Dec 24, 2014
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Lithuania
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Russia
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from Lithuania
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
The Big Verde Weekly Update: Group A, away jerseys, and Dirty Dancing.
(The line through the middle of the jersey is actually a seismograph reading of the whole country of Mexico falling over after seeing this jersey) Every four years, the world stops for just a bit to watch some futbol. Time will seem to ebb and flow with the rhythm of the games, slightly quicker during matches and slower when there are none. Countries in the past have stopped wars to watch this event, replacing guns with cleats and uniforms for jerseys. It becomes a month-long emotional roller-coaster as people of various cultures join together and fluctuate from pure euphoria to crushing and over-whelming sadness. To some, it is a beautiful metaphor for our life. The field is the life you are given, but the ball represents how you decide to live within it...and Mexico decides to bring a jersey that looks like it was accidentally washed with my little sister's clothing. I was already completely unsure about our current home jersey that the team has been sporting recently. The "Green Power Ranger" comparison is apt, but who can complain about that when we all know how cool the Green Ranger is (reason why green is my favorite color: Green Power Ranger). However, we can't be serious about the away jersey that looks more like a practice shirt that they should be wearing for a warm-up, right? Is there a petition for this or is this all part of a slow and gradual process of me complaining about things that don't really matter in my life? Who knows, maybe the jersey wont look half bad once they're on the field. We might literally look like practice cones as Brazil dribbles circles around us. Speaking of Brazil... It's official now. The schedule has been set for the World Cup. June 13th 2014: Mexico vs Cameroon June 17th 2014: Mexico vs Brazil June 23rd 2014: Mexico vs Croatia Brazil is the obvious standout here, but playing up against Croatia and Cameroon shouldn't be too much of an issue. We traditionally do very well in the group stage but it's the second round that has become our Achilles heel. The 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2010 World Cups have all had the same fate for Mexico: losing in the round of 16. Call it a curse, a coincidence, or just odd luck but for five World Cups straight we have had a similar ending and it looks likely that it can be a sixth. If we make it to the round of 16, our opponents would be either first or second from Group B. Who is in Group B you ask? Well my soon to be worried friend, Group B consists of: Netherlands, Spain, Chile, and Australia. Can you imagine Iniesta vs Medina or Van Persie vs Maza? I guess we will have plenty of time to discuss jerseys and upcoming matches, so for now let's just go to the games from last weekend. Weekend Update -Chicharito was given the start alongside Robin Van Persie over the weekend against Newcastle United. Chich only had one clear opportunity in the game after an amazing forty yard-pass from Van Persie. Chich did an excellent job of trapping the long ball but placed his shot directly towards Newcastle's keeper. He also did an obvious flop in the box after a slight touch from what I believe was Coloccini. It was embarrassing to watch but not nearly as embarrassing as the loss for the Red Devils at home. This is now their second straight loss at Old Trafford and also their third home game this season without scoring. Manchester United 0-1 Newcastle United. -AC Ajaccio were just fifteen minutes away from a huge 0-0 tie away from home with only ten men against Monaco. Once again, Guillermo Ochoa was the best player on the squad after making multiple crucial stops throughout the game. A late goal by Monaco's Riviere changed the scoreline and Ajaccio's fate. After a cross from the left-hand side from Monaco, the ball went through everybody's grasp until it was touched back across the face of the goal. Ochoa lept for the ball, missed it slightly but left a perfect opportunity for Riviere to place it in the back of the net. Ajaccio's defensive line appeared to be cemented to their spots after they failed to react and Ochoa's attempt to stop the ball was a difficult one. Ajaccio are now second to last in Ligue 1. Maybe now it's time for Ochoa to look for greener pastures. AC Ajaccio 0-1 Monaco. Fun Fact about Monaco: Residents are not allowed to gamble in or visit the inside of the World-famous Monte Carlo Casino which is located in their country. -Villarreal were busy with the Copa del Rey and so were Gio dos Santos and Javier Aquino. Both players knocked in a goal each for Villarreal in what was expected to be (and actually was) a close match against Elche. Aquino's goal was a last minute equalizer that appeared to be a difficult one for him to hit. The right-footed winger looked awkward trapping and then shooting the ball with his left-foot but it was a direct and audacious shot from outside of the eighteen-yard box. Villarreal traditionally don't do well in the Copa del Rey and will have a challenging trip to Elche in order to play their away game in the round of 32. Also, can anybody explain Richmond Boakye's goal celebration (around the 0:50 mark of this video)? It appears as though he shot his teammate with an imaginary gun, and then initiated a Patrick Swayze-esque Dirty Dancing move with said imaginary gun. I should become a professional soccer player. They get paid to do that. Villarreal 2-2 Elche. -In other Copa del Rey action, Carlos Vela and Real Sociedad traveled to Algeciras to play the town's namesake team in what was supposed to be an easy game. Algeciras play in the Segunda Division B league, which is in the third tier of the Spanish Soccer pyramid. Real Sociedad assumed the match would essentially be a practice and never expected Algeciras to attack as aggressively as they did. Vela was kept on as a sub until the 68th minute when the game was still only a 1-1 draw. Vela provided a nice boost to the attack through some nice crosses (and a flop in the box), but it wasn't enough to secure a win. Real Sociedad 1-1 Algeciras. -I do really wish tournaments like the Copa del Rey existed in American sports. Could you imagine how amazing it would be to see the Yankees be humbled by a minor league baseball squad? The Denver Broncos getting shut down by an Arena football team? That's almost what happened when Valencia took on Gimnastic de Tarragona. A team who is only six points ahead of Valencia's reserve squad in Spain's Segunda Division B. Valencia had a dismal display on all parts of the field and were lucky not to lose the match. Andres Guardado played for all ninety minutes and had a few good crosses during the match. Yet, he was a part of the incohesive Valencia back line that could not contain Gimnastic. Valencia 0-0 Gimnastic. -Nery Castillo was given the start for Rayo Vallecano in their Copa del Rey match against Rayo Valladolid. Castillo had a straightforward opportunity early in the game when he had a one-on-one with the keeper but stuttered at the last minute and naively shot the ball directly towards the keeper's body. It was somewhat reminiscent of every time I attempted to hit on a girl in college (without, you know, kicking soccer balls towards girls). Castillo remained quiet for the rest of the match and was eventually subbed out in the sixty-ninth minute. Rayo Vallecano 0-0 Real Valladolid. -Hector Moreno is just returning to team practices with Espanyol after recovering from an injury. He was left out of the starting line-up against Real Jaen. Espanyol 2-2 Real Jaen. -Jesus "Tecatito" Corona only played for the last twenty-one minutes over the weekend but still made a few positive (and negative) impacts. Just a few minutes after being subbed on, Corona passed the ball to teammate Youness Mokhtar, who then hit the post of a close shot. The hungry Mexican attacker then had a decent shot that went just wide of the net. His entry to the game brought along a spark for FC Twente's attack yet also three seperate fouls called on the player. One of which was enough to give him his first yellow in the Eredivisie. FC Twente 2-1 AZ Alkmaar. -Speaking of yellows, Hector Herrera seems to be racking them up recently. Although he played his first full game since November, Herrera received a yellow during the fiftieth minute of the game against Braga. This is now his fourth yellow in the last five matches with Porto. We all of course remember those first two. On a side note, Diego Reyes scored a goal...for FC Porto B. Either way, the goal is a blessing for Reyes who hasn't seen very many call ups to the senior squad. FC Porto 2-0 Braga. FC Porto B 2-1 Sporting Lisbon B. -Over in the Segunda Division, Anibal Zurdo played seventy-eight minutes for Sabadell during their 2-0 loss against Barcelona B. Ulises Davila scored his fourth goal of the season for Cordoba during their 2-1 loss to Real Zaragoza. -Jona dos Santos is still injured but making me feel injured...financially. I become more and more envious every day because of his instagram account. -Gabriel Piccolo started for just the third time this season and played all ninety minutes for Partick Thistle's match against Hibernian FC. Partick Thistle 1-1 Hibernian FC. International player of the week: Gio dos Santos. He looked like he was never injured at all last month. Games! (pacific standard time) Tuesday, December 10th, 2013 11:45 a.m. - Shakhtar Donetsk @ Manchester United (Chich) - Champions League 11:45 a.m. - Bayer Leverkusen @ Real Sociedad (Vela) - Champions League ----- Wednesday, December 11th, 2013 11:45 a.m. - FC Porto (Reyes & Herrera) @ Atletico Madrid - Champions League 11:45 a.m. - Celtic @ Barcelona (w/out Jona dos Santos) - Champions League ----- Thursday, December 12th, 2013 10:00 a.m. - Kuban Krasnodar @ Valencia (Guardado) - Europa League ----- Saturday, December 14th, 2013 7:00 a.m. - St. Johnstone @ Partick Thistle (Piccolo) - Scottish Premiership 9:00 a.m. - Granada @ Rayo Vallecano (Nery) - La Liga 9:00 a.m. - Real Zaragoza @ CD Sabadell (Zurdo) - Spanish Second Division 11:00 a.m. - Villarreal (Gio & Aquino) @ Barcelona (w/out Jona) - La Liga 11:00 a.m. - Lorient @ AC Ajaccio (Ochoa) - Ligue 1 11:45 a.m. - Go Ahead Eagles (originally founded in 1902 as "Be Quick," seriously.) @ FC Twente (Tecatito) ----- Sunday, December 15th, 2013 3:00 a.m. - Espanyol (Moreno) @ Almeria - La Liga 5:30 a.m. - Manchester United (Chich) @ Aston Villa - EPL 8:00 a.m. - Real Betis @ Real Sociedad (Vela) - La Liga 9:00 a.m. - Tenerife @ Cordoba (Davila) - Spanish Second Division Noon - Valencia (Guardado) @ Atletico Madrid - La Liga 12:15 p.m. - FC Porto (Reyes & Herrera) @ Rio Ave - Portuguese Liga
TBV Weekly Update: The Dos Santos Brothers Make History
(I almost used this picture, but I guess I should take myself more seriously)
And boom goes the dynamite!
The Big Verde here, ready for another installment of the weekly update! We've got some games to cover from the weekend and a little bit of international news so get your cleats and shin guards ready, it's futbol time here again at TBV.
This Year's Gold Cup Suddenly Becomes More Significant
(I'll use any excuse to replay this video)
The times are a-changin' for the Gold Cup. Now, for the next edition of the Confederations Cup in 2017, the winners of the 2013 and 2015 Gold Cup will face-off in a one match knockout game for the single coveted spot. This suddenly puts more emphasis for the national team (and all other teams competing) as this tournament could possibly give them a chance to take part in the next tournament in Russia. Whether this was a move by the CONCACAF to give a little more attention to this tournament, or a chance to give both winners a chance, it seems like a fair thing to do. Let's be honest though, it's going to be Mexico vs U.S. every time. Mexico have won six of the tournaments and the U.S. have won four. The only other team to have won the Gold Cup is Canada back in 2000 during that wacky tournament.
Speaking of the Confederations Cup
(I thought the stadiums were supposed to be finished by last December...)
Alright fine, that picture of the Estadio Nacional is from last August, but it doesn't look like they are making much progress. What Brazil does have to look forward to is the hype that has been surrounding the tournament. Ticket sales have exceeded expectations and surprisingly enough, the game that has been the most popular is the Mexico and Italy match-up on June 16th. Another exciting thing to check out is the new goal-line technology which will be used and probably utilized for the upcoming World Cup.
Looking beyond the hype, keep in mind that this is a great warm-up for Mexico (against quality opposition), but we shouldn't get too cocky if we do well. No team has won the Confederations Cup and the World Cup consecutively. Here is a list of the Confederations Cup top four and the top four from the year after in the World Cup (I didn't include the 99 and 03 tournament because there were no World Cups afterwards, but we did win the tournament in 1999, woot!)
1997 Confederations Cup (Saudi Arabia)
1. Brazil 2. Australia 3. Czech Republic 4. Uruguay
1998 World Cup (France)
1. France 2. Brazil 3. Croatia 4. Holland
---
2001 Confederations Cup (Korea/Japan)
1. France 2. Japan 3. Australia 4. Brazil
2002 World Cup (Korea/Japan)
1. Brazil 2. Germany 3. Turkey 4. South Korea
---
2005 Confederations Cup (Germany)
1. Brazil 2. Argentina 3. Germany 4. Mexico
2006 World Cup (Germany)
1. Italy 2. France 3. Germany 4. Portugal
---
2009 Confederations Cup (South Africa)
1. Brazil 2. United States 3. Spain 4. South Africa
2010 World Cup (South Africa)
1. Spain 2. Holland 3. Germany 4. Uruguay
---
Brazil have come close multiple times, but have never won the two tournaments in a row. What's strange is the lack of trophies from the teams who finish second in the Confederations Cup. No team who has finished second in the Confederations Cup has played in the championship game or even played in the semi-finals. The United States lost in the quarterfinals in 2010, Argentina lost in the quarterfinals in 2006, Japan couldn't get past the round of 16 in 2002, and embarrassingly enough, Australia didn't even qualify for the tournament in 1998.
That's cool and all The Big Verde, but I think its time to check out the players overseas.
League Update
(He just wont stop will he?)
-Malaga have beaten A.C. Milan, Zenit St. Petersburg, and held Borussia Dortmund scoreless last week in the Champions League, but they were no match for Carlos Vela and company in La Liga over the weekend. Vela opened up the scoring for Real Sociedad in the 21st minute before his team knocked in two more during the next ten minutes. Vela lead the offense to an easy 4-2 win over Malaga. Real Sociedad have only eight games left, and at their current rate, they should easily be able to finish in the top three or four spots of La Liga (and a possible chance in the Champions League). Vela now has a career-high 13 goals for the season which puts him at a tie for seventh overall in La Liga.
-Hector Moreno, or as I'm calling him from now on, Mr. Consistent, was awesome over the weekend for his side, Espanyol. Moreno added the first goal off of a header, that's his second this season, and maybe something we should consider for El Tri during our set plays. He was easily the most composed defender in the back and possibly the player of the game. What's outstanding about Moreno recently, is his ability to provide for both the offense and defense of the team, as a central defender. Espanyol 2-0 Osasuna.
-Andres Guardado had one of his best games of the season so far for Valencia. He might have cemented his spot as a left back after his dominating performance against Valladolid. Guardado was one of the more active players for his team offensively while also being able to track back defensively. Before the game, I had doubts over his fundamentals (passes to feet, crosses, clearances) recently, but he proved me wrong. I guess it's difficult for Guardado to balance two different roles for club and country, but he proved over the weekend that he could do either. Valencia 2-1 Valladolid.
-Oh man, Chicharito. It's not his fault, he got subbed into a game with only five minutes left. I honestly don't think he did a single thing other than win a foul for United, but could you blame him for the playing time he got? I'm not Sir Alex, but something (it didn't need to be Chicharito) had to be done earlier in the second half if they wanted to win. Manchester United were playing a little too defensive and unfortunately Chicharito's late arrival didn't provide enough time for a second goal. Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City.
-Barcelona vs Mallorca is going to have to be a double-review of Giovani Dos Santos and Jonathan Dos Santos. For the first time ever, two brothers of Mexican-descent, played against each other in Europe. This was also Jona's first chance to play for Barca in the regular season. Big deal. Unfortunately, Gio had a very quiet game and Jona wasn't as involved in too much of the Barca attack. Either way it was still pretty exciting for me. I'm not sure what was better, Gio and Jona both having an attempt on net for their respective teams within the same minute of play, or Jona completely missing a tackle against his brother Gio. Brotherly rivalries aside, it was an all too easy game for Barcelona who never stopped attacking Mallorca. Barcelona 5-0 Mallorca. Side note: It appears as if Jona is finally realizing he may have to move on, and some EPL teams may be interested in signing the young Mexican.
-Guillermo Ochoa had a good result over the weekend. He compiled his third shutout in four games for AC Ajaccio, which would be more helpful if Ajaccio scored during two of those encounters. He didn't have much work to do against Sochaux. AC Ajaccio 0-0 Sochaux.
-Ulises Davila received just as much playing time (five minutes) as Chicharito as he saw his side, CD Sabadell defeat Sporting Gijon 4-3 over the weekend. I should give a shout-out to the 30 year-old Mexican, Anibal Zurdo who provided the first goal for Sabadell.
-Javier Aquino had an off-day at the office, but his team did not. Villarreal scored six goals over Numancia's one to find an easy win. This puts them at third in La Liga's second division and only one point away from the second spot (which would secure them a move to the first division!). Aquino's poor passing and mistakes in the middle were detrimental to the team, but it would have been a hell of a scoreline if he was on top of his game. Villarreal 6-1 Numancia.
International Player of the Weekend: Hector Moreno
TBV Question of the Week! Estadio Azteca is gone, but you somehow get to decide where Mexico can play their home games (anywhere in the universe!). Where would it be and why?
Remember to send your answers to:
Upcoming games!
Saturday, April 13th
Valencia (Guardado) @ Espanyol (Moreno) - La Liga
AS Nancy Lorraine @ AC Ajaccio (Ochoa) - Ligue 1
------- Sunday, April 14th
Manchester United (Chich) @ Stoke City - EPL
Real Sociedad (Vela) @ Rayo Vallecano - La Liga
CD Sabadell (Davila) @ Huesca - La Liga Second Division
Villarreal (Aquino) @ Murcia - La Liga Second Division
-------
Monday, April 15th
Celta Vigo @ Mallorca (Gio) - La Liga