| Blog #3 - Copa Chivas |
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| on 28 Jan 2008 | |
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Copa Chivas Blog # 3 Written by Andrew Ziemer, Tecnico Asistente , Chivas USA Sunday, Jan. 27 , 2008 – Guadalajara , Jalisco , Mexico Copa Chivas Website - http://www.copachivas.com/ Sunday, January 27, 2008 – Chivas USA vs Necaxa, Mexico – 12pm – Estadio Jalisco We woke up and had breakfast at 8:30am. The team left on the bus to Estadio Jalisco at 10:15am. I went to Verde Valle to scout the game Tigres vs Caracas F.C. and then taxied over to the game. I arrived and walked into the tunnel into Estadio Jalisco. It made me think to Pele and the great Brazilian team who won 1970 World Cup and were based out of Guadaljara and played in the stadium. I entered the vestuario (locker room) and Sacha and Dennis were busy with the pre-game talk. We had watched Necaxa against Carracas the day before and made a few adjustments. The main change was to move Omar (our #4) into the midfield and play 1:3:4:3 instead of 1:4:3:3. When the other team has the ball , we were to play 1:4:5:1 since they were very good in the counter attack. Nikolas Acosta came in at the #6 (right midfield) for Cesar Zamora. Chivas USA – System – In Ball possession - 1:3:4:3, Ball possession opponent 1:4:5:1 Necaxa – System - In Ball possession - 1:4:3:3, Ball possession opponent 1:4:5:1 Before the warm-up , most of the players went to the chapel and prayed. We then had a short but good warm up and went into the locker room. The game was being televised live on Sky Sports and as the Mexican and American National Anthem played, I could not help but have goose bumps. I am sure the others had the same feeling.We started very concentrated and organized, a complete different team from Saturday’s game. The game was very even with both teams having moments of possession and some dangerous attacks.The sun was beating down and the boys were playing as if it did not matter what the weather was like. In the 15th minute, Gerson Mayen went in cleats up on their attacking midfield player and got a straight red card. Sacha quickly switched to a 1:3:4:2 system and the players started to work even harder. Necaxa had a few very good chances, but Juan Quiroz was on fire in the goal. Shortly after the red card, Necaxa swithed to 3 defenders and we were one against one in both defense and the midfield. We made it to halftime 0-0 and entered the vestuario to regroup. At halftime we brought in Hector Molina for Jose Diaz at the #5 , Jorge Ramierez for Leopoldo Morales up front. The plan when they had the ball was to get quickly behind the ball and force them to play side to side, remain compact and leave the players on the side away from the ball and in their defense open. When we won the ball the objective was to find a forward or midfielder who can create something individually and keep balance defensively in the team. This worked and Mario Ledezma even had a great lob from 30 yards off a stellar run from the midline, but the Necaxa keeper saved it by tipping it over the crossbar. Each time they had an attack, our defense and midfield either stopped them, or Juan saved the day in goal. Juan made at least 6 quality saves in the 2nd half alone. The boys were digging deep playing a man down on a full sized international pitch and we had to make a few changes to keep control of the midfield. Cesar Zamora came in for Armando Rocha at the #10 and Michael Muniz for Omar Becera at the #4. In the 55th minute, their #10 attacking midfield drew a questionable foul at the top of the box. He curled a low right footed shot past a diving Juan Quiroz and made it 1-0 for Necaxa. We were forced to score and we made our last change, Arnoldo Salazar came in up top for Mario Ledezma. We now had to also send midfielders and pressure in the ½ of Necaxa which opened up space behind our defense. The boys gave it everything they had trying to get the equalizer and Necaxa played the ball around intelligently using the one man advantage. With 8 minutes to play Necaxa had an attack down the right side and scored off a low cross by the same player, the attacking midfielder wearing the #151. Although we kept pushing to the end, we could not find the net and the game ended with the final score Necaxa 2 – Chivas USA 0. Even though it felt bad to lose, the boys came off the field with their heads held high since they left everything they had (and more) on the field. It was an incredible environment for these 17 and 18 year old boys (who played like men) to play in one of the most historical stadiums in the World. After a long cool down, we went inside , showered and departed on the bus to have a nice lunch and rest. The feeling today was much better than yesterday, and besides a few small moments, we were as good or better than Necaxa with one player less. We are still not out of the tournament, but now we must win tomorrow against a strong Atletico Juventud team that has 6 points in order to keep our chances of a 2nd round spot alive. Chivas USA Starting Line-up : Position # 1 - Goalkeeper - Juan Quiroz Defenders – Position # 2 - Omar Elmasri, Position # 3 - Rod Fahmian, Position # 5 - Jose Diaz Midfielders – Position # 4 - Omar Becera, Position # 6 Nikolas Acosta, - Position # 8 - Jesse Paredes , Position # 10 - Gerson Mayen Forwards – Position #7 - Leopoldo Morales, Position # 9 - Armando Rocha, Position #11 -Mario Ledezma Substitutions – Chivas USA ½ time - Hector Molina for Jose Diaz , Jorge Ramierez for Leopoldo Morales 2nd half substitutes : Cesar Zamora for Armando Rocha Michael Muniz for Omar Becera Arnoldo Salazar for Mario Ledezma Substitutes not used : Gker - Mario Gonzalez, Defenders - Hugo Sanchez, Midfielders - Clayton Eaton Copa Chivas Results : http://www.copachivas.com/estadistica/resultado/ Results in Group D : Chivas USA 0 – Necaxa 2 Tigres 2 – Caracas 2 Autlan 0 - Atletico Juventud 3 Points in Group D : Atletico Juventud – 6pts Carracas – 4pts Autlan – 3pts Necaxa – 3pts Tigres – 1 pt Chivas USA – 0 Anything is still possible since the teams with the most points still have to play us. I hope that you enjoy the blog as much as I enjoy writing it. En Futbol, Andrew Ziemer Game day #2 – Results Saprissa 1 vs 0 U. Catolica Sel. Nal. U.S.A. 1 vs 1 U.A.G. Tigres 2 vs 2 Caracas Santos 2 vs 3 Estudiantes de la Plata Monterrey 2 vs 0 Sel. Nac. Japón Necaxa 2 vs 0 Chivas U.S.A. Guadalajara 3 vs 1 Kryliya Lokomotiv 2 vs 2 América Atlas 3 vs 0 Stabaek Morelia 1 vs 2 Tahuichi A. Juventud 3 vs 0 Autlan Real Madrid 3 vs 2 Club Nacional |
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