There must have been a sense of déjà vu for Carlos Bocanegra in the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night as heavy underdogs Guingamp beat Rennes, 2-1, to win the Coupe de France (French Cup).
Back in 2000, the then-MLS rookie was a member of the favored Chicago Fire side that lost the MLS Cup Final to the Kansas City Wizards at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. That day, Tony Meola stoned the Fire as the Wizards won 1-0 despite being outshot 22-6.
The loss in the French capital though was a much bigger upset than the one Bocanegra experienced in his nation's capital nearly nine years earlier. And one in which Captain America was nearly a French hero.
No second division side had won the French Cup since Le Havre hoisted the trophy in 1959, exactly 50 years ago. Entering the game Guingamp stood 13th in Ligue 2, while their Breton rivals were seventh in Ligue 1. After joined Rennes last summer, Bocanegra has become an anchor on a back four which did not allow a goal throughout the team's French Cup run prior to the final.
Early on it seemed the biggest drama surrounding the final would be French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to break tradition and not attend the game, preferring to spend the weekend with his wife Carla Bruni at her villa in the south of France. But with Brittany in an uproar that the president was planning to snub its two teams, politics trumped R&R and Sarkozy headed back to Paris.
With Rennes dominating the game, hitting the woodwork twice, it seemed only a matter of time before Sarkozy would be offering congratulations to the Ligue 1 side. When Bocanegra finally broke the deadlock in the 69th minute, scoring on a header from a Bruno Cheyrou free kick, it seemed the stars had aligned for Captain America to add a French Cup triumph to his 2000 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup win.
Then three minutes later a Petter Hansson error allowed Guingamp's Brazilian striker Eduardo to tie the score and the game changed. With seven minutes left on the clock, Eduardo struck again and French Cup history was made.
While head coach Guy Lacombe lamented his side's bad luck on Saturday, Bocanegra and Rennes still have a shot at qualifying for next season's Europa League. But Rennes will have to regroup quickly and hope their fortunes follow President Sarkozy's example and do a fast U-turn.
Despite the upset loss to Guingamp, Bocanegra has been enjoying a strong season in France. After crossing the English Channel from Fulham last summer, Bocanegra has adapted well to the French game and earned a regular starting spot. His experience in the EPL and Ligue 1 will be invaluable to Bob Bradley as the United States heads to the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa next month. The two-time MLS Defender of the Year was handed the national team's captain armband last year, and will most likely lead the USA onto the field in their opening game against world champions Italy on June 15 in Pretoria.
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
New Zealand head coach Ricki Herbert has included two former MLS players in his 23-man squad for next month's FIFA Confederations Cup along with four others currently plying their trade in MLS.
Blackburn Rovers skipper and former D.C. United captain Ryan Nelsen will lead the All-Whites in South Africa. The other former MLS player in the squad is Tony Lochhead, who currently plays for Wellington Phoenix in the Australia A-League. The former UC-Santa Barbara star scored one goal for the New England Revolution in 19 games from 2005-2007. Current MLS players on the New Zealand roster are: Andrew Boyens (New York Red Bulls), Simon Elliott (San Jose Earthquakes), Duncan Oughton (Columbus Crew) and Jarrod Smith (Seattle Sounders FC).
New Zealand will play European champions Spain in its first game on June 14. The other teams in Group A are Iraq and host nation South Africa. Iraq will be lead by former U.S. national team and MetroStars head coach Bora Milutinovic. South Africa head coach Joel Santana sparked controversy this week with his decision to omit Bafana Bafana's best known player, Benni McCarthy of Blackburn Rovers, from his squad for the tournament.
England roundup
In the EPL, Nelsen's Blackburn Rovers secured their place in the Premiership for another season with a 2-0 victory against Portsmouth on goals by Morten Pedersen and Benni McCarthy. Nelsen, the Rovers captain, has been a stalwart presence for Blackburn in the second half of the season as the Lancashire side climbed to safety after a poor beginning to the campaign. Nelsen scored his first career EPL goal in a pivotal victory over Wigan on April 26, and on Saturday made a critical goal line clearance to maintain Blackburn's two-goal lead on Pompey.
In a matchup of former MLS stars, Clint Dempsey got the better of Brad Friedel on Saturday as Dempsey's Fulham beat Friedel's Aston Villa 3-1. With the win Fulham increased its grip on seventh place in the EPL and its chances of qualifying for next season's Europa League. Despite its recent run of poor form Friedel's Villa has already clinched a spot in the Europa League but holds to fifth place in the EPL by one point over Everton.
Friedel, of course, starred for the U.S. at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and the man most likely to wear the goalkeeper's jersey for the red, white and blue next year in South Africa is Tim Howard. The former MetroStars 'keeper made history on Saturday, recording his 16th EPL shutout of the season as Everton drew 0-0 with Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park. Howard's record-breaking season has seen him play every minute of Everton's EPL campaign but that might change before the end of the season. Everton boss David Moyes has indicated that he might give a game to Howard's backup Carlo Nash ahead of Everton's FA Cup Final encounter with Chelsea on May 30 to have the reserve ready in case of an unexpected emergency involving Howard.
Former Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann is one of the players chasing Howard for the U.S. national team gloves. On Saturday and Tuesday, Hahnemann and his Reading teammates were chasing the last promotion slot in the Championship playoffs. A late penalty saw Burnley down Reading 1-0 in the first leg at Turf Moor. In Tuesday's second leg at Reading, Hahnemann's Royals suffered yet another home defeat, this time a 2-0 loss that ended their season as Burnley advance to play Sheffield United in the playoff final.
North of the border in Scotland
Maurice Edu
was outstanding as Rangers beat Glasgow archrivals Celtic 1-0 in the Old Firm derby at Ibrox Stadium on Saturday. With the win, Rangers leapfrog Celtic into first place in the SPL. With three games left, the Light Blues hold a two-point lead at the top of the table.
Edu's performance gained widespread praise from the Scottish media. The Herald proclaimed "no one was as swashbuckingly brilliant as Edu," with the Daily Star declaring, "The Yank was sharp, gutsy, clever on the ball and still running full pelt with 93 minutes on the clock." Rangers manager Walter Smith was equally impressed with the ex-Toronto FC star, stating after the game, "He is now a main part of our title run-in and he has handled that responsibility very well."
Edu's teammate DaMarcus Beasley continues to rehab his rib injury and was not part of the Rangers squad against Celtic.
Former New England Revolution midfielder Andy Dorman did not have as a good weekend as Edu. He missed an early chance in St. Mirren's game at home against Motherwell, as the Saints lost 3-1. Since moving to its new stadium in January, St. Mirren has not won a home game in the SPL. With three games left, St. Mirren hover two points above the relegation zone. Falkirk currently occupy that lovelorn location and the teams meet at Falkirk Stadium on Saturday.
The second tier of Scottish football, Division 1, ended its season on Monday, with St. Johnstone winning 4-0 at Airdrie United. Former Toronto FC striker Collin Samuel scored six goals in 20 league games for the "Johnnies" as the Perth-based team won the Division 1 title and secured promotion to the SPL for the first time in seven years.
Elsewhere in Europe
In Germany,
Michael Bradley's
Borussia Moenchengladbach secured three vital points with a 1-0 win over Schalke 04. The victory lifted Gladbach out of the Bundelsiga relegation zone, but only on the most goals scored tiebreaker.
In Italy, it was just a typical week in the life of Los Angeles Galaxy on-loan superstar David Beckham. He attended the second leg of the Arsenal-Manchester United UEFA Champions League semifinal at the Emirates, the current owners of his early childhood home in Leytonstone pulled the house off the market after reportedly failing to attract any bids above $250,000, and his wife, Victoria, told Entertainment Tonight that "America is our home." All of these events received extensive coverage in the British tabloids. On the field, Beckham received his fifth yellow card of the Serie A campaign as AC Milan tied 1-1 with Juventus and will be suspended for Sunday's game with Udinese.
In Denmark, the woes of Michael Parkhurst's FC Nordsjaelland continued as they lost for the fifth straight game, a 3-1 defeat at league leaders FC Copenhagen. Danny Califf sat out FC Midtylland 3-2 win over AC Horsens due to a yellow card accumulation suspension.
In Norway, Hunter Freeman and Clarence Goodson both played the full 90 minutes for IK Start as they shut out Lillestrom 3-0. Former D.C. United standout Troy Perkins posted his first shutout of the Tippeligaen season as Valerenga won 3-0 at Molde.
In Spain, Mexican goal scoring icon and former Dallas Burn forward Hugo Sanchez continued to re-establish his coaching credentials after his undistinguished spell as Mexico's head coach when his Almeria side secured its spot in La Liga next season with a 3-1 victory against Sporting Gijon.
Mexico
The last weekend of the Clausura tournament saw a semblance of normality return to Mexican soccer in the wake of the Swine Flu outbreak. Health officials eased restrictions that forced the previous week's games to be played without fans in the stadiums.
On the field, former Chivas USA and Mexican national team star Francisco "Paco" Palencia sealed Pumas UNAM's 3-0 victory over Monterrey with a 75th-minute penalty. Both teams advanced to the playoffs. Ramon Nunez, who played for FC Dallas and Chivas USA in MLS, scored a goal but missed a penalty kick as Puebla FC tied 1-1 at home with Tecos UAG, for whom ex-New York Red Bulls defender Diego Jimenez picked up a yellow card. Puebla and the Tecos also advanced to the playoff round. Former LA Galaxy forward Carlos Pavon was subbed out in the 63rd minute as his Necaxa side went down 1-0 at Club America. That loss condemned Necaxa to relegation to the Primera A Division.
South America
In Argentina, former D.C. United designated player
Marcelo Gallardo
came on as a second-half substitute for River Plate as the Argentina giants were held at home 1-1 by Lanus. Another former D.C. United player,
Franco Niell
, also came off the bench to help current team Gimnasia La Plata earn a 0-0 tie at Arsenal. A third MLS veteran to come off the bench was
Matias Cordoba
. The ex-Real Salt Lake midfielder came on as a substitute for Argentinos Juniors in the 78th minute in a 1-1 tie at bottom club Tigre.
Eduardo Dominguez
, who appeared in three games for the LA Galaxy last season, played the full 90 minutes and gained a yellow card as Huracan played to a 1-1 tie at Estudiantes.
In Bolivia, former Dallas Burn and MetroStars veteran Joselito Vaca helped Oriente Petrolero earn a goalless draw at Real Potosi.
In Colombia, former MetroStars striker Sergio Galvan Rey scored on an 83rd-minute penalty kick as Atletico National drew 1-1 at home to Envigado.
In Paraguay, Carlos Ruiz's Olimpia Asuncion continued its winning ways securing a 2-1 victory over Libertad.
In Peru, Jose Carvallo's Sporting Cristal scored as many goals as the goalkeeper appeared in games for D.C. United last year as it lost at home 2-1 to Melgar FBC.
Performance of the week
The MLS alumni performance of the week came at Goodison Park, as
Tim Howard
broke Neville Southall's Everton team record for shutouts in a season. Howard, who has played every minute of the Toffees EPL campaign, posted his 16th Premiership shutout of the season, as Everton and Tottenham Hotspur played to a 0-0 tie. It was Howard's second straight clean sheet. He last gave up a goal to Manchester City's Stephen Ireland on May 3, and his current shutout streak stands at 216 minutes.
Mark C. Young is an Emmy Award-winning freelance writer/TV producer who has covered several FIFA World Cups and Olympic Games. He is a contributor to Goal.com and also writes for the blog "No Mas."
