Three Americans win a vital match in Tijuana and draw ever-closer to an elusive Liga MX championship; David Beckham has some thoughts on the future of Landon Donovan; and more.
BY
Jesse Yomtov
Posted
November 30, 2012
2:38 AM
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Three Americans are 90 minutes from the Liga MX title, as Tijuana won 2-1 in the first leg of the final. Joe Corona flicked on a free kick to Pablo Aguilar in the 40th minute for what wound up being the winner. Edgar Castillo went the full 90 for Xolos while Greg Garza didn’t suit up. A match breakdown here. ASN's Adam Elder had a dispatch from TJ earlier this week. This is fun. The final is Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on Univision. You should probably be watching. Trust us.
Brief thoughts on covering the game:
I appreciate how easy and organized it is to cover MLS, but that Xolos game made MLS feel sterile and generic.
David Beckham is more than happy to give you your daily dose of speculation on Landon Donovan’s future. "From what I see, when he's on the training field and on the (game) field, his hunger is still there for me," he said at pre-MLS Cup press conference. Man, that is a useless quote.
Our Noah Davis examines the rigors of balancing club and country for Tim Howard and other USMNTers. Jimmy Conrad also plays a starring role, because Jimmy Conrad should always play a starring role. Newsflash: It's an honor to pull on the jersey, but also kind of a pain in the butt. Just like writing the Morning Reads every day.
Omar Gonzalez thinks his performance in the MLS Cup final could influence his standing with the national team. "It’s where you want to be performing at the top level and I think it’ll definitely hold some water if I do really well," he said in his best Beckhamese.
On a WNT note, Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach were nominated for FIFA’s Women’s World Player of the Year while former coach Pia Sundhage is up for Coach of the Year. Morgan and Wambach have scored a combined 50 goals in 2012. That’s kind of a lot. Marta, the third woman on the shortlist, didn't score nearly as many (nor, frankly, was she as good in 2012 as was Canada's Christine Sinclair).
