This week unfolded the 1st leg matches of the 23rd Champions’ Cup—CONCACAF’s version of the Champions League or Copa Libertadores. Though the tournament is not as deep as its European and South American counterparts, it is still the biggest club prize of the substandard professional leagues of the Caribbean as well as North and Central America (lo siento Mexico).

MLS is being represented by both DC United and the Houston Dynamo while Guadalajara and Pachuca will represent Mexico; CD Olimpia from Honduras, Puntarenas from Costa Rica, Deportivo Marquense from Guatemala, and W Connection from Trinidad and Tobago round out the 8 competing teams.

The 2 leg Quarterfinal match-ups play out like this—
PACHUCA CF (MEX) – DEPORTIVO MARQUENSE (GUA)
PUNTARENAS FC (CRC) – HOUSTON DYNAMO (USA)
W CONNECTION FC (TRI) – CD GUADALAJARA (MEX)
CD OLIMPIA (HON) – D.C. UNITED (USA)

1st leg drama already has reared its head as W Connection of Trinidad overcame Mexican powerhouse Chivas (2-1) while Houston Dynamo will have to turn the tables at home in Texas, as they fell to the Costa Ricans (1-0) after a goal was scored in the dying moments of stoppage time.

Former Champions’ Cup Champions (1998) DC United, making their 7th appearance in the tournament, started with a lineup that resembled more of a south of the border squad and cruised to victory, defeating CD Olimpia (4-1) with MLS MVP Christian Gomez scoring a brace for the American Club.

Pachuca rounded off the fixtures with a dominating victory on the road over Guatemalan debutantes Marquense (2-0) and look easy to cruise back at home in Mexico in the vuelta.

While anything is still possible, next week will solidify the teams for the Semifinals with the Mexican squads playing their 2nd legs on Feb. 28th (Wednesday) while the MLS squads will finish on Mar. 1st (Thursday).

This entry was posted on Friday, February 23rd, 2007 at 10:00 pm and is filed under Soccer World, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.