It’s soccer night in the Concacaf region with a young Mexico team meeting a Guatemala squad coming off a big win against El Salvador and that friendly leading into the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League final.
Let’s chop it up in this open thread.
Is the CCL final Seattle’s to lose? Which young player has the most on the line for El Tri tonight? Let’s chat!
70-30 is the TUDN sideline reporter's estimate for El Tri fans in the stands compared to Guatemalans. Guatemala fans might have had Mexico beaten in that aspect at the Cotton Bowl during the Gold Cup. Some serious passion starting to show.
2-0 heading into the hour mark, and the Sounders missed the opportunity to equalize with that Raul Ruidiaz chance that Talavera made a great save on, but...I think that's the one they'll find themselves regretting not finishing off. They've got 30 minutes to find one to close the gap.
Despite the name of this newsletter and covering...Concacaf...never a huge fan of talking referees. That said, that penalty and the retake in the first half are going to be a massive talking point.
For me, it wasn't a penalty, but the retake - while harsh - is letter of the law.
Mexico's XI to face Guatemala tonight: Carlos Acevedo; Kevin Alvarez, Israel Reyes, Jesus Angulo, Erick Aguirre; Erick Sanchez, Luis Chavez, Sebastian Cordova; Alejandro Zendejas, Sani Gimenez, Roberto Alvarado
Guatemala going with Nicholas Hagen; Cristian Jimenez, Gerardo Gordillo, Juan Carlos Pinto, Jose Morales; Oscar Castellanos, Rodrigo Saravia; Carlos Mejia, Alejandro Galindo, Andres Lezcano; Robin Betancourth
Guatemala was stuck in Houston after their friendly on the West Coast, but come in having won their last three friendly matches. Luis Fernando Tena is working to turn the tide there & so far the project is off to a promising start.
Any MLS team finally winning in the CCL era will be a sea change... but what's your measuring stick for when MLS could legitimately claim to have overtaken Liga MX (something that's not on the immediate horizon, before anyone accuses me of hubris)? I'd go with whenever MLS wins more CCL titles than Liga MX in a 5-year period.
Do you think a Seattle win and a potential reasonable showing at the club World Cup next year will motivate more MLS teams to take the competition more seriously? I know they say they take it seriously, but I still get the feeling there are some teams get in and don’t make any effort to do well once there.
Seattle needs to not lose by more than one goal. CU will be a cauldron. Few more difficult stadiums in Mexico to go and the bond between fans and the players is particularly strong at present. For Mexico, it’d be nice to see Marcelo Flores come on and impact in the second half, but it feels like Martino has 95 percent of his WC squad already decided.
As a fan of Seattle, of MLS, and of CCL, I gotta say all this optimism about Seattle makes me queasy. Have we learned nothing from what happened to Salt Lake, to Toronto? To Montreal, so embarrassed by their home loss they had to change the team’s name? Pumas may be low in the Liga MX table, but they are here in the final, so clearly capable of knocking off superior opposition. No, this final isn’t Seattle’s to lose. I am hyped, but I am steeled. Frankly, I’m going to die in the stadium next Wednesday—the only question is whether I explode in joy or wither away in disappointment.
70-30 is the TUDN sideline reporter's estimate for El Tri fans in the stands compared to Guatemalans. Guatemala fans might have had Mexico beaten in that aspect at the Cotton Bowl during the Gold Cup. Some serious passion starting to show.
Hmmmm Dinenno fit. Nervous Sounders fan now…
2-0 heading into the hour mark, and the Sounders missed the opportunity to equalize with that Raul Ruidiaz chance that Talavera made a great save on, but...I think that's the one they'll find themselves regretting not finishing off. They've got 30 minutes to find one to close the gap.
Despite the name of this newsletter and covering...Concacaf...never a huge fan of talking referees. That said, that penalty and the retake in the first half are going to be a massive talking point.
For me, it wasn't a penalty, but the retake - while harsh - is letter of the law.
Notes so far: Man, it's really raining out there.
Half-hour for Flores tonight. Maybe Martino isn't as upset as I thought about those 'World Cup or Canada" comments.
Mexico's XI to face Guatemala tonight: Carlos Acevedo; Kevin Alvarez, Israel Reyes, Jesus Angulo, Erick Aguirre; Erick Sanchez, Luis Chavez, Sebastian Cordova; Alejandro Zendejas, Sani Gimenez, Roberto Alvarado
Guatemala going with Nicholas Hagen; Cristian Jimenez, Gerardo Gordillo, Juan Carlos Pinto, Jose Morales; Oscar Castellanos, Rodrigo Saravia; Carlos Mejia, Alejandro Galindo, Andres Lezcano; Robin Betancourth
Guatemala was stuck in Houston after their friendly on the West Coast, but come in having won their last three friendly matches. Luis Fernando Tena is working to turn the tide there & so far the project is off to a promising start.
Any MLS team finally winning in the CCL era will be a sea change... but what's your measuring stick for when MLS could legitimately claim to have overtaken Liga MX (something that's not on the immediate horizon, before anyone accuses me of hubris)? I'd go with whenever MLS wins more CCL titles than Liga MX in a 5-year period.
Do you think a Seattle win and a potential reasonable showing at the club World Cup next year will motivate more MLS teams to take the competition more seriously? I know they say they take it seriously, but I still get the feeling there are some teams get in and don’t make any effort to do well once there.
How should Seattle play it tonight? Park the bus and take a 0-0 or even 1-0 loss? Of do they play straight up and push for goals?
Seattle needs to not lose by more than one goal. CU will be a cauldron. Few more difficult stadiums in Mexico to go and the bond between fans and the players is particularly strong at present. For Mexico, it’d be nice to see Marcelo Flores come on and impact in the second half, but it feels like Martino has 95 percent of his WC squad already decided.
As a fan of Seattle, of MLS, and of CCL, I gotta say all this optimism about Seattle makes me queasy. Have we learned nothing from what happened to Salt Lake, to Toronto? To Montreal, so embarrassed by their home loss they had to change the team’s name? Pumas may be low in the Liga MX table, but they are here in the final, so clearly capable of knocking off superior opposition. No, this final isn’t Seattle’s to lose. I am hyped, but I am steeled. Frankly, I’m going to die in the stadium next Wednesday—the only question is whether I explode in joy or wither away in disappointment.
mexico gonna win, I actually got seattle tying in first leg then losing