After a two week break for the international games the final CONCACAF Champions League matches were played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Three teams, Cruz Azul, Real Salt Lake from Group A and Monterrey from Group C, had already qualified for the next round but there was still a lot to play for some of…
Category: The Americas
CONCACAF Round 5 round-up
With each team now having one game remaining in the CONCACAF Champions League group stage much is still to be decided. For Cruz Azul, Real Salt Lake and Monterrey though this stage is yesterday’s news as they have done enough to reach the quarter-finals. There is an exciting final round of games to look forward…
Dirty Sanchez? Mexicans in trouble…
No-one really knows anything about the CONCACAF Champions league this week. Nah, just kidding, it’s been a week of scandal, intrigue, upsets and some good football but mostly bad news for Mexico, only saved by one brilliant Chilean. Toluca and Santos Laguna lost, Cruz Azul drew at home and Monterrey won but only after the…
Real Salt Lake: a right royal football team?
Most of the articles about the CONCACAF Champions League I have written include the phrase, “Mexican dominance”. And not without good reason, there are Mexican teams at the top of each group currently and you have to go back to 2005 to find a winner not from Mexico. In total Mexican teams have won the…
CONCACAF mover and shakers: Part 2 of an irregular series
In this series of posts I am highlighting the major talent playing in the CONCACAF region, and as always seems to be the case, the best players here will end up at European clubs before long. This time it took no scouting ability on my part, all that is necessary is a look at the…
CONCACAF Round 3: winners and losers
Now all the CONCACAF Champions League Round 3 games have been played each group is starting to take shape. The strongest teams are flexing their goal scoring muscles, while the weakest have realised they have other pressing engagements to attend to as the next round fades into the distance. The Mexican cream is again rising…
CONCACAF round 3 preview
A look at Municipal v Santos Laguna. The round 3 tie is due to be played on 14/9/10. Guatemala’s best take on the Mexican Bicentenario 2010 runners-up in the third game in Group B. Municipal were formed by a group of city workers from Guatemala City in 1936 and went on to become Guatemala’s most…
CONCACAF movers & shakers. Part 1 of an irregular series…
Chicharito came out of nowhere for many Man U fans but he is going to be a pleasant surprise for the red half of Manchester. The Americas have always been a rich source of footballing talent and most of this talent eventually finds its way across to Europe. In the first of an irregular series…
La Volpe is confirmed as Costa Rica manager
The Costa Rican football federation today announced that Ricardo La Volpe has signed his contract to become the new manager of the national side. Negotiations had been going on for weeks but it now appears that all La Volpe’s demands have been met and he will begin work on the 1st November. It looks like…
CCL Round 2 wrap up
After 43 losses and 3 draws professional football teams from the US might be forgiven for thinking there is something more than just bad luck going against them when they play in Mexico. Neither the US men’s national side nor any MLS team (even the Canadian ones) have yet managed to even scrape a win…
Saprissa v Marathón – La lucha de los monstruos – morado y verde
Saprissa’s next opponents, C.D. Marathón are from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The fourth most successful team in Honduras, Marathón were formed in 1925 when a group of friends meeting in the store room of a shop had the idea of starting a football club. The name Marathón originally came from the name printed on an…
Why the CONCACAF Champions League is deserving of your attention
“In Latin America the border between soccer and politics is vague.” Ryszard Kapuscinski The football in the CONCACAF Champions League is like Central American food, low quality but lots of it. In comparison to Europe or South America, CONCACAF is definitely a poor relation. So why am I writing about it, and more importantly why…
In Sun and Shadow 