Soccer By Ives

Morning Ticker: Blanco leads Fire to SuperLiga final, Estudiantes wins Copa and more

  

The Chicago Fire moved one step closer to silverware on Wednesday night, riding a Cuauhtemoc Blanco free kick to knock off the New England Revolution, 2-1, in the SuperLiga semifinals.

The victory means the Fire will now face Mexican side Tigres in the SuperLiga final. Tigres defeated Santos Laguna, 3-2, in the second semifinal at Gillette Stadium. The SuperLiga final is set for Aug. 5 at Toyota Park.

Here is Blanco's free kick, which may have fooled Matt Reis just a bit (as you can tell by the above photo):

Here are some other stories to get your day going:

Catching up with SuperLiga

Lost in the shadow of the Confederations Cup (at least on SBI) has been the third-annual SuperLiga Tournament. We have largely ignored the MLS vs. Mexico competition and while we've been asleep at the wheel some MLS teams have had good showings vs. their neighbors to the south, with MLS holding a 2-1-1 record against the Mexican clubs.

The Chicago Fire is leading the competition with a 2-0 record, while New England stands at 1-0-1. Kansas City has ties in both of its meetings while Chivas USA stands winless at 0-2.

We will have four inter-league match-ups this weekend that should go a long way in establishing which league will wind up with bragging rights. Here is the weekend SuperLiga schedule:

SuperLiga 2009 set to kick off

The third annual SuperLiga Tournament is set to kick off this weekend and what was once a tournament with so much promise has turned into a bit of an afterthought that isn't getting much in the way of attention.

Some of the best teams in MLS and the Mexican First Division are set to do battle in a tournament that has provided some entertaining, as well as feisty, matches. The tournament has its flaws of course, from Mexican teams that are out of season to MLS teams that aren't exactly enthusiastic about competing in the event, but somewhere along the way we still wind up with some pretty good games.

Here is the question for you, MLS fans. Do you still care about SuperLiga? Is your team competing in it, and if so, are you interested?

If so, here is the upcoming schedule of SuperLiga matches:

New England wins SuperLiga Final as bonus squabble looms

                                                         Photo by ISIphotos.com

The 2008 SuperLiga Tournament came to a close in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night as New England defeated the Houston Dynamo on penalty kicks. Matt Reis played the hero, stopping a pair of shots, including the final shot by Houston's Corey Ashe to give the Revs a second trophy to go with last year's U.S. Open Cup title.

The match ended a very entertaining, though controversial second installment of the SuperLiga tournament. From shaky officiating to some heated confrontations among players from MLS and Mexican teams, the tournament was fun to watch, but also ugly at times.

If one storyline stood out though, it was the conflict between MLS and its players of the bonuses players received in the tournament. Players expressed their anger over not being given larger shares of winning prize money while MLS called the complaints a ploy ahead of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations.

SBI correspondent Carl Setterlund was at Gillette Stadium last night and discussed the SuperLiga bonus money issue with several of the game's participants. Here is his report:

SuperLiga Final: Houston Dynamo vs. New England Revolution (Your Running Commentary)

The battle between MLS and the Mexican league is over and two MLS teams are left standing. New England and Houston have vanquished their Mexican counterparts and are now set to square off in a final that won't be of much interest to fans outside of MLS.

Call it MLS Cup 12 1/2.

You have already heard about how the Revs and Dynamo are set to split the winner's share for the final as a show of support for what they feel are meager winnings, and you may have heard about MLS commissioner Don Garber all but threatening the teams with punishment if they did just that. While that gets sorted out we should remember that a trophy is, in fact, on the line and I doubt either team is forgetting that fact.

You know the routine. If you will be watching tonight's match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the match.

Revs and Dynamo to split SuperLiga Final purse

The MLS Player's Union has announced that the New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo will split the winning and second-place purses for the SuperLiga final (set for Tuesday at Gillette Stadium) in a show of solidarity.

"The players have made this decision to show their solidarity and in protest of the league’s violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with respect to the negotiation of bonuses for this tournament."

                                         MLS Players Union Statement

How much money are we talking? The winning player's share for the SuperLiga final is $150,000, with the second-place share being $100,000. Now the team's will each receive $125,000.

Morning Ticker: Revs reach SuperLiga final, Fire downs Everton and Champions League results

                                                        Photo by ISIphotos.com

Good morning all. Last night was a good night to be an MLS fan. New England toppled Mexican champions Atlante in SuperLiga while the Chicago Fire defeated Everton in a friendly. Couple those results with the latest in the European soccer world and we've got a lot to get to this morning. Let's get started:

Revs reach SuperLiga final

Shalrie Joseph's first-half header goal was all New England needed as its defense held up without Michael Parkhurst in a 1-0 victory against Atlante in the SuperLiga semifinals on Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium.

The game was marred, as so many matches between Mexican and Amerian teams are, by post-game scuffles (call them handbags if you prefer). The result was five red cards for Atlante and one unfortunate red card for New England and Jay Heaps (has he ever not looked shocked at getting a card?).

Now England moves on to the SuperLiga final, where it will take on the Houston Dynamo in a rematch of the past two MLS Cup finals.

SuperLiga semifinal: New England Revolution vs. Atlante (Your running commentary)

Good evening folks. The New England Revolution puts its unbeaten SuperLiga record on the line tonight against Mexican champions Atlante in the SuperLiga semifinal at Gillette Stadium. The winner of tonight's match (8pm, Telefutura) takes on the Houston Dynamo in the second-annual SuperLiga final.

New England has looked sharp in SuperLiga play but will have to beat Atlante without its best defender, U.S. Olympic team defender Michael Parkhurst.

If you don't have Telefutura, you can watch the game online at http://www.superliga2008.com/videoaudio/

If you will be watching tonight's game, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below. I will be watching and commenting but won't be doing a full running commentary.

Enjoy the match.

SuperLiga semifina: Pachuca vs. Houston Dynamo (Your Running Commentary)

Good evening folks. Tonight is the night the Houston Dynamo takes on Pachuca in the SuperLiga semifinals. Can the Dynamo finally beat their rivals from Mexico? Will Miguel Calero work his magic yet again?

If you will be watching tonight's match (10pm, Telefutura), please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below. I will try to do some running commentary on the match but can't promise it yet.

Enjoy the match.

Pat Phelan Update

                                                         Photo by ISIphotos.com

New England midfielder Pat Phelan is recovering from a concussion suffered during last night's SuperLiga match between the Revolution and Pachuca (which the Revs won, 1-0, on a late Khano Smith PK).

Phelan was injured in a collision with teammate Sainey Nyassi and was knocked unconscious (that's him pictured above), but Phelan did regain consciousness before leaving the field.

Phelan is expected to be out of action for a week, very good news considering how scary the scene was during last night's match.

SuperLiga: Matchday Four (Your Running Commentary)

Good evening folks. SuperLiga is under way tonight, with New England taking on Pachuca (8pm, Telefutura) and Chivas USA playing Santos Laguna (10pm, Telefutura).

If you are watching tonight's matches, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the matches.

SuperLiga: Matchday Three (Your Running Commentary)

Good evening folks. The SuperLiga tournament resumes today with two more matches in what has already been an exciting tournament.

D.C. United plays host to Atlante (8pm, Telefutura), which is coming off a 4-0 drubbing by the Houston Dynamo. Chivas de Guadalajara will be in Houston tonight to face the Dynamo (10 p.m, Telefutura).

If you will be watching tonight's matches please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments setion below.

Enjoy the matches.

Chivas de Guadalajara 2, D.C. United 1: A Supporter's View

There are some sure things in this world. Death, Taxes and Jaime Moreno converted penalty kicks. At least that used to be the list before Moreno missed his first penalty kick in about 50 years. The missed kick cost D.C. a chance at a two-goal comeback and 2-2 tie. United had to settle for a 2-1 loss and slow start to SuperLiga.

SBI correspondent Joel Sanderson took in the action on Saturday and shared his take with us. Give it a read before D.C. takes the field tonight for it's second SuperLiga match, this time against Atlante.

SuperLiga: Matchday One (Your Running Commentary)

Good evening folks. The plan tonight was to have this post go up before the start of tonight's SuperLiga matches, but that didn't work out, so this will serve as the post for you to discuss tonight's nightcap between the Houston Dynamo and Atlante (as well as the place to discuss tonight's opening match between D.C. United and Chivas de Guadalajara).

If you don't have Telefutura, remember that you can watch a live video stream of the match with English commentators on the SuperLiga website.

If you are watching Houston-Atlante, or want to talk DC-Chivas, feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the match.

SuperLiga set to kick off tonight

The second edition of the SuperLiga Tournament pitting the best teams in MLS and the best from Mexico is set to kick off tonight with a pair of juicy match-ups. D.C. United, the hottest team in MLS, plays host to Chivas de Guadalara at RFK Stadium, while defending MLS champion Houston faces Mexican champion Atlante at Robertson Stadium.

There is plenty of excitement surrounding this year's tournament after the success of the inaugural event. Who doesn't remember Pachuca's dramatic penalty kick shootout win against the LA Galaxy in last year's final?

This year's tournament promises to be even more intense as Mexican clubs look to do better than they did last year, when Pachuca was the only Mexican club to reach the semifinals.

Here is a closer look at the schedule as well as some marquee match-ups: