Guadalajara

1 Luis Michel
17 Amaury Ponce
3 Aarón Galindo
4 Héctor Reynoso
19 Jonny Magallón
13 Sergio Ávila
18 Xavier Báez
20 Édgar Mejía
11 Ramón Morales
10 Alberto Medina
27 Carlos Ochoa

DT Efraín Flores

Toluca

125 Hernán Cristante
29 Mario Méndez
14 Édgar Dueñas
3 Paulo Da Silva
6 Manuel de la Torre
55 Israel López
5 Martín Romagnoli
10 Antonio Naelson
11 Carlos Esquivel
9 Héctor Mancilla
75 Néstor Calderón

DT José Manuel de la Torre

Within about the first 7 minutes our glamor defense(that’s what I’ve heard many call it) seemed to be having a little trouble. Already, Toluca had made two great runs and were making us sweat.

It was finally in the 30th minute of a not too exciting game that Venado Medina made a good run up the field. It seems like many of our players are turning a little too individualistic and Medina is one of those. He had Ochoa and Avila inside the area unmarked, but he squandered a weak shot into Cristante’s arms instead of passing to his teammates.

Again in the 41st we came close when Chivas had a corner. Cristante the great managed to get a hand on it before it became too serious and avoided a goal.

Right before the end of the first half Xavi Baez had a great chance after a good run by Captain Ramon Morales. Baez shot the ball from outside the area, but it was redirected by Ochoa’s foot and was eventually deemed offsides because of this action.

Back for the second part of the game it was Toluca who went up first in the 54th minute. A corner kick left many Toluca players unmarked which gave Mario Mendez the advantage as he scored to go 1-0.

It wasn’t until the 74th minute that Chivas managed to score an equalizer. Jared Borgetti who hasn’t made the most stellar case for why he’s at Chivas drew a foul outside the area. Free kick master and all around awesome guy, Super Captain Ramon Morales, took the free kick with his good ol’ trusty left foot. His shot went in to the top left corner leaving Cristante looking on.

Chivas looked noticeably in better spirits after this surge but nothing much came from it.

In the 79th Marco Fabian claimed a penalty call after he rushed into the area only to end up on the ground. For his diving antics he was given a yellow card for a penalty that never was.

Again in the 82nd Toluca managed to score. Carlos Esquivel shot from outside the area and his shot was deflected by a Toluca player on the ground. The ball went past Michel to make it 2-1.

In the 85th Paulo Da Silva of Toluca managed to draw a second yellow card and threw himself out of the game. Even with the extra man advantage Chivas failed to capitalize and ended the game with a final score of 2-1.

Overall I don’t think lessons were learned from the game on Sunday. The defense was not too great at time during the game and it should be better because on paper we’ve probably got the best one around. So, work on that guys.

Borgetti has yet to impress me. His main contribution so far was the foul he received that eventually led to the goal by Morales.

And Ochoa…where are the goals? You were on fire in preseason and in the first game. What happened?

So much for showing the red devils who’s boss…

The next game will be against Morelia on Saturday February 21st. Morelia is coming off a loss to Indios so HOPEFULLY we can take advantage of that.

This was America’s little brother. They’re not supposed to have put up such a fight. But they did, and it wasn’t what we expected.

Guadalajara
1 Luis Michel
17 Amaury Ponce (Francisco Mendoza 63′)
4 Héctor Reynoso
19 Jonny Magallón
20 Édgar Mejía (Jesús Padilla 72′)
20 Édgar Mejía
16 Édgar Solís (Marco Fabián 54′)
18 Xavier Báez
5 Patricio Araujo
11 Ramón Morales
14 Javier Hernández
21 Jared Borgetti

DT Efraín Flores

Necaxa
12 Jorge Bernal
18 Luis Valdez (Pablo Gabas 77′) (Marvin del Cruz 90′)
4 Diego Cervantes
2 Pablo Quatrocchi
14 Mario Pérez
23 Joel González
7 Eduardo Coudet
17 Marco A, Gómez
9 Alfredo Moreno
10 Federico Inzúa
61 Luis F. García

The first minute started out well. Jared Borgetti got his first start with Chivas and he had a shot on goal right away. And Johnny Magallon was back!

At the the 5th min, not too long into the game, we were showing good team work. Everyone was meshing well together and we were getting to the Nexaca side quite a bit.

The 8th min foreshadowed what was to come for the rest of the game. Michel stopped a shot by Alfredo Moreno who got away from Reynoso.

Right away in the 9th, “Chicharito” Hernandez had a chance but a Necaxa player got in the way.

During the 14th, Michel saved us again on the line from a shot by Moreno. He had it out for us.

In the 21st “Chicharito” made a case for a penalty call but the ref waved the play on and Tepa Solis followed up with a power strike.

By the half hour mark the attacks by Necaxa were becoming more frequent and our were becoming rarer.

In the 31st we had a really good build-up with Tepa Solis going in from the left, the Ramoncito got it, the Xavi Baez, but it all ended in failure but it was a nice play by Chivas.

In the 35th we made it into Nexaca’s area again. Solis crossed the ball with Chicharito lunging forward for the ball while Borgetti hung back and looked on.

Again in the 41st Borgetti missed a chance as Chicharo crossed the ball only for one of the greatest goal scorers of all time to miss the opportunity.

Finally, the first half ended and the game went by quick. There was much action and both sides were lucky that it was still 0-0. The passing was sloppy but we were holding it together.

I’m sure all the players came out resolved to win the encounter. It certainly seemed that way in the 51st min when Chicharo headed the ball but it only went behind him.

In the 64th Moreno did some damage as he took away a long ball that got away from Reynoso. It was 1-0 for Necaxa.

Right away in the 65th we had an opportunity. Jared Borgetti, possibly the best heading expert in the biz missed. He hit the ball with his shoulder and failed to get us a sure equalizer.

The 83rd gave us a free kick. Master of all masters, Ramoncito Morales took it and made the most spectacular goal. His hit went towards the right of the goal, hit the post and rebounded in off the keeper. We had a 1-1.

Nothing much occurred after that. Fabian did have an opportunity in the 85th but it was slightly outside the goal.

Ramoncito saved our hides with that free kick. I love him, he’s my hero. Chicharito also impressed me with his never ending raids into the opposing area. He definitely deserves a look over and more inclusions with the first team. Johnny Magallon despite being out for a while hasn’t lost much of his level. He played well tonight and he can only get better with more competition for his spot.

Now the team will be heading for Argentina on Sunday for their game against Lanus on February 11th for the Copa Libertadores.

Monterrey

1 Jonathan Orozco
26 Humberto Suazo
8 Luis E. Pérez
7 Octavio Valdez
4 Diego Martínez
34 Héctor Morales (Diego Ordaz 2T)
22 William Paredes
15 José Ma. Basanta
6 Gerardo Galindo (Juan Carlos Medina 55′)
10 Osvaldo Martínez
9 Alonso Sandoval (Abraham Carreño 70′)

DT Víctor M. Vucetich

Guadalajara

1 Luis Michel
17 Sergio Ponce
4 Héctor Reynoso
20 Édgar Mejía
3 Aarón Galindo
5 Patricio Araujo
11 Ramón Morales
13 Sergio Ávila (Marco Fabián 54′)
27 Carlos Ochoa (Gonzalo Pineda 78′)
10 Alberto Medina (Javier Hernández 65′)
18 Xavier Báez

It all started with the first 15 mins with attacks from Monterrey. Not too much from Chivas and I can’t recall anything significant occurring.

Then in the 16th we had a good free kick by Ramoncito that the Orozco sent over the bar.

The 19th was not a good minute for us. So far our problem has been our defense. They seem to fall apart at crucial moments and this was one of them. Goal scoring machine Humberto Suazo put one in our net to make it 1-0 to Monterrey.

Not far afterwords in the 22nd new boy(not really new but he’s getting more time in the first team) Xavi Báez shot one from outside of the area to put us on level terms. The ball had been going to Ochoa but it went out too far for him and landed on Baez’s feet and he took the opportunity.

Then in the 26th Aaron Galindo had a good header but it was stopped by the Monterrey goal keeper.

The most frustrating moment of the game came during the 31st min when Ochoa got the ball and was all alone up front. No defenders, just him against the goal keeper. Ochoa slightly rounded Orozco, but the keeper managed to get the ball away from Ochoa and prevented him from scoring a sure goal. Then he got a second chance when the ball rebounded off the keeper’s hands but he shot the ball up to the stands and missed twice. Nerves against his old team or just courtesy? Tell me Carlos because I would like to know what was going through your bald head.

Going into half time we were 1-1.

In the 49th Monterrey had a good chance to go up but the posts must have really liked us because the ball shot across the posts hitting them on the way. We were saved.

The 64th it seemed like we were fairly lucky because in a header Michel looked like he had missed as he knelt down but somehow the ball rebounded off his right arm and we stayed on level terms.

In the 75th Carlos Ochoa took the ball and gave it to Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez who scored as Orozco came out of his goal. We were 2-1 up.

The 90th+ min(s) proved to be real nail biters. Michel got his hand on a shot towards the low, low corner from a set play.

Then in the 91st Michel saved a header that narrowly missed going into the corner of the goal for a 2-2. Luckily, it didn’t, the game ended and we came out the victors with a score of 2-1.

Galindo has still some settling in to do with the current crop of defenders but he gave a decent game. Perhaps his performance was done because he just came back from injury. We’ll see.

My “That was bull, that was bull, we got screwed” moment this week goes again to Carlos Ochoa. No, I don’t have anything against him, but how could he miss that opportunity in the 31st min? He might have been nervous of coming up one on one, maybe he was nervous about scoring against his old team, but come on! You don’t play for them anymore.

In the Copa International Chivas Comex, Chivas crashed out on penalties to Monterrey. Luckily, the big boys didn’t mirror what the young ones went through. Monterrey are now in the finals as are fellow Guadalajara residents, Atlas, who also got to the finals on penalties beating English team Tottenham in the Semis.

Chivas will face Tottenham in the game for 3rd place. They’ll just have to settle with that this year, as their current reign as Champions ends.

Good luck to Atlas in their game as well on Sunday. Let’s keep the trophy in the ‘hood.

If you happen to be in the area of Guadalajara, you should definitely check out the games. There’s a whole crop of future stars roaming around. And if you’re a young, around 18ish female, you might even bag yourself a baller.

The next game for the senior team is on February 7th against Necaxa at home.

Guadalajara

1 Luis Michel
17 Sergio Amaury Ponce (Gonzalo Pineda 64′)
2 Javier Ledesma
4 Héctor Reynoso
20 Édgar Mejía
5 Patricio Araujo
18 Xavier Báez (YC 36′)
11 Ramón Morales (Édgar Solís 70′)
8 Marco Fabián (Jared Borgetti 70′)
10 Alberto Medina
27 Carlos Ochoa
DT Efraín Flores

Tecos de la UAG

23 Mario Rodríguez
17 Daniel Alcantar
27 Juan Carlos Leaño
8 Joel Sánchez
15 Rafael Medina (Rodrigo “Pony” Ruiz 31′)
21 Octavio Jiménez
18 Jorge Zamogilny (YC 5′)
5 Marcelo Sosa (YC 42′) (Arnold Rivas 86′)
16 Freddy Bareiro (Mario Ortiz 69′) (YC 76′)
9 Claudio Graf
7 Carlos Morales (YC 63′)
DT MIguel Herrera

I didn’t take any notes for this game. I had just woken up and was disoriented, so forgive the flub.

Anyways, Medina scored in the 14th min. His goal came in pretty early and from there we had many opportunities.

Near full time Ledesma had a nice clearance off the line that saved the score in favor to us.

The first half didn’t provide much action, and that was a constant theme throughout the game.

Borgetti made his debut for Chivas in the 70th minute but he did not provide much for the team and I personally forgot he was on the field within a couple of minutes. Again, he still has to prove why he’s here at his old age. Unfortunately, because of his old age I don’t think he will prove it.

A notable error happened in the 80th min when Solis took the ball from within our half, and raced to the door of the opposite goal. Ochoa ran along with him on the right and he was completely open, but Solis decided to go for glory himself and did not pass the ball for a sure goal. What irked me was that supporters booed him every time after when he received the ball. Poor kid, sure he shouldn’t have been selfish but was it really worth booing him every time? I don’t think so. If that deserved to be booed then so did Ochoa who missed at least 2 for sure goals.

We did well during this game even if it was a bit boring. Our defense didn’t fall apart like last week against Cruz Azul and at the moment we have to worry about that the most because we arguably have one of the best offense’s in the country.

Michel had a good performance with some critical saves. His level doesn’t seem to have dropped since his injury.

My new “That was bull, that was bull, we got screwed moment” goes to Carlos Ochoa. Come on man! Better luck find the net next time. We would have thrashed Tecos.

Our next game is against Ochoa’s and Borgetti’s old club, Monterrey on January 31st away at the Technologico.

In the Copa Chivas Comex 2009, Chivas was defeated 2-0 by Tottenham in the tournaments opening game.

And about now Alberto Medina, Carlos Ochoa, and Marco Fabian are heading to meet with El Tri for upcoming game against Sweden on the 28th. Sven’s Sweden played today against the US and was defeated 3-1 with goals from Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA.

The first game of the season. At home. With a new, chill squad. Up against a team that had been the runners up all season. Fresh from a title at the InterLiga. We were on a high horse weren’t we?

And tonight was a special night. It was to the exact date that our captain Ramoncito Morales celebrated 10 years with Chivas. Her played his first official match with Chivas on a day like this in 1999. It’s quite a feat and one that few players manage. On that fateful day he entered for another legend, Ramon Ramirez, against Santos. And the rest is history.

Guadalajara

1 Lus Michel
20 Edgar Mejía (Édgar Solís 62′)
4 Héctor Reynoso
5 Patricio Araujo
11 Ramón Morales
18 Xavier Báez
7 Gonzalo Pineda
13 Sergio Ávila (Francisco Mendoza 74′)
17 Amaury Ponce
27 Carlos Ochoa
10 Alberto Medina
DT. Erfraín Flores

Cruz Azul

25 Yosgart Gutiérrez
8 Carlos Bonet
4 Julio C. Domínguez
14 Joaquín Beltrán
21 Jaime Lozano
5 Gabino Velazco
7 Christian Riveros
23 Edgar Lugo
9 Pablo Zeballos (Rogelio Chávez 78′)
26 Luis Ángel Landín
19 Alejandro Vela (Fausto Pinto 53′)
DT. Benjamín Galindo

The first 10 mins showed attacks after attacks from both teams. Clearly, no one was parking the bus just yet.

In the 15th we had a strong penalty claim as Medina was pushed down by Dominguez. Archundia aka Chiki Dracula turned a blind eye to the appeal.

Then in the 17th Ochoa scored his first goal in La liga for us. It came from a corner in which Yosgart Gutierrez(he looks like a dinosaur) punched a ball away incorrectly, then Medina shot it back towards goal and Ochoa stuck out his foot to score. We were 1-0 up.

In the 19th we had another close shot as Medina tried to head the ball over Yosgart who let it go and put it in the path of another Chivas player.

The 27th produced some magic from our captain. Ramoncito weaved in and out of the defense when he recieved the ball from Medina until he passed it to Ochoa who was once again there to convert the shot. 2-0 up and the new boy was doing well.

Then in the 31st Cruz Azul had a good shot which was saved by Michel.

The 33rd had Pineda produce a great header that came close to being a goal.

We were 2-0 up but in the 35th that all changed. A silly challenge saw Lozano come up, take a free kick from really far out and score. Reynoso went to the post but got more in Michel’s way and the ball went in. We were 2-1 now.

The 41st minute was not a good one. Vela was put through and went up for a header along with about 3 of our players. Araujo jumped higher than Vela’s head and caught the ball with his chest but sent it flying into the goal. 2-2 on an own goal.

Then again in the 43rd the not so good looking Vela came in and scored. This time it was a legit Vela goal. Only minutes before we had been winning, but now it was 2-3 with half time fast approaching. And our defense had been utter crap.

We came back out and within a few minutes we improved.

In the 48th new boy Ponce came in with a diving header and put us at 3-3.

Another new boy, Ochoa in the 57th counter attacked and went all the way to Cruz Azul’s goal. He was all alone but as he approached the defenders got to him and Gaucho was all alone. However, he seemed to want to add to his tally and score a hat trick in the first official game and he squandered the shot leaving unmarked Gaucho in the dark.

The 64th saw a little something from our captain. Morales fired into he side of the net into what fooled me because it looked like a goal. But it wasn’t and the game remained at 3-3.

In the 75th we saw another new boy, Ex-Chivas USA player Panchito Mendoza. He was quickly welcomed by Bonet from Cruz Azul who went into his shoulder with his cleat. It was a malicious play and Bonet was quickly shown the automatic red.

Then in the 81st Fabian gave a similar tap to Yosgart. His was however totally unintentional.

Overall the game was very entertaining. There were a crap load of goals and there was hardly a dull moment.

I was dissapointed with our defense because you’ve got to admit, they were crap at times. It was very frustrating but our awesome offense is going to be FEARED this season. I still say that we didn’t need Jared Borgetti but looking at things closely now I think I’ll be very glad to have Aaron Galindo soon.

For me the man of the match was definitely Medina. He impressed me constantly, he never gave up, and he created most of our chances.

Our next game is the 24th of this month against Tecos.

And…..Marco Fabian recieved his first call-up to the national team. Congrats because he’d been doing really well in past games. He reportedly cried when he received the news.

Ochoa and Medina were called up as well for the pre-Sweden concentration.

Guadalajara

1 Luis Michel
17 Sergio Amaury Ponce
33 Mario de Luna (Marco Fabián 64′)
4 Héctor Reynoso
20 Édgar Mejía (Javier Hernández 74′)
5 Patricio Araujo
18 Xavier Báez
13 Sergio Ávila (Gonzalo Pineda 69′)
11 Ramón Morales
10 Alberto Medina
27 Carlos Ochoa
DT Efraín Flores

Morelia

23 Moises Muñoz
3 Alberto Lucio
7 Marvin Cabrera
26 Mauricio Romero
13 Fernando Salazar
16 Adrián Aldrete
27 Omar Trujillo
5 Wilson Tiago
11 Hugo Droguett
18 Andrés Mendoza (Miguel Sabah 83′)
77 Elías Hernández (Oscar Rojas ‘72)
DT Luis Fernando Tena

Friday we played against Tigres and won 4-2. Which is how we arrived to one of the semi finals against Monarcas of Morelia.

The game was full of scares, I’ll admit. In the 14th Reynoso passed back to Michel who was caught off his line. Luckily Araujo ran back and saved from the line.

Immediately we went in a counter attack in the 16th with Ochoa’s ball going with Ramoncito who fired close.

By the 20th, I was getting nervous because Morelia was attacking a lot and it seemed like a goal was soon to come from them.

Medina was also having a really good game and his runs were causing trouble on the other side of the field.

In the 30th we had a chance when new boy Amaury Ponce passed to Medina who fired wide.

On to the second half.

In the 52nd Ochoa was itching to score and he was alone on a header but it was too weak

Then in the 53rd Venado had an excellent shot but the Morelia keeper got a hand on it to keep it from going inside.

De Luna was looking good in the defense which brings up the question: What are we going to do with Magallon, Reynoso, Galindo, and De Luna when they’re all healthy?

In the 57th Ochoa scored…for the wrong team. In a corner he was indecisive and that led to a goal by Morelia. We were 1-0 down. Droguett celebrated it like his own goal(fair enough, it looked like an olympic goal) but it wasn’t. It was an own goal.

The 61st a Morelia player came up to Michel and had a one on one but luckily Reynoso ran back and saved the ball from going in for another sure goal.

In the 65th, seconds after coming on Fabian scored from outside the area to put us on level terms. This kid is on fire and the goal was simply amazing. 1-1.

Then it was all over and we were going to penalties. Despite being up a man for 25 mins Chivas failed to take advantage of this fact and decided to go to this.

First up was Carlos Ochoa. He calmly tucked it into the right. He was why we were here tonight anyways. His own goal.
For Morelia Tiago came up first smiling and looking like he was having a good time. For him the good time ended seconds later when he misfired his shot high into space.

Our number two was Fabian who cane up and hit it with all his might. Munoz got a hand on it but the shot had too much pace.
The Cabrera came up and converted his penalty for Morelia and had Michel going the wrong way.

Then Reynoso came up and I was nervous. He proved me wrong as he put the ball into the very tippy top right corner.
Rojas then came up against Michel and made it 3-2. Michel guessed right but the shot was too fast.

Pineda stepped up and made the ball go into the top of the goal with much speed. We were a step closer.
Golden ball Droguett then stepped up and Michel started to play mind games. He came without his gloves and carefully put them on and took some more time loosening up. Apparently, these rituals worked because Droguett had his shot stopped by Michel, giving us the Mexico #2 place in the Copa Libertadores.

The game ended 1-1(5-3). We ended up Champions of the InterLiga ahead of Pachuca and $1million richer(prize money).

This tournament was good for us. We’ve clearly seen that the team has jelled well together and the new boys(Ochoa and Ponce) have integrated well into he team. We still have to see about Galindo but he should be good since he knows how the Mexican football league is.

Our next game is against re-runners-up Cruz Azul on January 17th at home for the start of the Clausura 2009.

Now…we need to start grooming a youngster to take Ramoncito’s place permanently because he disappeared for large portions of the game. This is understandable…he’s getting older(33).

It all started when “Ramoncito” came screaming into the world on October 10, 1975 in La Piedad, Michoacan.

He debuted on September 22, 1995 for the Rayados de Monterrey. Later he came to Chivas during the Verano ‘99 season where he soon became a regular and now has 300+ games.
Although he is not that old, he is the most experienced player for Chivas and is the deserving captain of the young side.
Despite his short stature(he’s 5′6), Ramoncito has a presence on the pitch that is noticeable because of his explosive play. He is a humble player who rarely makes the news other than for his play and has become a fan favorite because of that.
Ramon has a brother, Carlos Morales, who plays for Toluca.
Now Chivas, win this game for our captain!