My friend from Mexico City said AEG reps travel to Mexico City and meet with Club America about LA Galaxy vs CA in a Exhibition match neither June or JUly. Both plays at NTC and expect to TBA this May or early June. Any thoughts?
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it would be a big draw, the house would be packed, and the atmosphere super. On the other hand, one thing we may have learned from the Necaxa series is that playing Mexican league teams in friendly exhibitions is one thing; playing them in a competition that means something is a whole different ball game. I am not sure that we learn a lot about our team's skill level in a friendly, and I am not sure how seriously CA would take the event. If LAG ended up playing CA's "B" team (not unlikely) it would be pretty meaningless. Financially I can see why AEG wants to do this. A full house is a full house and there is money to be made. And, maybe, we could win over a few Chivas fans if we put on a good show against CA. Not much else in it, I think.
I guess it's cool. An additional game to watch, but I'd like to see the G's fans in more numbers equal to the CA fans.
I have to disagree with you my friend. Our team has done very well in Concacaf competition. The fact that we did not win this time does not mean that "playing them in competition" is a different ball game. Wrong. For the first game we did not have el Pescadito and that made the difference. El pescadito is an impact player. Not having him means losing to Necaxa. Yesterday we did very well in Mexico. They beat us we a confusing penalty kick.
Agree JLG O<O ..... I agree, from reading some of the player reactions from yesterdays match, Albright speaks about totally having Necaxa Number. I believe the boys could have pulled a win yesterday if not for the typical Mexican penalty. But you forget that Bringing Club America would be perfect. Exact our revenge on an all starting "Full Squad" Club America Team. They (club america) are going to play at the Rose Bowl or Coliseum in July against Manchester United, and they'll need a full warm up match against a local team to prepare for them. It would be a fitting chapter to beat those bastards for taking our rightful place to get our asses kicked by Manchester United.
I wasn't very clear. What I really meant was that the Mexican league teams we played approach "real" games differently from the way they approach friendlies. I think back to the Cruz Azul game, where their best players did not take the field. LAG played well, and won, but it was sort of a hollow victory because we knew it was not Cruz Azul's best effort out there. If Club America treats the game as a serious warm up for their Man U. encounter (as suggested above) then I would be happy with this. LAG would play respectable soccer, and win or lose we would learn something about how good the team really is. But, if CA brings the B team and comes for the money only, its a no win situation. If LA loses, its "Ha Ha Ha you couldn't beat our B team." If LA wins, its "Big deal - you beat the B team and we weren't even trying because it was a meaningless friendly." At the end of the day, you have nothing to show for your efforts. Having said that, I think it would draw a great crowd, it could develop into a sort of "derby," and I hope for the best. But, I still have mixed feelings and am not sure its a good idea. BTW: If they do play, I will be at Victoria Street screaming my lungs out for the boys.
I predict a complete sold out Home depot Stadium. I think that tickets for that game will be sold before the game. I will be there with my friend Various Styles and so other Mexicans who luv Club America.
Whats your agenda while in Espana? Don't forget to go see "El Prado", Toledo, as many stadiums as you can, and last but not least hit the topless beaches. I partied my ass off when I was there several years back.
El Museo Del Prado is in Madrid. I will be going to my home town in Salamanca, about 2 hours from Madrid. You need at least 3 days to really enjoy the magic of El Prado. When I go to Madrid, I love restaurants near La Plaza Mayor. Late at night, I love to hear Flamenco and Tuna Music while i drink some beers or wine. I will visit Toledo, but its too expensive, well except for the wine and local "mazapan" which you can buy at el Barrio Judio en Toledo. For the topless beaches, that is about everywhere, even in some public swimming pool some girls will be topless, but people dont overreact like we do in California or Florida. Salamanca is my final destination. I will spent almost two months there. Sorry, not soccer. There is not soccer in the summer. Teams start practice during late July. Our Salamanca team is currently in the second division. In the summer, Las "corridas de toros" in Salamanca are great. El " Julie" es el mas famous torero right now. He is only 20 years of age. I will write to you again from different Cybers Cafe, which are very famous in Spain. Almost each bar has its own section of a cybers Cafe.
JLG: Have a great trip. We will keep Victoria Street warm for you, and when you return it should be time for the playoffs.
I tried to do it in a day and felt I missed much, but never the less I was happy to at least have been there. I remember going to a tapas bar near Plaza Mayor after traveling down the narrowest of streets to get there. Great food and music!. Definetely a tourist trap but I really enjoyed a military museum that was there. Also famous for swords. Damn, I should have went to the public pools. j/k The friend I was staying with told me that in the begining it was a novelty to see women topless on the beach but after a while people just got used to it. I took my video camera to the beach and she did some recording for me even though I had not asked her to. I didn't want to be the annoying tourist. My friends abuelita is from Salamanca but I did not get a chance to visit due to time constraints. Maybe next time. I actually meant see the stadiums not the matches. I saw el joven diestro madrileño Julián López "El Juli" en la Plaza Monumental de Aguascalientes several years back during the Feria Nacional de San Marcos. He will be there again this year. Have a wonderful trip and write us here if you can.
Futbol de Primera, I did not know that " El Juli " was in Aguascaliente in Mexico. He is very famous in Spain. People love when the way he looks at the toro's eye, then kill el Toro and eventually cut his ears and the tail ( el rabo ). American tourist who go to Spain dont like las Corridas. They think that its animal cruelty. They dont understand that Lo Toros that are used para torear are wild toros. Those toros cant live like other animals. Plus, people get to eat the meat of el toro. American have problems understanding the cultural aspect of bull fights. Same happen with Las Peleas de Gallos in Latin America. This is normal for us, but illegal and cruel for los gringos. Nomas, fijate that many Mexican and other Latinos often go to jail or pay a small fine for pelear gallos en California. Cuando los descubre, van todos presos. I used to know a place where they used to have peleas de gallos, but they closed it down. About the stadiums in Spain, yes, I will visit a few a them. If you are nice, the people in the stadium let you take pictures and chill for a while. About Las Tapas, I love them Saturday morning with a good glass of wine. The only problem in Spain is that people smoke tooooooo much and drink toooooo much. I guess that is normal in most part of Europe like Germany, Italy, England, etc... And yeah, the Tapas bar that are near la Plaza Mayor in Madrid are very good and cheap. You can enjoy a good Tapas, wine, beer, sangria or Sidra for a very modest price, plus a good lunch. People in Spain still have problem with the Euro money. Bebore we used pesetas. Now, the Euro is like the American dollar. Honestly, I like the Euro rather than the old pesetas system.