U.S. misses opportunity

It was a valiant effort for 82 minutes, but ultimately the U.S. remains winless in Smog City, Mexico. A 2-1 result isn't the end of the world (especially considering that our toughest game left is against Honduras), but I think it revealed some of the weaknesses of this team that need to be addressed before we book the flight to South Africa.

1. The U.S. is weak defending the flanks. Both Carlos Bocanegra and Steve Cherundola were constantly beaten on the edges and allowed service to go relatively unhindered from both left and right. Bocanegra needs to stay in the center for the U.S. (I don't care if he is a LB for his club team). Cherundola improved as the game wore on, but was beaten badly at times.
2. Our midfielders need to do a better job of showing to the ball to give the backline a place to play the ball after they win it. Far to often, our backline would just boot it up field for lack of a midfield outlet option. Some of it was nerves from the defense, but too many players pushed up after the ball was won instead of tracking back to maintain possession in the midfield.
3. Brian Ching. As far as I'm concerned he played himself out of a starting role for this team. He was pathetic. I like that Benny Feilhaber got into the game, but Jozy Altidore should have been the substitute for Ching in the 58th minute. Instead, Bradley removes our most dangerous player (Davies) with nearly 15 minutes left to play. You aren't going to get points by bunkering in Azteca.
4. I hate to acknowledge this one, but Clint Dempsey. I love 'Deuce', but he looked slow. Sure, he's out of season, but then, why start him? Why not use him as a substitute. I think Bradley got it backwards. I think Stuart Holden needed to be in there to start at left mid and put Donovan on the other side. Did anyone else notice how the U.S.'s pace increased greatly when Holden and Feilhaber entered?
5. At times, we rely on the referees when we should keep our feet. We are never, ever going to get the benefit of the doubt from CONCACAF referees. There is a clear bias (read: jealousy) against our loud, obnoxious capitalistic asses. Donovan spent too much time falling and then jumping up incensed and yelling at the referee while play continued down the field. That's never going to get it done. Stay on your feet. Play smart.

Player Ratings (1-10)
Tim Howard (9)
Steve Cherundolo (5)
Oguchi Onyewu (7)
Jay DeMerit (6)
Carlos Bocanegra (4)
Clint Dempsey (4)
Ricardo Clark (6)
Michael Bradley (6)
Landon Donovan (7)
Charlie Davies (8)
Brian Ching (2)

Subs
Stuart Holden (6)
Jozy Altidore (4)
Benny Feilhaber (6)

Ya gotta know when to Holden

Here's the roster for next Wednesday's qualifier in Mexico:

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan.

No real surprises here, but I really think there are more capable No. 2s than Brad Guzan. I'm not a fan. He has allowed some soft goals and he's not as athletic as he needs to be for his size.

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Bornstein, Chad Marshall.

Not a bad group, but some assembly is required. Although I am a fan, I think Bradley needs to sit Gooch for this one or perhaps bring him off the bench. His tendancy toward the stupid foul/booking/red card could land us in real trouble, and he's looked pretty terrible playing for his new club (AC Milan) recently. Of course, he's still fitting in, but I think you go with the hot hand and not the hot head for this one and play DeMerit. So, I'd like to see Bornstein-Bocanegra-DeMerit-Spector.

Midfielders: Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, Jose Francisco Torres.

Wow! No DMB. It's the right move (for both the team and Beasley who needs time off to figure out where his talent went). I like this group a lot. Donovan is actually officially listed as a forward, but I put him in the midfield because that's where he should play. I love the Holden pick, but it was a no brainer after his performance in the Gold Cup.

Forwards: Brian Ching, Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Conor Casey.

Time for the Chuck 'n' Jozy Show! I hope.

U.S. lays golden dookie

It seems like just when the USMNT is getting attention from the mainstream press, we go and lay an egg. I mean, even that douche Colin Cowherd jumped aboard the bandwagon. But despite the embarrassing loss, we shouldn't let those in the MSM use it as a banner justifying their indifference and ignorance about American soccer.

This was not our national team, not really. They wore the uniform, but many of them lack the skill -- and after the 60th minute ALL of them lacked the pride -- that is a prerequisite for donning the red, white and blue. Sure, we could complain that the bogus penalty call turned the game, but it was the inexperience of the backline that allowed the deluge of goals, not Jay Heaps attempting to take a charge (he must have thought he was still playing for the Blue Devil basketball team).

We can talk about Kyle Beckerman who had an absolute crapper of a match, and the disappointing play of Robbie Rogers after such a promising start. Or you can point to the disappearance of Davy Arnaud and Brian Ching early in the second half. The truth is, Mexico, featuring many players who will play the U.S. in August qualifier, was a better team (at least in the second half). As I said in an earlier post:

With the exception of Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers and Brian Ching, none of the other players should have been given caps. Heaps was/is horrible. He should be thankful for his cap, resign and go home. Steve Cronin? Colin Clark? Brad Evans? These guys aren’t even the best on their crappy MLS squads.

I was happy that Bradley rested his A-team for the Gold Cup, but I still think his team selection is deeply flawed. When he could have been building real depth for the 2010 squad, he chose guys who couldn't find the ball in a phone booth. If national team coaches were honest with themselves, they would acknowledge that coaching at the national team level is 85-90 percent team selection. Tactics and strategy only go so far when you are talking about a group with limited training time together.

But to close on a positive note, we did learn some things from this tournament: 1) Stuart Holden is legit. 2) We are deep enough at center mid, not to have to bring in Beckerman. 3) Injuries at any position (except centerback) won't devastate the A-team. 4) Jay Heaps is terrible. 5) Heath Pearce < Jonathan Bornstein 6) Brian Ching vs. Kenny Cooper? Push. 7) We still lack a forward with a killer instinct. 8) CONCACAF referees are the worst. 9 ) Mexico is attempting to bring the man-perm back. 10) Bob Bradley is an android.

Gold Cup: USA vs. Mexico (again)

After their 2-0 win over Honduras, the young U.S. national team, led by Houston Dynamo's Stuart Holden, will face Mexico who needed penalties to defeat their semi-final opponent Costa Rica. U.S. and Mexico met in the last Gold Cup final in 2007 and the U.S. won 2-1. Prior to that, however, Mexico beat the U.S. in '93 and '98 (the only other times they met in the final).

The Mike Bradley Show

Deported! U.S. 2, Mexico 0

Michael Bradley, once again, showed that there isn't any neptotism behind his selection to the U.S. national team, as his brace led the U.S. to a 2-0 thumping of CONCACAF rivals Mexico in the first match of the final round of World Cup qualification at Crew Stadium on Wednesday.

Bradley smacked home an rebound in the 43rd minute and then added another from distance in injury time to drive the stake through Mexico's heart. The first goal was set up by a corner kick that was headed to the six by Landon Donovan and then put on frame by Oguchi Onyewu. Mexican keeper Oswaldo Sanchez made the initial save but Bradley was on the doorstep to put it away. Mexico went down a man in the 65th minute after captain Rafael Marquez challenged U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard in the air, making no attempt to play the ball and cleating Howard in the thigh. Although noticeably limping, Howard stayed in the match.

The next qualifier for the U.S. will be March 28 in El Salvador.

TYH's Patriot of the Pitch©: Michael Bradley

MATCH REPORT

TEAM	1st half	2nd half	Final
USA	1	1	2
MEX	0	0	0

Scoring:
USA - Bradley 43.
USA - Bradley (Donovan) 92+.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 2-Frankie Hejduk, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 15-Heath Pearce; 8-Clint Dempsey, 4-Michael Bradley, 16-Sacha Kljestan (13-Ricardo Clark, 86), 7-DaMarcus Beasley; 10-Landon Donovan, 11-Brian Ching (9-Jozy Altidore, 83)

MEX: 1-Oswaldo Sanchez; 2-Aaron Galindo, 3-Carlos Salcido, 4-Rafael Marquez (capt.), 5-Ricardo Osorio; 6-Leandro Augusto, 12-Alberto Medina (15-Antonio Naelson, 60), 8-Pavel Pardo; 11-Carlos Ochoa, 10-Nery Castillo (14-Israel Martinez, 34), 17-Giovani dos Santos (9-Omar Bravo, 72)

Misconduct Summary:
MEX – Marquez (ejection) 65.
USA – Howard (caution) 67.

STATS	USA	MEX
Shots	10	9
Shots OG	5	3
Saves	3	3
Corners	5	1
Fouls	26	16
Offside	4	3

Showdown in Ohio!

Sorry to be M.I.A. (and I'm not referring to the pregnant pop star) lately, life is getting in the way but there's a big match tonight in Columbus. Maybe you heard.

Expected Starting line-up:
GOALKEEPER: Howard
DEFENDERS: Bornstein, Bocanegra, Onyewu, Wynne
MIDFIELDERS: Beasley, Bradley, Kljestan, Dempsey
FORWARDS: Ching, Donovan*
*I'd love to see Jozy as a second-half sub, if he doesn't start.

And here's the complete roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Marvell Wynne (Toronto)
MIDFIELDERS: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönch.), Ricardo Clark (Houston ), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus ), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Xerez CD), Brian Ching (Houston), Charlie Davies (Hammarby) Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Bayern Munich)

SuperLiga: Revs beat classless Atlante

JULY 30
Atlante 0-1 New England (Gillette Stadium)
Security was brought on the field at the conclusion of the New England Revolution's 1-0 over Mexican club Atlante to break up fights instigated by a completely classless Atlante team.

New England midfielder Shalrie Joseph headed home the only goal of the match in the 30th minute, but the second half was dominated by cheap shot after cheap shot by Atlante.

Frustrated by a superior team, Atlante resorted to cheap fouls late in the second half, and the two teams nearly came to blows after Shalrie Joseph went down from an apparent low blow. Referee Carlos Batres (read: asshat) completely lost control of the match, as he was unwilling to show anyone the door despite several oppotunities until the 87th minute when he gave Atlante's Luis Rey his walking papers.

After the whistle, the pushing a shoving began, and all hell broke loose when both Jay Heaps and Chris Albright were punched by Atlante players. On the replay it was clear that Heaps was punched by Atlante douchebag keeper Frederico Villar. But inexplicably Jay Heaps was shown a red card, but Villar was not. Also shown red cards were Atlante thug Alan Zamora and Luis Venegas.

Atlante should be barred from the tournament in the future for their dispicable antics. Since the tournament is put on by Soccer United Marketing, the marketing arm of MLS, it is impossible to sanction or suspend players; however, SUM should petition CONCACAF to have some kind of punishment for the Atlante players who threw punches.

But MLS fans can wave goodbye to Mexican clubs because it will be an all-MLS SuperLiga final, as New England will face the Houston Dynamo in the SuperLiga final, in a rematch of MLS Cup 2007.

SuperLiga: Boswell that ends well

JULY 29
Pachuca 0-2 Houston (Robertson Stadium)
The Houston Dynamo knocked out the 2007 SuperLiga champs Pachuca 2-0 at Robertson Stadium tonight to advance to the finals of the Mexican-U.S. club competition.

It hasn't been the season they hoped for in MLS for the Houston Dynamo, but in SuperLiga they've played more like the 2007 Houston Dynamo than the 2008 version. After dominating for long stretches in the first half, Pachuca looked strong out of the gate in the second half. Pachuca had a goal called back for a bogus offside call and then things went from bad to worse for the Mexican club, as Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell tucked in a Craig Waibel glancing header to make it 1-0 Houston in the 77th minute. Then, Substitute Corey Ashe added another in a similar play, heading in a cross that found its way to the young midfielder at the back post in the 87th minute.

The Dynamo will face the winner of tomorrow night's match -- New England vs. Atlante at Gillette Stadium -- on August 5.

SuperLiga: Revs take Group B

JULY 20
New England 1-1 Chivas USA (Titan Stadium)
New England is through to the semifinals of SuperLiga as the Group B winner, after getting a point on the road against Chivas USA in their final group match. The Revolution will play Group A runners-up Atlante in the semis. Revs man-in-the-middle Shalrie Joseph came through with a header in the 79th minute and cancelled out Ante Razov's goal for Chivas USA scored 20 minutes prior. Pachuca's draw in the nightcap bounced Chivas by virtue of the head-to-had tiebreaker.
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Santos 1-1 Pachuca (2nd half) (PH Park)
SuperLiga defending champs Pachuca weathered a furious second-half by already-eliminated Santos Laguna and escaped with a 1-1 draw, good enough to earn them a trip to the semifinals as Group B runners-up. A sixth minute goal by Pachuca's Damian Alvarez held up till the 72nd minute when Santos Laguna's Colombian striker equalized. Despite earning just a point, Pachuca advances over Chivas USA due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. Pachuca will face the Houston Dynamo in the semis.

SuperLiga: Dynamo win Group A, Chivas bounced

JULY 19
Houston 3-1 DC United (RFK Stadium)
United, playing without stars Jaime Moreno and Marcelo Gallardo, crash out of the SuperLiga, as they surrendered two goals in the first half and spent the second half playing ctach up. Ricardo Clark got the scoring going for the Dynamo with a nice near side glancing header off a Brad Davids corner. Ex-United defender got a measure of revenge against his old mates with the second goal. Francis Doe injected the home crowd with some life with a goal in the 76th minute, but Stuart Holden took the air out of their sales, adding a third for Houston in the 84th minute.

Houston clinches first place in Group A with the win, their group-winning, plus-five goal differential and Chivas' loss to Atlante.
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Atlante 2-0 CD Guadalajara (2nd half) (BS Stadium)
In a repeat of the 2007 Apertura semifinals, Atlante defeated Chivas in the final game of Group A, knocking the goats out of the SuperLiga tournament. The 2007 Apertura champions will advance to the SuperLiga semifinals as the second-place team in the group.

SuperLiga: Khano on the spot

JULY 16
Pachuca 0-1 New England (Gillette Stadium)
New England's Khano Smith was first to declare, "The kick is mine." He strode forward and calmly converted the game's only goal, a penalty awarded in injury time for a handball in the box. The Revs took the full three points and guaranteed themselves a place in the semifinals of SuperLiga. After 90-plus minutes of scoreless soccer, injury time was extended nearly nine minutes after Pat Phelan went down in the 91st minute and was carted off the field in a neck brace. It was determined that he had a concussion, but they took the defender to a hospital for observation to be sure.

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Santos 0-1 Chivas USA (HDC)
Halftime substitute Ante Razov was the hero for Chivas in this one, scoring the game's only goal in the 73rd minute. In order to advance, Chivas USA will have to fare better against New England than Pachuca fare against Santos in the final games of Group B.

SuperLiga: Orange crush

JULY 12
Atlante 0-4 Houston (Robertson Stadium)
Houston shredded an ill-prepared Atlante for three goals in the first half and added one for good measure at the top of the second half. This one featured fine, handcrafted goals made in the USA by Dwayne DeRosario, a brace by Stuart Holden, and Brian Mullan. A perfect performance by the defending MLS Cup champs, marred by a stupid decision by referee Courtney Campbell to send off two players just because they breathed on each other after the whistle. The correct call would have been two yellows and to wave play on. Are these MLS refs? Where's Jason Kreis when we need him?
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CD Guadalajara 2-1 DC United (RFK)
DC United's "sure thing" from the spot, Jaime Moreno, missed a game-tying penalty in the 78th minute and United fell to South of the Border rivals Chivas 2-1 in the first game of Group A play. Omar Riveron scored for Chivas Mexico in the 24th minute, and and Gonzalo Pineda made it 2-0 on the other side of halftime. But four minutes after Pineda's goal, Luciano Emilio pulled one back. Still, despite several chances United failed to equalize.

SuperLiga = SuperRipoff, says MLSPU

The Major League Soccer Players Union (MLSPU) have slammed the U.S.-Mexican club tournament known as SuperLiga ahead of this weekend's opening matches, calling the $1 million purse "misleading."

In an email published on Goal.com, the MLSPU said that prize money for winning the tournament for an MLS club isn't fairly divided among the players:

"What has not been revealed by the league is that its New York office has unilaterally set its own bonus structure for players, who will receive only a small fraction of the $1 million....If an MLS team wins SuperLiga, the players on that team won't split $1 million. Instead, they will receive only 15% of the prize money. This puts MLS players at a significant competitive disadvantage as the Mexican clubs are not operating under the same rules. Indeed, it is our understanding that the players on last year's winner Pachuca split the entire $1 million prize amongst themselves ... It's a shame that MLS doesn't pay its players -- the persons responsible for making the tournament exciting -- their fair share of the proceeds," the statement continued. "Their refusal to do so has left the players with a bitter taste in their mouths as they enter the tournament."

It remains to be seen if this "bitter taste" will translate to half-hearted play on the pitch by the MLS clubs taking part in this year's SuperLiga. It's a shame because last year's competition (and the million dollare purse) generated a real buzz.

CCC: United, they fall

Despite a well-played first half, DC United's defense finally caved before the home team Pachuca (Mexico) 2-0 in last night's CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinal first leg.

After consecutive scoreless matches, DC United have to be wondering how long it will take before their new orchestrator Marcelo Gallardo will gel with his South American compatriots Emilio and Franco Niell. But fans can take heart in the fact that DC, who won the Supporter's Shield (aka the real league championship) last season, after going 0-for-April. In fact, it wasn't until May 6 that United won their first match (a 2-1 home win over Chivas USA) and then MLS's most decorated club went on a tear losing just six matches over the next six months.

Plus, not many pundits expect MLS clubs to steal points south of the border; it's just not realistic given the home advantages (flying bags of urine and batteries, 3am wake-up calls by fans camped outside of the visitor's hotel room, Montezuma's revenge, etc.)

DC will host Pachuca at RFK on April 9 in the second leg, needing to make up the two goal difference. Tonight, MLS Cup champions Houston host Costa Rican club Deportivo Saprissa at 9pmCT in the other semifinal of CCC.

Bradley's boys lack preparation

Maybe the last post should have read: Bradley almost gets it right.

Goals by Oguchi Onyewu and Jozy Altidore were equalized by Mexico's Jonny Magallon (didn't Magallon fight Godzilla?) and a Clint Dempsey goal was disallowed, as the Nats drew 2-2 with Mexico at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Almost as if to spite me, following my praise of his selections, Bradley demonstrated that while he may have done a better job preparing the roster, his preparation of the team was truly awful.

The backline of the U.S. was a disorganized mess throughout the match, especially on set pieces, and if it wasn't for a Monk-like performance (see movie Mean Machine) by Timmy Howard, the home side would have been embarassed.

Some of their troubles can be attributed to a lack of practice time as a group, but that is something that every national team coach must deal with. And some certainly deal with it better than others.

In addition, to poor marking on set pieces. The midfield was terrible. While I am a Ricardo Clark supporter, the 'du boys (Adu and Edu) needed to get into the match sooner. We lacked creativity in our attack and Mexico exploited our inability to maintain possession. Drew Moor's deep cross to Altidore for the U.S.'s second goal was a perfect pass, but the first goal was essentially a volleyball set by Landon Donovan that Gooch was able to place past the keeper. It was really a busted play and a defensive lapse by Mexico.

I make no bones about it. I'm an Freddy Adu supporter. But even if you feel he is overrated, you would be hard pressed to deny that his entrance into the game gave the U.S. better build up and better possession. As for the Eddie Lewis sighting, why, oh why, is this guy on the roster. He is absolutely terrible. And don't get me started about Ramiro Corrales.

Despite the fact that this game should have ended 3-2 (since Dempsey's goal was ridiculously disallowed for a phantom offside call by Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres), Bradley hasn't proved that he can incorporate an effective offensive or defensive system. He has some truly gifted attack-minded players and he seems to handcuff them to a punt-and-run, college-style attack. Here's his take on the game from ussoccer.com:

"These kind of games are what the players look forward to and as coaches, we understand that we need this kind of games in order to look hard at our players and our team to find things that we need to improve ... We gain experience against a very good team in an atmosphere that was loud and in a great stadium. We talk about big games, and in terms of understanding how to play in those big matches, tonight was an excellent example."

The only thing that this match was an example of was poor preparation, which is a product of poor coaching, and a change must be made prior to qualification or we'll continue to see "excellent examples" and poor results.

Scoring Summary:USA – Oguchi Onyewu (Landon Donovan) 30th minute
MEX – Jonny Magallon (Pavel Pardo) 35.
USA – Jozy Altidore (Drew Moor) 40.
MEX – Jonny Magallon (Carlos Salcido) 47.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 21-Drew Moor, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 22-Oguchi Onyewu, 6-Ramiro Corrales; 10-Landon Donovan, 13-Ricardo Clark (Maurice Edu, 79), 4-Michael Bradley (5-Benny Feilhaber, 63), 15-Bobby Convey (7-Eddie Lewis, 70); 9-Jozy Altidore, 8-Clint Dempsey (19-Freddy Adu, 63)

MEX: 1-Guillermo Ochoa; 2-Jonny Magallon, 3-Carlos Salcido (14-Fausto Pinto, 59) 4-Rafael Marquez (capt.), 5-Israel Castro; 6-Gerado Torrado, 7-Fernando Arce (18-Cesar Villaluz, 90+), 8-Pavel Pardo, 11-Carlos Vela (16-Giovanni Dos Santos, 71); 9-Antonio De Nigris (15-Juan Carlos Cacho, 67), 10-Adolfo Bautista (17-Antonio Naelson, 71)

Bradley gets it right vs. Mexico

Bob Bradley finally got it right. Perhaps only a handful of names will change from this roster when the US finally enters World Cup qualification. Now the interesting part: Who will start?

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC).

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo).

MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Lewis (Derby County).

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pat Noonan (Aalesund FK).

Tex-Mex: Dallas eye Davino

FC Dallas are reportedly close to a deal with Mexico defender Duilio Davino, 31, formerly of Club America.

Davino has 84 caps with the Mexican national team, including earning a spot on Mexico's 1998 World Cup roster, in addition to making over 300 appearances for Club America. He was released last season. He is the son of the former Argentine footballer Jorge Davino.

MLS brass are trying call this a high profile move, second only to Blanco, but something tells me that he will have less of an impact than his former Club America teammate had last year in Chicago. "Mexican defender" is a bit of an oxymoron.

SuperLiga: Dynamo derailed on PKs

Anyone who thinks that MLS and Mexican clubs are not taking SuperLiga seriously did not watch tonight's match. After four goals, three ejections and 33 fouls, Pachuca defeated Houston 4-3 on penalty kicks in the first semi-final of the inaugural SuperLiga series at Robertson Stadium.

After each club's first three penalty takers were successful, Houston's Brian Ching hit the left post, but was rescued by a nice block by Pat Onstad on Damian Alvarez. Onstad, however, could not stop Pachuca's Rafael Marquez Lugo's effort, following Joseph Ngwenya weak attempt at a chip was stopped by Pachuca keeper (and White Snake roadie) Miguel Calero. Pachuca advance to the final to face the winner of DC United v. the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center tomorrow night.

The Dynamo jumped out to a 1-0 in the fourth minute after Brian Mullan beat Pachuca's right-sided defense like a rented burro and crossed to an unmarked Dwayne DeRosario whose mishit bounced fortuitously off his face and past Pachuca keeper (and White Snake roadie) Miguel Calero.

A horrible mistake on defense nine minutes later left Patrick Ianni with no other choice but to tug the jersey of Christian Gimenez who had a breakaway opportunity. The tug clearly came outside of the box, but Gimenez waited until inside the box to tumble over. Referee Ricardo Salazar made the correct call, however, awarding a free kick outisde the box and sending off Ianni for fouling, as the last defender, to deny the clear scoring opportunity. Predictably, the classless Pachuca surrounded the referee demanding a penalty.

Despite being a man up, Pachuca continued to demonstrate that sportsmanship isn't a highly regarded virtue in the Mexican division as they argued EVERY call. Center forward Juan Cacho provided the requisite cheap shots we have come to expect from Mexican clubs, including a dangerously late challenge on Pat Onstad that drew the ire of Craig Waibel who had to be held back by teammates.

Pachuca decided to try playing soccer for a few minutes, instead of just complaining, and they managed to equalize in the 28th minute. After a superb build-up, Carlos Rodriguez got free on the left flank and his low cross beat Onstad and found Cacho who tucked it away easily from the six.

In the second half, Pachuca attacked en masse and Houston defended valiantly before sucumbing in the 62nd minute, as halftime substitute Andres Chitiva put the visitors up 2-1 with a low near post shot that Onstad couldn't turn away. Houston appeared to be headed to their third loss in three matches, until the 83rd minute. A long, searching free kick by Richard Mulrooney found Eddie Robinson in the box and his header made it 2-2. Mulrooney was superb all match in plugging up the hole left by Ianni's ejection.

Minutes later, Chitva continued Pachuca's classy ways by being sent off after receiving his second yellow for a clear dive. With all numbers equalized, the action was end to end, as both exhausted sides tried to avoid an extra session, but they could not.

In the first OT, Pachuca's Jaime Correa dumped Houston sub Corey Ashe who struck his head against a green pad covering the sideline camera. While on the ground, he kicked out his legs in the direction of a Pachuca player, for which he received a red card from Salazar. Pachuca players were sqwarming the sidelines, apparently thinking that Ashe was wasting time.

In the second OT, another sub Chris Wondolowski was nearly the hero as his hard shot forced a tough save by Calero after a beautiful through ball by Brian Ching found him on a dead run.

Houston, who are surely showing the strains of a packed schedule, have now lost three matches in a row, and will look to rebound on Sunday versus FC Dallas.

MLSnet.com Match Report

Rapids swap one wash out for another

With Roberto Brown relegated to USL-1 (Montreal Impact), the Colorado Rapids have signed former Mexican national team forward Daniel Osorno on Wednesday.

I say "former" because they haven't been in need of his services since 2003, and the 28-year-old has never made a Mexican World Cup squad, ever. Are the international pickings so slim, Clavijo?

Osorno played for Mexican club CF Altas from 2004-2007. He has 56 caps for Mexico. And he may be the Rapids' and Clavijo's last hope.

Click here for article.

In other transfer news, MLS must be the new Dubai, as every washed up Englishman is claiming MLS offered big money if he would sign. The latest is Aston VIlla midfielder Patrick Berger, who insisted he never considered quitting Villa for the money.

Click here for article.