Hi. Sorry if I'm pre-empting anyone, but now that the list of teams in the group stage is taking shape, I though I'd start a thread discussing what looks to be the most compelling set of 4 - Group A. How do you see the various matchups in the Group going, will you be checking out any of the games live or otherwise, and who do you think will go through to the quarter-finals? Oh, and where did the term tico come from, and why is it used for Costa Ricans?
Re: CCL Group A When people speak spanish, the dimunitive to use when you describe something small, short, or low is ito i.e. Chiquitito. However, since we were the most ignored Spanish colony in Colonial times, our Spanish developed vastly differently from the others. A consequence of it was the constant changing of speed in our speech and since the speed we spoke changed drastically, our tongue started to mispronounce proper Spanish. The diminutive ito, which is one of the most common in the Spanish language, eventually changed and, it became common of our people, to ico instead of ito i.e. Chiquitico. As our people started migrating and foreigners started immigrating, people noticed this and eventually we were branded as Ticos by outsiders.
Re: CCL Group A Toughest group to call. All strong teams from countries with the strongest leagues. I'm a DC fan but have to say that the MLS salary cap and roster size will make it extremely difficult for us to compete. If we were in a solid position for the playoffs, then maybe we could use reserves for league games but that is not the case. Our coach will have to do a delicate balancing job between the rosters for league games and CCL mid week matches. This is not like the old CONCACAF where we could almost exclusively focus on playing our opponent pre-season and early season. So it presents new challenges that we really haven't faced before. It would be good to hear what the fans of the other clubs have to say about where they are in season and their challenges. My head says that Saprissa (who has a solid history of doing well in regional tournies) and Cruz are the favorites. My heart says that Cruz and DC will go on.
Re: CCL Group A Wow, I can't wait to see how much hate this post brings in. Even mentioning an MLS team and winning in the same sentience seems to be enough to set it off these days... I agree with you about who I think is actually going to advance out of this group, Cruz and Saprissa are too deep and too good not to take care of business. DCU on the other hand seems to be getting into their usual early season "run over the rest of the MLS" mode which means they should be able to make the MLS Cup playoffs while also going after this. Marathon hasn't left much of an impression on me over the last four or five years, mostly because they never played a team I was following. That doesn't mean anything, Just that they're a wildcard for me. This is easily the hardest group, almost no guaranteeing the outcome for anyone. There are two clear favorites and two teams that could give them just the right amount of grief. A key injury, suspension or poor personnel decision and we could see one of the favorites go out. Same set of things happen to the other two teams and it could turn into a cake walk for the favorites.
Re: CCL Group A This is the group that could come the closes to being called a group of death. I learned nothing from Cruz Azul. That 12-0 agregate didn't tell me nothing but that they faced a really, really weak opponent. I will start watching the Mexican league. I saw the Clausura final vs Santos, though, and Cruz Azul couldn't make a single cross to connect if it would save their lives. Saprissa is trying to find a younger generation now. They show promise but it is still unknown if they can handle wearing the colors full time to replace our very successful generation of 2003-2008. They are sort of struggling in the league because of the changes. DC United doesn't seem to me as on par with the two forementioned (that goes for all MLS teams). They have a very poor history playing away and it costs them a lot to even get a mediocre result playing at home. Marathon was a bit fortunate to get past Metapan. One of the constant themes I saw in that 2nd leg is how their defenders tend to fall sleep at times and thanks to a team that didn't know to take advantage of it (or their 1+ man advantage), Marathon won.
Re: CCL Group A Thank you, good to know! As far as this group goes, I'd like to be able to say that D.C. will get through - but I feel that it's more likely that Cruz Azul and Saprissa will be too much to handle, and will go on to the quarters...
Re: CCL Group A tough group i will b rooting for marathon, but probably sapprisa and Cruz azul will make it out imo. BTW luciano emilio is used to scoring against marathon lol.
Re: CCL Group A Great job on the Sudamericana. Definetly did better then unas gatas que conozco. Ojala Saprissa juega una Sudamericana a ver como nos medimos con los Sudamericanos.
Re: CCL Group A not really a great job, but if u say so. Sapprissa is really good on the international level, i hate to admit it, but they are the best club in Centra America.
Re: CCL Group A Really all 4 teams in this group won't be pushovers, but i think Saprissa has enough experiance in these regional tournaments to know how to grind points out of tough group. Cruz Azul has to be the heavy favorite to advance based on quality alone. Marathon and DC United are only going to advance if they can pull off some upsets along the way. DC historicly have been awful on the road in regional matches and that will be their undoing IMO. Marathon needs to pull off an upset in COsta Rica to have a chance...given they play in central america all the time i give them better odds at beating Saprissa than DC. I predict: 1. Cruz Azul 16 pts 2. Saprissa 11 pts 3. Marathon 5 pts 4. DC United 4 pts
Re: CCL Group A LOL i though they were leones lol... i doubt saprissa will ever play, unless they dont win the the invierno or verano tournaments
Re: CCL Group A The most evenly matched group, on paper at least. I think Cruz Azul and Saprissa will advance.
Re: CCL Group A I don't think so. the best group yes but I know who the favorites are to advance right away. I look at other groups and i think its harder to predict who advances
Re: CCL Group A evenly matched with good teams i would add, cause the other groups are evenly matched too
Re: CCL Group A Is this thread for [R]esults? DC United vs Saprissa is on right now but I dunno if I should comment on it here.
Re: CCL Group A Tough group. Any of these could advance over the others... But the favorites to advance, in my opinion, are Saprissa and Cruz Azul.
Re: CCL Group A I know it's only the 1st game of this round, but you might want to rethink Houston's chances of advancing, they easily could have lost 4 - 0 , 5 - 0 , and what was San Francisco thinking, having an advantage of 2 men over Pumas, for basically the whole 2nd half, and not attacking?? attack.. at least they tied .. but the MLS teams are looking bad.
Re: 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League PREDICTION CONTEST That was spankage, easily could have been 4 - 0 ... some of these MLS teams have to refocus
Re: CCL Group A Wrong group. I think we all know MLS has underperformed all tournament long. Well, like you said it is just one game; DC still need to play Cruz Azul at home, it's possible for them to get a result against them. I think Marathon is beatable away or at home if DC have everyone healthy, which they didnt for this game against Saprissa. Dont count out Saprissa, they are probably, if not, the best team in Concacaf. Not many teams would have played better than DC did last night. This is a tough group. Depending on how well Saprissa does with the rest of the teams in the group, DC United still has a chance to go through over Saprissa despite losing to them. However, Saprissa and Cruz Azul were my votes at going through...but, soccer is played on the pitch...so we'll see. Hopefully DC can prove us wrong and represent MLS well in this tournament.