Who's going to South Africa from CONCACAF?

Before we print Mexico’s ticket to South Africa after the win against the US, we need to remember there are other teams (very good teams) competing as well. Last night, Honduras pasted Costa Rica 4-0 and is now sitting pretty at 2^nd place. The US better start feeling the pressure or it too will be in a tight spot. The current CONCACAF table looks like the following (remember, the top 3 teams advance and the 4^th place team has a playoff with the 5^th place CONMEBOL team).

	GP	W	D	L	GD	Points
Costa Rica	6	4	0	2	0	12
Honduras	6	3	1	2	4	10
United States	6	3	1	2	3	10
Mexico	6	3	0	3	-1	9
El Salvador	6	1	2	3	-2	5
T & T	6	1	2	3	-4	5

Here’s my prediction . . . . Mexico is playing well, but their recent victories were in front of pro-Mexico crowds. This will not be the case in Costa Rica and T & T. Mexico does not play well in T & T, and it will be the last match for T & T who should play the spoiler to Mexico’s automatic bid.

The US will struggle to earn two more victories in the next four matches. The biggest hurdles will come in the last two matches on the road in turbulent Honduras and at home against Costa Rica. The next two matches (El Salvador @ home and T & T on the road) are critical for the US and are their best chances to get victories. If they win these, they will go to South Africa. But like Mexico, this would require winning in T & T and the US does not play well there.

As of today, CONCACAF could be won by any of the top 4 nations. But each team is playing poorly away from home. Thus, the table stays the same and the US takes the coveted 3^rd place slot on goal differential. Mexico will play Colombia, Ecuador or Uruguay for a ticket to South Africa (my bet is on Uruguay advancing). So on October 14^th around 10PM EST after the final games are played, the CONCACAF table will look like the following . . .

	GP	W	D	L	GD	Points
Costa Rica	10	6	2	2	3	20
Honduras	10	5	1	4	5	16
United States	10	4	3	3	4	15
Mexico	10	5	0	5	1	15
El Salvador	10	2	4	4	-6	10
T & T	10	2	4	4	-7	10

Gold Cup: México vs. Haiti at Cowboys Stadium

This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to attend the very first sporting event at the new billion dollar + Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. No, it wasn't a Dallas Cowboys' football game. The first sporting event was a SOCCER game of all things. That this event is part of the regular CONCACAF Gold Cup calendar and fell on a date in July long before the first preseason game was a stroke of luck. But the genius of it was that it was a México game...which guaranteed a sell-out crowd to show off the new stadium to the Metroplex media. There were an impressive 82,252 people at this event.

All of this would be enough. But there was also a Texas Rangers' game that same night across the way from the sparkling Cowboys Stadium at the Ballpark in Arlington. (Google Maps still has it listed as "Ameriquest Field" - someone should e-mail Google that Ameriquest and the rest of their bad loan/subprime mortgage ilk are long gone). So this was an ideal test of the traffic flow for Arlington city officials. Our group drove from the University of Texas at Dallas (in lovely Richardson, Texas). Traffic was pretty smooth flowing. We arrived and parked in Lot 13 in fairly short order. We took a group of students from México who are studying this summer at UTD. For most of them it was their first chance to see their Mexican National Team. So naturally they were thrilled. They wore their "selección" jerseys, painted their faces and proudly sang the Mexican National Anthem.

I took my fancy Nikon camera to document the event. I thought I might go around the concourse to get a real sense of this new landmark stadium. But unfortunately, there's no way to go completely around the stadium like we used to in Texas Stadium. Our tickets were in Section 244 which can only be accessed by entering the stadium through Gate C.

July in Texas was also a good chance to sample the indoor air conditioning of this facility. In the heat of the summer, it held up alright. Mind you, it's not chilly like a typical Dallas shopping mall. But it was kept around 80-85 degrees pretty consistently. It still beats a preseason game at Texas Stadium in August any day.

Beers are $7. Parking was $25. (Although I understand that parking lots for Cowboys' games will cost more like $40). The tickets we bought were 2nd lower balcony and cost $29. Standing Room Only tickets were $20.

As for the structure itself, Cowboys Stadium is very impressive. It's no Bird's Nest, of course. But it's sleek, modern, and shiny. It looms on Tom Landry Highway like some heaping half of the Star Wars Death Star. I imagined what went through the minds of the Haitian National Team as they approached the enormity and grandeur of it as if they weren't anxious enough playing the mighty Mexican National Team.

Mexico's 2nd team dominated Haiti 4-0. So the Mexican fans in the 2nd half of the game spent most of their time thinking up chants to sing together, perfecting the Mexican wave and swelling with pride. One of them sitting behind me thought I was a reporter (thanks to the fancy Nikon around my neck, no doubt) and told me that he was one of the electricians who worked on the stadium. It gave him a great sense of pride to work on this great stadium but that night he was overwhelmed sharing that pride with so many countrymen.

Beckham & KG play a little reverse shoe horse

New Cowboys Stadium 2010: World Cup Final Host?

One of my favorite soccer blogs is the New York Times' GOAL. The most recent post is regarding FIFA's contingency plans being in place in case South Africa doesn't have all its ducks in a row by the end of the year. 

One of the countries that could possibly step in to host the 2010 World Cup is the USA. Jerry Jones' new Cowboys Stadium would be an ideal place for the finals. It's a summer tournament, so the finals could be hosted indoors at what will arguably be the finest facility of its kind when it opens in 2009.

Next Stop for Cuban Soccer: the MLS?

Looks like Chivas USA's star Cuban striker Mikel Galindo has started a chain reaction of defections from Cuba's national soccer program. For a country better known for its béisbol, boxing & chess prowess, this must sting. Once these players get their immigration paperwork, look for them to find a place on one of the MLS teams' rosters. 1970's NASL exec, the Cuban exile Raphael de la Sierra, who worked closely with Warner's Steve Ross to make the NY Cosmos the most successful soccer team, must be loving this trend. Eat your heart out, Maradona. (Photo courtesy of the Associated Press)

Thierry Henry to Seattle FC?

It's the most wonderful time of the year. The MLS' 13th season is about to begin this weekend. The EPL season is coming down to a few more heated matches between serious contenders (Man U at 73 points, Chelsea! at 68, Arsenal at 67 & Liverpool at 59 trying to keep its 4th place spot away from crosstown rivals Everton). And the rumor mills are churning at a feverish pace.

If you didn't catch the Chelsea/Arsenal match on the Fox Sports Channel this past weekend, you missed a heckuva game. As busy as things have been of late, I settled for watching it over the course of Monday & Tuesday night (1st half Monday, 2nd half Tuesday). I maintained a soccer media block out. (Admittedly still not that hard to do here stateside). Arsenal have been playing below average - drawing in their previous 4 games. And Chelsea have been surging with their less than popular new manager Avram Grant. The Stamford Bridge faithful booed him loudly in the 2nd half when he made his substitutions. (Quite possibly game-winning substitutions!)

Our beloved FC Dallas will open their season up in Frisco's Pizza Hut Park this Sunday against Preki's Chivas USA at 2pm (Channel 52 - KFWD). Ante Razov & Mikel Galindo will start for the Goats.

Also Sunday: Fox Soccer Channel is showing the Rangers/Celtic match at 6pm CST (delayed) - one of the great sports rivalries - right up there with Yankees/Red Sox, Packers/Vikings, Lakers/Celtics.

The MLS rumor mill has been very active of late what with David Beckham's contract clause for MLS team ownership. I wonder where "The David Beckhams" will play? That's the other source of preseason rumors: Montréal, Quebec might be getting an expansion slot in the next couple of years. Might "The David Beckhams" play in Canada? The MLS has always stated that the league will eventually have a 2nd NYC team. Maybe Beckham will pay Pepe Pinton his $1 million for the NY Cosmos name. It's more likely that Beckham will purchase an existing club.

Then on the most recent World Soccer Daily podcast, Steven Cohen made mention of high level sources indicating that Seattle is in late-stage negotiations with France's all-time leading scorer Barcelona striker Thierry Henry to play for Seattle in their inaugural season next year 2009. This would explain those Gilette ads with Roger Federer, Tiger Woods & Thierry Henry.

20,000 attend pre-season match at Pizza Hut Park

(Photo courtesy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Richard W. Rodriguez)
Thanks to Otto Gol for setting the wife and me up with choice tickets to the big UNICEF Charity Match against the LA Galaxy last night. We had a great time.

A few notes on the game: it felt like a regular season game what with the big Beckham crowd and the English National Team drama. All players were putting their full effort into the game. Coach Ruud Gullit has been busy in his first pre-season as coach of the Galaxy. They look like a different team. We were disappointed not to see Carlos "El Pescadito" Ruiz play for his old/new team, the Galaxy. He has a hamstring issue and didn't make the trip. No Juan Toja last night either unfortunately. Beckham's fit as a fiddle this year. Let's hope he stays fit this season. After his nice performance last night, he'll get his 100th cap vs. France this month. Barring an LA Galaxy MLS Cup win or Supporters' Shield where his play is a key part of team success, it'll be the last time he plays for England.

As for England's National Team scout Franco Baldini scouting Beckham at a charity pre-season match in Frisco, TX, well, it's a more than a bit of a ring toss. This Times of London report says that Becks will be called up for his 100th cap but denies that it will have had anything to do with his performance last night in Pizza Hut Park. The wife and I were in line at half time to get a couple of BBQ sandwiches. In front of us was this Italian guy with a Juventus baseball cap and Versace eyeglass frames. As he ordered his Pulled Pork sandwich, I wondered whether or not we were behind the very scout sent by England to evaluate Beckham's fitness! I hadn't bothered to check Google Images to see what this Franco Baldini looks like beforehand. (It wasn't Baldini after all, but it's good to see an Italian enjoying himself in North Texas at a professional soccer match enjoying the local cuisine.)

LA dominated the 1st half. LA Coach Ruud Gullit has definitely made an offseason impact on this team. They looked very sharp. A couple of players to look out for this year: Mike Randolph from Chino Hills, CA. He's really fast. Becks found him on a long ball to the left of Dario Sala and Randolph almost scored. And the former Red Bulls' goalie Steve Cronin. He looks tough to score against. Beckham & Donovan will find their mojo this season as well. Look for them to combine on some nice plays.

The game is nicely summarized here and here. So I won't bother trying to recap every little detail. FC Dallas finally put the pressure on in the 2nd half. There were a couple of missed shots. New kid Brek Shea made his home debut and scuffed a shot. (I used my digicam to take some very rough quality video of some of the plays. I've got Shea's flub in there too.) It's good that he got that out of the way in a pre-season match. He'll settle down with some more game time experience.



It was my wife's first visit to Frisco's Pizza Hut Park. She was really impressed with the stadium and enjoyed the game.

Frisco Traffic Notes: Driving north on the tollway at 6:55pm, we hit traffic a full mile south of the Main St. exit. So, it took us about 15 minutes to get through that and parking south of PHP & Frisco City Hall. Leaving the park after the game, we tried to avoid Main Street traffic and went south to access the Tollway from Cotton Gin Road. That proved to be a bad idea. Frisco is still a Minor League town traffic-wise. They have stop signs at the tollway & Cotton Gin Road. And right before the stop sign, the 2 lanes squeeze into one. Then you have to hurry across the frontage road to get under the overpass (no northbound stop sign or light) only to have yet another unprotected stop sign with southbound frontage road traffic speeding by as if lives depended on velocity. It's an act of bravery pointing your car into this onslaught.