Abby Wambach Speaks

Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach spoke to reporters today for the first time since breaking her leg in the final U.S. game before the Olympics July 16 against Brazil.

Here’s what she said she thought about when the injury occurred:

“I realized in that moment and accepted in that moment that my Olympic dreams were not going to be what I had planned. I accepted the reality of this situation. This was a deep down acceptance of my reality. A lot of the times when you freak out about stuff is when you are more unsure of reality. It was an all encompassing moment. I wasn’t freaked out.”

Quotes from the whole interview are here.

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Chivas USA-New England Revolution SuperLiga Post-Game Notes & Quotes

Chivas USA plunged out of SuperLiga Sunday when Pachuca and Santos Laguna tied 1-1 in San Jose in the night’s second game. Chivas USA needed Santos Laguna to beat Pachuca to stay alive in the competition.

It was difficult to conduct interviews with Chivas USA players after the 1-1 tie with the Revs simply because they couldn’t really say much considering their future in the tournament was being decided hundreds of miles away as they spoke.

But here’s Assistant Coach Mike Matkovich (subbing for Preki who is tending to a family emergency back home in Europe) on giving up the equalizer:

“Obviously we are disappointed. We’re 12 minutes away (from winning), we lose a mark on a dead ball, we give up a soft goal. We’ve got a guy on the post and the goalkeeper gets his hands on it and then it squeaks in. … I thought we were the better side, I thought we created better chances, no disrespect for them, but things didn’t go our way today.”

Jesse Marsch wasn’t too happy about it either: “

That was a terrible goal to give up,” he said “One of the worst goals we’ve given up in a really big game.”

On the other hand:

“I think this was one of our best games of the year,” (Gawd, I hope he’s kidding because it wasn’t pretty to watch). “If we played like that more often I feel like we can win a lot of games.”

But not this one. Or SuperLiga.

A common complaint was the atrocious field, which was dry, had huge bare spots and generally looked like those Budweiser horses had been filming a few commercials on it lately. A Soccer United Marketing official observed the pitch was fine two months ago, but looked even worse two weeks ago than it did Sunday. He had no idea what happened in between.

“The field was terrible,” said Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis. “We put a bid in to get (the game) and I don’t know why we didn’t. We may as well have played it in the parking lot.”

New England Coach Steve Nicol agreed:

“To play a game like this on this field I think was a disgrace. … There is no way you can play football on that field. It’s meant to be a big tournament, an important tournament and there’s no way it should have been played on this field.”

Complete game story.

Highlights here.

A picture gallery of the action is here.

So the semifinals are set:
MLS champion Houston Dynamo hosts defending SuperLiga champion Pachuca at Robertson Stadium July 29.

The Revolution hosts Atlante at Gillette Stadium July 30.

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Final Result: New England Revolution at Chivas USA

If you’re a Chivas USA fan, you’re not pulling for Pachuca in the night’s second SuperLiga game up in San Jose.

The 1-1 draw between the Revs and Chivas USA at Cal State Fullerton this evening means a Pachuca tie or win against Santos Laguna puts the Red and White out of the tournament.

Not the most scintillating game it must be said and for a while it looked like Ante Razov’s sixth goal in six straight games in the 52nd minute would be the difference. Daniel Paladini had split the defense with a prescient through ball, Razov got on the end of it, shot straight at goalkeeper Matt Reis with his first shot, but scored with a second effort.

The Revs equalized in the 79th minute from a Steve Ralston corner kick, Shalrie Joseph getting the header in that beat goalkeeper Dan Kennedy and Daniel Paladini, who was standing on the line.

New England, by the way, are through to the next round.

Back later with post-game comments.

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Half Time: New England Revolution at Chivas USA

Horrible field (and you thought Home Depot Center was bad), horrible half.

It would be an understatement to say scoring chances were few and far between – they were virtually non-existent.

The best scoring chance came just before half time, Jesse Marsch blasting a shot from about 20 yards that required the hands of a diving Matt Reis to push around the post.

Apart from that Ante Razov had a shot that went wide, while Chris Albright sent a header wide at the other end.

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SuperLiga: New England Revolution at Chivas USA

Five changes to the Chivas USA starting lineup from the team that faced Santos Laguna Wednesday (or as one press box observer said, the A team is back).

Dan Kennedy is in goal, while Claudio Suarez and Bobby Burling return in central defense, Cary Talley is at right back and Pancho Mendoza at left back (although he and left half Jonathan Bornstein have been switching off in recent games and presumably could again).

Also in midfield: Sacha Kljestan, in what is his last start until he returns from the Olympics; while Dan Paladini gets a rare start (Paulo Nagamura is suspended) and Jesse Marsch returns.

Up front is Atiba Harris and Ante Razov.

Among the options on the bench: new Mexican striker Roberto Nurse (frankly awful against Santos Laguna) and Jorge Flores.

The Revs are without the injured Taylor Twellman, while Pat Phelan (concussion) and Mauricio Castro (groin strain) didn’t make the trip either.

Former Galaxy goalkeeper Matt Reis is in goal, behind a back four of Chris Albright, Amaechi Igwe, Michael Parkhurst and Jay Heaps.

Midfield: Sainey Nyassi, Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Larentowicz.

Attackers: Kheli Dube and Kenny Mansally.

Looks to be a tiny crowd here at Titan Stadium in Fullerton for this one.

The game is on Telefutura.

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SuperLiga Sunday: Chivas USA Gameday

Chivas USA is calling today’s third and final SuperLiga group game against the New England Revolution the biggest in club history, which isn’t saying much when the team is three years old, but sounds good, I guess. Tickets start at $15 for the 5 p.m. game (live on Telefutura) at Titan Stadium on the campus of Cal State Fullerton.

It’s a Preki-less Chivas USA today.

How many permutations are there to think about when wondering who will advance from the group?

Too many.

Here’s the short version from reporter Phil Collin:

None of the four teams in Group B has clinched a spot, and none have been eliminated. And how about this? Chivas can lose tomorrow and still advance. Don’t ask.

Um, I won’t.

Here’s the long version from the SuperLiga Web site:
Group B Scenarios
Next Group Matches:
Chivas USA vs. NE Revolution
Santos vs. Pachuca CF (7 p.m. Pizza Hut Park – Frisco)

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (6 points, +2 goal differential)

Revolution clinches 1st place with a win or tie.
Revolution clinches 2nd place with a loss AND a Pachuca loss or tie.
Revolution clinches 2nd place with a loss AND a Pachuca win IF Chivas USA wins the group in a three-way tiebreaker.
Revolution is eliminated with a loss AND a Pachuca win IF Pachuca wins the group in a three-way tiebreaker.

Note: If New England wins or draws its last group game, it would host every match it plays moving forward as neither Houston nor D.C. United could obtain 7 or 9 points. See note below on Semifinals.

PACHUCA (3 points, even goal differential)

Pachuca clinches 1st place with a win AND a Chivas USA win IF Pachuca wins the group in a three-way tiebreaker.
Pachuca clinches 2nd place with a win or tie AND a Chivas USA loss or tie.
Pachuca clinches 2nd place with a loss AND a Chivas USA loss IF both teams lose by one-goal margin and identical score lines.
Pachuca clinches 2nd place with a loss AND a Chivas USA loss IF both teams lose by a one-goal margin with Pachuca scoring more goals than Chivas USA.
Pachuca is eliminated with a loss AND a Chivas USA win or tie.
Pachuca is eliminated with a loss AND a Chivas USA loss IF Pachuca loses by two goals or more.
Pachuca is eliminated with a loss AND a Chivas USA loss IF Chivas USA loses by more goals than Pachuca.
Pachuca is eliminated with a tie AND a Chivas USA win.
Pachuca is eliminated with a win AND a Chivas USA win IF Chivas USA wins the group in a three-way tiebreaker.

CHIVAS USA (3 points, even goal differential)

Chivas USA clinches 1st place with a win AND a Pachuca loss or tie.
Chivas USA clinches 1st place with a win AND a Pachuca win IF Chivas USA wins the group in a three-way tiebreaker.
Chivas USA clinches 2nd place with a win AND a Pachuca win IF Pachuca wins the group in a three-way tiebreaker.
Chivas USA clinches 2nd place with a tie AND a Pachuca loss.
Chivas USA is eliminated with a loss AND a Pachuca win or tie.
Chivas USA is eliminated with a tie AND a Pachuca win or tie.
Chivas USA is eliminated with a loss AND a Santos win IF Santos wins by two or more goals.
Chivas USA is eliminated with a loss AND a Pachuca loss IF both results are identical and by a one-goal margin.
Chivas USA is eliminated with a loss AND a Pachuca loss IF both teams lose are by a one-goal margin with Pachuca scoring more goals than Chivas USA.
Chivas USA is eliminated with a loss AND a Pachuca loss IF Chivas USA loses by more goals than Pachuca.

SANTOS (0 points, -2 goal differential)

Santos clinches 2nd place with a win AND a Chivas USA loss IF Santos wins by two or more goals.
Santos clinch 2nd place with a win AND a Chivas USA loss IF Chivas USA finishes with the worst goal differential in three-way tie.
Santos is eliminated with a loss or tie.
Santos is eliminated with a win AND a Chivas USA tie or win.
Santos is eliminated with a win AND a Chivas USA loss IF both results are by one-goal margins.

Jonathan Bornstein will play today, as Phil observes:

Jonathan Bornstein showed up as suspended for yellow card accumulation on some press release, but that was a mistake from the Chivas PR machine. Or, as Bornstein put it: “How can I be suspended when I didn’t even get a yellow in the second game?” He’s right, although the scoring summary on mlsnet.com lists Bornstein as being booked in the 88th minute vs. Santos. That card actually went to Bobby Burling. Bornstein did pick up a card against Pachuca.

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Saturday Galaxy Gameday

Galaxy beat writer Scott Wolf gave a few tidbits of today’s story in blog posts Friday and here we learn just how happy Coach Ruud Gullit is to punt Abel Xavier. So are we, Ruud, so are we.

A massive crowd is expected in New York for David Beckham, sorry, today’s game (3:30 p.m. live on Fox Soccer Channel). Wonder how many of them will care about how he is deployed?

Oh, and you’re aware Becks just loves L.A., right?.

Rumor of the Day: Has the Galaxy signed Newcastle United’s former stylish midfielder Nolberto Solano? (Link swiped from the LA Riot Squad Web site).

In other soccer news:
*LAFC lost at Home Depot Center Friday night (and live on national TV) 4-2 to the Baltimore Bays in the final of the Under-17/18 U.S. Soccer Federation Development Academy.

*A reminder there are two SuperLiga games today on Telefutra: at 5 p.m. Houston plays D.C. United, while CD Guadalajara-Atlante follows at 7 p.m.

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Win Tickets to Sunday’s Chivas USA-New England Revolution SuperLiga Game in Fullerton

Just answer this trivia question: Which Chivas USA player is nicknamed Sueno?

The first three e-mails I receive with the correct answer wins a pair of tickets courtesy of the Daily Breeze to the crucial Chivas USA-New England Revolution SuperLiga game on Sunday at Titan Stadium in Fullerton.

I will notify the three winners via e-mail how they can claim their prize.

To get caught up on SuperLiga, click here.

I’ll post the winners here.

Updated: 11:08 a.m. Saturday
We have three winners:
Far Farshad, Pacific Palisades
Laura Camp, San Juan Capistrano
Diana Torralvo, Playa del Rey

Diana provided the correct answer in a comment, BTW, so look below for the answer.

For those of you visiting the blog for the first time, look around and kick the tires.

I’ll have a preview of today’s Galaxy-Red Bulls game up shortly. And I’ll be blogging from the Chivas USA SuperLiga game Sunday as well, so even if you didn’t win tickets you can check back in for updates.

Thanks for visiting.

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