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Clarke: Win Over Cruz Azul Would Not Be Surprising
Puerto Rico Islanders manager Coline Clarke said his team would not be pulling off an upset should his club knock off Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinal.
Apr 7, 2009 2:01:10 AM
With a two-goal lead in the aggregate-goals
CONCACAF Champions League semifinal series over Mexican club Cruz Azul,
the Puerto Rico Islanders would seem to be in a somewhat precarious
position nevertheless.
Their USL brethren Montreal Impact enjoyed a similar advantage entering their own quarterfinal rivals, Santos Laguna. Montreal, however, learned the hard way that Mexican clubs are difficult to face on Mexican soil.
So for the Puerto Rico Islanders to knock off a regional giant like Cruz Azul would be asking too much, right?
Not exactly, Puerto Rico manager Colin Clarke said.
"If we compare Puerto Rican football with Mexican football, there are quite a few differences," Clarke said. "I don't believe it would be a surprise because we've worked hard to do just that, but it is a great challenge."
Puerto Rica trained in Estadio Azul on Monday and will try and go for an improbable series victory over la Maquina on Tuesday in Mexico City. Puerto Rico, who hail from the United States' second division, caught all of CONCACAF by surprise in reaching the semifinal round, particularly with their 1-0 road victory of Marathon in the quarterfinals.
The Islanders have come this far, Clarke said, so why stop here?
"We've surprised a lot of people over the last six months," Islanders manager Colin Clark said. "Obviously nobody expected us to be here in the semifinals against a club like Cruz Azul who are a great team with a lot of tradition."
Meanwhile, defender Alexis Rivera said he was not worried with labels or who should win and who should not. To Rivera, the Islanders would approach Cruz Azul the same way they would against USL rivals Minnesota or Rochester.
"I don't concern myself with whether we're favored or not," Rivera said. "We prepare the same way no matter what team we're facing. We never think any rival is inferior, but sometimes our rivals feel we are inferior to them because we don't have the history a lot of clubs who are in this tournament have, but we just try and prepare for each team the same way."
Like Montreal, Puerto Rico pulled off a 2-0 home victory over a Mexican side. Puerto Rico, though, have Montreal's colossal failure to serve as motivation and a reminder to never concede anything to Mexican teams on Mexican soil. Montreal took a 4-1 aggregate-goals lead and held a 4-3 advantage entering stoppage time of the return leg. But Darwin Quintero scored two stoppage-time goals as Santos won the series 5-4.
Puerto Rico will certainly not be complacent with their two-goal edge, Rivera said.
"We're going to try and score goals," he said. "We don't believe our advantage is great but it was a positive result for us. We're going to just try and do everything possible not to give up that first goal."
Goal.com
Their USL brethren Montreal Impact enjoyed a similar advantage entering their own quarterfinal rivals, Santos Laguna. Montreal, however, learned the hard way that Mexican clubs are difficult to face on Mexican soil.
So for the Puerto Rico Islanders to knock off a regional giant like Cruz Azul would be asking too much, right?
Not exactly, Puerto Rico manager Colin Clarke said.
"If we compare Puerto Rican football with Mexican football, there are quite a few differences," Clarke said. "I don't believe it would be a surprise because we've worked hard to do just that, but it is a great challenge."
Puerto Rica trained in Estadio Azul on Monday and will try and go for an improbable series victory over la Maquina on Tuesday in Mexico City. Puerto Rico, who hail from the United States' second division, caught all of CONCACAF by surprise in reaching the semifinal round, particularly with their 1-0 road victory of Marathon in the quarterfinals.
The Islanders have come this far, Clarke said, so why stop here?
"We've surprised a lot of people over the last six months," Islanders manager Colin Clark said. "Obviously nobody expected us to be here in the semifinals against a club like Cruz Azul who are a great team with a lot of tradition."
Meanwhile, defender Alexis Rivera said he was not worried with labels or who should win and who should not. To Rivera, the Islanders would approach Cruz Azul the same way they would against USL rivals Minnesota or Rochester.
"I don't concern myself with whether we're favored or not," Rivera said. "We prepare the same way no matter what team we're facing. We never think any rival is inferior, but sometimes our rivals feel we are inferior to them because we don't have the history a lot of clubs who are in this tournament have, but we just try and prepare for each team the same way."
Like Montreal, Puerto Rico pulled off a 2-0 home victory over a Mexican side. Puerto Rico, though, have Montreal's colossal failure to serve as motivation and a reminder to never concede anything to Mexican teams on Mexican soil. Montreal took a 4-1 aggregate-goals lead and held a 4-3 advantage entering stoppage time of the return leg. But Darwin Quintero scored two stoppage-time goals as Santos won the series 5-4.
Puerto Rico will certainly not be complacent with their two-goal edge, Rivera said.
"We're going to try and score goals," he said. "We don't believe our advantage is great but it was a positive result for us. We're going to just try and do everything possible not to give up that first goal."
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