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Pumas win big to complete CCL semis

CCLLogo

The CONCACAF Champions League semifinals are set after another rout capped off the latest round.

Pumas UNAM, which entered Thursday night's second leg against Isidro Metapan in a 2-1 hole, unleashed an 8-0 beating on its Salvadoran counterpart to become the third Mexican team to qualify for the tournament semifinals. The scoreline matched the most lopsided victory in CCL history, equaling Herediano's 8-0 victory over Alpha United in the preliminary round in July.

Eduardo Herrera scored twice, and five other Pumas players got on the board as well after a 25th-minute Alex Escobar own goal had leveled the aggregate score.

Pumas will play defending champion Monterrey in one all-Mexican semifinal, while Santos Laguna takes on the lone MLS survivor, Toronto FC, in the other. Here is the schedule for the CCL semifinals:

First leg, March 28: Toronto FC vs. Santos Laguna; 8 p.m. Monterrey vs. Pumas, 10 p.m.

Second leg, April 4: Santos Laguna vs. Toronto FC, 8 p.m.; Pumas vs. Monterrey, 10 p.m.

How do you see the CCL semifinals unfolding? Do you think TFC can become the second straight MLS team to reach the final? Do you think TFC should host its semifinal at Rogers Centre or BMO Field?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. When RSL outplayed Monterrey but lost.

    We need Salt Lake back in this tourney, and we need LA to take it more seriously

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  2. Everyone I talked to, and some tv commentators said in real time, the back-line needed help or change. My question is, did Sigi get this message at the half, and if he did why did he ignore it?

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  3. The Sounders WERE a goal away from winning it still in the 60th minute of the second game. Would I have rather they kept it that way and lost 3-1 that game, sure, but very marginally.

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  4. its simple math you dunces. santos has a big payroll that dwarfs sea’s. as a result, they’re loaded with national team strikers. stop denying that sea is a lightweight, and that mls isnt even a player on the international transfer market.

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  5. i don’t think the crowd cares in Mexico. Take a look at any image of their stadiums in CCL games. I think their fans care more for Copa Libertadores and take CCL for granted. The stadiums are all empty. So you can’t say the crowds are that big of an impact. I believe it’s the altitude that makes a big difference.

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  6. I don’t think that a couple of older multi million dollar DPs like NY has makes a big difference. If a team could spread out 10-15million on the entire roster and not just 3 players, it would make much more of a difference. Look at Seattle’s DPs: Montero, Fernandez and Rosales. If Seattle had 8-10 players of that level it would make a bigger difference than adding Henry and Marquez.

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  7. Jason Kreis did the same thing last year, rested his players for the CCL and used reserves in MLS (who did quite well). It comes down to coaching in my opinion, RSL play a well organized style of soccer implemented by Jason. They use short passing and try to stay on the ball as much as possible dominating possession. For those that say RSL weren’t good enough for the Mexican teams, RSL destroyed Cruz Azul in Rio Tinto and nearly won in Mexico during that wild 5-4 rain soaked match. Coacj=hing to me let down LA and Seattle more than anything.

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  8. RSL proved that payroll is not the only factor for success. If MLS increased the cap then I think we’d see more MLS teams in the CCL championship year in year out.

    I’m not so sure that Seattle, Portland, LA and a few others don’t have the same crowd advantage in their home stadiums that Mexican squads enjoy in theirs.

    TFC is representing MLS now and it will be interesting. We’ll have a chance to see TFC’s depth on saturday as they travel to Seattle for an MLS match. Winter learned from Arena’s poor choice of playing his starters and will rest many key players for CCL.

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  9. Mexican teams have payrolls of 2-3 times higher than MLS. The atmosphere at Mexican stadiums is much louder than MLS stadiums. MLS teams can compete in Mexico when they play counter attack. However, when they’re behind and need to score it becomes very difficult.

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  10. Pumas is toast without Veron. Sadly TFC will likely be massacred by Santos, but since Santos is uncapable of winning a tournament, we’ll have Monterrey again as the CONCACAF rep in the World Club Cup

    Which ain’t that bad, the have like the strongest or second strongest squad in the area.

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  11. What disturbs me most is that the Seattle coaching staff and management is getting a free pass. They had two months to prepare, with no other competitions interfering. Although they were getting out played, they went into the 2nd half at 3-3 aggregate, then completely collapsed. Someone needed to tell Sigi at halftime, there’s no way in *ell were competing with that back line.

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  12. I’ll be rooting hard for TFC, but this will be an extremely steep climb. I wish Concacaf would have had the same format as last year with all 4 of the Mexican Clubs on one side of the bracket and the non-mexican teams on the other side. I think it’s always more exciting with teams from opposite nations meeting in the final (unless we’re talking about a Barcelona vs. Real Madrid UEFA final).

    TFC have announced that the semi-final round will be played at BMO with the final to be played at Skydome should they advance.

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  13. I’m not taking anything away from the Mexican clubs who regularly succeed in this tourney.

    But when will MLS clubs start being more competitive in this competition?!?!?!

    The way that Seattle just rolled over against Santos was humiliating!!

    Reply

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