Part I Here

This brings us to Group B in the Superliga, one that has the potential to be a bit more unpredictable. 

Chivas USA - The other goats look outmatched in this group, especially if Brad Guzan’s move to Villa takes place as rumored. With Sasha Kljestan (5 goals) and Jesse Marsch (4) and Ante Razov (4) leading their attack, it’s hard to see CUSA getting out of this group with this kind of popgun attack and a defense that’s allowed for a MLS season goal differential of 1. And this from a team that is second in its conference. That’s how weak the West is right now.

New England Revolution -This is a team that could surprise some people in this tournament. The Revs have only lost once in their last 13 matches and that came on the concrete at RSL. My only fear for them is that they aren’t scoring too much. In MLS, they haven’t scored more than twice since the first month of the season. But with Matt Reis in goal, a decent defense and a coach, Steve Nicol, unafraid to grind for a draw if need be, it may not matter. Another interesting note, New England has never won in international competition, dropping CONCACAF Championship Cup series to Alajuelense in 2003 and 2006. They’ve got a chance to break that hex here.

Pachuca - Defending champs of the Superliga, and two-time defenders of the Champions Cup, the Tuzos are the clear runaway favorites to win this again. Quite simply one of the best outfits I have ever seen in CONCACAF, the only glimmers of hope for the other contenders are that they only finished ninth in last year’s Clausura and that they lost top striker Juan Carlos Cacho to Pumas. They replaced him with much traveled Argentine Bruno Marioni, ex of Atlas, Boca Juniors, and Villarreal amongst many others and fellow nomad Christian who amassed 11 Brazil caps over a 16-year, 17-club, six-country career. They also still have Jose Francisco Torres, the young Texan who still hasn’t committed to the US or Mexico. If all the new additions don’t gel, or struggle in the heat (both new forwards are in their 30s), there might be an opening for someone to surprise them.

Santos Laguna - The defending Clausura champs, Santos Laguna will be best known to American fans as the current home of goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez. The club from Torreón also features Mexican internationals Fernando Arce,  Edgar Castillo (from New Mexico orginially), Oribe Peralta, and Juan Pablo Rodríguez alongside dangerous Ecuadorean striker Cristian Benítez. If Pachuca falters under the weight of all the new players getting to know each other, the Guerreros are well-placed to make a run at the title.

Prediction - I am going for the shock here as Santos and the Revolution advance.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 6:21 am and is filed under Football News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.