CD GUADALAJARA vs. ATLANTE FC
Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 7 p.m. PT
Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.
Group Stage - GROUP A - Match 10
REFEREE: Hugo Leon Guajardo (MEX)
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Hector Delgadillo (MEX); Arturo Velazquez (MEX)
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Yader Reyes (USA)
MATCH BACKGROUND
CD Guadalajara are aiming to reach the SuperLiga semifinals on the second try with wins in their first two games, taking on an Atlante FC team that rebounded from a heavy loss in the first game to defeat D.C. United in their second.
CD Guadalajara
In the inaugural SuperLiga, Chivas de Guadalajara finished in third place in group play after a win and a draw against MLS competition before a loss to Pachuca. This year, two wins against two MLS opponents have put the rojiblancos on the verge of qualification to the knockout stage. "I'm happy with the effort of the fellows, we defeated a strong, difficult opponent, while also adapting to the difficulties of the field which was in poor condition," said coach Efraín Flores. With just a draw against Atlante, Chivas will advance - which was the same situation they were in a year ago. "It was a complicated game (against Houston) ... but the important thing is that we won and are all but qualified to the next round. We'd like to reach the final and play against the "American" Chivas," said midfielder Ramon Morales. The match was played in front of a crowd of 28,723 fans, the second-largest crowd in SuperLiga history. The largest crowd in SuperLiga history was the 37,337 who attended the Chivas de Guadalajara vs. LA Galaxy match on July 28, 2007. "It's good to see that the fans are passionate about their team in Houston," said Morales, "and that obviously helps soccer grow stronger in this country."
Atlante FC
For Atlante FC, the match against D.C. United represented a 180-degree turnaround. "Last game against Houston I started it with a defensive line of four, three midfielders, an attacking midfielder, who was Gabriel Pereyra and two forwards, Giancarlo [Maldonado] and [Luis Gabriel] Rey," said coach José Guadalupe Cruz. "... The team lost all control of the wings, lost possession, and lost everything that we'd been practicing daily. Therefore, we came back to our usual strategy, the five defenders, three midfielders and three forwards. It was something the team did very well because we had spent much time on it." In addition, Cruz said he is missing David Toledo, who the club bought from Pumas in the offseason. "We are a very limited team in terms of players. I would have liked to bring David Toledo, a key to my system, but it was impossible to secure the player's transfer in time. Because of that, we must make an enormous effort to face both the league and the CONCACAF (Champions' League). To get past the heavy loss to Houston, Atlante had to return to the memories of a year ago, when they won the 2007 Apertura. "We're the Mexican champions from the tournament before last. We have merits but I think we didn't play well in Houston. But now we showed improvement and more concentration and we got the result," said Pereyra.
State of Play: Group A
No team has qualified for the semifinals, and no team has been eliminated, in Group A.
The tiebreakers in the group stage are as follows: (i) Head-to-Head Results; (ii) Goal Differential; (iii) Goals Scored; (iv) Coin Toss.
This weekend's results may lead to a number of three-way ties in each of the groups. If no one team has defeated the other two (Head-to-Head Results), then the subsequent tiebreakers are employed to advance a single team (as opposed to eliminating teams). If the tiebreakers fail to advance a single team, the tiebreakers are then used to eliminate one of the three teams. The tiebreaker procedures would then be reapplied between the two teams left standing in order to determine the club to advance. The tiebreakers are applied one more time between the two teams that failed to advance if it is necessary to determine a second-place team.
