Cruz Azul Seeks to Redeem Season
Mexican league power Cruz Azul has a chance to redeem what has been an up-and-down season in the Apertura championship after qualifying for a quarterfinal playoff.
The “Cement Mixers” earned the spot with a 5-2 road victory over UAG in their final regular-season game Sunday, getting two goals each from Juan Carlos Cacho and Cesar Delgado, and one from Marcelo Delgado.
Although Cruz Azul finished second in Group 3 and UAG finished third in Group 2, Cruz Azul’s spot in the quarterfinals was not guaranteed because it had fewer points than UAG.
Therefore, the teams will play a two-leg series, beginning Thursday in Mexico City at Azul Stadium and finishing Sunday in Zapopan, to determine a quarterfinalist.
Chivas of Guadalajara, which needed a 2-1 victory over San Luis to remain alive for a playoff, will take on Toluca in another two-leg series. That one begins Wednesday in Toluca with the return leg Saturday in Guadalajara.
The winners of those series will join Tigres, UNAM, Pachuca, Atlante, Santos and Necaxa in the quarterfinals.
Among the teams missing the postseason were Club America, which finished fourth in Group 2, and defending champion Monterrey, which finished third in Group 1 with five victories in 19 games and only 22 points.
UNAM, coached by Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez, and Tigres finished atop the overall standings with 38 points apiece.
Champions League
Arsenal and Bayern Munich, both among Europe’s most powerful clubs over the years, face elimination in the group stage of the Champions League if either stumbles today.
Hurting their causes is that both teams will be on the road trying to save their seasons -- Arsenal at Inter Milan and Bayern Munich at Glasgow Celtic.
“We cannot look back and have regrets about what has happened in games before this one,” said Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger, whose team earlier suffered an embarrassing 3-0 home loss to Inter.
Inter leads Group B with seven points and Arsenal is last with four points.
Bayern Munich needs at least a tie to keep its hopes alive and to avoid its second consecutive elimination at the group stage.
Midfielder Sebastian Deisler is out indefinitely after he checked into a clinic last week because of depression.
Others teams with a chance to clinch a spot in the knockout stage today are AS Monaco, which needs a home victory over PSV Eindhoven; Deportivo of Spain, which needs a home victory over AEK Athens; and Real Sociedad, which needs a victory at Olympiakos.
On Wednesday, among the teams with a chance to advance are Manchester United, Stuttgart, Chelsea, Besiktas and defending champion AC Milan.
Olympic Qualifying
Costa Rica clinched the last berth for the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for next summer’s Olympics in Athens.
Erik Scott, Alvaro Saborio and Roy Myrie scored in a 3-1 victory over host Guyana on Sunday as Costa Rica won the two-leg series on aggregate, 10-1.
Costa Rica joins Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and host Mexico in one group for the final eight-team tournament that will be played Feb. 2-12 in Guadalajara. The other group consists of Canada, Honduras, Panama and the United States. Two teams will advance to Athens.
Quick Passes
Crenston Boxhill was elected president of the Jamaican Football Federation, defeating incumbent Horace Burrell, who had held the position since 1994.... Dusan Galis, who as a player won the European Championship with Czechoslovakia in 1976, has been hired as the national team coach for Slovakia after the country failed to qualify for Euro 2004.... Lee Hughes, a striker for West Bromwich Albion of England’s first division, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after an accident Sunday that killed a 56-year-old man.... Liverpool defender Steve Finnan will sit out a month after suffering a calf strain in a scoreless tie against Middlesbrough last weekend.
Times wire services contributed to this report.
