By AVI CREDITOR
Real Salt Lake finally ended the curse that has plagued Major League Soccer teams for ages, becoming the first MLS side to win a game in…Panama.
The MLS Cup holders received two goals from Will Johnson and one from Alvaro Saborio to defeat Arabe Unido, 3-2, and take control of Group A in the CONCACAF Champions League. The win was the first for an MLS team in Panama in six games.
Seattle, meanwhile, continued MLS’ futility in Mexico in devastating fashion. The Sounders, fielding somewhat of a ‘B’ team, led at Monterrey, 2-0, until Chilean international Humberto Suazo entered the fray. After he came on midway through the second half, the hosts scored three goals between the 74th and 78th minutes to deal a shock 3-2 loss to Seattle and run MLS’ record in Mexico to 0-21-3.
The Sounders’ CCL hopes are effectively over considering that they have 0 points through four games in Group C. Here are the highlights from Wednesday night’s matches:
RSL 3, ARABE UNIDO 2
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJQD7OWiwJE&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]
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Think RSL can hold off Cruz Azul and win its group? Can you believe what happens to MLS teams that lead in the second half of games played in Mexico? What did you think about the games?
Share your thoughts below.
Rob, I did not realize that Giggs said it. A friend of mine is die-hard ManUtd supporter (goes to the games, has their team logo on every other item he wears, etc) and he was adamant that Giggs was playing a lot during the latest US tour because he was auditioning for the next year to join an MLS team. I’ll have to tell him that his theory fell apart. Having Dinho come to the US next year would be great. Hopefully some of his creativity would rub off on some of our young players.
Actually The ref called the game equally, that same tackle was done by Seamon in the 54′. The handball I don’t remember so I can’t comment on that. The ref for the sounders game was by far the best in concacaf IMO.
Giggs even..
Higgs “said” he wouldn’t come to MLS, but who knows, and Dino is out of contract after this season…. So if everything goes perfectly Ronaldinho will be in MLS next season.
More former barca players…
If they had won in Monterrey, they had a chance to advance. I didn’t see it, but three goals in four minutes when up 2-0 is a monumental collapse.
8Cinco: by my comments above, I was not trying to blame the ref for a loss, just pointing out two specific moments that capture what seems to me to be a pro-Mexican bias of CONCACAF referees.
That being said, the MLS temas are gassed by 70 minutes each time they play a Mexican league team, and cannot compete over the last 20.
In the Sounders game, bringing on the Chilean forward Suazo on 60 minutes changed the game completely. While the Sounder’s subs did nothing to help their team, Suazo took his team to a completely higher level. It was just amazing to me as I watched the game, how much the game changed at 65 minutes with the subs.
If the red cards were given, would Suazo, the 3rd sub, had even played? I know, a lot of could’a, should’a, woulda’s. But that is why we post, right?
15 minutes away from beating Monterrey in their own house. Saying that, its not a 75 min game, but rather a 90 min game. 6 minutes of shambled defense and Monterrey ended up winning…
A “B-Squad” can involve a DP? So… RSL fielded a “C-Squad” against Toronto?
Northern Mexico plays American Football, in fact, they once had pro teams that played in the USA. Monterrey was one of the cities believe it or not.
Anyways, would it have killed the Sounders to play Keller, i mean the dude is the luckiest person in Mexico when he’s on the field.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePtLKJK_QIE
If they were anywhere but last in the group I would agree. Parke and Ianni have logged a ton of minutes.
8Cinco, I agree with you that there’s no need to blame the referee for the loss, many games in CONCACAF get much worse officiating. But I would not say that an MLS team does not stand a chance of beating Monterrey in Mexico. Monterrey is a better team than Seattle, but Monterrey was 15 minutes away from losing to a team that probably will not even make playoffs in MLS and Seattle fielded their B+ team. DCU, the last place team in MLS, beat Santos Laguna this Spring in Mexico, when Santos was in the first place in Mexico’s Primera Division. MLS is improving much faster than Mexican Primera Division and this improvement will continue to accelerate with the development of MLS academies, soccer specific stadiums, and increase in roster sizes. It terms of big name star power MLS has already surpassed Primera Division by bringing in Beckham and Thierry Henry. Giggs will most likely join MLS next year and Ronaldinho two years from now. I just don’t see non-Mexican players with similar star power coming to play in Mexico.
They play American football at the universities in Mexico. Tigers & Pumas both have gridiron lines on lines on their fields.
They use B-Team in Rugby too
I dont know I’m not an expert on your roster but maybe Ianni?
I have to agree that the Seattle subs were horrid; with a two goal lead he should have brought in holding defensive players in the midfield instead of offensive players playing high. Regardless, the goals were due to stupid rookie mistakes, Scott ball watching on the end line so everyone is onside, Grahm not stepping up, and Boss diving at a player who wasn’t even going to get a shot off; but that’s why they are reserve players.
When are MLS fans learn to lose with some dignity? Monterrey was better over 90 minutes and that’s why they won the game. Blaming the referee is getting old. Remember, Moterrey also beat Seattle IN SEATTLE. They are also one of the best teams in Mexico. Do you really think a MLS club will go to their stadium and beat them? Not a chance.
In the Sounders game, with the Sounders up 2-0 in the second half, I saw two fouls by the Mexican side that only resulted in a yellow. One was a clear handball just outside of the penalty area when the Sounders were on a 2 v 1 and the other was a straight leg tackle, studs up. In both cases, I have to believe that an MLS team would have received red.
Boss was dynamic in nets for the sounders, but no help when your backline is led by the ageless tyrone marshall. another tough luck loss in mexico for an MLS squad.
Two Concacaf matches, two PKs off total dives. Even the Spanish language announcers called Sauzo’s p.k. foul “un clavadazo.” Still, very entertaining matches, the MLS matches last night too.
I have to say the defending by Seattle to close off the game was absolutely ridiculous. For a ten minute stretch, Seattle’s defense was sleep walking and the mistakes in the back were glaring.
Clearly we have a lot of very naive players in MLS who do not have the experience of what it means to close down a game. I also agree with a previous comment that made me question why on earth Ziggy would want to get into an open end to end game by adding 2 attackers in Nyarco and Montero. This ended up stretching the Seattle defense and providing opportunities for the Mexican team to run at Seattle’s defenders.
Wow, 3 goals in 6 min?? what happened to the Sounders defense? Even if it was a reserves match, thats still sad.
Who would you have liked to seen him sub in, he can’t control that his defense decided to disappear for 4 minutes.
If Scott isn’t ball watching the player who put in the goal after the nice save would have been offside.
Not sure who did it, but someone had a horrible give away that led to the breakaway which led to the dumb play by Boss.
I am assuming he put Nyassi in to try and keep speed on the Flank. Montano and Jaqua were both gassed so it was time to take them out.
On another note didn’t it look like they had american football lines on the field. That field is another reason why turf can be better than grass
2011 they are expanding the rosters to 30 men, most likely 28 seniors 2 home grown. They are also planning on bringing back the reserves league. This will allow teams to play their reserves in matches and by the time USOC and Superliga/CCL come around, the reserves can step up or take a role in the MLS play without leaving a talent gap.
2-3 yrs down the road we’ll see quite a different picture
I can see the headline now “Loss is a huge turning point in the right direction for the sounders”
Really? Only in America?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_B_national_football_team
Depth and priorities. The players, coaches, and front office are compensated for what they do in MLS. Once MLS grows to the point where it can have larger rosters WITH quality top to bottom, I think we will see more domination in CONCACAF. That’s why Mexico does well- they don’t play all of their starters, either. For that matter, neither does England and Europe in their “outside the league” tournaments.
Only in America do you ever hear the term ‘B-team’.
Seattle did take the CCL seriously. They fielded an “A” team for their first three matches. Considering that they have no chance to advance, they fielded a “B” team last night. At this point in the group stage, it makes sense for them to give their reserves some playing time.
Cue the apologist sounders article by Jose…;)
Not a Seattle fan but I watched the seattle -monterray game and it seemed like very suspect substitution decisions by Ziggy… and absolutely embarrassing defending by Seattle after Suazo came on.
I’m happy that RSL took the match somewhat seriously. They fielded a lot of their starters and started subbing in B-side guys towards the end of the.
Question though. Why don’t MLS teams take the champions league more seriously? To me it seems like a great competition, especially since Mexico spanks us every time we go down there. I think it is always disappointing when MLS teams field “b-sides”. I guess it shows their dedication to MLS play, but I would like to see the Champions league grow into a more serious competition.
Good to see the big crowd in Panama. I know it wasn’t at Arabe’s home field. Probably the fewest people I’ve ever seen attend a televised match…Solid win for RSL. Soft PK for Arabe made it closer than it should have been. Kudos to Arabe’s keeper who had 3-4 terrific saves in the first half.
Oh Seattle, we thought you once had a chance of competing on the big stage…
RSL is in great position to win its group. I can’t wait to watch the RSL Cruz Azul rematch at Rio Tinto…