What Else But Shamrock Shake News
I am in serious full-on pre-St Patricks day warm up mode right now, so I have followed little futbol action today, and thus you will get minimal du Nord. Luckily my beard, hair, clothing and beer are now all green and ready for action. Green eggs and ham for everyone. And if you believe that, then you should stop by my place for a UFO siting conversation. We can listen to some of my old Art Bell tapes together.
CONCACAF Champions Cup was the be all and end all last night!
Houston 2-0 Pachuca
-Houston came out like a monster truck in the second half and rolled over the Mexican powerhouse. What a brilliant performance! Wow. I did not see that coming after the first lifeless 45 minutes they played.
-The first goal came from a nice chip into the box which found Brian Ching completely unattended. Ching had planted his feet squarely and then used his head to precisely place the ball into the bottom corner for a relatively easy goal.
-Their second strike was a thing of beauty. Houston used a quick throw in to spring Brad Davis to the end line where he crossed perfectly on the ground for new sub Chris Wondolowski who slotted home with his first touch of the ball. Teamwork at its best.
-Having Eddie Robinson and Brian Ching both in the starting line up was huge for Houston. The local paper reported they would not start, but luckily that was bad info. Their experience helped keep the team together while they struggled.
-And one of the guys I love to pick on the most, Craig Waibel, made two of the best plays of the game. First he provided the perfect flick into Ching for goal one. And then not long after he saved keeper Zach Wells's bacon by clearing a shot off the line. Awesome game for him indeed.
-Houston Chronicle match report by Bernardo Fallas.
-Two problem players for Houston though: defender Kelly Gray's passing is atrocious, and it nearly cost his team dearly on a couple of occasions. Not to mention the fact that he got away with what looked like several bad tackles. Then we have to talk about Alejandro Moreno - he took a dive in the box in the first half of the kind that makes my blood boil. What a lazy lame cheapass thing to do. Get up and play man!
DC 1-1 Guadalajara
-DC was so damn lucky not to have been blown out. But their resilience showed through when it counted the most. And then they storm back with that goal at the very end and salvaged the game. Of course after the game ended it appeared as though the entire Chivas team tried to kill Ben Olsen. You gotta love that guy!
-Chivas goal was a work of art with Sergio Santana storming down the left wing and whipping in a huge cross for Omar Bravo to smash toward goal with his head, only to see it deflect off defender Namoff and into the goal. I think Perkins may have saved it otherwise. But hey, the play was gorgeous.
-DC got their goal after Olsen was involved in a wrestling match on the end line and won a free kick. Christian Gomez served up a perfect ball which, who else, Luciano Emilio headed home for the draw. Amazing finish.
-Washington Post match report by Steven Goff.
-United could be in big trouble this year if they have to rely on the form that Facundo Erpen, Brian Namoff and Clyde Simms showed in defending the past 3 games. Those three must have turned the ball over in bad positions 20 times between them last night. Let's hope they shape it up, cuz the team appears to have no depth to help them out. And the other DC subs don't look too hot either, but thats another topic. On the other hand, it's preseason.
Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet reviews both matches, and does a nice job of telling all the non-believers just how serious the players take this tournament.
The away legs will be very hard for both MLS team to get success from. Even though Houston has a great lead, they will have to go to the high elevation of Pachuca [thanks to el guero for the correction] , while DC has to travel to Chivas where they rarely lose to anyone. I will not count our teams out, but I will not place money on them to advance either. Of course I will be loudly cheering for them both. As should you.
The US Players Assoc has a Q & A with Houston backup keeper (and so far CCC hero) Zach Wells.
And that's it for today.
CONCACAF Champions Cup was the be all and end all last night!
Houston 2-0 Pachuca
-Houston came out like a monster truck in the second half and rolled over the Mexican powerhouse. What a brilliant performance! Wow. I did not see that coming after the first lifeless 45 minutes they played.
-The first goal came from a nice chip into the box which found Brian Ching completely unattended. Ching had planted his feet squarely and then used his head to precisely place the ball into the bottom corner for a relatively easy goal.
-Their second strike was a thing of beauty. Houston used a quick throw in to spring Brad Davis to the end line where he crossed perfectly on the ground for new sub Chris Wondolowski who slotted home with his first touch of the ball. Teamwork at its best.
-Having Eddie Robinson and Brian Ching both in the starting line up was huge for Houston. The local paper reported they would not start, but luckily that was bad info. Their experience helped keep the team together while they struggled.
-And one of the guys I love to pick on the most, Craig Waibel, made two of the best plays of the game. First he provided the perfect flick into Ching for goal one. And then not long after he saved keeper Zach Wells's bacon by clearing a shot off the line. Awesome game for him indeed.
-Houston Chronicle match report by Bernardo Fallas.
-Two problem players for Houston though: defender Kelly Gray's passing is atrocious, and it nearly cost his team dearly on a couple of occasions. Not to mention the fact that he got away with what looked like several bad tackles. Then we have to talk about Alejandro Moreno - he took a dive in the box in the first half of the kind that makes my blood boil. What a lazy lame cheapass thing to do. Get up and play man!
DC 1-1 Guadalajara
-DC was so damn lucky not to have been blown out. But their resilience showed through when it counted the most. And then they storm back with that goal at the very end and salvaged the game. Of course after the game ended it appeared as though the entire Chivas team tried to kill Ben Olsen. You gotta love that guy!
-Chivas goal was a work of art with Sergio Santana storming down the left wing and whipping in a huge cross for Omar Bravo to smash toward goal with his head, only to see it deflect off defender Namoff and into the goal. I think Perkins may have saved it otherwise. But hey, the play was gorgeous.
-DC got their goal after Olsen was involved in a wrestling match on the end line and won a free kick. Christian Gomez served up a perfect ball which, who else, Luciano Emilio headed home for the draw. Amazing finish.
-Washington Post match report by Steven Goff.
-United could be in big trouble this year if they have to rely on the form that Facundo Erpen, Brian Namoff and Clyde Simms showed in defending the past 3 games. Those three must have turned the ball over in bad positions 20 times between them last night. Let's hope they shape it up, cuz the team appears to have no depth to help them out. And the other DC subs don't look too hot either, but thats another topic. On the other hand, it's preseason.
Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet reviews both matches, and does a nice job of telling all the non-believers just how serious the players take this tournament.
The away legs will be very hard for both MLS team to get success from. Even though Houston has a great lead, they will have to go to the high elevation of Pachuca [thanks to el guero for the correction] , while DC has to travel to Chivas where they rarely lose to anyone. I will not count our teams out, but I will not place money on them to advance either. Of course I will be loudly cheering for them both. As should you.
The US Players Assoc has a Q & A with Houston backup keeper (and so far CCC hero) Zach Wells.
And that's it for today.
9 Comments:
Hey man,
I know it's probably just an honest mistake but Pachuca plays in Pachuca, which is about 60 miles east/northeast of Mexico City. Unless they've moved the game to the Azteca, which I highly doubt.
Nevertheless, keep up the good work and thanks for linking our blog.
http://whoateallthecupcakes.blogspot.com
I thought Namoff had a good game, you must be getting him mixed up with Carroll who played very poorly
I agree with you about Waibel, he has evolved into a solid pro. It's still fun to give him crap though...
Weak, DuNord! And you think MLS has nothing to compete with in March....
hey
waddaya want from me anyway
i'm already drunk as a skunk
seeya freaks!
i am gonna correct my mistakes now, and a coupla typos too
as for namoff, no i didn't confuse him with anyone, you are thinking of tv announcer christian miles who confused everyone with everyone else
i like namoff, but his play over the three games has been terrible, and he and the team have been lucky not to be punished worse for it
thanks for reading everyone
Brucio,
Aren't you the world's biggest defender of Carlos "El Flopper" Ruiz---the guy who has taken more dives than Greg Louganis ?
Yet you're criticizing Alejandro Moreno for taking a dive in the penalty box ??
I agree with hops.
I went to the game last night (I'm not from DC nor am I a DC fan) and I thought Brian Namoff had a pretty good game overall.
DC's defense is the weakest part of the team but when they show up, they will be hard team to beat. They have to be the favorite to win the East.
DC set new CCC record. Highest attendance in a CCC match in the USA: 26,528
8000 dcu fans
18,528 chivas fans
hahahahahahahaha
yes i love carlos ruiz, and yes he flops all over the place, and cheap shots opponents, and complains constantly
i know i know i know
i have said it a million times
i know
but for some damn reason i love the guy
dont you think it conflicts me horribly?!?!?!?!
i love inter milan too
but i hate the way the italians play
and i cant stand the site of marco materazzi
i am a deeply conflicted man
but love is love, what ya gonna do
i have dated women who are really wrong for me too, but that never stopped me from loving some of them
hahahahahahaha
and the brian namoff fans need to watch the tape again - i like him a lot too, he was on the du nord mls best 11 two years in a row - but he gave away a couple really bad balls right in front of his own goal again this match, and was the one 10 yards away from omar bravo on the goal, terrible marking
not to mention that awful marking against olimpia for a goal in the first game and then he got burned and commited a dumb foul in the box that led to a pk in the second olimpia game
sorry
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