Golden Gold Cup Final

Mexico overwhelms USA 4-2

Listening to the Scott Van Pelt show on ESPN this week, the host asked listeners to send e-mails about why USA-Mexico in the Gold Cup Final was so important, why it was worthy of taking center stage in this program over other sports news such as the NBA draft, baseball, the football lockout, Wimbledon, the Dodgers impending bankruptcy, or golf. It occurred to me that Van Pelt was appealing to those of who love soccer to do what has become a central tenet of this blog, which is to defend the sport we love, to validate it as real and newsworthy to the American fan base.

When it comes the topic of USA-Mexico, there is an abundance of reasons of why this has become a soccer world world classic. For years past, the analysis of this rivalry was mired in cultural and sociological aspects and delved into the rich and tense history between the two largest countries in North America. But today, despite the fact that there continue to be intriguing socio-economic and political dynamics in the relationships of both countries, the discussion of this rivalry is now as rich in footballing tactics and styles as in everything else.

The immigration issue, which one can safely say is the leading cause of political tension between Mexico and the US, provides what is arguably the one anomalous dynamic in world football. When the US national team plays on American soil, they are not, as in other countries, supported by the majority of the fans in the stadium. That is to say, the US team no longer enjoys home-field advantage. This is of course due to the fact that there is a huge Mexican immigration population in the United States and the fact that soccer continues to be a 2nd tier sport in the US sporting scene. So while there are still a lot of fair-weathered US soccer fans, in Mexico, futbol is still the dominant sport, and Mexicans continue to gobble up tickets to games in troves. Of the 93,000 plus fans in the stands, it seemd like only a handful were rooting for the US.

Within this social and political framework, the US and Mexico met in the third consecutive Gold Cup Final. For many years, Mexico was the dominant power in the CONCACAF region but that changed in the 1990's as USA soccer finally reached world class levels. Once the laughing stock of the region, the US is now Mexico's equal in the region, and the US and Mexico now dominate CONCACAF much the same way that Argentina and Brazil dominate South American soccer. Indeed, other CONCACAF countries are now crying foul claiming that CONCACAF actually sets up the tournament so Mexico and the USA can only meet in the Final game.

This edition of the Gold Cup Final was the most enjoyable I've ever seen between the two teams. The US charged to an early 2-0 lead, only to see Mexico storm back with 4 unanswered goals. Before the US scored the first two goals of the game, Mexico were the better team and had generated three clear scoring chances before Bradley scored on a flick from a corner kick. Donovan made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute after a nice combination play on the right flank found Donovan wide open against Mexico's goalie Talavera.

Mexico erased what is often called the most insecure lead in the game by continuing to attack a weakened American defense. Steve Cherundulo left the game in the 12th minute after being injured by a reckless challenge early in the game from Jermaine Jones on Giovanni do Santos. Eric Lichaj was moved from left back to right back to take Cherundulo's spot and Bornstein was inserted in his place. Bornstein, who had played well in WC 2010 had been out of the lineup for a while, and didn't look comfortable once back in. In fact, it was Bornstein who was beat by a long diagonal ball to the right flank. Pablo Barrera outraced Bornstein and fired a low hard shot that Howard couldn't do anything about to begin Mexico's comeback.

In the 35th minute, Guardado beat Howard to a rebound and sent the ball spinning into the left post, as Chicharito was barely able to avoid touching the ball (in a play in which he would most likely would have been ruled offside). With the score tied, the Mexicans had erased the early momentum and reestablished their control.

Five minutes after halftime, the USA defense collapsed again as Barrera scored on another deft low shot that beat Howard to his left. Down 3-2 Clint Dempsey clanged off a shot against the crossbar that would have tied the game. That would be the last good chance that the US would have. Freddy Adu, a surprise starter, had fueled the Americans strong start, but his contributions started to sputter in the second half (I would argue due to fitness issues since he hasn't been a regular on this team for years now). The other two American stars, Donovan and Bradley looked overmatched against the faster dos Santos and Guardado, two of Mexico's rising stars.

By the time of Mexico scored the final goal, they had completely taken over the game. Mexico's fourth goal, scored by Giovanni dos Santos, was one of the most mesmerizing goals I've ever seen, a dazzling display of sophisticated footwork, vision, and a superb finishing chip.

Dos Santos goal was a product of a strength play by Chicharito (who ironically didn't figure in the scoring but had a good overall game) and a poor play by Carlos Bocanegra. Chicharito held a ball played into the corner against a charging Bocanegra. The latter did well in eventually taking the ball away, but then cleared the ball back into the middle where Mexico’s Torrado picked it up, and then sent a pass to dos Santos deep in the right hand side of the penalty area. Howard rushed dos Santos, who then began dribbling to his left past away from Howard, who by then had no resource but to lunge desperately at Giovanni’s feet and missed the ball. Dos Santos, realizing that the keeper was now in no mans land, took two more brilliant touches to elude two more American defenders before finally chipping the ball magically into the upper left hand corner, barely eluding the head of a jumping Eric Lichaj.

Univision's color commentator Jesus Bracamontes beat Pablo Ramirez to the punch as he yelled out "Golazo" as the ball worked its way into the goal. The Spanish word is reserved for only the finest of goals, for works of art, and this goal certainl

The goal illustrated the difference between the current state of Mexican and US soccer. A fan of USA soccer just doesn't expect an American player to score a goal like this. The US goals are a by-product of hard-work, teamwork, determination, and a never die attitude. They are never works of art. Yet Mexico has at least four current players (Chicharito, dos Santos, and Guardado, and Barrera) capable of improvising a play to produce something special.

The US, save for Donovan, doesn't have a player capable of such magic with the ball at his feet. Additionally the US team is an aging squad. It's a team whose stars are all approaching that forbidden 30 year old barrier, after which a soccer player's efficiency declines spectacularly at the international level. And its younger players who possess talent with the ball at their feet, such as Freddy Adu, have been shunned from the squad in favor of the more workmanlike player, such as Bradley’s own son Michael.

Even more frightening, the average age of the current Mexican squad is less than 25 and poised to make some real noise in the next World Cup. And with a even younger infusion of talent in the pipeline stemming from Mexico's second U-17 World Championship in 8 years, the Mexican national team will be competitive at a world stage for years to come.

Jogo Bonito 3 - Soccer 2

A valiant USA team comes up short in the Confederation Cup Final.

It was simply too much to ask, wasn’t it ? After having scored one of the biggest upsets in their history against Spain, and after holding a 2-0 lead at halftime against the world’s greatest soccer team, it was implausible that the U.S. could really beat Brazil (the same Brazil that had thumped the U.S 3-0 barely 10 days ago). In history and in sport, David only gets to slay Goliath once.

Even with the U.S. up at halftime, you sensed something in the air, that a comeback was imminent, that Brazil wouldn’t let this upstart soccer nation best it at a major FIFA tournament. It’s what makes the Cariocas so great, a team that believes it can win against anyone anytime, able to overturn any disadvantage, able to overcome any opponent with their “jogo bonito.”

Playing in their first FIFA final ever, the USA got off to a flying start.
Clint Dempsey’s innocent little cross/shot found the far post past Julio Cesar’s outstretched fingertips in the 11th minute. The early goal was the tonic that the Americans needed to put the Brazilians back on their heels. The problem was that this early goal lit a fire under the South American team. Except for some havoc in front of the Brazilian goal in the 14th minute where the ball was up for grabs for any American to pounce on, Tim Howard was force to make 3 brilliant saves off of shots of Robinho, Melo, and Maicon. On the two last shots, Howard had no recourse but to knock the ball down to the ground using two hand to remove the venom from the shots.

Surely one felt it was a matter of time before Brazil equalized and the game would simply be too hard for the USA to manage. In the 28th minute, the USA gave the Brazilians a taste of their own medicine. After stopping the Brazilian attack, Donovan advanced on a perfectly weighted pass to the middle of the field, where he spotted Charlie Davies on the left. After the pass, Donovan began a steaming run straight for the middle of the Brazilian 18-yard line. It was a 2-2 and Davies’ 30 yard pass was right on the money to the streaking Donovan, who received it, flicked it to his left completely turning his man around, and the coolly slotted a low shot to Julio Cesar’s left for a 2-0 advantage.



The speed of the breakaway goal was reminiscent of Robinho’s goal against the USA in the teams’ first meeting in group stage. This “blowback” goal was a brilliant moment for the Americans, one of the best and most riveting goals I’ve ever seen a USA squad score in international competition. The blood was boiling, the South African plastic Bubuzela horns were humming, the Yanks were up 2-0 on mighty Brazil. Suddenly the impossible was probable.

As in hockey, a hot goalie can carry a team, especially one who is clearly not as talented as their rival. From that second goal until the end of the half, Howard prove to be Brazil’s foil, playing the part of the goalie who will not be beat to perfection. In the 35th minute, he once again stopped a shot from Santos. In the 38th, after the play was whistled for offside, Howard continued to pay and stopped yet another shot. Tim Howard was locked in, pure and simple. There weren’t going to be any goals, not even a freebie.

Brazil brought on the heat, desperately trying to get that symbolic and psychologically uplifting goal before halftime. But Howard and the American defense swarmed to every goal, blocked plenty of shots. Their constant pressure on the Brazlians when it counted was the key to their success. In the dying moments, a Maicon cross was barely deflected by Dempsey and thus eluded two onrushing Brazilian attackers. The halftime whistle blew, the goal had not been conceded, and things looked very promising.

Part of the American’s success was their ability to counter attack and keep the Brazilian defense off balance. Brazil had plenty of the ball, but due to Howard’s brilliance and a stout defense, they had nothing to show for their effort.

If Brazil couldn’t score that last gasp goal in the first half, they came and did the next best thing: score right away in the second. Fabiano’s wonderful trap and turn in the 46th minute finally conquered the indomitable Howard, and all of a sudden, the Brazilians had a lifeline. I knew right away this game was going to be extremely difficult for the U.S. to manage. If they could only have held on for 10-15 minutes, anything would have been possible, but to concede a second goal right away spelled trouble.

In the next 15 minutes, the U.S. held their composure, didn’t collapse, and actually continued to play Brazil even. Donovan had a beautiful back heel to a streaking Feilhaber, who tried to walk the ball into the net rather than crossing it; the Americans were ebullient with confidence and started to try to do the Brazilian thing.

In the 60th minute, a header by Kaka on the far post off of a corner kick appeared to be well inside the goal (at least Howard was well inside as he cleared it out). There was no official ruling so without instant replay, the game goes on. A huge break for the Americans. In the 65th minute, Dempsey played the ball nicely off a pass, worked it into the middle and fired a left-footed shot that Julio Cesar had to struggle to tip of the bar. In the 71th minute, Howard once again was HUGE, coming off his line to stop Fabiano’s breakaway cold. In the 72th minute, Davies, all alone on top, tried his best Ronaldo’s impersonation attempting to dribble 3 Brazilian defenders and was just barely poked away by Luisao.

The turnaround came in minute 74, when Kaka finally was able to shake off a tired looking Spector to cross a lethal ball into the goal mouth. Fabiano pounced on the loose ball and headed past a diving Howard for the tying goal.

In the next 10 minutes, Brazil relentlessly pursued the game and dominated possession. In the 85th minute, they were finally rewarded off of a set piece when Lucio’s header off of a corner was simply too well placed even for the stellar Howard to deny. The Brazilians celebrated mightly. The U.S. would have one more chance off of a corner but Oneywu’s point-blank header went high.

The Americans played valiantly and almost pulled off their greatest victory every. They were a composed team, even if the face of the Brazillian artillery attack. What’s most impressive is their psychological turnaround in a tournament that saw them start off horribly and end up almost pulling off a second stunning result in as many games.

In the end, Brazil was simply too good, talented, and powerful. Great teams find ways to score in multiple ways, whether it’s off of individual or collective brilliance, or from set pieces, or from just sheer hard work. The predominant myth about Brazil is that they’re simply built on the talent of their individual players, and that somehow the individuals are greater than the sum of their parts. This could be no further from the truth. The Brazilians are undoubtedly technically extremely gifted individual players, but they also are a well oiled machine who pour in as much sweat equity into their game as any other team in the world. They work hard, they do the simple things, and of course, they also perform magic when required. But it is their extraordinary effort, fueled by their sheer love of the game, that is the true source of their magic, the essence of the “jogo bonito.”

USA shocks Spain

“Soccer” beats “Futbol”
An opportunistic USA team continues its road to redemption at the 2009 Confederation Cup.

The hardest thing in soccer is scoring that first goal. Soccer history is littered with games in which a vastly superior team attacks relentlessly, outshoots its opponent, has more corner kicks, greater possession, and still doesn’t manage to win the game. In the case of the USA versus Spain in the 2009 Confederation Cup semifinal, this spelled one of the greatest wins in US soccer history.

Coming in to this game, Spain hadn’t lost a game since a friendly in 2006. It carried a 35 game unbeaten streak and a 15 game winning streak, almost unheard of in this sport. Spain, soccer’s eternal underachievers for years, finally had gotten the monkey off their back by winning the European championships in 2008.

At this years edition of this tournament, they were put into a cream-puff group featuring the likes of New Zealand, Iraq, and South Africa. They won every game handily even if the score didn’t reflect it against Iraq and licked their chops when they were told they’d be facing the Americans in the semi-final.

The USA’s journey to the semi-final was antithetical to Spain’s stroll through the garden. Placed in the group of death (Italy, Brasil, and Egypt joined them), the US did horribly in their first two games, losing by an aggregate of 1-6. Fortunately for them, that lone goal against Italy (scored by Donovan off of a PK) turned to be the mathematical pivot point they could leverage off of going into the final game of the group stage. Needing a combination of a Brasil win by a differential of 3 and their own 3 goal difference against Egypt, the Yanks somehow managed to keep their end of the bargain as they destroyed a physically depleted Egyptian team 3-0 in the final game. (Egypt had played quite well in the first two games gaining 3 points and only needed a win or a tie against the US coupled with an Italy loss to advance.)

Now really, what were the chances that Brasil would beat Italy by 3 to allow the US to sneak in through ? I flipped between both games nervously (they were played simultaneously), and my hopes were elevated with every goal scored. At one point, I needed the equivalent of a soccer sllde-rule to keep track of goal differential and total goals for all teams except Brazil. When both games were at 3-0 at or near the 90th minute, the impossible was suddenly probable. Sure Egypt or Italy could still score to spoil the Yanks magical run, but this most plausible of scenarios simply never occurred.

We have come full circle to the major theme of our story: neither Egypt nor Italy could score that first goal to keep the US out of the semis, and Spain couldn’t score that first goal that would certainly have led to an avalanche of goals for Spain. Even though they were down by 2 at the 74th minute, Spain could have scored that first goal in the 85th and I think they could have still won the game. It’s that mysterious, unattainable first goal that torments soccer teams’ minds.

Spain was clearly the better team this night. They outshot the Americans, had more corner kicks, more chances on goal, the lion’s share os possession, forced Howard into multiple saves. Yet they still lost. Spain’s wunderkids Villa, Torres, Ramos, Xavi, et al were outdone by Donovan, Specter, Altidore, and Dempsey. Spain was the world’s top ranked team, but as Lou Holtz once famously said: “You don’t have to be the best team in the world, just the best team in the stadium.” In soccer that logic is turned upside down. The USA was certainly not better than Spain but they just happened to beat Spain. Only in soccer is such silliness possible.

Real Disaster

Liverpool destroys Merengues 4-0

The promise of this game was too great to pass up a chance to spark up the old blog. Are you kidding me, Liverpool against Real Madrid in second leg with the Reds’ holding a 1-0 advantage on an away goal ? Real Madrid visiting Anfield for the first time in 50 years. As it that wasn’t enough, here some more truly delectable goodies:
• Real Madrid was voted the best club of the 20th century.
• Liverpool has been the top ranked club by UEFA for the last 5 years.
• Liverpool’s manager, Javier Benitez, spent 15 years as player and coach with the Merengues.
• Real Madrid, the Spanish club, have 1 fewer Spanish players than Liverpool, the English side.

Unfortunately the promise of this game as a classic for the ages pretty much ended as the whistle blew. From the opening moments, it was clear that Liverpool were intent on making sure that Real Madrid’s first visit to Anfield would not be one to remember, would not be one for the history books, not at least in terms of a classic game between two of Europe’s most legendary and decorated teams. No. From the get go, this was a massacre on English soil that the Spanish haven’t experienced since their naval defeat of their supposedly invincible Armada back in 1588 (check date).

Ironically enough, it was the young Spaniard Fernando Torres who set the tone with what was so aptly described by the ESPN play-by-play man as a “moment of genius” when he self-back-heeled a pass from Gerrard in the third minute, leaving Fabio Cannavaro in the dust, before rifling a shot to the near post that required a leg kick save from Iker Casillas. Casillas is only one of the finest goalkeepers of the world, but on this night, despite a handful of masterful saves, he would not be enough to hold down the fort of what only be described as an Anglo-Spanish assault on Real Madrid.

A scant 30 seconds later, Casillas would have to make another dazzling save, parrying Mascherano’s well placed left-volley off the crossbar. In the eight minute, a low and hard Steve Gerrard free kick was easily handled by Casillas but only because it was right at him.

Liverpool’s intensity was evidently superior to Real’s in those first fifteen minutes. They ran circles around the Madrid defense, made long crisp passes from one end of the pitch to the other, easily stripped the ball from the Madrid players as they tried to play the fine continental possession game. This would not be one of those soccer games where one teams knocks and knocks on the door but simply can’t score a goal to save themselves. Real’s defense was just too atrocious in the face of the Reds’ advance.

In the 15th minute, the Spanish comedy of errors began in earnest. Playing a bit against the run of play, there was a pass into the left side of Casilla’s goal. Cannavaro dived at it wildly and rendered himself useless. This left Real’s Pepe to try to clear the ball as he found himself sandwiched between Kuyt and Torres. His kick was as woeful as Cannavaros, and Kuyt collected the ball and cross neatly back to Torres, who toe poked the ball in for the first goal of the ensuing massacre. At this juncture, the game was 2-0 on aggregate, and Madrid knew all along that they would need to score two goals anyway to advance.

In the 22nd, Skrtel’s header forced Casillas to yet another diving save. In the 23rd, after some more dazzling work by Torres on the edge of the penalty box he found Gerrard with a cross that Steven hit with a sliding volley, forcing Casillas to make yet another save. Less than halfway to the break and Iker’s was already working on his 6th quality save.

In the 27th mminute, faced with the constant pressure, Real’s left back, Gabriel Heinze’s was victimized by a terrible hand-ball call inside the box (it clearly hit his shoulder), giving Liverpool a PK. Gerrard made no mistake and buried it. It was a very harsh call but not the kind of injustice that would prove to swing the game. Minutes later, Real had their best attempt off of a long range shot by Wesley Sneijder, forcing Pepe Reina to make his first and what would be his only real save of the night.

Near the end of the half, Raul had a couple of chances that symbolized Real’s futile attempts at goal. He headed over on one and then tried to volley a cross that he should have tried to head. Raul has been a great player for Madrid, but all of the ESPN commentators could talk about tonight was his great performance at Old Trattford 8 years back. Raul’s futility was symbolic of Real’s inability to crack a very stout Liverpool defense (where the hell was van Nistelroy whenh you needed him ?).

The game was sealed for real at the start of the second half. After easily dispossessing the Merengues of the ball, Babel made a cross into the box that Gerrard converted into Liverpool’s third goal. This was not an easy goal to convert but it was classic Gerrard. With the ball taking an awkard hop, Gerrard jumped and contorted his body to be able to short-hop it and root if into the goal past a hapless Casillas. This was the definite knock-out punch with still nearly 45 minutes left to play.

Nearly 30 years ago, when I first discovered soccer while living in Spain, I saw a Barcelona team led by the legendary Johan Cruyff destroy Real Madrid 5-0 at the Nou Camp. It was about as perfect a demonstration of a dismantling of a team as I have ever watched. Tonight, unfortunately for Real Madrid, Liverpool matched that Barcelona effort by totally outclassing the Merengues.

Chelski denied as Red Devils win the dreadful PK shootout

Playing before a host of survivors of the 1958 plane crash that included Bobby Charlton, in a pouring rain, in what seemed the middle of the night, Ryan Giggs converted the penalty kick in Moscow put Manchester United ahead in the penalty kick shootout. Moments later, when Edwin vander Saar saved Nicholas Anelka’s nervously weak shot, the Red Devils had just won their third Champions League trophy. The shootout is a game that is won more by nerve than by skill; it was appropriate that Giggs, the consummate professional and all-time leader in games played for Manchester didn’t flinch when his turn came.

Giggs and Terry were the fitting protagonists in the PK drama, much as they had been in the first overtime, when Terry had cleared a Giggs shot headed for goal out for a corner kick. Terry, with a chance at heroic victory at his feet, slipped badly on the approach and his resulting shot went wide of the net. Instead of the hero, he is the goat. He will be forever remembered for missing the kick rather than for the brilliant header clearance aforementioned. Of course it took others to be complicit in this Chelsea tragedy, but Terry is the one who will be remembered for failing to deliver the “coup de grace.”

Terry’s miss opened the door for Manchester United’s comeback and they capitalized on that much like they had nearly 10 years ago when they scored two in injury in their win against Bayern Munich.

The first 90 of the game itself, while not dreadful by any means, lacked a certain electricity that characterized some of the matches preceding it this year. The first twenty minutes were more tactical and tense than anything else; the proverbial boxer’s feeling out rounds lasting much longer for any fan.

As if by some strange sign of destiny, red seemed to be the dominant color early on: Drogba bloody tongue and Scholes bloody nose were about the most exciting things that occurred up until the 26th minute, when Ronaldo, mostly known for his pace and fancy footwork, headed in a Wes Brown cross into a corner that Cech could not reach. None of Ronaldo’s 41 goals in 47 matches this year had been scored against Chelsea. That streak was now broken much to Chelsea’s dismay.

The game certainly picked up pace after that . The best action of the entire game came in the 34th minute with end to end play originating with Chelsea attacking through some nice passing from Lampard to Essien to Ballack. Ballack’s shot was cleared by Ferdinand to Rooney, who’se 40 meter pass caught a streaking Ronaldo. His cross to Tevez and the ensuing shot was punched back by Cech, but right back to Carrick, whose own shot was saved by Cech again.

Towards the end of the first half, a defensive lapse by Man U as a shot bounced off of Ferdinand’s back and fell at the foot of Lampard, and with a sprawling vander Sarr, Frank converted with ease to tie the game.

In the second half, Evra’s cross with the 3 Man U players in the box eluded all of them. After that, Chelsea seemed to quietly take over as the Ballack, Lampard, Essien trio started to dominate. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Tevez seemed to isolated from each other. While Tevez and Ronaldo continued running and shooting, it was Chelsea that had the better opportunities in the second half. Rooney largely disappeared.

In the 55th minute, Essien went on one of his trademark hard runs but his shot went high. In the 84th a nice shot from Drogba hit the post, the first of two for the Blues.

The field was causing problems as a number of players started to cramp up. As a result, the game disintegrated into the stalemate that characterized the first 20 minutes.

In the extra time, the Ballack Lampard combination worked beautifully again but Lampard’s shot struck woodwork. In the 101st, Evra’s darting run found Giggs all alone. His deft shot was headed for goal before being headed out by John Terry.

By then, the soccer had ended but the best of the fighting was about to begin. In the 114th minute, a discussion ensued between Tevez and Ballack about a throw in. Shoves and insults later, Drogba slapped Vidic in the face and earned himself a red card. Drogba made a long slow walk in the rain, perhaps playing his last game for Chelsea. He would not participate in the PK’s that followed, and that probably hurt Chelsea big time.

Manchester United’s victory compensates for much of the frustration United has faced in this competition over the last decade (two semifinal and 3 quarter-final defeats). The frustrations for Chelsea continue. Despite having success domestically, Abramovich’s vision of winning it all in his homeland was shattered on this night. This is a team that leaves you wanting for more. Despite having arguably the most talented roster in the world, Chelsea continue the tradition of London clubs inability to win this competition.

JOTTINGS:

As much as I hate the idea of the penalty shootout, I hate what it does to the players who miss, how it can forever haunt a player. Terry now joins the fine company the likes of Gascoigne, Baggio, Beckham.

As inconsolable as Terry was after the game, Giggs must have felt on top of the world. Already in the twilight of a great career, having passed Bobby Charleton in games played for the Red Devils on this very night, Giggs now was quoted as thirsting for more. What more could he need really ?

Blues beat Reds

Chelsea finally break the Reds’ spell.

Following the sensational quarterfinal matchup between Liverpool and Arsenal, it was probably to be expected that there would be a drop off in this semi final matchup between Liverpool and Chelsea. Whatever the reasons, the first leg of this playoff was not nearly as exciting as the two previous Reds’ games in this competition. This game was downright boring. Maybe it was due to the nature of the matchups or the fact that the Chelsea trainer played this game not to win (and Benitez seem to also stoop down to this level of tactics as well). Or maybe it can also be attributed to the fact that in their most recent history in the Champions League, Liverpool and Chelsea are like two boxers feeling it out in the first couple of rounds the entire game, and this results in some very low scoring games.

In the second leg, the Reds and Blues finally finally (after 3 long years) gave us a game for the ages with the winners assuring themselves a spot in a historic first all English Champions League final. And both teams had some interesting history to overcome: Chelsea have never played in a Champions League final and Liverpool hadn’t been able to score at Chelsea for over 700 minutes.

So we should thank Riise for so brilliantly setting up the second leg with his very ill timed own-(away)-goal in the dying seconds of the first leg. Without that away goal that they now had to go and get for themselves, Liverpool could have easily packed 10 into their box (well you get the idea) and dared Chelsea to beat them and so this could have turned into another one of those boring tactical games where one team plays not to lose, or better put, doesn’t play at all.

Instead, forced to try to score the away goal, Liverpool had to come out of its tactical shell. This game was like 3 games in one. In Round 1, Chelsea easily dominated play and had many chances to score early on. Drogba looked menacing as Essien, Ballack, and Lampard controlled things in midfield for Chelsea. Liverpool could do very little really and seemed content to slowly pursue their goal of the away goal (after all, even a Chelsea score didn’t mean they had to score 2, they could still get by with one all of the way to the PKs). The Blues did score on a brilliant low hard shot by Drogba off of a rebound from Kalou’s shot in the 30th minute. From the goal on, Chelsea continued its dominance and Ballack nearly scored a second with a bending free kick in the 42nd minute.

In the second half, Liverpool woke up and started having more possession in midfield.. In this second segment of the match, Liverpool had the initiative and Chelsea looked content to hold on to their one goal lead. Although a lot of their ball possession ended up going backwards, at least they were keeping Chelsea away from their goal. Nevertheless, at the 59th minute Liverpool had now played 770 minutes without scoring at Stamford Bridge.. In the 64th minute, the possession finally paid off as Benayoum, switched to the right flank from the left flank by Benitez, went by 3 Chelsea defenders on a diagonal dribbling run before setting up Torres with a nice through ball that Torres niftly tucked away to Peter Cech’s left hand side.

By now, in the midst of a downpour with an all Engllish final in Moscow at stake, this had all of the inkling of a classic as overtime loomed. Chelsea reasserted itself a bit towards the end of regulation and it was almost capped by a powerful run from Essien that resulted into a shot into the side netting. But at the end of 90 it was even Stevens.

In the extra 30 minutes, Chelsea took over completely. A goal from Essien early in the overtime was annulled due to player interference on Reina. Minutes later, Hyppia was called for a PK and which Lampard converted with astonishing power and ease. Afterwards, he looked to the sky in rememberance of his recently deceased mother. With Chelsea insisting, the icing on the cake came in the 105th minute as Anelka rounded the corner past a befuddled Riise (who could only hold his hand up and pray for an offside call) and crossed to Drogba who struck another low shot past Reina. Ryan Babel’s postage stamp blistering blast into the upper left corner was as they say “too little too late.”

Let us not kid ourselves Reds fans: Liverpool are not as talented as Chelsea. And this time Chelsea were ready for any tactical maneuvering (on and off the field) that Benitez threw at them and which could have possible leveled the playing field. But not having Aurelio and the injury to Skrtel early on really hurt Liverpool's shape in the back. Riise didn't play very well at all in defense (two of Chelsea’s goal featured him on the defensive end) and aside from one really good cross, didn't attack well at all either. In midfield, Alonso and Kuyt also didn't have a good game. As good as Gerrard and Mascheranno are (and I agree with those who think that Mascheranno is now the best defensive midfield in the world), those four were no match for Chelsea’s four midfield players. In this game, Essien performance was extraordinary and for me was the real difference maker.

The Blues now take on the Red Devils in the all English final in Moscow. I’ll be rooting for them to win it all.

Outgunned

Liverpool wins instant goalfest shootout featuring 3 goals in the final 9 minutes of play. Arsenal outdone by Reds destined to win in Europe while Gunners lose again in Europe.

The third meeting in 6 days for these giants of English football turned out to be an instant classic. This was easily one of the best games I’ve seen in then last 10 years and was only matched by Manchester United’s improbably 2 goal comeback on injury time against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League championship.

This was a great game featuring tense drama, positive football which resulted in pulsating end to end action, and where each goal changed the fortune of which team would advance to the semi-final. This game was perhaps the most offensive, positive-minded game I’ve seen in quite a while, and in the end it produced a thrilling 4-2 result for the ages.

As mentioned before in this space, I have recently become enamored with Liverpool. Not just the team, but the history, the players, and the current makeup of this year’s squad as epitomized by Gerrard, Mascheranno, and especially the Dutchman Kuyt. I love how the spirit of the fans and players, their style, and how they just don’t ever give up and play the game to the finish. This bond was strengthened last night by the incredible game featuring some of the best sports fans there have to be in the world. Those who say that there isn’t such a thing as a 12th man (such as Tommy Smith of ESPN) have probably never played a game against Liverpool at Anfield.

The energy before this game was simply scintillating. Seeing all of those fans singing “You’ll never walk alone” before the game and the thunderous explosion after the minute of silence at the start of the game signaled that something pretty special was forthcoming.

Arsenal and their fleet of highly skilled players came out flying in this game with the rangy Adebayor playing on the edge but mostly offside early on. As Arsenal settled in, the ball ping-ponged in the most exquisite triangulations with the most amazing speed, control, and skill. When Diabi scored the first goal from a dazzling set of passes (and with a pretty decent shot), Arsenal had in their hands the prized away goal. Arsenal continued their dominance in this game flying at the Liverpool goal at will and creating havoc as well as a host of excellent chances to score a second goal from Diabi and Clichy.

Slowly but surely at about the 25th minute Liverpool started to get back into the game. Finally able to get some possession, they started to make advances on the Arsenal goal, most notably with a shot by Fabio Aurelio that was deflected forcing Almunia to make a spectacular save. Then in the 31th minute off of a corner kick from Gerrard, Hyppia got away from his defender Senderos and put in a postage-stamp header that has to be one of the best headed goals I’ve ever seen. Suddenly, Liverpool were back even and the game totally changed. Instead of being backed into the proverbial corner as they had from the onset, Liverpool got some confidence and started holding the ball better and attacking Arsenal. With the game tied at 1-1, the game went into halftime.

In the second half, ESPN’s Tommy Smith noted that Liverpool would be attacking the KOP end. Energized by this as if it were a magical force, Liverpool turned the tables on Arsenal and it was the Gunners who couldn’t control the ball, who resorted to the quick punt, who totally lost control of the midfield as Mascherano and Alonso and Gerrard took over. Torres, who had had a disastrous first half, was again being sent on long probing runs down the flanks and actually doing something with the ball. Liverpool had regained the advantage and Arsenal looked spent from their first half energy expenditure.

In the 69th minute, Torres raced towards a ball into the left side of the Arsenal box, turned back against the grain of defenders covering him, a fired a superb rocket high into the Arsenal goal leaving Almunia with nothing to do but admire the shot. Once again, the KOP was credited as Torres has stated he plays better when attacking the goal at the KOP end. Liverpool were up 2-1 and it looked like curtains for Arsenal.

But the game then oscillated as both teams had excellent chances. First Adebayor, finally not off-side, was spotted wide open in the middle but his shot went just wide. ThenTorres would get a second chance in the 78th but could not get a shot off. A minute later, Ryan Babel, who had come in the second half had his shot blocked by Senderos. In the 84th, with Liverpool pressing forward for a third, Theo Wolcott collected the ball in his defensive end after a Gerrard swing and a miss, and raced 3/4 of the field, beating 4 Liverpool defenders in the process before coolly centering to Adebayor, who put in a low shot past Reina. It was the 83rd minute and the game had taken a wild swing the other way, courtesy of the away goals rule. With this result, Arsenal was on it way to the semis.

But just as I finished writing notes down, I hear Tommy Smith yelling: Is it a penalty kick ? Yes it’s a penalty kick. Liverpool’s Ryan Babel, a supremely skilled Dutch forward had been inserted into the game for Peter Crouch just 5 minutes before, and on a darting run into the box immediately after the kick-off following the goal, he was brought down in the box. In the previous leg, Arsenal’s Belarusan midfielder Alexander Hleb had been brought down in a similar manner and had been yellow-carded by the ref, a ridiculous call if there ever was one. This time, Liverpool were correctly awarded a penalty kick.

(A digression here about fouls in the box is needed. I personally think it was the right call to make. The offensive player is making a positive move into the box to try and score and when he’s fouled, it should be a PK period. Why is that called a foul anywhere else except for in the box ? Because it results in a penalty kick that’s why ? And penalty kicks are not given away lightly, especially when they could decide the game. This kind of reasoning is more rooted in history and especially in the problems that giving penalty kicks have caused referees than in a firm application of the rules of the game. Referees are too afraid to make the call for their own safety, or because they don’t want to appear to influence the game, or because they don’t want to be duped by the cheaters who flop trying to gain the advantage. But the problem with this thinking is that this gives the defense way too much of an advantage and it is used heavily to influence the game in a negative way, that is by preventing the scoring of goals. Applying a different standard in the box than is applied in the rest of the field results in a lower rate of awarding penalty kicks than should be, which again results in lower goal scoring.)

Gerrard, he of the clutch goals, stepped into the kick and did not miss from the spot. The momentum had swung wildly yet again within a matter of seconds.

Arsenal fans in the stands were now quite upset and rightly so. They had been denied an obvious penalty kick in the first leg and now were being penalized by an award of a penalty kick in this leg for a foul which incidentally didn’t look as obvious as the flagrant pull-down of Hleb in the first leg. Conspiracy thinking must have been rampant in the minds of the Arsenal supporters.

Arsenal fought on bravely in search of the 3rd equalizer and a goal which for sure would put them back in the lead again because of the away goals rule. Instead, on a clearance in the 92nd near midfield, Ryan Babel outran and outmuscled Cesc Fabregas to a loose near midfield, then fired a shot past Almunia to cement the Reds victory and forever end what would have been a huge amount of controversy over the penalty kick.

Liverpool now moves on to the semi-finals against Chelsea. Is in them to end a London’s club first quest for UEFA Champions League glory ? History would undeniably be on their side. I just hope history doesn’t influence some referee’s mind too much when it comes to making the right call, either for or against Liverpool.

NOTES:

I recently had an interesting conversation with a soccer fanatic buddy of mine about refereeing (including introducing technology in order to help with such controversies as off-sides and fouls in the box) and the number of goals scored in soccer (two timeless honored debating points for any soccer aficionado I’m sure). We agreed on some of these points and disagreed on others, most notably on scoring in soccer. I have recently become convinced that soccer’s greatest games usually involve more than 1 or 2 goals. And while this is a murky area because I don’t want to see rule changes that would unnecessarily add to the number of goals scored such as widening the goals, I would like to see the game opened up a bit more so that we see more games that feature 3-6 goals. Part of that opening would be to have referees not be so bashful about calling fouls in the penalty area, or in other words seeing more penalty kicks called during games, no matter how controversial they are.

As for positive flowing games, I say good riddance to teams that play a negative defensive oriented game, teams that play for the penalty shootout, teams that don’t play to win. Good bye to the catenaccio style of play which I think is simply offensive except perhaps to the most purists of fans. Welcome to a new era in football highlighted by games like we just saw yesterday.

It has been a great year in sports for this fan. First the New York Giants beat undefeated New England Patriots in one of the most exciting Super Bowl of all times. Then Kansas pulls a another improbable comeback to match the Giants’ to beat Memphis for the NCAA mens basketball title in easily one of the best finals of that tournament. And then this game for the ages.