You Got Mud On Your Face...

Big Disgrace.

How's that for a two word summary of Mexico's farcical 1-1 draw with Panama in the Gold Cup that rambled on past midnight (for me at least) owing to brawls, cards, injuries (feigned and otherwise), an incompetent ref, and fan projectiles? I don't know if anybody escapes censure here, be it...

• The Ref - An absolute joke who let a volatile match get completely away from him. Of the three reds he issued, I'm not sure any of them was warranted. Two players doing a bit a grabbing and shoving as the half comes to a close? Yellows all around and we're good, right? But no, he has to prime the barrel of explosives for the second by issuing a couple of ejections. And Panama's second red? Wouldn't you shove somebody who wasn't even in the damn game if he kicked you? And it's not like there weren't other worthy claims for red...
• The Players - Claim Mexico is dirty all you like. Go ahead and point to all the shoving and mouthing off after the play, much of it coming from Mexico's supposed "captain," Torrado. I saw a couple of surreptitious haymakers (oxymoronic, me?) that went unpunished to boot. But Panama were not blameless. They were tackling hard, ugly, and often with deliberate intent to provoke. Perez' ridiculous elbow on Ochoa with the ball clearly out of play was more deserving of red than anything else in this match.
  
• Aguirre - Go ahead and claim his "raised loafer" (see below) was inadvertent, but Aguirre has been around soccer balls long enough to know that you don't try to trap one rolling on the ground with your foot two feet above the damn ball.
• The Fans - Brawling. Throwing crap on the field and at the players. Small wonder the whole affair degenerated into Thunderdome.

Lookin' good, CONCACAF...

So was there anything of interest to take from this game?

• Mexico's pattern of play was suspiciously reminiscent of somebody else in CONCACAF. Ceding possession and looking to play on the counter with quick midfielder/forwards darting into attack. Who does that remind you of? And seriously...Mexico, ceding possession? To Panama? The times, they are a-changin'.
  
• Panama certainly look good enough to be in the Hex, but something doesn't smell quite right. Who'd they get bumped by in qualifying? El Salvador? Before the group stage? Ouch. And dropping their Gold Cup opener to Guadeloupe? Hmmm.
  
• Guillermo Ochoa rose above the muck. Sure, if you watch much Spanish-language TV in this country, you're probably sick of seeing him in commercials, but he cut a pretty sympathetic figure last night, particularly when he walked the second Panamanian red-cardee off, trying to settle the fans and keep the dude from getting pelted by debris (sadly--fat chance, Memo).

What a mess. This doesn't give you much of the flavor of the occassion, but it does capture Aguirre's kung fu fighting skills and some of Mexico's counterattacking play.

FBF Glossary: The Phoenix

The people have spoken, Santino Quaranta is...The Phoenix!

Sure, I'll fall back on Q, Q1, or Tino from time to time (old habits die hard), but here on FBF, we've officially designated DC United's (and the USA's!) midfielder/forward "The Phoenix" for his remarkable return from a dark period that nearly ended his soccer career. And what better time to add him to the FBF Glossary than in the wake of what must seem an almost scripted return to the international stage? First game back in the fold and he bangs in the game winner...and in his home stadium to boot!

Brings a tear to this jaded fullback's eye, it does...

MLS Table Talk | Parity Pileup

The entire league has now dragged themselves across the halfway mark, save the Revs (c'mon, guys, pick up the pace!). And while the Parity Pileup isn't quite as severe as it was last year, the potential is still there for it to get pretty congested, pretty fast, particularly given MLS's penchant for the anomalous result. So how do things stack up?

* According to the points table, the Dynamo (31 points) hold a multi-game margin over the chasing pack, with a four point edge over Chivas (27), who sit at the head of a pretty tight group of playoff probables: Seattle (25), DC & Chicago (24) and Columbus (23). Tucked in behind this group is the dogfight for the final playoff spots, with the current holders, TFC (22) and Colorado (21), under threat from the Galaxy (21), RSL (20), and the Wiz (19). In the no-man's-land between the dogfight and the basement are Dallas (17) and the Revs (16), not quite out of the running, but a couple of results from being back in the game. And finally, languishing in despair at the bottom of the table, are the Quakes (13) and Red Bulls (10), who both need to put together an impressive close to the summer if they're even going to be anywhere near contention come the fall.

* The points-per-game table distorts the picture only slightly. Here, we have the Dynamo (1.9 points per game) and Chivas (1.8) neck-and-neck at the top, with the Sounders and Fire (1.6) in comfortable positions behind that pair. The almighty scrap for the remaining playoff spots is evident in the tiny spread (1.3-1.4) in which seven teams:--DC, the Crew, TFC, the Rapids, the Galaxy, RSL, and KC--find themselves. The Revs (1.2) are nearly in with that group owing to their multiple games in hand, while Dallas (1.1) have a bit of work to do. The Quakes (0.9) probably still have a chance if they can mount a bit of a run, but the Red Bulls (0.5) are done. Time of death? About 2-3 weeks ago.

* League parity is most evident in the scoring stats. Witness: no team in MLS is scoring at a clip above 1.5 goals per game (Seattle, DC, Chicago, Colorado), and the majority are packed into the 1.3 to 1.5 gpg span. The exceptions? The Revs and Quakes (1.2), Galaxy (1.1), and Red Bulls (0.8). Note that no team below 1.3 gpg is currently in a playoff position, though the top two (Houston and Chivas) are at that mark, with the rest of playoff sides, excepting TFC, above them. So maybe it's down to defending? Having the Dynamo (0.6 allowed per game), Chivas (0.8), and Seattle (0.9) heading up the table would seem to indicate that, but then how do you explain the rest of the playoff sides being between 1.3 and 1.6 apg while the Galaxy (1.1), RSL (1.1), and KC (1.2) are on the outside looking in? Indeed, of the non-playoff sides, only the Quakes' sorry 1.9 apg is above the worst of the playoff sides (TFC at 1.6 apg).

Thoughts?