Write On Sports LLC - "CONCACAF Champions’ Cup: At the Half...Sort of" by Jeff Bull

CONCACAF Champions’ Cup: At the Half...Sort of

2007-02-28 09:57:37 | By: Jeff Bull

It’s fair to say the first legs of the quarterfinal series for the CONCACAF Champions Cup yielded a surprise or two. The biggest shock came first, when W Connection FC of Trinidad & Tobago upset one of giants of Mexico’s Primera Division, CD Guadalajara; that W Connection managed that feat after their goalkeeper got sent off (in the 20th minute, no less) and playing a man down only makes it more remarkable. The second surprise was one of quantity: if anyone saw DC United’s 4-1 romp on the road over Honduran club CD Olimpia coming, they didn’t advertise all that broadly.

The rest of the games played closer to type, with Costa Rica’s Puntarenas FC just topping the reigning champions of Major League Soccer (MLS), the Houston Dynamo, in Costa Rica. And the remaining quarterfinal’s first leg saw Mexico’s Pachuca CF beat Guatemala’s Deportivo Marquense by a tidy 2-0.

What will happen in the second legs? The answers are easier in some series than others.

I’ll confess up front that I neither saw Pachuca v. Marquense game or W Connection v. Guadalajara. But the expectations are that Guadalajara will reverse the first leg result when that series moves to their home ground; after all, overturning a 2-1 defeat isn’t the tallest of orders. The Pachuca/Marquense series, on the other hand, could throw another loop into this year’s Cup. The teams will play the second leg in Guatemala, so home field may be a factor. Then again, Pachuca is a bigger fish from a bigger pond; even if the success they have enjoyed is more recent, the same can be said for Marquense. As such, the odds would seem to favor the Mexican club.

Moving to the more familiar territory of series involving MLS clubs, there’s no question that DC United has the easier road to the tournament’s semifinals. The reasons go beyond the simple math of Olimpia needing to win, and win big, just to level the series. To begin, there’s the manner of DC United’s win in Honduras; the word “comprehensive” fits well enough. Where the pre-game punditry assumed DC would bunker and play for a draw or, more optimistically, an early goal, the game clearly unfolded differently. DC’s first goal, a positively sublime long-distance lob from the brilliant Argentine Christian Gomez, set the tone. Even after Olimpia evened the score at one goal apiece minutes later, it wasn’t long before DC’s newly-signed Brazilian forward, Luciano Emilio, tucked in a second off a clever touch. It wasn’t so much that they added another goal - and another - that impressed as the sight of seeing a DC team that nearly everyone expected to wilt from preseason fatigue still taking the game to the Honduran side deep into the second half. Add the fact that the second leg is in Washington, D.C. and that Olimpia’s coach quit immediately after the loss to DC, signs point to a quiet day of soccer in the nation’s capital.

By contrast, the Houston Dynamo’s second leg should contain all the noise and drama of a more traditional cup-tie. As much as a Houston loss was expected, the heartbreak - Puntarenas’ lone goal came in second half injury time, and off a deflection - combined with some questionable officiating should goad Houston to a better performance than they managed in Costa Rica. Tough breaks - and, frankly, God-awful playing field - aside, though, there is no denying the Dynamo got beat. They spent the entire game on their heels and, even if they snuffed out attack after attack, the fact remains that those attacks came in wave after wave. When the dam finally did break, fitness unquestionably played a role; Puntarenas’ goal came when a last-gasp scramble left something like a chasm in the Houston defense. Against that, the only memorable attack the Dynamo managed featured Paul Dalglish rushing toward goal with two defenders in front of him; it was enough that he got off the shot at all, but it wasn’t nearly enough that that was all Houston had to offer.

For all that, the return leg ought to be different. A lot has been made of Puntarenas’ home field and not without reason: gravel-pits are smoother, not to mention wider. And while the game won’t be played at Robertson Stadium, where the Dynamo plays during MLS’s regular season, they’ll have a field with grass covered with grass rather than pocked with dirt. The Houston coaching staff also expects that the wider surface should help, a contrast with the narrow confines - and confines is entirely apt given how close actual walls stand next to the Costa Rican’s field - that rendered Houston’s often lethal outside tandem of Brad Davis and Brian Mullan more (Davis) or less (Mullan) ineffective. They also believe the smoother surface will allow Houston’s the pass more cleanly and quickly.

Other personnel questions produce both good news and bad. On the bad side, the ejection of central defender Eddie Robinson in the first leg means he’ll miss the second. Houston has reliable enough replacements - expect either Kelly Gray or Ryan Cochrane - but missing a starter rarely counts in a team’s favor. But the likely appearance of star-forward Brian Ching more than makes up for Robinson’s absence, especially with the need to score goals to salvage the series.

This isn’t to say that Houston possesses a clear advantage; neither, for that matter, is DC United’s passage to the semifinals assured (though it would take some doing to louse it up). After the first leg, some observers noted that several Puntarenas’ stars, the scorer Bernard among them, played beneath expectations and, as badly as Olimpia played, a new coach combined with a humiliating loss puts both pride and professional futures on the line. But there’s also no denying that both MLS teams acquitted themselves well enough during their trips to Central America; DC United, in particular, did the U.S. league proud. The easy money is on DC to do it again, but there’s plenty of reasons to think Houston can pull their series out of the fire. And that would make MLS proud all over again.

(NOTE: All four second leg games will be televised on Fox Soccer Channel, with both games involving MLS clubs airing live on Thursday. Check www.soccertv.com for listings.)

Comments

Jeff Bull commented,
CORRECTION: Jeff Carlisle reported on ESPN's site that CD Olimpia's coach is still coaching the club. Here's Carlisle's exact language: "...Nahun Espinoza reportedly tendered his resignation following the first leg, a request which was rejected by management..."
February 28, 2007 2:52 p.m.

Jeff Bull commented,
(Yeah, this looks bad, but...) CORRECTION: MLS's official site reports that Houston forward Brian Ching's participation in the game is likely to be limited to 30 minutes; given that number, he'll probably come on as a sub.
February 28, 2007 4:02 p.m.

Jeff Bull commented,
Both Major League Soccer clubs advanced to the semifinals of this competition. DC United made their first-leg win stand just a bit higher by winning the second by a score of 3-2; their new Brazilian striker Luciano Emilio played a big hand in this game as well. In what nearly all observers view as the more impressive result, the Houston Dynamo reversed their first-leg loss by winning "at home" (they played in a temporary facility due to scheduling issues at their home facitily) with a hard-fought 2-0 over Puntarenas FC. The semifinals, which will pit these two against MAJOR Mexican clubs, play next week. More on that later.
March 8, 2007 10:35 a.m.

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