Tag Soccer

Revolution Win SuperLiga 2008

Danny Vinik Leave a comment

I know that 95% of America have no idea what I am talking about when I say “SuperLiga”, but bear with me for a moment. SuperLiga is the annual tournament between Mexican and American teams. Each country is represented by four teams who are then split into two groups. It is a standard Fifa format. The four teams in each group play each other once and the two teams with the highest point total (3 points-win, 1 point-draw, 0 points-loss) move on to the semifinals. The Semifinals feature the winner of one group versus the runner-up from the other group in a one-game match, winner moves on. The winners of the semifinals play in the Finals in a one-game match to crown a champion.

On Tuesday night, the New England Revolution defeated the Houston Dynamo on penalty kicks to capture their first SuperLiga title. Before I get to that game, let’s look at the semifinals. In the first semi, the Dynamo faced off against Pachuca CF from Mexico. The final score, Houston 2 Pachuca 0, does not represent what this game was like. With Houston leading 1-0, Pachuca had a goal taken back on an off-side call. Unfortunately, the linesman blew this call as there was no off-side. Arguments ensued, but the call did not change. A couple of minutes alter, Corey Ashe scored for the Dynamo to put them up 2-0 and ice the game. The game did not end on friendly terms though as Pachuca players stormed after the referees after the final whistle, determined to get payback for what was truly a terrible call. For a game to be lost based on poor officiating is not what SuperLiga wants. However, the awful call allowed for fans to see the passion of Pachuca players. Their anger after the game ended shows how much they wanted to win the tournament. For those people that think that there is no pride or passion in SuperLiga, think again. Continue reading “Revolution Win SuperLiga 2008” →

Euro 2008

Danny Vinik 1 Comment

Phew. What an incredible couple days of quarterfinal action. There were two overtime games, both of which had two goals scored during the extra time and one game went to a shootout. Let’s begin at the first quarterfinal match of the week, Portugal vs Germany, where Germany survived a furious final 10 minutes from the Portugese to win 3-2. The Germans were lead by Bastian Schweinsteiger, who scored a beautiful first goal and assisted on the next two. Schweinsteiger scored at the 22nd minute and Miroslav Klose scored just 4 minutes later to give the Germans a quick 2-0 advantage. Portugal rebounded right before the end of the first half, at the 41st minute, as captain Nuno Gomes fired a bouncing ball into the back of the net to get Portugal back into the game at halftime. However, Germany took a huge 3-1 advantage in the 62nd minute when star Michael Ballack headed one in. As Portugal’s Euro 2008 time ticked away, desperation set in and the Portugese were able to get one goal back off of a free kick with Helder Postiga heading a ball past German keeper Jens Lehmann to make the score 3-2, but it was not enough. Christiano Ronaldo and Portugal could not find that third goal in the final couple minutes of the game and Germany advanced on to the semifinals. Stats wise, Portugal outplayed Germany as they had twice as many shots on goal as the Germans  (10-5) and collected nearly three times as many corner kicks (8-3), but Lehmann held strong andGermany made good on their opportunities. An extremely entertaining game, the quarterfinals began with a bang, but the best was yet to come. Continue reading “Euro 2008” →

Euro 2008 and World Cup Qualifying

Danny Vinik Leave a comment

If you haven’t been following soccer lately, then you have missed out on some great action:

Euro 2008 is in full swing as the Group Round finishes up tomorrow with two great matches, Russia vs Sweden and Greece vs Spain. Those four teams are in Group D, the fourth of four groups in Euro 2008. Spain has already guaranteed itself a spot in the quarterfinals and Greece has already been eliminated. If Sweden beats or ties Russia tomorrow, they advance, but if Russia wNew York Timesins, then they move on to the quarterfinals. If you don’t find a do-or-die game like that enticing, then you are not a sports fan.

That is just one of four groups in Euro 2008, though the other three have completed all their matches. In Group A, Portugal and Turkey advanced with 6 points each while Switzerland and the Czech Republic were sent home early. In a similar do-or-die game between the Czech Republic and Turkey earlier this week, Turkey scored 3 goals in the last 15 minutes, including two goals by Nihat Kahveci in the final three minutes of the game, to beat the Czech Republic 3-2 and advance to the quarterfinals. Lead by Christiano Ronaldo, Portugal sailed through the Group Round with easy wins over Turkey and the Czech Republic. In their final game against Switzerland, Portugal sat most of their starters as they had already ensured themselves a spot in the next round. Playing a sub-par team, Switzerland defeated Portugal 2-0 in the game and captured their only victory of the tournament. Continue reading “Euro 2008 and World Cup Qualifying” →