RECAP: WEEKEND MEXICAN ACTION Isaac Heath - Sunday, November 15, 2009
Paco Torres and Edgar Castillo took part in the Pachuca-Tigres tie while Marco Vidal and Indios finished the Apertura without a victory in the entire competition.
Pachuca 1 - 1 Tigres
Pachuca needed a miracle to qualify for the playoffs, but instead settled for a stale 1-1 tie with the already eliminated Tigres on Saturday at Estadio Hidalgo.
Paco Torres played the first half for the Tuzos at center midfield before yielding his spot to eventual goal scorer Ulises Mendivil.
Edgar Castillo, whose highlight of the day most certainly was receiving a call up from Bob Bradley, started and played the full 90 minutes at left back and picked up a yellow card in the 13th minute.
Without much on the line for either team, the game lacked enthusiasm from the start as both teams seemed disinterested in playing any soccer.
Both teams played much of the second half a man down after both Lucas Emanuel Ayala and Gregorio Torres were sent off in the 54th minute.
Ulises Mendivil put the home team up a goal in the 81st minute when he controlled and blasted a shot past Cirilo Saucedo after receiving a long ball from Edy Brambila.
In the 89th minute, Lucas Lobos tied the game at one when he dribbled the ball into Pachuca's box and then rifled a low shot into the corner of the goal.
Pachuca and Tigres will now have the offseason to ponder disappointing seasons, as both Rivarola and Guzman's men underacheived during the Apertura.
Pumas 1 - 1 Indios
Though Indios salvaged a usually desired point on the road at Pumas, there was certainly no celebration for the club as they finished the Apertura winless.
Marco Vidal started at center midfield for Indios, but the young American was not able to push his team to its first victory of the season.
The majority of the game was played slowly in the middle of the field without many opportunties, as both teams lacked motiviation after already being eliminated from the playoffs earlier in the campaign.
Hector Gimenez gave Indios hope when he headed home an excellent cross from Tomas Campos in the 39th minute to give Indios the one goal advantage.
The joy quickly evaporated just four minutes later when Marco Antonio Palacios scored on a header of his own off a corner kick to knot the game at one.
In the second half, Pumas pushed for a victory for their home crowd while Indios unsuccessfully attempted to use the counterattack to gain a victory.
In the end, neither team found the back of the net, and both seasons ended in disappointment.
Notes
Michael Orozco did not see the field in San Luis' 4-0 loss at Gallos Blancos. Despite the loss, the Gladiadores made the playoffs and will face Toluca in the quarterfinals.
Well I saw that at first both Torres and Castillo were called up for next wednesdays match at Denmark but that now Paco Torres has been given permission to miss it for "personal reasons"... all I can think is WTF? Is this thing between Torres and Bradley my imagination or is it real? With Donovan gone and Torres not going... the midfield is almost all defensive midfielders, Bradley, Clark, Feilhaber, Kljestian, McCarty... only Holden and Rogers are really aattack minded players... and Feilhaber's teammate, Jeremiah White was NOT called in...which is just plain strange, since he starts over there with Benny and KNOWS these players that we're going to be going against!
With Dempsey sent back to Fulham, and Cherundolo sent back to Germany, it looks like we're going to be playing that old long ball game yet again.
I'd say that the only decent thing that came out of the Slovakia match was the knowledge that Jonathan Spector can play at the CB position pretty well, but with Cherundolo gone either he moves back over to RB or Frankie Hejduk starts...
My bet is that with three LB's on this roster, Castillo might come in not at LB but as a left Midfielder some time in the second half, maybe for Rogers. I hope he plays well if he's given the chance... I can't say I'm all that thrilled with Bradley's line up... two target strikers in Altidore and Casey (still no call up for Kenny Cooper?) and two wingers in Jeff Cunningham and Eddie Johnson, although in Johnson's case, I think runner would be a better description, since his 1v1 skills were never the best feature of his game.
I wonder if this permission for Torres's absence is real or just cosmetic?
I can't say this is good news.
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