Liga: South American Royalty

Yesterday, Liga de Quito proved why it belongs with the top teams in South America. They went to the mythical Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro and they won the Copa Sudamericana. It was Edison Mendez, Ulises de la Cruz, Neicer Reasco against an experienced and dangerous Brazilian team--Fluminense. If it sounds familiar it's because Liga topped the same team in June of 2008 in the Copa Libertadores. It is another high point in Ecuador futbol.

Club allegiances aside (I favor Emelec of Guayaquil), we must note the incredible progress that Ecuadorian soccer has made in the past two decades. Before, Ecuadorians were happy with a 0-0 tie against Brazil in the Copa America. Nowadays, making it to the second round of the World Cup is what they expect... not making it at all to the tournament is a failure. Club teams were the same. For years, Barcelona of Guayaquil and Emelec were content with making it to the semifinals or the final of the Libertadores only to lose to a Brazilian, Paraguayan, or Argentinian team. This is no longer the case.

Liga's success is reflected in Ecuador soccer because Liga has to fight other teams within the country to get through to play international games... and they often lose to Emelec, Nacional, Deportivo Cuenca. We also acknowledge their resilience, their ability to hold the ball, their Casa Blanca, and their fans. At home they are invincible (like Ecuador in the 2006 qualifiers)... and they win with authority. The first leg of the final produced a 5-1 win, whilst the home leg of the semifinal was a resounding 7-0 victory over River Plate of Uruguay.

Liga pulls it off. They win the games they have to win. They get the results away from home that they need to get. A bit of luck is always present in sports royalty... but we can't deny them their place at the top. Three consecutive international titles is no fluke. Players like Claudio Bieler, Espindola and Franklin Salas are world class. Their repatriation of Ecuador legionnaires Mendez (PSV Eindhoven), Reasco (Sao Paulo), de la Cruz (Aston Villa) is a credit to their management. Yes, they are a world class team, and they belong at the top.

More Liga magic: en route to Sudamericana crown

As if last week's heroics versus River Plate of Uruguay wasn't enough, yesterday's demolishing of Fluminense of Brazil further cemented the Quito team as one of the top club teams in the world, let alone of South America. What can we expect from the final next week? A great showing and maybe a win versus Fluminense in Rio would be nice... else, if there's a loss, nice fireworks at the end of the game for the crowning will be another star for Ecuador club football.

Enjoy the goals by Mendez (hat trick), "el Mago" Salas, and former Ecuador legend Ulises de la Cruz:

Liga de Quito: The new Ecuador Idol

El idolo del Ecuador. That was Barcelona of Guayaquil. Might it still be? With me being away from my home country for 19 years, it's hard to say. With recent events, however, it's tough to argue with the fact that Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito is the best club team Ecuador has ever produced. We measure this not just in the domestic league (9 titles, behind Nacional, Barcelona, Emelec), but on an international level. Liga won the Copa Libertadores last year, was a finalist in the Club World Cup against Manchester United, and won the Recopa (match between Libertadores and Sudamericana winners).

Today was another high point for the Quito team. They won with an amazing score of 7-0 against Uruguay's River Plate in the 2009 Sudamericana semifinal. This means they advance to yet another international final against Fluminense of Brazil (curiously, the same team they faced in last year's Libertadores final). That's four finals over the course of two years. Truly a noteworthy accomplishment.

As much as it may pain me as a native of Guayaquil and a hardcore fan of Emelec, I must admit to this: Why shouldn't Liga be the new idol? The little kids in the country without a team of their own need only watch television to assert their allegiance. This is a team that boasts former Ecuador internationals De la Cruz, Reasco and Edison Mendez. What young Ecuadorian footballer doesn't want to play alongside them?

Enjoy the highlights of this record-breaking game:

Liga de Quito Campeón de la Libertadores de América

Amazing. Maybe Ecuador won't make it to 2010 but Liga de Quito's incredible run in the Copa Libertadores (move aside, Champions League) will serve as the last stepping point for Ecuador futbol in the world stage. No longer a cinderella, no longer a push-over, exporting stars like Edison Mendez, Antonio Valencia, Joffre Guerron, and co., and going to two straight world cups undoubtedly prove the quality of play in this diminutive South American country. They did it beating one of the South American giants, a brazilian team, no less. Fluminense proved its home advantage at the Maracana of Rio was a formidable obstacle. Still, a 3-1 was not enough and penalties came. Enter Jose Francisco "Pepe Pancho" Cevallos and 3 amazing saves worthy of Buffon, Goycochea, Ravelli, Zoff, Casillas. Pepe Pancho Cevallos was the amazing goalie missing from 2006 and the start of qualifying for 2010. We must not forget that it was through this 'keeper's hands that Ecuador arrived at KoreaJapan 2002. What now? Celebrate, of course. Even though Liga may not be my team they still make me proud. Liga wins, critics are silenced (my uncle included, of course) and the people rejoice. Quality, speed, savvy play, amazing passes, sublime plays, incredible atmosphere, Guerron and Urrutia and Manzo and Salas and Delgado and Cevallos and Bieler and Campos and Bolanos and everyone in between. Well done, Liga. Well done, Ecuador. Party on, Quito.

MLS Attendance stats week 14

Out of the Euro hangover we come to mid-season shake-ups with trades galore from the potential Conde-Ruiz-McBride megadeal to modest acquisitions by the Red Bulls with Rojas, etc. Attendance has finally shown the Beckham effect for the past couple of weeks, if maybe not the immediate ones. Becks has begun his eastern conference tour and numbers for a lot of those teams should be coming up. Don't be too discouraged by the 07-08 difference. Remember that it's the 2007 season total average. On that note, I just recently read that the mean attendance for Fluminense of Brazil is actually around 17,000. Tomorrow's game versus Liga for the Libertadores should attract 90,000+. But isn't it interesting that a brazilian team would have this kind of mean turnout? Actually, it makes sense. People are too poor in latin america to go to every game a-la-EPL. Even some EPL games aren't completely sold out. As always I suggest a certain degree of caution when looking at these numbers. Below is a nice close-up of what the designated players (5 of them, minus Donovan and Reyna) are doing. Note that I will, for the time being, not put american players under this classification to provide a clearer picture. I've highlighted the two spikes (Blanco and Becks) during their visits to San Jose at McAfee. Becks usually hovers around the 100% mark, save for a couple of home games most considered boring. Blanco attracts crowd but it depends on the demographic. Gallardo benefits from the DC crowds and Lopez from the intimacy of the CAB. Angel has dismal numbers from a fickle New York crowd. Also, note that the "stars" may not have played on some of those games.

Ronaldo to MLS? (Milan does not renew contract)

According to goal.com, "el fenomeno" Ronaldo has not been offered a contract renewal by his current club AC Milan. I thought I would break this story before others pick up on it to get my comments in.
Ronaldo is recovering from a ligament tear in his left knee suffered at a match against Livorno in February. He is expected to be healthy again in 2009. Considering that this is his second grave injury (right knee was the first one when playing for Inter) and that he's 31 years old (32 in September), he seems to be in Beckham territory at the moment.
Although he has been linked with a move to Fluminense, it would only be proper to have him continue his play in the MLS where his name is recognizable and where the speed and physicality of play isn't as demanding as in major European leagues (no offense, just being objective). I would put him in New York for obvious reasons. Ronaldo has been linked more than once with MLS and NYRB so it wouldn't come as a shock if it does actually happen. Thoughts?

Vamos Liga!!!

Finalists in the CONMEBOL's Copa Libertadores de America (much older than the Champions League). Liga beat Fluminense of Rio, Brazil by the score of 4-2 tonight at a sold out Casa Blanca in Quito. You can catch the second leg on Fox Sports en Espanol or various other outlets online. Game's next Wednesday at Rio's famed Maracana stadium. These are the games for the future stars of the Champions League.

But who's Liga? For those not familiar with South America's teams, that's Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito. In short, Quito's university league team. Founded in 1930, it is one of the traditional Ecuador club teams. They've won the league title in 1969, 1974, 1975, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2003, Apertura 2005 and 2007. This is their first time in history at a continent-wide event and only Barcelona de Guayaquil has been to the final before (1990, 1998) but only managed 3 losses and 1 tie. Liga's already making history and also turning more than one head to the equator-bound side.

Truth be told, Liga's not really my team. I'm an Emelec fan and will always be but I still enjoy seeing my fellow Ecuadoreans perform well at the international level. Currently, Liga boasts players such as Jairo Campos, Agustin Delgado, Claudio Bieler, Joffre Guerron, Jose Fransisco Cevallos, among others. Delgado is the legendary goleador that scored in most of the historical wins for the national side. Others that have come up through Liga's ranks include Neicer Reasco (Sao Paulo), Giovani "La sombra" Espinoza (Cruzeiro), Ulises de la Cruz (Hibernian/Aston Villa/Reading), Joffre Guerron (recently acquired by Getafe of Spain), "Pepe Pancho" Cevallos (Barcelona SC, Once Caldas).

The fight will be difficult next week and I would have liked to see the score remain at 4-1 as it was at the half. Fluminense will need to score 3 to secure the title. No easy feat, but they are Brazilian and jogo bonito is what they do. For now, and unless you're a Flu fan let's enjoy the result and leave history to decide which team is the greatest on this side of the hemisphere. .... Now if only Ecuador could perform like this. I leave you with some highlights.