Week 36 Eng LMD.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
www.lamaquinadeportiva.com Chicago, IL AUGUST 2011 AUGUST 2011 Chicago, IL www.lamaquinadeportiva.com WWW.CHICAGOSOCCER.NET EXCEPTIONAL INNOVATIVE FAMILY The Chargers (3-1) are headed to Toyota Park! They will play for the second straight year at the Fire Stadium for 3rd place against Joliet Central High School. Last Saturday the Chargers worked hard for their win against rival Reavis in a well played game. The rematch featured some of the best soccer seen in the Windy City Classic and St. Joseph showed heart to earn the victory. Seniors Ruben Estrada and Jose Carrera got St. Joseph started with two nice goals in the first half. It came down to the last minute of the game when Patrick Brown converted on a well placed header off a free kick to punch the Chargers ticket to the Final Four. Although St. Joseph played great against Reavis, they fell short against Argo on Tuesday night. Two mistakes led to the first loss of the season and Argo slipped by after holding off the Char- gers 22 shots on goal. The team remains confident despite the setback and has learned from the experience. Goalkeeper, Dontae Gillespie, is confident in managing the backline and is ready to gain the momentum back! Dontae Gillespie: “Although we slipped up against Argo our defense kept the pressure up to give us a chance in the offensive third. We know we are better, we know we can win if we continue to stay organized and patient on the field.” Octavio Gutierrez:“In my past few years I’ve seen how this team has been so close and unified. Coach Niemiec always tells us how communication is important as a team, but they don’t get along just as a team, but as a family. It’s really an honor playing with them. I’m looking forward to this season because it will have a lot in store for us no doubt.” 2 www.lamaquinadeportiva.com Chicago, IL AUGUST 2011 AUGUST 2011 Chicago, IL www.lamaquinadeportiva.com France beats Albania 2-1 in Euro 2012 qualifier France beat Albania 2-1 in a Euro 2012 qualifier Friday despite a shaky defensive performance to increase its lead atop Group D. France striker Karim Benzema opened the scoring with a low drive in the 11th minute and Yann M'Vila doubled the lead by firing home a diagonal shot in the 18th. Albania forward Erjon Bogdani beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to pull one back in the 46th. The hosts had spells of domination in the second half but France held on to its lead. France tops Group D with 16 points, three clear of Bosnia-Herzegovina. European champion in 2000, France is unde- feated in its last 12 matches and will visit Romania on Tuesday. "I'm satisfied tonight,'' France coach Laurent Blanc told TF1 television. "We came here to win, but we knew it would be complicated.'' "In spite of all the respect I have for Albania, we were superior to them in this match.'' France converted its first scoring chance after 10 minutes when Benzema cut inside to unleash from the edge of the box a low shot that Albania goalkeeper Saimir Ujkani could only palm into the bottom corner. Albania nearly equalized the following minute, taking advantage of a nervy Younes Kaboul. The France centerback lost possession near his own area and Bogdani quickly fed winger Hamdi Salihi, whose chip hit the bar. Kaboul then missed a header in the 16th, forcing Lloris to come off his line to beat Salihi to the ball. France has mostly relied on the pair of centerbacks formed by Philippe Mexes and Adil Rami to anchor the defense in this qualifying campaign. But AC Milan defender Mexes is recovering from a knee injury and was therefore not available while Valencia defender Rami was suspended for the match in Tirana, leaving Blanc with very little choice at centerback. France overcame that minor scare by adding a second goal in the 18th. Rennes midfielder M'Vila released Benzema down the right flank. The Real Madrid forward skipped past Kristi Vangjeli to play the ball back to M'Vila, who netted with a shot from 16 yards. That two-goal deficit how- ever did not discourage the Albanians. Albania midfielder Ansi Agolli chested down a poor clearance from the France defense to crack a half-volley that Lloris turned around the post in the 31st. Benzema outpaced the Albania defense to be clean through on goal in the 36th but Admir Teli fouled him to earn a yellow card. Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery took the ensuing free kick that Ujkani tipped over the bar. Albania put France under pressure at the start of the second half. Ervin Bulku made a long pass for Bogdani in the 46th. Eric Abidal and Kaboul beat the Albania forward to the ball, but some poor communication between the two France centerbacks helped Bogdani win the ball to slip the ball through the legs of Lloris. "We conceded this goal that took away a bit of the confidence we had in the first half,'' Blanc said. The France defense was again exposed in the 59th. Albania fullback Vangjeli charged down the left flank to cut the ball back for substitute Jahmir Hyka, whose close-range effort was blocked by Abidal. But Bulku pounced on the rebound to fire a powerful drive that Lloris punched away. Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri had no influence on France's passing game and did very little until the 69th when he hit a low drive straight at Ujkani. France pushed hard in the last minutes to add a third goal. Ribery made a solo run in the 81st to pull the ball back for Chelsea winger Florent Malouda but Altin Lala rushed back to clear the ball. Kaboul outjumped the Albania defense from the ensuing corner but his header crashed against the post. Manchester United leftback Patrice Evra then set up Nasri, whose effort from 13 yards bounced off the post in the 86th. "Of course we can improve,'' Blanc said. "We can always do better offensively. But we scored two goals, created a lot of chances and hit the post twice. Our offense is clicking better and we've managed to put our opponent in trouble.'' YOUR AD HERE 773.217.9560 3 www.lamaquinadeportiva.com Chicago, IL AUGUST 2011 AUGUST 2011 Chicago, IL www.lamaquinadeportiva.com Spain beats Chile 3-2 in friendly Cesc Fabregas scored a penalty at the second attempt in injury time to give Spain a 3-2 win over Chile in a friendly on Friday. Midfielder Isla Mauricio and forward Eduardo Vargas put Chile ahead, but Andres Iniesta came off the bench in the second half to score with a long strike before setting up Fabregas for the equalizer. Chile looked set to salvage a draw until Fernando Meneses fouled Real Madrid de- fender Alvaro Arbeloa in the area. Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo blocked Fabregas’ spot kick, but the new Barcelona midfielder tapped in the rebound for the victory. Fabregas gave all the credit to Iniesta. “I wasn’t the game changer, it was Andres who turned the game around,’’ Fabregas said. “He was incredible. He scored the goal that gave us hope and made the pass to me for the second that I only had to touch to put in.’’ Spain continues its defense of its European title on Tuesday when it hosts Liechtenstein in a Euro 2012 qualifier. The world champions are in first place in Group I, six points ahead of second-place Czech Republic. Chile will also visit Spain to play Mexico in a friendly in Barcelona on Sunday. After a lackluster first half, Spain looked ready to flop yet again in friendlies against quality opponents. But Spain coachVicente del Bosque made wholesale changes that completely changed the game. Midfielder Xavi Hernandez made his 102nd appearance for La Roja atAFG Arena, equaling Raul Gonzalez as Spain’s most capped outfield player. Chile took the initiative from the start, pressing up the pitch with a defensive line of three and Barcelona’s new signing Alexis Sanchez spearing the attack. The payoff came in the 10th when Isla latched on to West Bromwich Albion defender Gonzalo Jara’s long pass and blasted it past Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas into the top left corner of the net. Just when Spain’s passing game was showing signs of coming to life, Vargas combined with Sanchez to break Spain’s defensive line before rounding Casillas and rolling in Chile’s second in the 20th. Iniesta came on for Xabi Alonso at the beginning of the second half and took 10 minutes to halve Spain’s deficit with a bouncing strike from outside the area. Del Bosque sent on more reinforcements and Spain’s fresh legs cut off Chile’s flow in attack. Spain drew level in the 71st when Iniesta played Fabregas through the center of the defense for his new teammate to slot under Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. Chile was left with 10 men from the 83rd after Pablo Contreras was shown a red card for a hard tackle on Santi Cazorla. Spain’s strong second-half performance should help calm worries that the growing friction between Barcelona and Real Madrid has spread to the Spanish national team. YOUR AD HERE 773.217.9560 4 www.lamaquinadeportiva.com Chicago, IL AUGUST 2011 AUGUST 2011 Chicago, IL www.lamaquinadeportiva.com WWW.CHICAGOSOCCER.NET Rodney Wallace scores, Costa Rica beats US 1-0 Rodney Wallace scored to lead Costa Rica to a 1-0 win over the United States on Friday night, giving Jurgen Klinsmann a loss in his second match as U.S.