Well, the World Cup qualifiers start tonight at the Azteca Stadium with the match Mexico vs. Honduras. This will be Eriksson's first game as coach of the National Team, and I got to say that the players he called look interesting. We should qualify to the World Cup easily, with the U.S. being our only dangerous opponent (the home team always wins when we play each other). So it begins...one more time the road to the World Cup is upon us...let the best team (Mexico) win it all :icon_cheesygrin:
Sven called his "A" team, minus Nery Castillo. I like what I see in his list. Now hopefully he knows how to line them up on the pitch. Normally I'd say that Honduras is SO screwed, but I admit that I'm just a little worried about the game. Eriksson has had virtually no time to work with the team chemistry so there may be a few little details left to work on, and it'll show on tonight's game. Hopefully we get the W, because we're playing at home and talent-wise, Mexico is way ahead of Honduras. The good news is that, finally, we don't have the Village Idiot as our coach!!! Go Mexico!!! Get 'em!!!
Well, it wasn't easy, it wasn't pretty, but a win is a win and I'll gladly take it. There are tons of work ahead for Eriksson and the team...this is only the beginning... USA barely beat Guatemala as well, so looks like we're a little rusty after all this time...
The good: - Pardo. Two great goals. Takes the game ball. - Oswaldo. Great save to keep us from going down 2-0. That play changed the momentum to our side. - The D line. Solid. Marquez is, dare I say, losing a step? But he's still very good and is the best of our squad when it comes to defend free and corner kicks. Salcido made a great play on the opposite goal line to keep the ball alive and a few secs later, Pardo boomed it into the net to tie the game. Great job Lord! - Cuauhtemoc. If anything, he fired up the crowd with his presence and gave the team a motivational boost to look for the tie/win. He's our Brett Favre for us mexican cheeseheads. LOL. (credit to TJ for that one) The "bleh, whatever": - Vela and Arce. Very active but did little damage. - Eriksson. Will give him a free pass for being his first game and having too little time to gel this unit. But two of his three subs worked alright. At least he knows when to make them, unlike TarHugo Sanchez. (Credit to TJ for that one too... gee buddy, you want to look like the genius who comes up with those ideas, post them! You had plenty of time before I did LOL). - Franco. He gets an A for effort and for cheerleading. That's it. The bad: - Leandro "Aunt Rosie" Augusto. Anyone who watched last night's game and felt disappointed by his performance has obviously never seen him play in Pumas. That's EXACTLY how he moves around and plays. He's nothing special. Defensively, Torrado is lights year ahead of him and offensively he isn't a threat like Pardo or even the same Torrado, who has done a handful of brilliant plays in the past. Why he got called is beyond me. Would rather have Torrado starting and Pato Araujo as his backup. I hope he never wears La Verde again. - Gio. Did tihs. TJ is wondering whether the NT stage is too much for him. Gawd I hope not, because we could certainly use a guy with his toolset. Gotta improve a lot, Gio! - Guardado. I think he's trying too hard to make plays. He needs to realize that it's impossible to juke 2 or 3 defenders everytime he has the ball. - Bravo. Not a good way to convince your new coach that you deserve a starting gig in one of the best leagues in the world, Omar. I doubt he even got mentioned. Overall I'm happy that we got the win. At some point of the game I was actually hoping we could be able to tie it and call it a night. But at least the team showed that they can come from behind in critical situations, which I believe never happened with Tarhugo Sanchez coaching. Good start.
As usual, nice analysis, bro...let's hope I'm wrong about Gio, but he could end up like Hugo Sanchez (in his player stage), a monster in Europe, but did absolutely nothing with the National Team.
