DC United Hosts Chivas in Superliga

Mike Martin

July 11, 2008


Photo: Rafael Crisostomo

DC United faces a familiar foe from south of the border as 11 time Mexican champions Chivas of Guadalajara drops into RFK for the group stage of Superliga, the tournament in which the best of the Mexican league and the best in MLS square off for a million dollar prize. The Mexican kings knocked DC out of two international cups last year, and no doubt DC would like a little revenge.

Washington D.C., Frankly, Superliga is one of those tournaments where you either relish the challenge of it, or don’t really care about it. It’s a totally made for TV cash cow slapped together with teams from Mexico and MLS vying for a million bucks at an awkward time in their seasons. But for MLS, it’s a good way to fill stadiums with Mexicans who might then stick around for MLS matches in the future, and for Mexican teams it’s a good way to connect with their fans north of the border.

However, beyond that it doesn’t really have any meaning. It’s not like you’re deciding the best team in North America since it’s unfair to the Mexican teams being in their pre-season and being played completely in US stadiums. Still, love it or dismiss it, Superliga is good way for MLS to measure itself against the most talented league in the region.

DC midfielder, Clyde Simms pointed out that “Any international games are great for experience and [they] help us to see where we are as a league also. It is obviously more games on our schedule, but at the same time we are excited to play in these games.”

Which brings up the main bone of contention about Superliga is the timing of the tournament and its impact on MLS teams. United for example has had the beginning and end of it’s schedule jammed with games in order to accommodate taking the month of July off from league play to compete in Superliga. Obviously, jamming up the schedule late in the year and risking injuries when teams are trying to push for playoff runs is not the best of ideas.

Now, to take those kinds of risks for a regional competition like the CONCACAF Champions league is one thing. But, to do it mainly for some Mexican TV stations to make a pile of cash is another. Plus, in terms of DC United, they have the semifinals of the Open Cup to think about right now, and that tournament carries a lot more value in the sense that winning that gets you a ticket into CONCACAF next year. Superliga is more prize money, but DC United prides itself on international competition which is more important to the club in the long run.

Clearly, the team would love to win both tournaments, but considering the thin rosters in MLS and the hard salary cap, clearly DC’s starters can’t be expected to play all the matches coming up. When asked if the team has a priority for winning one or the other tournament, coach Mark Simpson was evasive. “Honestly, I don’t think there’s a priority [in terms of which tournament is more important]. You’re going in with your best XI guys any time you line up. You do your best with managing guys. We’re playing a boatload of games coming up and you’ve got to manage your [starters] and keep your other guys sharp in case they have to step in.”

However, in such a tight tournament where you play three matches in 7 days, managing some players will be a lot easier than others. With Gallardo and Quaranta out with nagging injuries, plus top reserves Dominic Mediate and Dan Stratford out recovering from a concussion and knee surgery respectively, those guys will be rested for certain. But that puts more pressure to play other key players who have some niggling injuries that really should be rested if possible.

Jaime Moreno has an abdominal strain that limited him to only 30 minutes in the Open Cup win over Chicago. Gonzalo Peralta is battling a groin strain and played sparingly in that last match as well. Plus, Martinez was limping by the end of the Open Cup match and it looked like he was suffering from more than just cramps.

Considering Rod Dyachenko, Francis Doe and newcomer Craig Thompson played very well in the Open Cup, I think they get some serious time in Superliga, maybe even tomorrow night. My guess is that Moreno is rested again at the start leaving Doe and Emilio playing forward, backed up by Rowdy Rod, who also played exceptionally well in Superliga last year.

In midfield, Fred will play on one wing, and I think Thompson, who sparked the tying goal and had a very tidy match against Chicago plays the other side. Chivas is obviously a big step up for the new guy, but strike while the iron is hot, especially when the team is a bit banged up. Thompson in midfield also allows Peralta to be rested as well by having Burch play alongside McTavish in central defense, Martinez on the left assuming he’s in good shape, and Namoff on the right. At least Wells in goal is a lock.

Chivas, on the other hand is maybe a bit less of a mystery. Despite selling Omar Bravo and Francisco Rodriguez, they still have the core of the team intact as well as a ton of young talent. Mark Simpson joked about Bravo moving on saying, “That’s a huge piece for them to lose……….and we’re a little excited about that!”

They still have all their starting defenders, Jonny Magallon, Edgar Meija, and Hector Reynoso, as well as Michel in goal. In midfield, they are getting younger having apparently turned the playmaking role over to Sergio Avila with Patricio Aruaja alongside him. Ramon Morales, who scored the goal that knocked DC from Copa SudAmericana, is still on the right and Omar Esparza on the left.

Even without the prince of darkness playing forward, they still have Sergio Santana, Gonzalo Pineda and Alberto Medina. Medina is apparently just coming back from injury, so may not play much, but they have bags of young forwards to make up for him. Most likely, it’s Omar Arellano who plays if Medina doesn’t play.

Now, all those guys are familiar to everyone who was on the team last year that was ousted from two huge international tournaments by those young, fast, and wickedly talented players. Even though it’s a bit premature to say this is a full blown rivalry since the teams have only faced each other a handful of times, but playing the same guys who knocked you out twice in a little more than a year does make the blood boil a bit.

Clyde Simms put it this way. “It’s a bit of a rivalry for sure. Any time you play a team a good amount of times in important games, it automatically becomes a rivalry. We’ve had some pretty good games, close games with them, a lot has been at stake, which makes for good games.”

Bottom line is that the game is shaping up to be a good contest. Simpson remarked “They have a fantastic tradition, we’ve developed a bit of a rivalry through our international competitions, so I would expect nothing less than their best. Plus there’s a good chunk of prize money at stake, so it should be a good game.”

It’s almost impossible to predict how this game will play out given the missing players for DC and Chivas being a complete unknown not having played a game in anger yet. But DC has quite a bit of motivation to do well against them. There’s the million dollar prize of course that means much less to Mexican players already making piles more cash than MLS players, as well as the fact DC is playing at home in front of the best fans in MLS. Simpson also noted that DC should “take advantage of our fitness and our adaptability to the heat from playing in it every day.”

One other thing that swings in DC’s favor is the style of play. Mexican teams are far more tactical and technical preferring to build slowly rather than MLS teams which tend to be more athletic and play faster. Simms pointed out that would allow DC to play a higher line of defense. “The Mexican teams definitely have more composure on the ball. They like to hold onto it a little more than MLS teams, so we can start our pressure a little higher.”

Assuming DC can pressure Chivas and make them work in the humidity of a DC Summer, that could easily negate the clear skill advantage the Mexicans have. Still, that is meaningless unless DC cuts out the mistakes in the back that they still haven’t been able to shake despite their current six game winning streak in all competitions.

Simpson gets the last word on what DC needs to do. “We’ve got to keep tight in the back, limit their chances in front of us. And we’ve got to put balls away. Our finishing has been pretty sharp of late and we need to keep that going.”

Atalante, who won the Mexican Apertura, and the Houston Dynamo, who are the defending MLS Cup champions, are the other two teams in DC’s Superliga group. They play in Houston also on Saturday night. DC hosts Atalante this coming Tuesday, and then hosts Houston next Saturday at RFK. The top two teams in each group face each other in a semifinal round July 29th, and those winners meet in the final August 5th.

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