Game 12: Atlante away

Atlante v Pumas
24th March 2007
Estadio Azteca

Video Highlights - our goal, our red, our anger

Another two points dropped. For the third consecutive week this blog has the same opening. This time the blame lies on a) a poor decision by the ref, b) poor substitutions by Tuca and c) surprise, surprise, poor finishing.

With Palencia, Castro and Veron all on international duty, we were expecting some changes. Gonzalez in for Palencia, and Espinosa in for Castro were not big surprises, but Alex Diego in at centre back for Veron was. In the event, he had an excellent game there, and that made his early substitution even more inexplicable.

I thought the first half was bright and interesting, we saw some good work from both Scocco and Pareja, and a lovely long shot from Sancho, who was much more the commanding presence we want to see regularly.

How we play, and especially against Atlante, we really did not want to concede first. They had the odd chance, but their shooting was appalling, and we had no real scares, and clearly had the best of the first half – but again, no goal. Probably the best chance came from a nice Pareja pass into the box, chipped nicely over the out-rushing keeper by Scocco, for a charging Gonzalez, who was beaten by a toe to it by the defender.

The team seemed much more positive than normal, and I believe the absence of Palencia helped. Straight from kick-off, Gonzalez showed us once again what he gives us that Paco doesn’t. A long ball down the wing was chased down well by Gonzalez, who got the ball, and ran at them, not once looking for a backward pass. In the box he crossed for Scocco, whose little touch was well saved by the brave Vilar, but was being chased down by Pareja, who never likes to see anything go unchallenged. He headed coolly into the net, 14 seconds from kick off.

This was when Tuca made the first of his odd changes. Diego had had a good game at the back, against a not too brilliant attack. He had a couple of times shown skill, vision and courage in bringing the ball out, once picking up the ball on the edge of our area, and running the full length of the pitch, before being brought down on the edge of their box. However, Tuca saw something I hadn’t and decided to pull him off. He brought on Íñiguez.

This messed up our shape for a while, and we certainly lost our way a bit, although we continued to dominate in the midfield. As far as I could tell, Espinosa moved over to centre-back, and Pareja to right back, with Íñiguez on the wing. I could not understand this move at all. Both Diego and Espinosa were doing well, and Pareja was looking quite dangerous.

We gradually got back into it, and then Tuca made another error, which was aborted. He wanted to take both Gonzalez and Scocco off for Barrera and Solis. I felt it was foolish to take both of them off. We were clearly on top still, but Atlante were pushing, and up for it.

In the event, however, a typical Mexican referee rush of blood stopped that substitution. El Paisano was walking off the pitch, not quickly, but not slowly. So he got booked for time-wasting. This was probably fair enough – just. He continued to walk off, and a few yards from the touchline he started jogging. The ref rushed in at this point to give a second yellow for the same offence. Just plain wrong in all aspects. So the subs were cancelled, and we were down to ten. I am not sure about the rules on this, but am sure Kenny is. Once the board has gone up, can the player be sent off? Once it’s gone up, can the substitutions subsequently be cancelled? It all seemed a bit dodgy to say the least. And every commentator and media source in Mexico agrees with me – it was a bad decision from a ref who actually had good game, otherwise.

A couple of minutes later Tuca stuck to his guns and took his only recognised striker, Scocco off, for Barrera, That, also was a mistake. Atlante continues pressurising, and you felt we need another goal to be sure. And we had plenty of chances. Íñiguez unsurprisingly messed up two one-on-ones and Sancho a third. Late on and an Íñiguez shot was stopped by a hand. It looked ball to hand, and was either a penalty and a card, or no penalty. You can usually rely on a Mexican ref to get it wrong, he gave a penalty and no card.

With no recognised penalty taker on the pitch Leandro stepped up. The omens were not good. His last penalty was against Boca Juniors in December 2005. He did not score. Up until this point there had been 6 penalties awarded at the Azteca this season, 5 had not been converted. The outside of the post made this statistic 6 missed from 7.

Squandering this many chances, and still pushing forward made us ripe for a sucker punch. Deep in injury time a fast break away, a nice cross from “The Hobbit” was met with a lovely header by Robles. Two points thrown away. Season in tatters. Still not mathematically safe from relegation.

A furious Sancho was trying to get himself sent off after final whistle (as he had on our last visit to the Azteca), but Tuca rushed on and ordered his players in. He looked furious, as well he might, but his ill-thought out substitutions played their part in our downfall.

Ratings:-
RoRo – 7 – not much to do again, couldn’t really do anything about the goal. Oh, it seems official: - He is good looking, which I find extraordinary

Velarde – 7 – no real problems today
Pikolin – 7 – solid, but did get done a couple of times, uncharacteristically
Diego – 8 – I thought he had an excellent game, I think his first time at centre-back in his life (subbed 51 mins)
Espinosa – 7 – much better at right back than centre back

Chiapas – 6 – he seemed a more obvious candidate for coming off, and with Ailton on the bench at last….
Leandro – 7 – good game overall, but has to lose points for missing pen
Sancho – 8 – MOM – would have got more, but missed good chance to wrap it up late on
Parejita – 8 – good game again, so positive, well taken goal, looked a little at sea position wise at right back, but why would you play him there?

Gonzalez – 8 – he just makes defenders uncomfortable. Another honest performance
Scocco – 7 – good movement, good work (subbed 79 mins)

Subs:-
Íñiguez – 6 – 51 mins – does cause problems, but had several chances to finish it off, and just didn’t
Barrera – 6 – 79 mins – not on long.

DT
Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti – 5 – I was surprised by Diego at the back (where was Moreno?), but it paid off. However his substitutions throughout were clearly wrong. He gets extra points for saving further cards after full time.

Cards:-
Atlante
6 mins – Arturo
30 mins – Vilar
33 mins – Gonzalez
69 mins – Biscayzacú
89 mins – Canío

Pumas
60 mins – RoRo – time wasting, very very harsh
70 mins – Parejita
75 mins – 76 mins – RED – Gonzalez – bad refereeing once again has an impact on the result

Goals:-
0-1 – 45 mins – Gonzalez skinned his man, crossed to Scocco, whose attempted dink was deflected, where the on-rushing Jose Luis “Parejita” Lopez coolly headed home
1 -1 – 90 mins+ - a fast break, left short handed at the back, good cross from Bermúdez, met well by Adalberto Robles’ head, low and across the goal

Crowd:-
20,000 – almost all Pumas. I didn’t make it, but the big man did – they got theirs up The Halligan End

Elswhere in Mexico:-
The important news of us is that Santos won again. 1-0 v Veracruz. I am getting more annoyed about losing to them as the season wears on. Chivas a Cruz Azul had their matches moved to mid week at the last minute, so not as to suffer from international call ups. We had three out, Atlante none, and both those two won. And it seems Chelito’s recovery is nearly there. Queretaro got more dodgy refs, and drew 2 all with Tecos, Toluca got their 8th draw of the season, nil all v Jaguares. So far this season 29 of the 105 games have been drawn.

Descenso and Group:-
We still have a chance to get to play offs, but we MUST start winning, 4 draws on the spin, 3 of which, at least, we should have won: - if we had, would be top of the group by 2 clear points now. But, if “if”s and “but”s were pots and pans, there’d be no trade for tinkers:-

1st America 20 pts +8
2nd Tigres 17 pts -3
3rd Monarcas 16 pts +3
4th UNAM 16 pts +2
5th Toluca 14 pts +2
6th Santos 12 pts -4

Remember the top two go through direct, and then the next four in general go to play-offs for the play-offs.

Five games left, that’s a total of 15 points available, and in the descenso we are on 120 points from 97 games (1.2371), and Santos on 107 from 97 (1.1031) – that’s 13 points difference, so still not quite safe. Also in big trouble are San Luis 75 from 63 (1.1905), and Queretaro 31 points from 29 (1.0690). this season San Luis have played their under 21 minutes, and Queretaro have only 19 mins left, so we should not be seeing 3 points deducted again.

Next Up:-
We are away at Tecos, Sunday 1st April, at 4pm. No April Fools I hope, we should be at full strength, but I would rather have seen Scocco and Gonzalez start this sort of game, but El Paisano has got a one match ban upheld by the Comisión Disciplinaría de la Federación Mexicana de Fútbol. And they wonder why no one has respect for them…

Sporting Quiz:-
I have been meaning to put this in for ages. This year we have the ICC Cricket World Cup, and the FIFA under 20 World Cup:- Can you name the only THREE countries to have qualified for the finals of both these competitions? (clue:- they are not traditional footballing countries, or cricket countries)

Game 11: Queretaro home

Pumas v Queretaro
CU
18th March 2007

Another two points dropped, but at least we are scoring goals again. Last term against Queretaro we got a away with a point in a game we really should have won, and so it proved again today.

Parejita came back from his suspension, and almost scored a spectacular goal from a Scocco cross in the opening minutes. Other than him, the team was unchanged from last week.

We completely dominated this game, and could (and should) have scored truckloads. But, as is our wont, we just could not find the target. This is not helped by negative outlook of our premier striker, Paco Palencia. His first touch was a long back pass, and his second was remarkable. He picked the ball up on the edge of the 6 yard box, and with his head down, he ran for all he was worth out of the penalty box! He is strong, and holds the ball up well, but I feel it is time in his career to change position – as a holding midfielder he could be very useful, as a striker his time has gone.

So, it was business as usual, all the possession, comfortable at the back, and unable to score. Then suddenly Castro made a very uncharacteristic mistake. A high ball came in, he chested it down, but didn’t seem to know where the striker was. As he looked up to see him, he took his eye off the ball, and his attempted back pass was scuffed. Young Arturo Alvardo was pressurising and made no mistake with this gift, finishing clinically. This was so against the play, and so surprising that the unflappable Castro should make such an error, we were in shock for a while. A few minutes later worse was to come, as we defended a corner badly and all of a sudden we are two nil down at home in a game we were dominating.

Ten minutes late and we were back in it again, a fine corner from Pareja was met by Scocco, pulling away, finding space as he can, and putting in a beautifully weighted header. 1-2 going into the break.

After the break Gonzalez came on for Chiapas who had a pretty good game, and just brushed the post after some good work in the box. In fact Pareja and Scocco also just touched the wrong side of the post.

We carried on playing well, and we still felt we could win it, when Queretaro broke quickly and Alvardo met the cross and scored quite brilliantly to make it 3-1. Up to this point Queretaro had had three chances, by the end of the game their total was five.

Ten minutes later we replied, a nicely weighted pass from Castro was charged down by Pareja, who put in a nice low cross first time, Scocco attacked the space and scored a genuine strikers goal. Names like Romario and Linekar were mentioned. We felt sure we could now get at least a point, and late on Íñiguez took the ball inside from the wing, out in a bad pass which was mis-controlled by the defender. Once again Scocco had peeled away from his marker, and as the ball bobbled away he reacted just that split second quicker and stroked it home top right, with another lovely finish.

We still had hopes of winning, but in the end we got a draw from a game which was ours for the taking.

Ratings- (with Tricky)
RoRo – 6 – not much to do, and not really to blame for the goals

Velarde – 7 – looking more himself, better marking
Pikolin – 7 – good game
Veron – 7 – good game overall, and he’s been called up to the Paraguay squad
Castro – 5 – his worse game I have seen, better after going to contención

Chiapas – 7 – honest performance (subbed half time)
Sancho – 5 – not involved enough (subbed 72 mins)
Leandro – 7 – getting there
Pareja – 7 – good game on return but not influential enough, despite two assists. Looked OK in centre

Palencia – 6 – too negative again, but worked hard
Scocco – 8 – MOM – three classy goals, and always a handful

Subs:-
Gonzalez – 7 – half time – not in it enough, but lively
Íñiguez – 6 – 72 mins – interesting change, good work for third

DT
Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti – 8 – the first 11 pick themselves, and can’t be blamed for the terrible and very unusual errors at the back. Changes much more inspired than for a while. Looked pretty angry at 2-0, and at 3-1, I am sure you can imagine…..

Cards:-
Pumas
Veron – 81 mins – I think this means a one match ban, but he will miss the next one on international duty anyway

Queretaro
Lopez – 16 mins
Sanchez – 22 mins
Garcia – 76 mins and 78 mins – still not quite sure why the second was given, but RoRo was furious, and it helped us. He was on the pitch only 7 minutes, and showed a lack of concentration and discipline.

Goals:-
0-1 – 19 mins – Israel Castro’s back pass badly fluffed, and Arturo Alvarez pounced and finished well
0-2 – 26 mins – a corner was taken, headed down, and Mateo Figoli droved it home
1-2 – 35 mins – nice corner from Pareja, met by Ignacio Scocco, drifting backwards into space, headed back across the goal, looping over the hapless keeper
1-3 – 57 mins – a fast break, a nice cross from De La Cruz, met well by Arturo Alvarez, who finished it well at full stretch
2-3 – 68 mins – Ignacio Scocco charging in beating the defender to a low Pareja cross, deflected quite brilliantly at full speed and full stretch
3-3 – 83 mins – defender missed the ball, Ignacio Scocco had lost his man, reacted first and finished cleanly to complete a fine hat-trick

Crowd:-
At a guess I would say between 25,000 and 30,000, or maybe less. Including Richard and Siobhan visiting us from Playa. Also a bloke called Tom. Tom, I am sorry, I fairly predictably lost your email almost straight away, but I hope you have found this blog, and we see you again at CU soon. When I mentioned Richard’s name to the beer lady she came back with “doubles” only, and wiped away a few tears upon seeing him. We may see a fancy new haircut next match….

Elsewhere in Mexico:-
America somehow won the “clasico” against Chivas 1-0. San Luis beat Cruz Azul 2-0, Jaguares beat a poor looking Atlante 2-1. Santos got 3 each at Atlas. No one tried to hit a talismanic midfielder.

Descenso and Group:-
Santos are now 15 points behind us, with 18 points left up for grabs.

The group is very tight, but we have to start winning and soon

1st America 17 pts +7gd
2nd Tigres 17 pts 0gd – game in hand
3rd Morelia 16 points +4gd
4th Pumas 15 pts +2gd
5th Toluca 13 pts +2gd – game in hand
6th Santos 9 pts -5gd

Next Up:-
Next Saturday at 7pm in the Azteca v Atlante. As far as I can tell it is an International weekend, so we will be without Castro, Veron and Palencia.

Game 10: Necaxa away

Necaxa v Pumas
14th March 2007
Estadio Victoria

Video Highlights

Another two points dropped in a frustrating game, in which we showed what we are capable of, but also were the authors of our own undoing.

The fact that both goals in this game were scored from set pieces and by defenders speaks volumes.

Pumas started very strongly, and for the first 25 mins or so were comfortably in control, but once again did not take full advantage in the goal scoring department. Our only goal came from a corner, a good header went comfortably to the keeper who fluffed his handling, and Castro was on hand to pounce.

After this period, we let a poor Necaxa team back in. Then, once again, our Achilles heel, a free kick down by the corner flag. This was defended poorly, allowing our old skipper Joaquin Beltran in to score with his bonce.

Second half the Ariels, Chupa Lopez and Gonzalez came on for the ineffectual Palencia and Scocco. Chupa was OK, but no real improvement, and missed a decent chance, Gonzalez looked lively and so much more positive than Paco. From now on I firmly believe that Gonzalez and Scocco should be the partnership up front.

Sunday we will have the boy Parejita back, although Íñiguez did a good job today, Parejita is clearly a better crosser of the ball. Ailton may be back, too, although more likely next week.

Ratings:-
RoRo – 5 – not much to do, but came-and-went for cross for goal

Velarde – 7 – solid game, but not spectacular
Pikolin – 7 – another decent game, not sure where he was for goal
Veron – 7 – let Beltran got in front of him, although no one seemed to pick him up, as head of the back he should have made sure someone had
Castro – 8 – MOM – good at the back, and our most dangerous player going forward

Chiapas – 6 – back to form (subbed 66 mins)
Leandro – 8 – I thought he had a good game
Sancho – 6 –where was he?
Íñiguez – 7 – they don’t like his pace, but they do like his control

Palencia – 5 – you don’t have to go backwards to go forwards every time (subbed half time)
Scooco – 6 – better than Paco, and probably better than Chupa as well (subbed half time)

Subs:-
Gonzalez – 7 – half time – clearly our best, and most interested, striker today
Chupa – 6 – half time – not all that either
Moreno – 7 – hmmm, I had been drinking… not too sure

DT:-
Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti – 6 – not positive enough. Also should have left Scocco on for ten minutes second half at least, although glad he’s finally realised that Palencia has only limited value in this type of game.

Cards:-
Necaxa
Boas – 17 mins

Pumas
Scocco – 6 mins – cannot remember it now, but I was bloody angry at the time
Leandro – 45 mins – I can remember this one, utterly ridiculous, and Chiapas had just been fouled, then Scocco’s legs taken away from behind, but it was Leandro just beating someone to the ball, and clearing it that was a free kick and a booking ….. gggrrrrr….. Nurse! ….. Medicine!.....

Goals:-
0-1 – 13 mins – Íñiguez corner, headed down, the keeper fumbled it, and Israel Castro pumped it over the line
1-1 – 40 mins – Two old boys doing for us, Gerardo Galindo took the free kick, Joaquin Beltrán headed home

Crowd:-
20,000

Elsewhere in Mexico:-
Great, great 2-0 win for Toluca over Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores. Thursday 15th March Pachuca and Chivas play the first leg of the semi finals of the CONCACAF cup, against Houston and DC United, good luck to them both. Back to the league, Cruz Azul got an exciting 3-2 win v Morelia to go top. Gabriel Pereyra got his first goal in nearly a year in the 88th minute to seal the victory. Veracruz beat Jaguares 2-0, and in the best result of the night, Monterrey beat America 1-0. They looked very poor. Atlante beat Queretaro 3-1, and Santos lost again 1-0 to Tigres. We are now 15 points ahead of Santos with 21 points up for grabs. Queretaro have 29 points from 27 games.

Next Up:-
Sunday 18th March we are at home to said Queretaro at noon. If we win, and Santos lose (away to Atlas) the difference would be 18, with 18 points left. Queretaro is more volatile, because of it being over only one season.

Game 9: Chivas home

Pumas v Chivas
11th March 2007
CU

Video "Colour" piece
Full Jornada 8m30s

A bright and interesting game finished level, and proved that Pumas can hold, and trouble, the best in Mexico.

With Pareja out we all expected to see Espinosa come in for him, but in the end it was Barrera who started. RoRo still in goal, for injured Bernal, and Chiapas out left. Tuca stuck with Paco Palenica and Ignacio Scocco up front. This was the 100th league game between these clubs.

The opening minutes showed us we weren’t scared of them, and wanted to take the game to them. We certainly were in control for periods of this game, as were they. Overall, as the first half wore on Chivas came more into it, having long periods of decent possession. Twice they missed with headers, from being free in the box, and twice late in this first half RoRo flapped at crosses, looking like his position was inaccurate.

However, we went in on terms, and despite Chivas pressure towards the end of the half, it was very much a fair reflection. We had periods of possession as well, although we occasionally gave the ball away needlessly. At the back we were reading them pretty well, and Pikolin and Veron controlled things very well. Against this attack you need to be organised and concentrate throughout, they are very fluid, and showed us some of their nice little moves, touches and one-twos. However, our back four, particularly the centre-backs read and covered so well these came to nothing.

You don’t beat Chivas in the middle of the park, and today both Sancho and Leandro were not on top form. I would not like to say that they were poor, but Leandro seemed to be thinking off the pace, but both did keep their presence felt throughout, although undoubtedly Leandro was too deep too often – he’s at his most dangerous pushing, I think, and he should have faith in his skipper slightly deeper.

Up front Paco Palencia was once again also too deep too often. I am not sure if this is because Leandro was drifting back, or Leandro was because of Paco. He is strong, holds the ball up beautifully, but is so slow he cannot really afford to be too deep. Scocco kept the pressure on them, by hustling more than normal, and he stole the ball off defenders a couple of times, once having a decent shot, saved nicely.

But all day Scocco was not keen enough to make the quick pass. He was not alone in this, Leandro, Sancho and Chiapas all notable in this failing, also. Young Jehu Chiapas had a better game, was in the thick of it more, but always spent far too much time on the ball before releasing it. Many many times Scocco or Paco would have a good position in the centre, with space, only to find no service.

The second half was very entertaining, and could have been won by both sides. RoRo more than made up for his first half nerves by three times out doing Omar Bravo in one-on-ones. Yes – THREE times. He was fearless in going in, positioning excellent, and stood up well. The first time going in bravely and holding onto the ball to boot Meanwhile, at the other end a fine piece of skill and determination by Scocco, followed by an equally determined Palencia saw us have an excellent chance, which somehow went wide. I swear in the stadium I saw the net bulge.

Last season this tie ended nil all, with Chivas having an goal ruled out for offside, so it proved the same today. We were growing throughout the second half, but a fine breakaway saw the goal in the net, the initial chance saved. A rather late whistle (the ref seemed late on spotting his linesman's flags all day) allowed us to breath easy again.

The last 20 minutes or so you could really only see us scoring. Chiapas hit the post with a rocket of a shot, and few minutes later Castro hit the same post from way out as well. Íñiguez came on, and very late a perfect cross by Leandro was met very well by him, and his header was downwards and towards the bottom corner, and was well saved (by the fingernails, the paper says). We felt we were pushing for a goal at this stage, but a draw was clearly a fair result in this enjoyable encounter.

Pumas hero and legend Jose Luis “Parejita” Lopez is suspended, as you know, and he watched the first half from the Pebetero, in the middle of the Rebel. This is the sort of thing that makes him a legend of the team, and older viewers may remember Kikin Fonseca doing the same a few years back. We just managed to see his blond highlights bobbing around there, heres a video, watch to the end, as he walks towards the camera. And here's a quick look off the telly.

Ratings:-
Rogelio Rodríguez – 9 – mom – so looked a little at sea first half, but those three one-on-ones with Bravo clearly get him man of the match. Brave, honest and skillful in all three. All on his 31st birthday, and in his 100th league match

Castro – 8 – solid as always, and a lovely shot late on, good at back, good going forward. Remarkable composure
Pikolin – 7 – sorry Kenny, he had yet another good game
Veron – 7 – leading things, yet is not shy about showing confidence in Pikolin
Velarde – 7 – I thought he looked good today, not sure why he came off, maybe injury? (subbed 56 mins)

Barrera – 7 – this is the best I have seen him play for Pumas (subbed off 60 mins)
Sancho – 6 – worked hard, to be fair
Leandro – 6 – too often with no idea what to do with the ball, but a lovely lovely cross late on
Chiapas – 7 – in it, and a great shot. Best game so far for us

Palencia – 7 – holds it up well, worked ok, but really should have scored. Too often not to be found in the danger area
Scocco – 7 – definitely saw the flashes that can change a game, worked hard, but must remember it’s a team game (subbed off 81 mins)

Subs:-
Espinosa – 7 – came on at left back, and did a good job
Íñiguez – 7 – looked lively, and had a good header well saved. He’s off my “whipping boy” list
Gonzalez – 6 – not much time, and although a different sort of player his positive thinking is something Paco lacks.

DT
Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti – 7 – decent enough job, but changes uninspired, he could have taken a risk and brought Gonzalez on for Paco after 65 or so, he could have brought him on for Chiapas, even. Still a solid performance, and 0-0 against the Champions, that’s fine.

Cards:-
Pumas
Sancho – 16 mins – they always seem to like to book Sancho early, I think this was for chat
Veron – 33 mins – not a foul. He was standing behind Medina, who simply crumpled to the ground, without any hint of contact. The Chivas players played the ref all afternoon

Chivas
Pineda – 16 mins – got a good reception from his old team, as did Palencia
Rodriguez – 67 mins
Medina – 83 mins

Crowd:-
62,000 – including the suspended Jose Luis “Parejita” Lopez, and Micky Huidobro out of Molotov. Pareja watched the first half from Pebetero with the Rebel, and second half from Palomar. Pebetero kept in for 20 minutes at the end. Part of the home crowd kept back, but away fans let out at same time as most of the home crowd. Twats.

Elsewhere in Mexico:-
The other big game on Sunday, America v Cruz Azul also finished goalless. Cruz Azul had the best of it, and America don’t look much without Blanco, who will probably be going to Chicago Fire in the summer. Bottom of the table clash saw a Ludueña led victory for Santos 3-2 over San Luis. He scored a corker. Queretaro also won 2-0 v Necaxa, who we see next. Atlas lost 1-0 to Jaguares. Toluca finally win, seeing off Tigres 2-0.

Those of you in Quintana Roo, don’t forget Tuesday night (13th March) Interplaya have a game against MLS team New England Revolution. No idea why, Trick thinks the Revolution wanted to get away from the snow.

Pumas Morelos:-
Lost 1-0 to Rayados de Monterrey, and next week have Tampico Madero at home.

Descenso:-
We stay 4th out of 6 in group C, and 13th out of 18 in relegation table. Just to recap, the relegation sees one team go down each year (in June), and is worked out by points divided by games played over three full seasons (six half seasons). Going to get me calculator out, because I think in a couple of weeks we may be mathematically safe.

Next Up:-
Another double jornada, on Thursday night at 8.30pm we are away at Necaxa in El Estadio Victoria en Aguascalientes. Then on Sunday 18th March we are at home against Queretaro 12 noon.

Game 8: Monterrey away

Monterrey vs Pumas
Tecnológico en Monterrey
3rd March 2007

Video Highlights - Pumas at 2m41s

A dominate performance, a terrible decision and a nice goal saw Pumas deservedly and expectedly pick up three points. I have watched a bit of Mexican football, but Pareja’s straight red for showing mild annoyance left me shocked. Happily the team recovered a lot quicker, and better, than I did, and have not been beaten there now in six games.

Despite dominating in all areas of the park, we still lack ambition in the final third, and I continue to be concerned about where goals will come from. Maybe we should sign Chris Martin.

From the off it was all Pumas, and defensively we looked extremely sound. Leandro had a much better game, more like himself, and Sancho stepping up to be counted. The only worries were Chiapas out left, still struggling, and Paco Palencia. Both he and Israel Castro came on for Mexico midweek in the 3-1 victory against Venezuela. Castro seemed to have benefited greatly from this recognition, yet Paco’s performance once again left me wondering if he is anywhere close to International standard.

Whilst no one can complain about how hard he works, he is far too negative for a forward player, and his shooting was way, way off target today. His striking partner today, Ignacio Scocco, got little service, but occasionally showed the flair and ability which should ensure his 90 minutes every week, but doesn’t – you can see him turning a game; you can’t see Palencia doing it.

Castro had an “identikit” version of his goal vs Real Madrid, down to the build up, but whereas that night it went into the bottom corner, today it was higher, and forced an excellent save. (Jonathan Orozco better than Iker Casillas, anyone?)

No changes at half time, and following the appalling red card for Parejita, Tuca pulled Scocco off for Espinosa. My initial thought was that this was plain wrong, Scocco had been quiet, and had missed a good chance in from a cross, but he still looked a lot more dangerous than Palencia. Even with the dismissal of Pareja, anything less than 3 points would be points dropped.

However, Leandro took a fine free kick, which was met beautifully by Castro, who headed hard and down into the bottom corner, leaving Orozco no chance. From then on, we continued to dominate, and you never felt that Monterrey would come back into it. And Paco’s strength, and ability to hold the ball up, helped us greatly in the end.

Ratings:-
RoRo – 7 – not much to do, but confident and assured. Not sure why Bernal was out, on his 37th birthday

Velarde – 8 – finally getting back to his form of last year
Veron – 8 – excellent showing, but today outshown by his junior partner
Pikolin – 9 – can’t think of anywhere he put a foot wrong, and as for taking their top striker out of the game – cannot be bettered, he kept Zarate in a box throughout
Castro – 9 – MOM – pulling on the Mexico jersey seems to have given him a real confidence boost. Dangerous going forward, flawless in defence, and as beautiful worked and headed goal to boot. The goal got him mom ahead of Sideshow

Chiapas – 6 – still wishing we had Morales (subbed 82 mins)
Leandro – 9 – much more like the Leandro we all yearn for, and a perfect free kick for goal
Sancho – 8 – much more the Sancho we all yearn for – leading the team as a skipper should
Parejita – 8 – thought he was having yet another excellent game – deeply unlucky to see red

Scocco – 7 – no service, but keen, and showed the danger he can inflict, taking the ball off defenders when he wants (subbed 59 mins)
Palencia – 7 – worked very hard, but overall too negative in a game we were dominating (subbed 89 mins)

Subs:-
Espinosa – 7 – thought he looked excellent today
Alex Diego – 7 – only a short time, but also looked good
Gonzalez – 7 – one minute, but so keen

DT:-
Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti – 7 – out played and out thought them in every department. Defending “with the ball” perfect, but must work on last third, and should not be scared of creative players.

Cards:-
Monterrey
50 mins – Baños
60 mins – Ibarra
90 mins – Zarate – frustrated by impotency

Pumas
24 mins – Palencia – late challenge took foot away
37 mins – Sancho
55 mins – Parejita – STRAIGHT RED – various sources agree this was over the top, the ref failed to give a clear foul on him, he threw his hand away in frustration, and was given a red. If this was applied every time it occurred, we would have seen 10 reds in this game alone. Bad referring, displaying a lack of authority
72 mins – Leandro – he looked up to see who was in the box before taking a free kick, and was booked for time wasting
84 mins – Diego

Goal:-
0 - 1 - 66 mins - A well worked free kick from down the left wing. Straight off the Cantera blackboard onto the pitch. Leandro executed it perfectly, and Israel Castro’s header into the bottom corner could not have been bettered

Crowd:-
34,000 – The rebel were excluded

Elsewhere in Mexico:-
Toluca got another draw one all with San Luis. Santos finally won, as Morelia tried to sit on a 1-0 lead, and ultimately lost 2-1.Pachuca beat America 1-0, which is nice, and Tigres won excitingly 3-2 at Jaguares. Queretaro lost 2-0 to Chivas, who just look too good at the moment. Goal of the week from “The Hobbit” (Christian Bermúdez) as Atlante beat Necaxa 3-0. This is the first goal in the top flight for this talented young man.

Pumas Morelos:-
An own goal, and another from Gaston Capari saw the second team win 2-1 against Lobos BUAP. This leaves us 5th in group 2, and on the up. Next week they visit Monterrey’s second team.

Descenso:-
Safer every week, however still only 4th in the group, but its quite tight. Here are the bottom 5 in percentage table:-
14th 1.2473 PUMAS 116 from 93
15th 1.2151 Tecos 113 from 93
16th 1.2203 San Luis 72 from 59
17th 1.0753 Santos 100 from 93
18th 1.0400 Queretaro 26 from 25

Next Up:-
We are at home against the current champions, Chivas, CU Sunday 11th March 2007. This will be a test of just how good our defence is, because going forward they are hotter than biscuits.