Mexico

As temperatures drop below freezing and blizzard warnings grip the Midwest, it feels as though winter has been here forever and shows no sign of abating. So it’s with an envious eye that we follow the 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship in the Bahamas. 

The tournament, contested by 16 nations from February 20-26, will crown the region’s champion and decide which two teams will qualify for the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. On Friday, the quarterfinals will be contested and it looks like everyone is having a helluva time.

Chivas beat Club America Saturday in the Superclasico, with an Angel Zaldivar penalty the difference between the two sides. The real story of the game, though, was Club America manager Ricardo La Volpe making a tackle on Chivas' Jesus Sanchez.

La Volpe was rightly sent off. 

I have to admit, it was a pretty good tackle. Not bad for a 65-year-old!

This is the last thing Atletico Madrid wanted to see ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League first leg: Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez has hit top form again. With a brace against Augsburg on Friday, Chicharito made it five goals in three matches for Leverkusen.

After going through the longest goal drought of his career, Chicharito has been back with a vengeance throughout January and February. He put Leverkusen up 2-0 in the 40th minute with a left-footed shot.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco is a legend. El Temo was one of the most creative, entertaining players in the world during his career. Hell, even his post-playing career, featuring a successful election to the mayorship of Cuernavaca, a government investigation and a hunger strike, has been absurd. His signature move, the Cuauteminha, involved him gathering the ball between his feet and hopping away from defenders.

Javier Guemez, who plays for Blanco's former team, Club America, tried to do the Cuauhteminha against Coras Tepic. It did not go as planned.

Non-Spanish-speaking Liga MX fans will be thrilled to hear Univision is going to start live-streaming games in English on their Facebook page. The streams will only be available in the USA, and will begin with Saturday's Superclasico between Chivas Guadalajara and Club America.

Liga MX is one of the most popular leagues in the world, both in terms of attendance and TV ratings (it outdraws even the EPL in the United States). 

These February friendlies are always a bit of a wild card. Diluted squads, unusual locations and the determination not to get injured can often lend to a less than desirable match. Even with these issues, as a professional player, every time you put on that national team jersey, it’s an opportunity. With both teams fielding squads of mostly fringe players, El Tri were the only side to seize the chance and turn up in a one-sided affair.

The Canadian women’s national team had an impressive run at the 2016 Rio Olympics. After losing to eventual champions Germany 2-0 in the semifinals, Canada would go on to defeat the host nation Brazil in the bronze medal match, 2-1. 

The result tied their best-ever Olympic performance, which was another bronze in 2012. As the nation’s player pool continues to grow with talent, the success of the last five years will be an encouragement to both young players and investors. 

Mexico manager Juan Carlos Osorio has named his 23-man squad for El Tri’s February 8 friendly against Iceland in Las Vegas, Nevada. As the match does not fall on an official FIFA international date (meaning European clubs do not have to release their players for national team duty), the squad is primarily Mexico-based, apart from the LA Galaxy’s Giovani dos Santos.

A day after enfing his four-month goal drought for Bayer Leverkusen, Mexican striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, tweeting a poem by Mexican illustrator Jorge Mendez.

México en mi corazón. Orgulloso de ser mexicano hoy y siempre. Hoy unidos más que nunca. ¡Viva México! 

Escrito por mi paisano @cometa_ pic.twitter.com/NVhzPjY37R