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A Quintuple-header of Matches Today: Euro U21 & Gold Cup Semis, Copa Libertadores Final

June 22, 2011 — by Suman

Anyone up for watching five matches today?

We’re nearing the end of the lull between the end of the European club season and the start of the major international tourney of this summer (Copa America, which starts a week from Friday)–but the three remaining competitions we’ve been tracking converge today, yielding up five matches to watch: the semifinal matches in both the UEFA U21 European Champions and the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and the 2nd leg of the Copa Libertadores final between Santos and Peñarol. Here’s today’s schedule:

All Times U.S. Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4) (Local Times in parentheses)


UEFA U21 European Championships Semifinals (fixtures via here)

22 June 2011
12:00 (18:00)
Spain Semi-final 2
12:00 (18:00)
Belarus Viborg StadionViborg
Referee: Markus Strömbergsson (Sweden)
Preview

22 June 2011
15:00 (21:00)
Switzerland Semi-final 1
15:00 (21:00)
Czech Republic Herning StadiumHerning
Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (Austria)

 

(Both these matches will be broadcast live in the US on ESPN Deportes and also available for streaming  on ESPN3.com.)

Spain is the clear favorite and the team to watch (in order to see young Spanish stars like Javi Martínez (Athletic Bilbao); Juan Mata (Valencia); Adrián López (Deportivo La Coruña); and the Barcelona trio of Jeffrén, Bojan Krkić, and Thiago Alcântara (although looks Barcelona is selling Bojan to AS Roma, and both Jeffrén and Thiago have been mentioned in transfer rumors as well).

In any case, it should be a cakewalk for Spain today against surprise qualifiers Belarus (who advanced out of Group A ahead of Iceland and hosts Denmark based on goal difference). We don’t know much about the Swiss or Czech squads, but the names that came up on “players to watch” lists and tournament previews were Czech strikers Libor Kozák (Lazio) and Tomas Pekhart (Slavia Prague; previously with Tottenham Hotspur), and Swiss(-Albanian/Yugoslav) midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri (FC Basel).

 

CONCACAF Gold Cup Semifinals (fixtures via here):

 

June 22, 2011
19:00 (18:00 UTC−5)
United States v Panama Reliant StadiumHouston

 

June 22, 2011
22:00 (21:00 UTC−5)
Honduras v Mexico Reliant StadiumHouston

 

(The USA-Panama game will be shown live on FSC; both games will be on Univision and available for streaming on UnivisionFutbol.com.)

The USMNT seemed to finally get its act together on Sunday, defeating Jamaica 2-0 in the quarterfinals, following decidedly lackluster performances in the group stage: close wins against Canada and Guadeloupe on either side of a shock loss to Panama.  Let’s see if Bob Bradley can get his tactics right and his players motivated to beat Panama this time around–and hang on to his job at least a little longer.

In the other semi, Honduras squeaked by Costa Rica on PKs last Saturday at the New Meadowlands, while Mexico surprisingly needed two second half goals to get by Guatemala.  Prior to that, though, Mexico had been blowing the competition out of the water, and that could likely happen again tonight in Houston.

 

Copa Libertadore Final – Second leg (fixture via here)

June 22, 2011
20:50 (21:50 UTC−3)
Santos Brazil v Uruguay Peñarol Estádio Paulo Machado de Carvalho (Pacaembu)São Paulo
Referee: Sergio Pezzota (Argentina)

 

(This match will be shown live on Fox Deportes.)

We watched the first leg match in Montevideo last Wednesday (after following our friend’s journey back to Montevideo over the preceding two days). Even though it ended as a scoreless draw, it was rather exciting and eventful, with missed chances for both sides.  Here is Jonathan Wilson on that match (read the whole column for a typically Wilsonian detailed tactical analysis):

It may have finished goalless, but the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final was about as far from two teams canceling each other out as it’s possible to get. Penarol had conceded an average of just one goal per game in the knockout stage, packing men behind the ball and making a virtue of its defensive qualities, but while it kept a clean sheet, it was more to do with poor finishing and desperate defending from both sides than any great design. This was messy, enthralling, at times disjointed, and while a draw was probably a fair result, both sides will reflect on opportunities missed.

[…]

Santos probably goes back to Brazil thinking the hardest part of the job is done — and a draw in the Centenario is a creditable result. The example of Internacional, though, should be a warning. It too drew 1-1 in Montevideo in the first leg, but back in Brazil lost 2-1 to Penarol. The Uruuguayans are not a great team, in terms of raw skill are not a patch on Santos, but they do have a togetherness and a spirit, and playing on the counter suits them. After the first leg, it’s advantage Santos, but the final is far from over.

 

It will be yet another challenge for Peñarol to go into São Paulo and win–but the Uruguayans have been rising to such challenges in their run to the finals, and will call again upon La Garrua Charrua tonight.  Via the Football Ramble two weeks ago, prior to the first leg:

“It’s not modern or ancient football, it’s Uruguayan football,” Penarol Coach Diego Aguirre told La Republica this week as his side stand on the verge of the club’s first Libertadores title since 1987 – when Aguirre himself donned the famous gold and black stripes of Los Aurinegros. It was a statement that perfectly summarised the club’s Libertadores campaign thus far, and undoubtedly one that referred to the answer most frequently cited whenever an explanation is demanded for Uruguayan football’s long history of over-achievement. La Garra Charrua (the Charruan claw) is a term derived from the indigenous Charrua people of the land that later became Uruguay, and is used to characterise Uruguayans’ unrelenting desire to prosper in the face of defeat. Aguirre’s side haven’t waltzed their way to a final with Brazilian club Santos by outscoring opponents with expansive, free-flowing possession-based football, but by displaying the type of virtues exhibited by the Charrua in the face of colonial invasion – grit, determination, and an outright refusal to lie down and be beaten.