“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Just tuned in... and its all but over already!
Montreal better park the bus at Azteca and hope for at least three for the home leg... yikes!
CCL is so bonkers, a 5-2 loss at Azteca would probably still leave Montreal with a chance. But, yeah, they are going to get killed in that atmosphere.
Animals Eaten:
pig, cow, lamb, moose, chicken, quail, kudu, ostrich, kangaroo, octopus, alligator, rabbit, shark, springbok, goat, bison, boar, caterpillars, turkey, fish, lobster, crab, oyster, prawn, antelope, camel, eel, squid
Columbus - Vancouver game is so much more entertaining
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
76,000 thousand holy fuck!
Hoping America destroys Montreal 7-0 in in the first leg and the sold out big O is half empty
Well I've enjoyed Montreal's run but this will be a disaster. You'll get 60,000 in Montreal and probably 80,000 in Mexico making it easily the highest attended CCL final ever. However, I agree with the above post, this thing will be a formality by the second leg and Montreal will have 60,000 people show up to watch a trophy be handed over. Best case scenario Montreal loses 2-0 in Mexico but I can't see them not letting a goal in at home, so now we're talking 4 home goals. Nice try Montreal!
This is one of those spots where you'd probly prefer to have the 2nd leg away.
Won't be much of a party if you're already down 3+ goals going into the home leg.
You just watch. Montreal will win this just to spite us. They lose 2-1 at Azteca and win 3-1 at the BigO.
Not a chance. Montreal will get shellacked at Azteca. Here's the highlights against Herediano.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/ccl/news/ar...ue-match-recap
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
^ I saw those, and so will Montreal. I have no doubt they'll be breaking down the video and head down early to prepare for the high altitude. And how much worse can the atmosphere be than what they just experienced in Costa Rica? The fans should be a little better behaved.
Impact need to bring in Preki as a consultant for this game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0qzrsIDFU0
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
It's a good match up for the final from the perspective of maximizing interest in the tournament.
Not sure MTL has much of an option to do anything other than play 11 behind the ball at the Azteca and keep the scoreline manageable.
Herdeiano isn't a very good team though, Montreal is better. I can't believe i'm going to say this - but they have a pretty good back 4. I really like Piatti too. That being said I think Club America is one of the best teams in the world outside of Europe. I'll say America wins 3-1 on aggregate.
I ran into Preki (uh, almost literally) at the NSCAA convention 3 years ago. I was wearing a TFC shirt, he gave me a look like he had just seen a ghost.
America should stomp them. They've played in three of the past four liguilla finals and they have a very strong team. I mean, you play the games and anything can happen, but I don't think this Cinderella story gets a happy ending for Montreal.
Toronto FC baby...best team everrrrrrrrrr -Jozy
between firepower of Benedetto, Peralta, Zuniga and Quintero, no way America should lose this, esp if they capitalize at Azteca
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Slightly off topic bu Google Maps actually has pitch-side views of Azteca. Kinda neat.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@19.30247...ql9TUg!2e0!3e5
And there's a Photo Sphere from the upper stand, can only imagine what it looks like when packed.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@19.30258...mWgYA!2e0!3e11
Last edited by RealG-TFC; 04-09-2015 at 01:41 PM.
I wouldn't call this over - America are a better team than Pachuca, based on league play, but not that much better. Not sure if it means anything, but America have had a free pass to the final. They got a Puerto Rican team and a Salvadorean team in the group stage (beat the Puerto Ricans 16-1 aggregate), then two CR teams to get to the final.
So they haven't seen an MLS or Mexican team in Cup play yet.
The Azteca probably won't be full, given the certainty that Mexicans will have of a rout, so that'll help. Costa Rica beat Mexico away at the Azteca in 2013. It does happen, once in a blue moon.
Last edited by ensco; 04-09-2015 at 01:57 PM.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
I have friends who have gone to Mexico vs US at Estadio Azteca a couple times. It's a crazy experience. They never felt seriously threatened (surrounded by cops) but definitely a lot a crap gets thrown at them the whole game.
FWIW the experience there has been waning in recent years. I understand that the authorities (FMF or Club America, not sure) have really jacked up ticket prices and that's starting to affect the turnouts even for big games. Attending a WCQ there still on my bucket list.
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
It looked 3/4 full in the highlights. But there was a narrative there, they were the better team and were down 3-0, plus the bus incident ... the narrative of "come see a 6-0 drubbing against a secondary team" isn't as compelling. If it was the second leg, more people would come for the olimpico.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff