Par Gary Eliézer

Qualifié pour la ligue des champions 2013-2014 après avoir remporté le championnat national D1 de 2012 et dominé Bayamon FC 3-1, Portmore 4-3, et un nul 0-0 contre Boys Town en tour préliminaire, le Valencia de Leogane a su pendant le mois de Juin qu’il affrontera le Club Sport Herediano du Costa Rica et Cruz Azul du Mexique en match de poules du groupe 3 de la concacaf.

Le premier match est programmé pour ce jeudi 8 Août au Stade Sylvio Cator contre CS Herediano à 8h PM.

Qu’en est-il de ce club?

Le Club Sport Herediano est un club de première division Costaricienne fondé en 1921 qui a remporté 23 fois le championnat du Costa Rica, aie a sa tête le coach Marvin Solano et 3 joueurs talentueux qu’il faut surveiller: il s’agit du goal keeper, Leonel Moreira, le milieu Esteban Granados et le buteur Yendrick Ruiz, ils ont un stade (Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero) de 8 144 places.

Du côté des Aigle Vert, ils préparent activement le match car, ils doivent absolument remporter le match pour bien débuter la phase de poule et se donnent une certaine assurance pour les autres rencontres.

A noter, une seule équipe parmi les trois obtientra un billet pour le deuxième tour.

Le groupes des joueurs des deux équipes:

Valencia:

GK: Frandy Montrévil, Andy Colinet,

Défenseurs: Jean Robert Jean, Makendy Duverger, Samuel Mardochée Pompé, Jean Dany Maurice, Harold Sanon,

Milieux: Fritz Gérald Alliance, Geraldy Joseph, Esso Fraudlyn Amicy, Emerson Michel, Yves Mandela Racine, Emmanuel Joseph, Chaderson Challemagne.

Attaquants: André Amy, Walson Augustin, Roody Joseph, Junior Etienne, Dieufils Rosemond.

Herediano:

GK: Fernando Valverde, Leonel Moreira.

Défenseurs: Marvin Obando, Cristian Montero, Waylon Francis, Pablo Salazar, Keilor Soto, Esteban Ramirez, Jose Cubero.

Milieux: Esteban Granados, Carlos Hernandez, Jose Cancela, Josimar Arias, Ismael Gomez.

Attaquants: Yendrick Ruiz, Victor Nunez, Anllel Porras, Minor Diaz.

Benson Petit-Clair

The New England Revolution dropped to a (8-8-6) record after a very tough loss against Toronto FC yesterday at Gillette Stadium. The Revs couldn’t keep the momentum after two strong performances to make a push for the playoffs.

The visitors opened the score quickly in the 2^nd minute of the game after a defensive miscue from the Revs defense. The Argentine, Matias Laba, the  the lone scorer of the match; beat New England Goalkeeper, Bobby Shuttleworth on a one-on-one battle after the miscue. Alba’s shot went straight to the net; although, Revs midfielder did his best to prevent the score.

“We gave them a gift in the first two minutes and it’s always tough to climb back like that. We fought hard, tried to put ourselves in a position to tie in the first half and try to get a goal. It just wasn’t our day today.” Stated Lee Nguyen after the match

“We created plenty of chances in the first half. None of them were able to fall. We kept putting ourselves into a deeper hole in the second half by continuing to not being able to finish. It was a frustrating night, but now we’ve got to focus on next week. »

We’ve just got to get together and refocus. We started slow in D.C., we started slow today. We can’t afford to start slow in KC.” He added.

Despite their inabilities to score on Toronto’s GK, Joe Bednik, the Revs dominated the visitors. They had a season high of 17 shot attempts on goal and Bednik made crucial save on many of them.

Bednik first major save came in the in the 17^th minute when he stopped a shot from Lee Nguyen who received a ball from Saer Sene. Bednik would eventually finish the game with 5 saves to preserve the shutout.

The Toronto defenders helped their cause as well in the 34^th minute by they disrupted a one-two play from Saer and rookie defender, Andrew Farrell.

The teams entered the half on a 1-0 lead by Toronto even when the Revs had 7 more shots on goal than the visitors.

After the break, in a move to search for the equalizer and bring more firepower to the offense, New England switched to a 3-4-3 formation by inserting Striker Chad Barrett in place of Defender Stephen McCarthy.  The Toronto defenders did not budge and defended their camp to the best of their abilities. While New England couldn’t get the momentum they wanted, Toronto has been building their own momentum in their last three outings.

Ryan Nelsen, Head coach of the Toronto FC believes his team is improving game by game.

“That is 7 points in 3 games. It is something that we are building on. We are always trying to get better and better each game. The guys showed today that sometimes when it is not going as well with the ball, you have our foundation to fall back on, our organization and our structure and working really hard for each other. That is what won us the game with a little bit of brilliance against the goal.” Added the coach.

New England’s best chance in the 2^nd half came in the concluded minutes when Diego Fagudez headed the ball past Bednik after a Lee Nguyen free kick, but the ball went to hit the crossbar.

The Revs will be on the road for their next match facing the highly ranked Sporting Kansas on Saturday, August. 10. FC Toronto will resume league actions at home on the same day against the Seattle Sounders and their newly acquired star, Clint Dempsey.

Line-ups:

New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth, Chris Tierney, Jose Goncalves, Stephen McCarthy (Chad Barrett 74), Andrew Farrell, Diego Fagundez, Juan Toja (Kelyn Rowe 60), Scott Caldwell, Lee Nguyen, Saer Sene, Dimitry Imbongo

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, A.J. Soares, Andy Dorman, Ryan Guy 

Toronto FC: Joe Bendik, Richard Eckersley, Steven Caldwell, Doneil Henry, Ashtone Morgan, Reggie Lambe, Jonathan Osorio, Matias Laba, Bobby Convey, Andrew Wiedeman (Justin Braun 69), Jeremy Brockie (Jeremy Hall 80)

Substitutes Not Used: Stefan Frei, Alvaro Rey, Darel Russell, Gale Agbossoumonde, Michael Thomas

Par Gary Eliezer

Terminé à la 7e place pour la saison régulière, l’équipe bèl kolônn a fait un bon début dans la course au maintien en remportant une belle victoire en déplacement contre les Jacméliens du Victory 3-1. Les buts des tempettistes ont été marqués par Luxerne Elestin (Kayiman), Chedlin Francoeur et sa nouvelle recrue: Fritznel Louis; le but du Victory était l’oeuvre de Bony Pierre.

Fica, enfin…

Après 2 nuls 0-0 lors de la saison régulière entre le Cavaly et le Fica, les djokannel capois ont finalement trouvé la victoire contre les Léoganais du Cavaly sur un but de Woodensky Cherenfant et metttent le cap déjà sur le tournoi super 8. « C’est encore tôt mais c’est l’objectif, » a déclaré l’un des dirigeants capois après le match.

Ça commence mal pour Scadino!

Récruté pour redresser la mauvaise situation du Don Bosco après le limogeage de Sonche Pierre, l’Argentin Mario Scadino a mal commencé les séries des playoffs groupe des maintiens/rélégables avec une défaite 0-1 contre l’America des Cayes, rien ne semble arranger pour les Pétion Villois.

Gary Eliézer

Groupe des champions:

Avec le report du match AS Petit Goâve vs Valencia pour le 15 août prochain à cause de la participation du Valencia dans la ligue des champions de la CONCACAF le 8 Août, seulement 2 matchs étaient au programme:

Sortie Triomphale pour le Racing Club Haïtien!

Le Racing club Haïtien a bien commencé la série des playoffs en s’imposant sur le strict minimum 1-0 face au Baltimore, les spectateurs qui avaient fait le déplacement au Stade Sylvio Cator se souviendront pour toujours de ce magnifique but inscrit par Ernst Jean-François à la 89e minute pour le Racing Club Haïtien et du même coup, offre les 3 points de la victoire et la première place au vieux lion.

AS Mirebalais et Aigle Noir dos à dos!

L’Aigle Noir a effectué un nul intéressant 2-2 au Parc Saint-Louis face au club local. Ces deux là ont laissé une très bonne impression au Parc Saint-Louis pour avoir fait le jeu égal, certes, les poulains de Jean-Claude Josaphat restent encore imbattables à domicile mais n’ont pas fait mieux qu’un nul 2-2. (Harold Fédé, Frantz Pierre pour AS Mirebalais); Johnley Chéry et James Germain pour l’Aigle Noir.

Odens Jr. Pierre

Seattle Sounders to sign Clint Dempsey from Tottenham Hotspur

After scoring 20 plus goals last season for Fulham, Clint Dempsey impressed many clubs around England and signed with Tottenham Hotspur. Clint Dempsey performed well and consistently, scoring 12 goals in 43 games. Dempsey was at the peak of his career, he was considered the most successful American soccer player abroad.

After the Spurs completed the transfer of the goal scoring threat, Roberto Soldado, Dempsey’s place on the team seemed to become less important. With the World Cup around the corner, every player is looking for as much playing time to be able to play at their best in a tournament that only  happens every four years.Dempsey would  mostly come off the bench  had he  elected to stay.

During the 2014 MLS season,Dempsey will be playing  for the Seattle Sounders. His move was finalized on tuesday, although he is at the peak of his career it seems like the peak came too late, he is 30 years old now and may well be playing his last World Cup next year. Hopefully Dempsey is able to play well consistently and get the call up to represent his country.

Odens Jr. Pierre

Tottenham Hotspurs to sign Soldado from Valencia.

Valencia FC seems to be turning into a selling club the last few years. They have sold quality players such as David Villa and Jordi Alba to Barcelona, David Silva to Manchester City, Juan Mata to Chelsea, and now A prolific goal scorer in La Liga, Roberto Soladado. The 28 year old striker moved to Valencia 3 years ago from Getafe and instantly became a goal scoring machine for the club. Soldado will be going through a medical at Tottenham Hotspurs.

Tottenham is slowly becoming a threat in the BPL. They possess a great midfield full of speed, control, and strength with the likes of Dembele, Lennon, and the new signing Paulinho who impressed at the recent Confederation Cup, making a transfer from Brazilian club Corinthians. The manager, Andre Villas-Boas may have added Soldado because he fears that Real Madrid may take his superstar player Gareth Bale. Although he doesn’t want to let him go Bale stated to the coach that he is interested in join the Spanish Powerhouse.

If Bale does leave the club, Tottenham will continue to be a strong squad and maybe able to secure a Champions League spot this season which they missed out on in the previous year. The team will definitely benefit from the likes of Paulinho and Soldado. A few more goals for the team would help them secure the Champions League spot and a more solid midfield which is vital in the BPL.