The first match on Wednesday between Pachuca and San Luis was exciting and with 2 red cards it will have an impact for the return leg on Saturday. The game ended in 0-1 win for San Luis in Pachuca and the return leg will be in San Luis. Two key players will be missing. Chaco Gimenez for Pachuca and Alfredo Moreno for San Luis.

Christian Gimenez was sent off for a hand ball in the area that resulted in Penalty and the goal for San Luis. This was an iffy call in that he did not touch the ball intentionally.

Alfredo Moreno could not keep his cool after falling on the ball and a Pachuca player continuously kicking at the ball and maybe getting a piece of Alfredo. He retaliated with a swat to the chest of the Pachuca player and was immediately given the red. Not very good poise.

Thursdays match was in Guadalajara as Atlas took on Necaxa. Moments of this game were closed and tight. Atlas had various players in the stands watching, resting from Libertadores play, such as Marioni and Colotto. One thing this game did have was a great goal by Juan Carlos Medina on a Corner kick that curved into the goal. Banana kick, Olympic goal, what have you, this goal was a great one, unstoppable by the Gato Ortiz.

Should be exciting times on the return leg this weekend.

I must admit however in recent times, with Chivas he as improved tremendously. He has increased his decision making and his ball control.

This announcement to Rodriguez came as a surprise, during Chivas preparation in the Liguilla tournament, Maza received the call from Chivas VP Nestor de la Torre.

In press conference along with Coach Efrain Flores, the announcement was made. Maza had a big smile on his face and full of excitement said:

“I don’t know anything about amounts, just the news has me excited. Thanks to God it happened, my dream is fulfilled, that as a professional who puts goals. I know it will be a challenge and I will join my compadre, referring to Carlos Salcido.

I’m happy for him, I hope he progresses and maybe ends up contributing to the National Team. I would like to see him make an impact on the offensive side. With his height he has scored many goals with Chivas off corner kicks and set pieces.

All hope was lost. Ruben Omar Romano was fired after the loss in Azteca to Flamengo. The new Coach, Antonio Luna, said that it would be a dream/fantasy to think they would pass against Flamengo in the 2nd leg in Brazil. No one believed America could do it. I laughed at the chances they had. I didn’t even think of tuning into the game, instead I was watching the Pachuca vs San Luis game.

Then I tuned to FSE and saw Amercia 3-0 Flamengo, with 10 minutes remaining. What an exciting ending and incredible feeling to see a previously down and out America come back with such fight. Cabañas is a monster and even the failure labeled Esqueda with the goals to ensure passage to Quarter finals. Memo Ochoa had some good saves. The defense showed up big time, running and hustling to stop the Flamengo attack.

What a difference a coach made. Same players, but perhaps a different attitude.

Congratulations for the moment, there is still a tough road ahead and a lot of work to recover a disgraceful season.

Clausura 2007 regular season is at an end. Now the requalification begins between: (games start this Wednesday and Thursday then the 2nd leg over the weekend.)

San Luis vs. Pachuca
Necaxa vs. Atlas

My pics are San Luis and Necaxa, only because Pachuca was just crowned CONCACAF Champs and may be tired at the end of double work, and Atlas still has Libertadores to worry about.

San Luis is a pretty good team as demonstrated by their being able to compete in the hardest group of the 3, along with Cruz Azul and Chivas.

Pachuca barely pulled out a tie vs Pumas on Sunday and only tied because of great work by Columbian goalkeeper Miguel Calero.

This is how the final group standings look. Top two teams from each group qualify directly to the liguilla tournament (bold). The next 4 teams with most points qualify to compete for entry to the liguilla (italics).

GROUP 1
Toluca: 7-6-4 (23/19, +4) 27
Jaguares: 7-5-5 (23/19, +4) 26
Pachuca: 6-4-7 (27/25, +2) 22
Puebla: 5-6-6 (28/25, +3) 21
Pumas: 5-5-7 (21/26, -5) 20
Tecos: 4-5-8 (17/29, -12) 17

GROUP 2
Santos: 8-7-2 (36/19, +17) 31
Monterrey: 6-6-5 (27/22, +5) 24
Atlas: 6-5-6 (21/24, -3) 23
Atlante: 3-8-6 (22/30, -8) 17
Veracruz: 4-5-8 (22/29, -7) 17
América: 3-2-12 (12/27, -15) 11

GROUP 3
Chivas: 9-6-2 (32/14, +18) 33
Cruz Azul: 9-4-4 (27/17, +10) 31
San Luis: 8-6-3 (24/23, +2) 30
Necaxa: 5-9-3 (18/12, +6) 24
Tigres: 5-4-8 (19/28, -9) 19
Monarcas: 5-3-9 (11/25, -14) 18

Finally, Congrats to Humberto “Chupete” Suazo for winning the goal scoring title.

Atleast he is in touch with reality, but its got to be a bummer to have to coach a team’s next 2 useless games, one in the Mexican League and the other in the Libertadores.

For America the next step would be huge changes in the off season and a new start in the Apertura tournament.

One thing that is sad to see is the defense leaving Guillermo Ochoa out to dry as goal keeper. A great talent like Ochoa has not been able to shine as of late because of the dismal state of the America team as a whole. At a time where I thought Oswaldo was a thing of the past, he is definitely the current option between the pipes especially with the great season he is having with Santos.

As far as any more humiliation that could occur for America, there is always the chance the heated rival Chivas could win the Mexican League Championship. This way Jorge Vergara and company could rub it in the face of America even more.

Winner gets their opportunity to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan. Last year Pachuca did poorly, getting quickly eliminated. This time they need to do better.

Chaco Gimenez scored the first goal and Luis Gabriel Rey put in the 2nd. Pachuca eliminated Motagua, and DC United to get to the final.

For real this time. After a disgraceful Mexican League stint as Head Coach, all his hopes hung on the Copa Libertadores. Now America loses 4-2 to Flamengo in Azteca, without an impressive attendance. It just keeps getting worse and the only thing that can fix it is a total cleaning of players, directives and coaching.

Romano says, “I would like to notify you, due to the situation, I believe this was the last opportunity. I have talked with the directors, I will step aside, the attempt was made and we did all we could. I dont blame the directors, nor the players, they gave their all but things didnt happen. This was our last hope and I believe the healthy thing for everyone is to step aside, may someone else come that is able to change things. Thank you America and all the support that I was given, Afternoon.”

Time to clean house.

Well, 3 games suspension has been decided by the Disciplinary commission.

I guess a result of a frustrating season from Tigres and if it weren’t for Pumas beating Veracruz, they would be the ones facing relegation.

Hasn’t America already been humiliated enough?

Veracruz vs Pumas (2-4)
Friday started off with this match, and ended with Veracruz going down. Going down to 2nd division that is. Very sad, but they should have manned up. Puebla was watching this game very interested and celebrated the Veracruz loss.

Cruz Azul vs Morelia (1-0)
Morelia is one of the worst teams in the league, but they had some chances in this one. Aldrete had a one on one with the keeper in which he failed poorly. Cruz Azul is now in 2nd place in the General Table, behind Chivas.

San Luis vs Atlas (0-0)
A hard fought game, 2 read cards, 1 for each team. They didn’t do each other damage in their standings.

Pachuca vs Jaguares (0-1)
A good match, with Pachuca tying Saprissa in the CONCACAF cup, they took on a strong Jaguares team, and gave up 1 goal. They couldn’t get it back, maybe because of fatigue, maybe because they are no longer the power house they once were.

Tigres vs Santos (1-2)
The other team in relegation danger was Tigres, they celebrated the Veracruz loss, only to go out and lose themselves. Now they are out of Liguilla, but Santos is in directly. 2 Goals from counter attack and a not so full Volcan (stadium) in Monterrey.

Chivas vs Puebla (4-0)
Chivas smashes Puebla and Omar Bravo gets his 100th goal in the Mexican League. They are super leaders in the league and their journey in the Liguilla will be interesting.

Atlante vs Monterrey (2-3)
Humberto Suazo is on fire! 2 goals in this match vs Atlante and they are eliminated from Liguilla. Suazo is the League leader in goal scoring and has been improving as of late with excellent, eye opening goals. Monterrey is a team to watch.

Toluca vs Tecos (3-0)
Typical loss by Tecos. They are out of Liguilla and Toluca is qualified directly.

Necaxa vs America (pending)
America I am sure is just concentrating on the Libertadores, as they are in last place in the League and these 2 last games are just useless for them. I guess they have pride. Necaxa has not lost in 7 games, America has not won in 11.