Major League Soccer was feeling pretty good about itself after the 2019 Concacaf Champions League Round of 16. Although Toronto FC crashed out to Panama’s Independiente, four U.S.-based MLS clubs advanced to the quarterfinals.
Then reality struck this week and last, yet another case of MLS failing to stack up to Liga MX.
One half of the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League semifinal bracket is filled, and it’s an all Liga MX affair pitting Tigres against Santos Laguna. Tigres took care of the Houston Dynamo 3-0 on aggregate despite the absence of injured star Andre-Pierre Gignac. Santos defeated the New York Red Bulls 6-2 on aggregate, but not without receiving something of a scare at Estadio Corona on Tuesday night.
It’s March, but you wouldn’t know it throughout much of the country.
As climate change wreaks havoc on what we consider normal weather, temperatures have varied widely around the U.S. On opening day in MLS, Orlando City hosted NYCFC with highs reaching into the upper 80s. In Colorado, the Rapids hosted Portland in temps that dipped to 18 degrees, a record low for an MLS match.
Monterrey kept pace with Tigres at the top of the Liga MX Clausura table with a 2-0 victory over Guadalajara at Akron Stadium on Saturday, and both Rayados goals were of the highest order.
Also, they were both scored by Colombian attacker Dorlan Pabón, who ripped a long-range golazo in the second minute and then did it again in the 89th.
Here’s the first.
Here’s the second. Déjà vu.
There was a time when Brek Shea a lanky winger from the great city of College Station, Texas — home of the Dixie Chicken and the greatest football stadium in the country — looked like the next big thing for U.S. soccer. The Cockatrice, as no one but myself calls him, had a combination of skill, panache, size and athleticism that earned him a move to Stoke City after five seasons with FC Dallas.
Last time we checked in with Diego Maradona and Dorados, it was to report on the Argentine legend’s antics during his side’s Ascenso MX Apertura final defeat. After the heartbreak of that 4-3 aggregate defeat, Maradona has since returned to lead Dorados during the Clausura season.
While the club has achieved success in the Copa MX — they’ll play Liga MX side Atlas on Tuesday in the Round of 16 — the regular season has been something of a disaster for the club. After six matches, Dorados has only managed one win.
Last night, León (The Club That Landon Built) defeated Pumas 3-1 in a match that was played 10-on-10 for 20 minutes. José Juan Macías, Ángel Mena and Vinicio Angulo were among the goals for León, who stayed within touching distance of Tigres and Monterrey at the top of the Clausura table.
You know what they say, ridiculous backheel flicks usually come in threes. This past weekend, we were treated to three outlandish finishes of the tacquito sauce variety — one in Amsterdam, one in Nuevo León and one in Poland.
Let’s take a look at all three in descending order.
#3. Kasper Dolberg (Ajax vs. NAC Breda)
The oddly obscure, yet important CONCACAF Champions League returns this week as 16 of North America's best clubs compete for a spot at the (potentially hugely revamped) 2019 FIFA Club World Cup. While the competition remains on the sidelines for U.S. soccer fans, access to watch the matches just got slightly easier.
The first Gerardo “Tata” Martino Mexico squad has been unveiled, and it’s a doozy. The former Atlanta United, Barcelona and Argentina coach named four uncapped players to a 24-man roster for a camp that will begin Sunday in Mexico City.