FMF State Of Mind - All Posts

Toluca hire Jose Cardozo to replace Enrique Meza as manager

2013-05-07T22:20:27Z

Toluca have brought club legend Jose Cardozo back into the fold as their new manager, replacing the recently departed Enrique Meza. At the very least, the Paraguayan will excite a fan base who will be happy to see the club's all-time leading goalscorer return.

Meza was hired a year ago and had an immediate impact at Toluca, leading them to the top of the table in the Apertura and the Liguilla final, but the Clauaura didn't go nearly as well. Their defense faltered and Luis Tejada fell off, taking the attack with him as they slumped to a disappointing 13th place finish. Unfortunately for the Diablos Rojos, they didn't have success in any other competition either, going out in the group stage of Copa Libertadores as well.

Now Meza is out and the man who scored 249 goals in 10 years with Toluca is in. Cardozo had a short stint managing Olimpia and spent eight months at Queretaro in 2011-12, where he finished eighth and qualified for the Liguilla in his first tournament before leaving the club the next tournament with the club languishing near the bottom of the table.

Liguilla 2013 quarterfinals: First leg preview

2013-05-07T15:07:55Z

The Liguilla gets underway on Wednesday and we'll have previews of each game. For now, here's a quick look at the first leg of each tie.

Monterrey (9) vs. UANL Tigres (1)

Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET

Tigres were the best team in Mexico during the Clausura, but it shouldn't surprise anyone if the Superlider curse returns this season. Monterrey defeated Tigres at Estadio Universitario in the two clubs' meeting this season, and Tigres are without Hugo Ayala for the rest of the tournament. Monterrey dropped plenty of points while they were trying to juggle CONCACAF Champions League and Liga MX, but they've looked spectacular when at their best in both competitions.

Expect Tigres to have more of the possession, even at Estadio Technologico, and Monterrey will be just fine with that. The big matchup to watch will be between Monterrey's strikers and the Tigres center of defense. Jose Rivas has done well deputizing for Ayala, but Aldo de Nigris and Humberto Suazo are the best strike pairing on the continent.

UNAM Pumas (7) vs. Club America (2)

Wednesday, 9 pm ET

America's attempt to create an advantage for themselves on the final day of the season by pricing Tigres fans out of the game at Estadio Azteca didn't work. That might actually be to their advantage, as Pumas are likely a less dangerous opponent than Monterrey. The two sides met back on April 20, with America defeating Pumas 1-0.

Pumas, who have spent a few seasons outside of Liguilla while trying to blend young and unproven talent into the squad, finally caved this season and brought in a few veterans to give the team a boost. They've made it back to the playoffs, placating their very annoyed fans temporarily, but progression to the semifinal would be fairly stunning. America have the much stronger squad and never looked like losing the game between the two.

Santos Laguna (6) vs. Club Atlas (3)

Thursday, 7 pm ET

Atlas's resurgence under Tomas Boy has arguably been the biggest story of the season in Liga MX. Rodrigo Millar was an excellent signing, while Atlas's other wide players have been pleasant surprises. 34-year-old Veterans Lucas Ayala and Leandro Cufre have enjoyed resurgent seasons under new management, while castoff strikers Matias Vuoso and Omar Bravo are back to the form they enjoyed back in their mid-20s.

Santos, however, are one of Mexico's strongest sides. Similar to Monterrey, their league position suffered as they attempted to juggle Liga MX and the CONCACAF Champions League. Atlas suffered a heartbreaking home defeat against Santos in the league, with Santos scoring in the 79th minute to equalize and in the 89th minute to win the match.

It's tough to bet against a team with the depth of attacking talent that Santos has -- one of Darwin Quintero or Herculez Gomez is likely to start on the bench, along with one of Edgar Lugo, Nestor Calderon or Mario Cardenas -- but Atlas didn't finish 3rd this season on accident.

Cruz Azul (5) vs. Monarcas Morelia (4)

Thursday, 9 pm (Estadio Azul)

Cruz Azul had an average start to the season and lost quite a few games in the middle of the year, but they're currently Mexico's hottest team, having won five straight entering Liguilla. They were particularly impressive in the final two weeks, beating Santos and Monterrey back-to-back, and they also own a 5-0 win over Tijuana. Gerardo Torrado and Israel Castro might be on their last legs, but they're healthy and in great form at the moment. Pablo Barrera has also returned from injury recently and has been a big boost.

These two sides drew in a 3-3 thriller back in January, but that game probably doesn't mean much in the context of this playoff tie. Cruz Azul didn't have Teo Gutierrez or Mariano Pavone in their lineup, still had Javier Aquino and didn't have Barrera. Morelia have also improved nearly as much as Cruz Azul in recent weeks, winning their last four in a row. Both teams are red hot at the moment, and it wouldn't be shocking to see the winner of this tie pull off a couple more upsets in route to a final appearance, and possibly a title.

Clausura Liguilla 2013 schedule announced

2013-05-06T17:19:44Z

The most highly anticipated matchup of the Liguilla quarterfinals will be the first to get underway. Monterrey, who qualified for Liguilla despite finishing in 9th place due to the relegation of 8th placed Queretaro, will host local rivals UANL Tigres in Wednesday's early game. UNAM Pumas will host Club America later on Wednesday in the lesser of the two local rivalry games in this year's quarterfinal. Those series both conclude on Saturday.

Atlas, who enjoyed a brilliant resurgence this season by qualifying for the playoffs and avoiding the drop, play Santos Laguna in the early Thursday game. Later on Thursday night, Monarcas Morelia and Cruz Azul renew their rivalry, playing in a playoff series for the first time since winter of 2011. Back in the spring of 2011, their playoff series ended with a massive brawl. The second legs of those series are on Sunday.

Ties are decided by home and away aggregate score. For years, the higher seed was the tiebreaker in Liga MX, but away goals is now the tiebreaker.

Schedule (all times ET)

(1) Tigres vs. (9) Monterrey

Wednesday, 7 pm (Estadio Tecnólogico)
Saturday, 7 pm (Estadio Universitario)

(2) America vs. (7) Pumas

Wednesday, 9 pm (Ciudad Universitaria)
Saturday, 5 pm (Estadio Azteca)

(3) Atlas vs. (6) Santos

Thursday, 7 pm (Estadio TSM)
Sunday, 8 pm (Estadio Jalisco)

(4) Morelia vs. (5) Cruz Azul

Thursday, 9 pm (Estadio Azul)
Sunday, 6 pm (Estadio Morelos)

Mexico vs. Peru: Final score 0-0, Domestic-based El Tri fail to impress

2013-04-18T05:16:32Z

It would be unfair to cast judgement on Mexico or Manuel "Chepo" de la Torre after a domestic-based friendly no matter the result, but with the struggles El Tri have had in the Hex, their listless performance in a 0-0 draw with Peru on Wednesday night is going to raise some eyebrows. The team was devoid of ideas in the final third and generally unimpressive as they added yet another draw to their string of them in 2013.

Pablo Barrera provided Mexico with one bright spot as he showed some of the same dynamism that made him such a force for El Tri before he tore his ACL. The winger, like most of his teammates, struggled to find options and play the correct ball when he got near goal, but he was quick on the ball and caused problems for the Peru defense when given space to run. Considering the trouble that Mexico have had on the right wing of late, be it with Javier Aquino or Giovani dos Santos, Chepo had to be excited and encouraged by what Barrera showed.

Unfortunately for Mexico, Barrera was one very few players who looked bright. Hugo Ayala was strong at the back and made his case to partner Hector Moreno going forward, while Jorge Torres Nilo put in his best shift in a Mexico shirt. Raul Jimenez also had a couple nice moments up top, but that was about the end of the list of impressive performances and if Jimenez falls into the "impressive" category then it is a low bar.

For all their troubles, Mexico did have a chance to win the match in the 69th minute when Christian Ramos was judged to have taken down Omar Bravo in the area. It was a very, very soft penalty, but a penalty nonetheless and Mexico wasn't going to turn down the opportunity, but it went for naught. Angel Reyna's spot kick was poor and Jose Carvallo was able to save it easily.

With a penalty wasted, Mexico wasn't going to win. They slumped to another draw and another underwhelming performance. Being a friendly with domestic-based players only, it isn't a match you can draw too many conclusions from or even put much stock in, but that probably won't stop some people from stoking the fire on Mexico and Chepo.

World Cup qualifying 2014: Mexico Prepares for Honduras and the USA

2013-03-16T16:00:01Z

José Manuel de la Torre’s Mexico hits the road to Brazil 2014 again on the evening of March 17, 2013, as players start reporting to Mexico’s world-class training facility, Centro de Alto Rendimiento or CAR. The call up was published last Wednesday and suffered a minor change Thursday night after Oribe Peralta suffered a knock on his knee during a CONCACAF Champions League semi-final showdown. Carlos “El Gullit” Peña replaces the injured Peralta.

After the 1-1 against Jamaica at Estadio Azteca, the red sirens could be perceived from various directions. Jamaica with a tad bit more of luck could of taken a historic victory from Mexico City, while Francisco Javier “El Maza” Rodríguez decided to offset a hyperactive fan by deriding him with an inappropriate gesture. Maza’s captaincy situation is put into question come the Honduras game at San Pedro Sula and the United States match at Estadio Azteca.

Contrary to the first Hexagonal match against Jamaica, Mexico will have about a week to prepare the anticipated Honduras match. A day after the unexpected tie, Honduras manager, Luis Suarez said in the radio show ESPN RadioFormula that Chepo’s team will be even more dangerous come the March 22nd game.

“It will be much tougher against Mexico because they will correct some mistakes for the next game against us. If I thought the match would be complicated, now I think it will be much more,” declared the former Ecuador manager.

Mexico will receive a Guillermo Ochoa who shut down the PSG and Olympique de Marseille attacks to zero goals. The Parisian team is first place, while the team that Zinedine Zidane supported growing up is second place.

In the game against Jamaica, Paul Aguilar received the shot to take over as right back. His games with America, which plays with a defensive line of five, as opposed to a line of four as Chepo and his staff use, exposed Aguilar. Severo Meza, who saw the match from the bench, got a call up, while the Club America defender was forgotten. Severo has his golden moment with el TRI.

Another Rayados player, Jesús Závala returns to a Mexico call-up after recovering from an injury he sustained in 2012. Závala is a player that has consolidated under Chepo’s guidance and is in pole position to start in San Pedro Sula.

On attack, the question persists, will Chepo de la Torre go with two strikers? Javier “Chicharito” Hernández is a definite starter, but with the Peralta injury will Chepo give the opportunity to a resuscitated Omar Bravo, or a rookie Raúl Jiménez?

Giovani dos Santos will arrive to Mexico as the player in best form from the European legion. It took him more than half a season to recover the genius in him and wow the football spectator. His ability to score and passing has exponentially improved in the last month. Playing Giovani behind Chicharito seems like the best option for the Honduras and the United States game.

The players required to generate the game from the wings will fall on the boots of two players who are playing in Spain’s Comunidad Valenciana, Andrés Guardado and Javier Aquino. Guardado has recently been dropped off Valencia CFs starting eleven, but his experience positions him as a starter. Aquino, whose role is ascending with Villarreal CF, will play on the right wing. The tandem Guardado-Torres Nilo is familiarized, while the Severo-Aquino tandem needs more minutes together to strengthen and become a force to Chepo’s team.

With these notes in mind, Chepo de la Torre’s possible line-up could possibly look as follows:

Ochoa’s excellent start to 2013 should be enough to give him a shot to start one of these important Hexagonal games. Guardado’s starting spot is not completely his, and an alternative could be Pachuca’s star midfielder Héctor Herrera. And last, will there be a type of sanction to Maza? Because if in fact he does not start, Diego Reyes could get his first slice of Hexagonal play.

Bloody Monday: Monarcas Morelia, San Luis both fire managers

2013-02-18T18:49:29Z

Two managers have been relieved of duty by their Liga MX clubs on Monday following poor results over the weekend. One, Eduardo Fentanes, could hardly make an argument for deserving to keep his job. The other, Ruben Omar Romano, will feel differently.

Fentanes has failed to guide San Luis to a win in the first seven weeks of play this Clausura season. They currently sit bottom of the table on two points, but more importantly, have crept back into the race for relegation. Queretaro appeared to be a near-lock for the drop earlier in the year, but San Luis is fading quickly enough that they could potentially finish with a lower coefficient than the Gallos Blancos.

Romano will likely feel a bit hard done by after being let go by Monarcas Morelia. He's won just two games this season, but Morelia is only one game out of a Liguilla place, and this weekend's 1-0 away loss to UNAM Pumas was hardly an embarrassing result. Sergio Santana and Hector Mancilla have not replaced the goal-scoring of Miguel Sabah and Rafael Marquez Lugo, who now play for Chivas, and it's tough to put that on Romano.

Club Tijuana vs. Club America: Final score 1-2, Moises Muñoz puts in superhuman performance

2013-02-10T03:19:58Z

Thanks to an early error by the Club Tijuana defense, a wonderstrike and an unbelievable man of the match performance by Moises Muñoz, Club America ran out 2-1 winners at Estadio Caliente despite being reduced to nine men. They picked up their first red card in the 21st minute and their second before the end of the first half, but managed to build on their early 1-0 lead, then hold on for a victory.

Tijuana dominated possession early and looked like the much more likely of the two teams to score until the 11th minute, when 'Chucho' Cristian Benitez drew a penalty. Cristian Pellerano reacted slowly to a surging run and tripped the America striker, leading to an Osvaldo Martinez goal from the spot.

In the 21st minute, Rubens Sambueza, who picked up a yellow card just 30 seconds in the game, went into the book for the second time and was sent off. While the first booking was legitimate, the second was questionable. He fouled Duiver Riascos, but did not hit him in the face, the part of his body that the Colombian went down clutching to draw the booking. On the ensuing free kick, Muñoz came up with a massive save.

America's second sending off came in the 39nd minute, and was much more clear-cut. Aquivaldo Mosquera, who had picked up his first booking for dissent while arguing the Sambueza sending off, was shown his second for tripping Fernando Arce. While the foul wasn't a hard one, it did come from behind, on a man who was running through on goal, and the referee had no choice but to send him off.

Tijuana threw men forward with reckless abandon in the final minutes of the first half, trying to equalize before the break, but failed to find the back of the net.

Thinking that they were safe to attack aggressively with America down to nine, Tijuana were caught out on the counter by the visitors, who shockingly doubled their lead in the 54th minute. Right back Paul Aguilar was the man who notched the goal, hitting the strike of his life over the head of Cirilo Saucedo from 25 yards. He was surrounded by three Tijuana defenders when he took the shot, and their unwillingness to close him down when he had no one to pass to was stunning.

Pablo Aguilar set up a wild finish, finally scoring for Tijuana in the 76th minute off a cross by Raul Enriquez, on a move that Muñoz couldn't do much to prevent. Shockingly, this did not signal America to put all nine men behind the ball and attempt to sit on their lead. They continued to send numbers forward on the counter-attack, which kept Tijuana from being as lethal as possible in their pursuit of an equalizer. As crazy as it was, it ultimately turned out to be an effective tactic.

Joe Corona had an excellent chance to equalize three minutes after the Xolos' first goal, but hit a poor shot wide of the near post from very close range. Tijuana looked to have their chance to secure a point on a scramble in stoppage time, when the ball fell to Aguilar in space to shoot, but his effort was saved spectacularly -- and in unorthodox fashion -- by Muñoz's knees.

This is the kind of result that alters seasons significantly, and it wouldn't be stunning to see both teams feel the effects of this result for some time. These were three massive points for America and could provide a huge boost. Meanwhile, the result will almost certainly be a gutting one for Tijuana.

Cruz Azul vs. Pumas UNAM: Final score 1-1, Gerardo Torrado sent off in a thriller

2013-02-10T01:02:22Z

In an exciting match in Mexico City, serving as a bit of an undercard to Saturday night's huge Tijuana - America battle, Cruz Azul and Pumas UNAM drew 1-1. Both goals came in the first half, and Pumas did well to hang on for a point. Late in the match, the Blue Machine had a man sent off, and they'll be without club icon Gerardo Torrado for a few matches as a result.

Things were lively in the opening minutes before both teams had time to settle in, with Pumas generating a decent chance on a set piece in second minute and Mariano Pavone failing to turn in a ball form Torrado two minutes later. The chances went away as both teams settled down, but the game was sparked back to life in the 21st minute when Torrado was chopped down in the box by Marco Antonio Palacios. Mariano Pavone stepped up and drilled past Marco's little brother to give the Blue Machine an early lead.

A wonderful fast counter fired the visitors right back into the match in first half stoppage time. Javier Cortes, the brilliant youngster whose El Tri opportunities have diminished as Pumas have declined in Liga MX, showed exactly why he earned five Mexico caps in 2012. He played a ridiculous long ball over the top of the Cruz Azul defense from inside his own half, which Nestor Araujo misjudged. It floated over his head to Emmanuel Herrera, who let the ball bounce before smoking a half-volley past Jose Corona at the far post.

Teofilo Gutierrez was involved in an argument with Pumas players at the end of the first half, and he didn't come out after the halftime break. He was replaced by Alejandro Castro, suggesting that the move might have been a purely tactical one, but it may have also been a case of Guillermo Vázquez recognizing a situation where his hotheaded star striker had the potential to pick up a booking or two if he played in the second half.

The second half got off to a roaring start, with both teams generating early chances. Martin Romagnoli made a brilliant play in the 50th minute when he got onto the line to support Alejandro Palacios on a corner and blocked a Pavone shot that had beaten 'Pikolin II'. Two minutes later, Cortes had a good chance on the other end, but put his shot right into the arms of Corona.

Cruz Azul almost went ahead in the 73rd minute, when Pikolin II made an absolutely brilliant save to keep the score tied. Gerardo Flores nearly scored on a corner when he rose above the Pumas defense to direct a brilliant header to the far post, but Palacios reacted quickly to get across his goal and tip the ball wide of the upright.

Five minutes later, the Blue Machine narrowly avoided what would have been an own goal for the ages. An attempted clearance by Castro smacked off of his own teammate in the penalty area, floated over the head of Corona and struck the crossbar. The rebound fell to Herrera, but he was unable to finish.

Torrado mucked things up in the 90th minute, going into a dangerous challenge with Romagnoli for which he was shown a red card and did much more damage to himself than the man he tackled. Cruz Azul didn't have to hold on with 10 men for long, however, and had no problem keeping a draw.

Both teams will likely walk away from this match seeing it as a solid point. Cruz Azul didn't play their best, even if they had more chances to score, and will be happy that they're still firmly in Liguilla places. Pumas need to start winning games sooner rather than later, but a draw away to Cruz Azul is nothing to scoff at.