CONCACAF Champions Cup Leg 2
DC United continued their romp over CD Olympia and Houston Dynamo rebounded from their first leg loss as both MLS teams move on to face top Mexican sides Chivas and Pachuca. Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez each had hat tricks during the tie as DC United’s new look front three appeared lethal against the out matched Olympia back line. Certainly some rust was being shaken off of the DC machine, however the team form was well beyond their form in last years competion. At the other end of the country, Dynamo fans were again out in force, all things considered, to root their team onto a 2-0 victory that allowed the team to advance 2-1 on aggregate. The referee had no problem with vicious tackles and other forms of violence, but had a short fuse for naughty language. Apparently his day job is with the FCC. A few times this fixture looked to spiral out of control, but cooler heads prevailed. The night wasn’t all celebration for MLS as Dwayne DeRosario, Troy Perkins and Pat Onstad will head into the next leg of the competition nursing injuries that may prevent them from taking part.
Response to Paul Gardner in The NY Sun
Always one to ignite controversy, NY Sun reporter lumped former Fire player Hristo Stoitchkov in with other MLS “disappointments” such as Lothar Matthaeus, Walter Zenga, Andreas Herzog, Richard Gough, Anders Limpar, Branco, and Hugo Sanchez. Of course this comment raised my ire and I had to respond.
Paul,
While I am a regular reader and big fan of your column, I was a bit dismayed at your classification of Hristo Stoitchkov in your recent ‘Beckham Rule” column. To lump Mr. Stoitchkov in with your group of MLS no-shows indicates an unexpected lack of knowledge about the man’s MLS career. Certainly Stoitchkov will never go down as one of the top foreign signings in league history, however, he was a key player in the Fire’s 2000 run to the championship and a major force in the development of DaMarcus Beasley and Dema Kovalenko as well as other young players on the Fire at that time. One thing you could always count on from him that you couldn’t from Branco, Matthaeus or Luis Hernandez was passion. Long after he left the Fire he would return to watch matches because of his passion for the team.Everytime Stoitchikov stepped on the field you could tell that he would slit the throat of every opposition player in order to win. That quality is difficult to find in any player or coach in MLS’ history.
I did not receive a response.
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