Advantage Mexico - CCL Update

It was a rough week in the CCL for MLS clubs as none of the league's four remaining teams managed to knock off their Mexican opponents in the first leg of the quarterfinals. In total, the four MLS teams managed just two goals (both by Clint Dempsey) en route to two 2-0 losses and two home draws. Now, with backs to the wall, all four teams essentially face must-win games this week if any MLS club is to reach the semifinals. Here's a quick look at each team's needs ahead of their second leg match:

LA Galaxy - Arguably in the best shape of any of the four MLS teams, the Galaxy did not concede an away goal in their 0-0 home draw with Santos Laguna which means they can advance with a 1-1 draw or better.

Seattle Sounders - Seattle blew a pair of leads against América at home and because they conceded two away goals, likely will need a win when they travel to Estadio Azteca. A high scoring draw (2-2 or better) could also be enough to send the Sounders through.

DC United - United held Querétaro scoreless for 70 minutes before conceding twice late in the match. United forced keeper Tiago Volpi into making nine saves, but couldn't get on the scoresheet, and now need a shutout win of 2-0 or better, or they need to win by at least three goals.

Real Salt Lake - Like DC United, RSL went nearly 70 minutes without conceding, and allowed an 86th minute insurance goal to put them in a 2-0 hole against Tigres as they head home. RSL will also need a shutout win of 2-0 or better, or they need to win by at least three goals.

Around CONCACAF - World Cup Qualifying

By now, the fact that the U.S. has defeated St. Vincent and the Grenadines is old news, but what about the rest of CONCACAF? Just as a refresher, the Fourth Round of Qualifying for CONCACAF consists of round-robin play for three four-team groups. The top two teams in each group will advanced to the Fifth Round, commonly known as the Hexagonal. The U.S. is in Group C with Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The other two groups are Group A: Mexico, El Salvador, Canada and Honduras, and Group B: Panama, Jamaica, Haiti and Costa Rica. Here's a quick glance at the rest of the matches on Match Day 1 (home teams in bold):

Group A

Mexico 3 El Salvador 0
Canada 1 Honduras 0

Group B

Costa Rica 1 Haiti 0
Panama 2 Jamaica 0

Group C

Trinidad and Tobago 2 Guatemala 1
United States 6 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1

And here's the match schedule for Tuesday:

Mexico at Honduras
Canada at El Salvador
Jamaica at Haiti
Costa Rica at Panama
Guatemala at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
United States at Trinidad and Tobago

U-17 World Cup Update - Quarterfinal Edition

Victor Osimhen has scored in all five of Nigeria's matches as the defending U-17 World Champions are through to the semi-finals where they'll face off against unbeaten Mexico (4-0-1). Osimhen, who plays for Ultimate Strikers FC in Nigeria, leads all players with 8 goals so far during the tournament, the most since Souleymane Coulibaly (Ivory Coast) scored 9 goals during the 2011 competition. In the other semifinal, unbeaten Mali (4-0-1), who has been scored on just once in five matches, will take on Belgium. The two countries played to a scoreless draw on October 18th in the opening match of the tournament for both teams. Both semifinals will be played on Thursday, with the 3rd Place Game and Championship to be held on Sunday.

Quarterfinal Match-ups

Nigeria 3 Brazil 0
Mali 1 Croatia 0
Mexico 2 Ecuador 0
Belgium 1 Costa Rica 0

Gold Cup Final Thoughts

So the Gold Cup is over, and the U.S. is left with a disappointing fourth place finish following their shootout loss to Panama. Here's some final thoughts on the tournament:

1) The U.S. definitely appeared flat in this tournament and the team we fielded didn't play anything like the inspired group we saw beat Germany and the Netherlands overseas. So of course the question comes up, should this tournament cost Klinsmann his job? I say no and it sounds like U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati agrees. Here's my thinking: while the U.S.'s play was poor, a few bad games shouldn't derail what Klinsmann has done. Love him or hate him, there's no debating what the U.S. has accomplished in the Klinsmann era. Wins in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, a Gold Cup title in 2013, emerging from the Group of Death in the 2014 World Cup, and bringing all sorts of new players into the fold (Bobby Wood, Fabian Johnson, John Brooks, Miguel Ibarra, Jordan Morris, Aron Johannsson, etc). Has the era been perfect? No, but like anything, this is a process, and bringing in a new coach now would likely require taking more steps backwards. Does Klinsmann deserve some of the blame for our showing in the Gold Cup? Absolutely. He made some questionable decisions when forming this roster, his inconsistency with starting lineups failed to build continuity and his inability to make in-game adjustments against inferior opponents (Jamaica, Haiti, Panama) definitely hurt us. But I'd argue he's earned enough credit during his tenure to warrant a longer leash than what some fans are calling for.

2) So what did we learn from this tournament? We learned that Joe Corona is not a one-for-one replacement for Kyle Beckerman. We learned that Fabian Johnson is much more valuable in defense than he is in the midfield. We learned that Clint Dempsey is far and away our most dangerous attacking option. We learned that our young center backs, Ventura Alvarado and John Brooks still have a ways to go. We learned that the U.S. suddenly struggles in defending set pieces. We learned that CONCACAF's overall level of play has been elevated and it's no longer just a two-horse race with the U.S. and Mexico. We learned that we have absolutely no idea on a given night who our Starting Eleven might be. And we learned there are still a lot of questions to be answered before the U.S. plays Mexico this fall for a berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup.

3) Speaking of questions that we don't have answers to: When will we see Jozy Altidore in a USA jersey again? Who should be starting in the back? Brad Evans and DaMarcus Beasley are fine, but certainly aren't the future. Are we grooming anyone to take over Kyle Beckerman's role as a holding midfielder? Anyone other than Joe Corona? What is our identity? Attack first? Defend and counter? Can anyone name our Starting Eleven? It changes nightly! I'll leave it at that for now.

4) Mexico is vulnerable right now, especially after an unconvincing tournament win (just ask Costa Rica and Panama) and the fact that they just fired their coach. That makes our October showdown a golden opportunity for the U.S. as a Confederations Cup berth would be a tremendous boost to our 2018 World Cup chances. There's not a lot of time between now and then for Klinsmann to figure things out. I just hope we show up so we don't let this tremendous opportunity go to waste.

MLSers in Action

Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders/USA) - Sub, 60 mins, 2 shots, 1 goal, Made PK
Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/USA) - Started, 120 mins, Missed PK
Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City/USA) - Started, 60 mins
Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy/USA) - Started, 90 mins
Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes/USA) - Started, 60 mins, 1 shot
DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo/USA) - Sub, 30 mins, Missed PK
Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins
Je-Vaughn Watson (FC Dallas/Jamaica) - Started, 89 mins, 1 shot, yellow card
Giles Barnes (Houston Dynamo/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot
Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps/Jamaica) - Sub, 30 mins 1 shot, 1 goal

Gold Cup Scorers by League

While the Gold Cup may have been  a huge disappointment for the U.S., more on this later, it'd have to be considered a pretty solid success for MLS as the league boasted 11 different goal scorers representing six different countries for a total of 20 goals. Here's a rundown of all the Gold Cup's goal scorers broken down by the league they play in:


MLS (20)

Clint Dempsey (USA) - Seattle Sounders - 7
Giles Barnes (Jamaica) - Houston Dynamo - 2
Michael Bradley (USA) - Toronto FC - 2
Darren Mattocks (Jamaica) - Vancouver Whitecaps - 2
Roy Miller (Costa Rica) - New York Red Bulls - 1
Cordell Cato (Trinidad and Tobago) - San Jose Earthquakes - 1
Joevin Jones (Trinidad and Tobago) - Chicago Fire - 1
Blas Pérez (Panama) - FC Dallas - 1
Omar Gonzalez (USA) - LA Galaxy - 1
Gyasi Zardes (USA) - LA Galaxy - 1
Giovani dos Santos (Mexico) - LA Galaxy - 1***

Gold Cup Semifinals

Jamaica 2 USA 1

I'm still a bit gutted by this result. Despite holding a 20-10 advantage in shots, and owning nearly 60% of the possession, the U.S. lost 2-1 to the Jamaicans and will miss their first Gold Cup Final since 2003. Ironically, it was Jamaica's MLS contingent that did the damage as Darren Mattocks (Vancouver) and Giles Barnes (Houston) scored the goals while Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls) picked up an assist. The tournament isn't over for the U.S. just yet though as they have a chance at redemption in the third place game against Panama. The U.S. drew with Panama 1-1 in the opening round. Jamaica, meanwhile, will gear up for their first ever Gold Cup Final. Their previous best finish was fourth place in 1998.

Mexico 2 Panama 1

For the second match in a row, Mexico was the beneficiary of a late (and controversial) penalty, this time allowing them to score the equalizer deep into stoppage time and then later the game winner in the first half of extra time. Despite playing a man down from the 25th minute on, Panama kept Mexico off the board and even took the lead in the 57th minute on a goal by Román Torres. But a questionable handball call against Torres paved the way for Mexico to once again advance to the Finals. Mexico now gets ready to take on Jamaica after going 120 minutes in back-to-back matches, as they seek their third Gold Cup win since 2009.

MLSers in Action

Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders/USA) - Started, 90 mins
Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders/USA) - Started, 90 mins, 7 shots
Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy/USA) - Started, 90 mins, 2 shots
Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake/USA) - Started, 67 mins, yellow card
Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/USA) - Started, 90 mins, 4 shots, 1 goal
Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy/USA) - Sub, 17 mins, 1 shot
Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot, 1 assist
Giles Barnes (Houston Dynamo/Jamaica) - Started, 85 mins, 2 shots, 1 goal
Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps/Jamaica) - Started, 57 mins, 1 shot, 1 goal
Je-Vaughn Watson (FC Dallas/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot
Jaime Penedo (LA Galaxy/Panama) - Started, 120 mins, 3 saves, 2 goals allowed

Gold Cup Quarterfinals, Day 2

Jaime Penedo saved Lester Peltier's penalty to give Panama a 6-5 shootout win over upstarts,  Trinidad and Tobago. The shootout went 9 rounds with Valentín Pimentel scoring what ended up being the winning penalty. In the nightcap, controversy spoiled a epic clash between Costa Rica and Mexico. A questionable, and that's putting it nicely, penalty call in stoppage time of extra time gifted Mexico a 1-0 when Andrés Guardado converted the spot kick. Mexico will now face off against Jamaica in the semis.

MLSers in Action

Cordell Cato (San Jose Earthquakes/Trinidad and Tobago) - Started, 66 mins, 1 shot
Joevin Jones (Chicago Fire/Trinidad and Tobago) - Started, 120 mins, 1 shot
Kevan George (Columbus Crew /Trinidad and Tobago) - 120 mins, yellow card
Blas Pérez (FC Dallas/Panama) - Started, 120 mins, 6 shots
Jaime Penedo (LA Galaxy/Panama) - Started, 120 mins, 3 saves, 1 goal allowed, 2 PK saves
Gabriel Torres (Colorado Rapids/Panama) - Sub, 37 mins, 1 shot
Roy Miller (New York Red Bulls/Costa Rica) - Sub, 41 mins, yellow card

Cubo Torres Gets His First Goal for Mexico

Everything coming up Chivas USA right now. In the past week, Chivas USA defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0, Colorado 2-1, and now Erick "Cubo" Torres has scored his first goal for Mexico's Senior National Team, a game winner against Panama. Almost makes you forget the fact that between July 12th and October 5th, they went 0-11-1 during a 12 game stretch and were shutout 9 times.