where has participated in diverse opportunities although yet has not been able to arrive a final hostess; in 1986 had her but noticeable action al to achieve the fifth position.”

and:

“Pitifully in 1972-73 the national championship was declared nil, depriving him to Motagua to be judged the title that it had almost in the market, since carried an almost insurmountable advantage on its escort to few dates of the end.”

OK, Babelfish fun aside, one can learn a thing or two between the Wikipedia entry and links therefrom. Motagua has, in fact, won quite a few titles, eleven, by my count; and, down the years, they placed and showed plenty besides. Their fifth-place ranking in the current campaign may look like a falling off, but that’s one tight pack – we’re talking MLS tight. Probably nothing to worry about there.

If you want something to worry about, that comes with Motagua’s history in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The club’s 12 appearances amount to a parade of beat-downs at the hands of Costa Rican and Guatemalan teams – if memory serves, Comunicaciones and Municipal for Guatemala and, generally, Saprissa for the Costa Ricans; this last bit means Motagua’s win over Saprissa in last year’s Torneo Interclubes de UNCAF must have tasted of the sweetest nectar. Motagua has even faced Yanqui opposition in the Champions Cup, losing to the LA Galaxy in the 2003 tournament and, incredibly, the New York PanCyprian-Freedoms in 1983. (Who says we only hit the world stage in 1994?) Anyway, you can read about Motagua’s international struggles here.

So, what players are likely throw a counter-punch in the face of that sorry history? Well, naming Motagua players to watch gets a little tricky. The official page of La Liga Nacional de Futbol Profesional (LNFP) seems a little light on links; if there’s a way to a team page from there, I can’t find it. Wikipedia’s entry contains a bunch of links to Motagua’s players on the squad, but, lacking context, they’re just names to me. What I can say is that Motagua’s Josimar Nacimento sits on five goals for the current campaign (see LNFP link and “Tabla de Goleadors”), good to tie him for third. The same player, incidentally, scored the winner against Saprissa in the Torneo Interclubes de UNCAF. For now, call him the danger man and we’ll see what we learn tonight.

MLS fans, at least the closer observers and Dynamo fans, are familiar by now with Pachuca. I think Houston played them more often than they played the Columbus Crew in 2007. To refresh fans’ memory, though, you may remember Pachuca from such lofty victories as last year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup final and their penalty kick victory over the LA Galaxy in the Superliga final; you may also remember them eating a big, nasty one in last December’s FIFA World Club Cup. OK, it wasn’t that bad – or at least I didn’t view as such at the time – but closer observers like Sideline Views’ Luis Bueno noticed cracks in Pachuca’s recent dominance before the World Club Cup and going into the Mexican Primera’s 2008 Clausura campaign. If memory serves, this was nothing huge, just players getting older and Pachuca’s front office failing to reload/keep up with the rest of the Primera. By way of hard data, the current standings for the Primera show Pachuca playing to a .500 record, a detail that makes their second place standing in Group 1 a little less impressive.

For all that, a middling team in the Mexican Primera shouldn’t struggle too mightily against a middling team in the Honduran LNFP. And names I recall from past viewings of Pachuca – Juan Cacho, Damien Alvarez, Gabriel Caballero, Andres Chitiva, Christian Gimenez – are not only still around, but their goals tell me they’re still contributing (see sidebar to current standings). And they’re producing in the Primera. With Motagua hosting the first leg, who knows? A crappy field, incompetent refs, bags of urine hitting Pachuca players: any of these could force a draw or even a loss. But Pachuca is pretty experienced on the international stage. I rate the likelihood of an upset pretty low here.