Debreceni's ascension to the group phase of the Champions League is a great story, but there is a
CONCACAF angle. Honduran midfielder Luís Ramos has been with the side since the summer and has
played in only three matches with the club, but he started and played the entire second leg. As he
described to Honduras' sports daily Diez, the celebrations have been pretty raucous.
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Oguchi Onyewu won his second Belgian League title when his Standard Liege side defeated Anderlecht
1-0 in the second leg of the championship playoff. Onyewu also cost his side the championship when
he conceded a penalty in the final minute of the final game, but this time it was time for another
CONCACAF player to be the goat.
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In the final round of the Belgian league, Anderlecht (of Honduras' Víctor Bernárdez) and Oguchi
Onyewu's Standard Liege were even on points (74) and victories (23), which is the only tiebreaker.
Anderlecht traveled to Genk, while Standard had to travel to Gent. Anderlecht were winning their
match rather comfortably, but Standard suffered throughout their match and only took the lead
through a penalty right at halftime.
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The USA's Carlos Bocanegra scored for his side Rennes in tonight's French Cup Final, but
second-division side Guingamp came from behind to score a memorable upset 2-1. It's only the second
time that a team from below the top flight has won the French Cup, and Guingamp will play in the
Europa League (ex-UEFA Cup) next season.
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Both European cup finals will feature a Mexican on the roster of at least one of the finalists.
Rafael Márquez is on the squad of Barcelona, who will appear in the UEFA Champions League final,
and Nery Castillo plays for Shaktar Donetsk, who advanced to the UEFA Cup final today at Dynamo
Kiev's expense.
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The bad news keeps getting worse for Mexican football: Barcelona's central defender Ráfa Márquez
went down with a knee injury in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal against
Chelsea. The preliminary indication is an injury to the meniscus of the left knee. What made it
especially unfortunate was that Márquez had not been under contact; rather, the ground gave way
under him as he made a move with the ball in the center of the field.
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HexagonalBlog 01 February @ 04:33 PM EST
Panama striker Alberto Zapata has confirmed that he will play for Israeli side Maccabi Netanya, and
has already left Panama's camp in Honduras to travel to Israel. Zapata scored the lone goal in the
Guatemala match that confirmed Panama's place in this summer's Gold Cup. He wasn't on the field for
the semifinal against Honduras and won't be there for the final against Costa Rica.
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HexagonalBlog 23 December @ 07:54 PM EST
Another Mexican coach is going to the Spanish league, as Hugo Sánchez was hired by
Almería on Monday, barely 24 hours after letting go their previous manager Gonzalo Arconada.
Sánchez's task will be to save the club from relegation, as they currently lie three points
above the relegation zone.(Really, this is my last post of the year!
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HexagonalBlog 18 September @ 09:13 PM EST
The first matchday of the group stage is complete, so here's a summary of the CONCACAF players in
the UEFA Champions League:Rafa Márquez scored the opening goal (a header from a corner kick)
in Barcelona's 3-1 victory over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday. He played all 90 minutes.Carlos Vela
played the last six minutes of Arsenal's 1-1 draw at Dinamo Kiev.
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HexagonalBlog 17 September @ 01:36 AM EST
Just in time for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, here's a list of the CONCACAF
players who will be participating in the world's premier continental competition: Player Club
Country Guillermo Franco Villarreal Mexico Rafael Márquez Barcelona Mexico Francisco
Rodríguez PSV Eindhoven Mexico Carlos Salcido PSV Eindhoven Mexico Carlos Vela Arsenal Mexico
Lars Hirschfeld CFR Cluj Canada I do know that Jozy Altidore also plays for Villarreal, but he was
not listed on the roster that the club sent to UEFA, so he cannot play in the group stages.
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Credit: Villarreal FC website He's Boca Raton's own, and now he's part of Villarreal as MLS' first
8-figure transfer. Jozy Altidore has come a long way in the last three seasons. He showed promise
in MLS with the Red Bulls, burst upon the international scene at the U-20 World Cup, and shortly
thereafter appeared on the transfer shortlists of some of the major clubs in Europe (and some
smaller ones as well).
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Some news from Spain relevant to CONCACAF in general and MLS in particular: Welcome to La Liga,
Giovani. In the final match of the season against Getafe, Giovani dos Santos scored his first goals
in the top flight in the best possible way -- a hat-trick. His second and third goals were
beautiful. Barca won 5-3, and with Guardiola taking over from Rijkaard the next question is,
"Does Giovani stay?
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Congratulations to Fulham for staying up in the Premier League. To win four of their final five
games, including three consecutive away wins, in the face of certain relegation is an impressive
escape act. And it would not have been good for American soccer's image to have a club with five
American players demoted from the top flight.
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Standard Liege won their first Belgian League title in 25 years by virtue of a 2-0 victory at home
to Anderlecht today. US defender Oguchi Onyewu has played in all but one League match and has been
part of a defensive line that has conceded the fewest goals in the Belgian top flight this season.
He's also scored two goals and received only four yellow cards without an early dismissal.
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HexagonalBlog 12 December @ 10:49 PM EST
The group stage of the UEFA Champions League concluded this week, with a number of spots in the
final 16 still unclaimed. On Tuesday in Group B, Rosenborg went down 1-3 to an inspired onslaught
by Schalke and in the...
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HexagonalBlog 04 December @ 10:12 PM EST
The final round of matches in Group D were moved because of Milan's participation in the Club World
Cup, and there was only one match featuring clubs with CONCACAF players on the books. Benfica
grabbed a 2-1 win away to...
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HexagonalBlog 28 November @ 09:52 PM EST
Today there were three matches involving clubs with CONCACAF players in the lineups: Rosenborg
'keeper Lars Hirschfeld had a busy day for the wrong reasons as the Norwegian side lost 0-4 at home
to Chelsea. I'm relying on the match...
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HexagonalBlog 16 November @ 02:56 PM EST
It had been reported that Wilson Palacios' brother had been freed from kidnappers who took him two
weeks ago. The parents are saying that that hasn't happened and they're still waiting on news on
Edwin. So the sad saga continues,...
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While watching the return leg of the Motagua-Municipal series on GolTV, the commentator said that
the brother of Honduran midfielder Wilson Palacios was kidnapped today in the city of La Ceiba. The
Times of London has a report here. There's...
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Freddy Adu continues to sit on the substitutes' bench for Benfica, but he continues to do the right
things upon entering the field. Tonight he scored the winner in Benfica's League match against
Maritimo after being on the pitch for...
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I would have posted this last night, but I was busy and I didn't have enough details on the two
matches involving CONCACAF players. Benfica won a critical Group D match by a single goal over
Celtic in Lisbon. Freddy...
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Today was a busy day for teams involving CONCACAF-based players, but the performances of those
teams were subdued compared to the goal sprees found in other matches. In a match involving the
Group E leaders, Barcelona and Rangers drew 0-0...
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Tonight there was only one match in the Champions League featuring teams with CONCACAF players, and
that was Benfica vs. Shaktar Donetsk. The Ukranian side won the match 1-0 on a goal by the
Brazilian Jadson three minutes from halftime....
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I didn't have time to post this before the Copa Sudamericana match started, but most of the
CONCACAF players involved in the Champions League saw action in tonight's matches. Barcelona
traveled to Germany to face Stuttgart in a match that...
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HexagonalBlog 29 September @ 04:59 PM EST
I searched the current rosters of all 32 teams in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and
compiled a list of the CONCACAF-based players in those squads. To the best of my knowledge it's a
complete list: Player...
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HexagonalBlog 26 September @ 09:04 PM EST
After spending the past month in Portugal in the stands, Freddy Adu saw some playing time in
Benfica's League Cup match against Estrela da Amadora. Adu entered in the second half and scored a
very controversial penalty in the final...
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