Fantastical footballing of European countries for winning of delightfully coveted championship!

This is where we see the best of the best. The top 16 European national teams contend every four years for the championship.

This event is more important than any other football confederations tournaments and rivals even the World Cup.

The prestige is tremendous as is the prize money. There are 7.5 million Euros to each team that qualifies for the tournament with a chance of winning a total of 23 million (if the eventual champion wins each game it plays in the tournament).

Now that the tournament has finished the first and second stages and is down to the last four teams (out of the 16 that qualified) I figure It’s time for a short coverage of these semifinalizers that are in the top football confederation in the world.

These are the best of the best.

Germany:

Croatia’s musically inclined coach Slaven Bilic in a pre-game press conference (before dealing Germany it’s only defeat of the tournament) said the music group he most associated the German team with was Rammstein.

I’m guessing (though I don’t claim to read minds) that what Bilic meant was the teams powerful and precise style of play rather than on stage lewdness or pyrotechnics.

But like the familiar saying goes, “It ain’t over until somebody invades Poland.”

Or something like that.

Germany is a usual favorite and has shown themselves worthy of the top four by beating Austria and Poland in the group stage (and losing to Croatia) and then beating Portugal in their quarterfinal match.

Russia:

I don’t know much about these guys, accept that they have a habit of showing up for major tournaments (by qualifying of course) only to crash out early on. This time things are looking different with the team qualifying for their first European semi finals. (thanks wikipedia)

In the group stage Russia lost to Spain but beat Sweden and Greece, and then stunned everyone by beating the hitherto amazing Netherlands 3-1 in the quarterfinals. (psssst! You guys weren’t supposed to do that!)

Spain:

Known as the greatest underachievers, Spain, for all their great players and high expectations has only won one major tournament in the history of the team, a European championship in 1964 (or was it 1694, who cares) and has as their best over World cup finish, a 4^th place finish in 1950.

Well here they are again, with more high hopes and yet another great team. They’ve earned their spot in the top four with a perfect start in the group stage, beating Russia, Sweden and Greece, and then knocking Italy out in the quarterfinals.

Turkey:

Most of the Turkish players play in their domestic league rather than abroad. The good performance of the national team therefore reflects quite well on the level of football in the country.

In 2002 Turkey finished 3^rd place in the World Cup, they then failed to qualify for both the 2004 Euro Cup and the 2006 World Cup, but with this current Euro Cup, Turkey is back in style.

In the group stage they beat Czech Republic and Switzerland while losing to Portugal, then in the quarterfinals won an upset victory over favored (and unbeaten) Croatia.

The semifinals now line up

Germany vs Turkey

Russia vs Spain

Footballing quarter finalisers make reduction for playing of semi to final game!

In the first round of playoffs for this tournament we had…

Chivas (Guadalajara) vs Monterrey

The strongest team from the regular season (Guadalajara) against the weakest team to make the playoffs (that other one)

In an amazing upset, Monterrey won with the final score (from the two games played) of 8-5.

The trouble with Guadalajara was I think, is that though they did finish top in the league after the regular season, they could not win away from home. They had few spectacular games, and not one of them was an away game.

Monterrey took full advantage of their opponents weakness along with their own amazing goal scoring abilites (they have two of the top strikers in the league) first thrashing Chivas 4-1 in Monterrey and then holding them to an exciting 4-4 draw in Guadalajara.

The rest of the quarterfinals went by the book with the stronger team beating the weaker team.

Cruz Azul beat Jaguares (okay fine, they tied 2-2 but Cruz Azul advanced due to their better regular season standing)

San Luis beat Necaxa

Santos beat Toluca

But all this pales in comparison to what has happened in the Primera Division A (second league of Mexican soccer) where Leon!!!!! Beat dorados to become Champions!!!

Now Leon plays the last tournaments champion (Ciudad Juarez) to see which team gets promoted to the top league.

Huzzah!

So, that’s it, hope you enjoyed this update.

Vamos Leon!!!

Sorry, wrong picture, here we go again...

Vamos Leon!!! There, I think that's it.

FOOTBALLMAKECOMINGBACKAGAINFOR PLAYOFFSTHISTIME!!!!!

Well that was exciting.

Now that the last game of the regular season has been played let’s have a look see at who’s in the playoffs, who’s not and who’s entered the exciting realm of the Primera Division A (second tier Mexican soccer) the demotion to which has been gently referred to in Mexican news articles as “death” and “hell”.

In the Mexican Primera Division (first division) playoffs, the teams are:

Chivas

Santos

Cruz Azul

San Luis

Toluca

Jaguares

Monterrey

Necaxa

Fun fun fun!

And the hell sent team? Veracruz! Proving the age old adage that “You can only suck for so many seasons before you get dropped to the Primera A”

Fellow survival fighters, Tigres, Puebla and Tecos are safe for now but will all be fighting to stay off the hot seat come the beginning of next season.

We also await to see who will ascend from the depths of the Primera A. Leon and Dorados de Sinaloa are in the finals of their current tournament and the champion will play the champion of the last finals (Indios de Ciudad Juarez) to see who gets promoted.
My heart is with Leon, may they find their way back to the top.

Meanwhile, in the Copa Libertadores (South American club championship) America and Atlas are in the quarter finals. Hoot Hoot!

It’s interesting how America can finish last in the Mexican league yet still beat up on the South American teams, while Guadalajara finished first in the Mexican league but got eliminated from the Copa Libertadores in the first round.

And Pachuca has won the North American championship for the second year in a row and will thus be going to the World Club Cup for the second year in a row. Great success!

So there we have it.

Meanwhile, on a distant planet somewhere in deep space….

Introducing the Peter column

Here’s introducing the weekly, bi-weekly, tri-weekly, or whatever I can weekly or every other or third weekly, column by, myself.

I will write about different things as they come to mind or that the Lord lays on my heart, or on my mind, or things that come to heart.

This first one is about Mexican football. Seeing as I live in Mexico and it is a country where everyone likes the sport, and that possesses a very fine and competitive league, I have become a great fan.

For my first writing about Mexican football, we’ll have a quick overview of the teams from the top league, the Primera Division, and what they’ve been up to lately.

We will start alphabetically which leads us to begin with

(note: in Mexican football, two seasons are played each year with a champion declared for each season)

America

Traditionally one of the top two teams in Mexico, (and the richest) America is currently the lowest team in the league, having gone for seven games without a win, six of which were losses. In retrospect, the writing on the wall could be seen in the last season where they failed to make it to la liguilla (playoffs) and their B team, Socio Aguila, finished last in the Primera A.

It’s a sad time to be an America fan, happily, I’m not one of them.

Atlante

This was a long time Mexico City team from the early days of Mexican football, which had dwindled into general irrelevance and lost much of it’s fan base. Last season they were moved to Cancun, much to the ire of their Mexico City fans, and surprise surprise, became champions of the league! During the regular season they played an exciting, attacking style of football often coming from behind to tie or win games. This season, in spite of the reignited interest in them and maintaining most of their champion team, Atlante isn’t looking as good as they did last year. Unless something turns around dramatically, the current champions probably won’t even be making this season’s playoffs.

Atlas

A Guadalajara club(one of three), Atlas finished dead last in the last regular season and they aren’t looking too good in this season either. The relegation rule has the worst team out of the last five seasons getting relegation to the second league (Primera Division A) so Atlas’ better performances in the previous seasons is saving from imminent relegation.

Cruz Azul

This team nicknamed, La Maquina (the machine) is traditionally a very strong team. True, they haven’t won a league title for years, but they have consistently made it to the playoffs and aren’t looking too bad this season. We’ll see what happens to them.

Guadalajara (Chivas)

This team has won more championships than any other Mexican team, they are currently the frontrunners in the league with 25 points from 11 games (3 points are awarded for a win 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss)

. Chivas has a policy of signing only Mexican citizens to the team, and has therefore often supplied a core of players to the Mexican national team. The biggest Mexican rivalry is between Chivas and America, giving Chivas fans gloating rights over the current America situation. Chivas beware though, it’s been many seasons since the leader of the regular season has also ended up as the champion after the playoffs.

Jagruares

Jaguares (Jaguars) are the newest team in the Mexican Primera Division, being founded in 2002. They have had average results since then, having yet to make it into the finals. Currently, the are first place group one and third overall in the league.

Monarcas Morelia

This team is from Morelia (I hope I didn’t need to say that). This is a very old team which won it’s first and only championship in the year 2000. Since then, they have made it to the finals twice and are a regular in the playoffs. They were also runners up in the North American championship in 2002 and 2003. At the moment, they are having a mediocre season with 13 points out of 11 games.

Monterrey

Known as the Rayados (striped ones) Monterrey is one of two clubs that plays in Monterrey, the other being Tigres. The rivalry between Monterrey and Tigres is very strong and they have a near even number of wins against each other.

Monterrey has lacked in success lately, too bad for those living in Monterrey since Tigres is also suffering from very poor performance.

Frankly I don’t care much for either team.

Necaxa

Another former Mexico City team, Necaxa now plays in the city of Aguascalientes and has been bought by the state of Aguascalientes. This is a popular team with a strong support base and a good history of success. Their last championships were consecutive in 1995 and 1996. Lately they haven’t done so well and have been seen as a possible candidate for relegation, though their improved performance in this season makes that possibility now look very unlikely.

Pachuca

Pachuca is the oldest team in Mexico and in recent years, the most successful. Having spent most of it’s history in Mexico’s Second and Primera A divisions, Pachuca’s current run in the top division began in 1999. Since then, Pachuca has won five national championships, three North American titles and one South American title. After performing very well through 2006 and 2007, Pachuca has hit a bit of a slump. They missed last season’s playoffs and were eliminated in their first game in the World Cup of Clubs. At the moment it remains to be seen if they will make this season’s playoffs. They have 14 points from 11 games.

Pachuca is also currently in the semi finals for another North American title.

Puebla

Puebla is another very old Mexican team with a number of titles throughout their history. In 2005 they were relegated to the Primera Division A and got back to the top league in 2007. They are currently in their second season in the Primera Division since being promoted and have hovered between third and last place on the relegation chart. On a personal note, I’m hoping they stay in.

San Luis

Plays in San Luis Potosi. This team was formed as a B team for America in 1999 and gained promotion to the Primera Division in 2002, they were relegated back to Primera A and regained the promotion in 2005. They aren’t a terribly popular team, having only been around for a short while, but they have been fairly successful, since their last promotion, making it to the finals in 2006 where they lost to Pachuca. At the moment, they are undefeated and in second place in the league with 22 points from 11 games. Expect good things from this team.

Santos Laguna

This team narrowly avoided relegation in 2006 (at the expense of Queretaro) but has since, been very successful, rarely losing any games. They ended the last regular season as overall leaders but were eliminated in the semifinals by Pumas.

In this season, they are performing well and have 17 points from 11 games. They are definitely a team to watch for success in the playoffs.

UAG (Tecos)

This team is from Zapopan (part of the Guadalajara metro area) They are pretty small time in the scheme of things though they always play hard enough to avoid relegation. Tecos. They won the championship in 1993 and North American title in 1995. Of the three teams in the Guadalajara metro area, Tecos are the least popular even though they have been more successful than Atlas.

They made the playoffs the season before last (along with Atlas and Chivas) missed the last playoffs and with 12 points from 11 games, look like they’ll be missing the playoffs this season as well. At least, they will probably not be relegated and will survive to see another season of mediocrity.

UANL (Tigres)

The other team from Monterrey, and like the Rayados, not much to look at lately. Along with Puebla and Veracruz, Tigres has been playing musical chairs for the relegation spot this season. The best they can hope for is to avoid losing their spot in the top division and try better next time.

UNAM (Pumas)

Along with Chivas, Cruz Azul and America, Pumas makes the “big four” in teams with the most popularity and success throughout their history. They experienced great success recently, winning championships in 2003 and 2004 under current Mexican national team coach Hugo Sanchez. They experienced difficulties after that, even being in danger of relegation, but came back strong in the last season achieving runner up status to Atlante for the championship.

Pumas currently has 15 points out of 11 games this season and has still has a chance for the playoffs.

Toluca

Last season, Toluca ended second in the league but was eliminated in the first round of playoffs. They are looking strong again this season with 18 points from 11 games. Toluca has a good history with a number of national titles (their last one as recently as 2005) and is one of the consistently strong teams in Mexico.

Seeing as this is the last team I’m writing about, I’m cutting them short here with less information than they deserve.

Veracruz

This team has been looking bad lately. They’ve had their good moments brought about from their desperation, but they’re still the most likely candidate to be relegated to the Primera Division A where they can say hi to a bunch of other former top division teams that are trying to get back in. I am not a fan of theirs, but it’s been fun to watch them struggle to avoid relegation with a few surprising wins. We will see what happens.

Okay, that covers all eighteen teams. I hope you are informed and entertained and have a better understanding of an important part of Mexico.

I hope to return to this subject in a few weeks time at the beginning of the playoffs.

Love

Peter