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Topic: Chicago Cup
The city of Chicago in the US is bringing in four European teams, one of which is Sevilla, to play in a kind of mini-tournament later this summer.
Anyone heard about it?
- litlio
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Re: Chicago Cup
have not heard about it. any other good European teams taking part in it?
When about will the tournament be? what date? July?
Re: Chicago Cup
I looked it up, its actually called the Chicago Trophy. Sevilla is really the only A-list team that I can think of that will be there. It will be Sevilla, W. Krakow from Poland, and some Italian team from Europe and the club Toluca from Mexico. I think its more of a publicity event to drum up support for our homegrown soccer clubs.
Its going to be held in late July.
- litlio
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Re: Chicago Cup
Do you know anything about Mexican football? Any emerging stars at the moment? Any in MLS ?
Re: Chicago Cup
Hi, sorry I've taken so long to get back, just returned from holiday.
Actually, the famous Mexican forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco is joining my hometown team, the MLS' Chicago Fire. As far as his playing goes, he is a little like Beckham in the sense that the national coaches had him written off because of his age but changed their minds when it turned out that he was still a lot more effective than they thought. However, unlike Beckham, he is a forward and is most effective not on set pieces, but during play, especially when it comes to one-on-one situations. I believe that he is making his debut this week for the Fire. He is one of eight players in MLS to make over $400,000 a year, the others being Carlos Ruiz, Freddy Adu, Landon Donovan, Eddie Johnson, Juan Pablo Angel, former US national captain Claudio Reyna and, of course, Becks.
As for young talent, thats tough because, like other less wealthy leagues, many promising young players are bought up by European clubs. The best player around now would have to be Rafael Marquez, who plays for Barcelona. I would say that the best up-and-coming player who actually plays in Mexco is club America's keep Guillermo Ochoa. However, even he is moving, as Ajax has just announced that they will be buying his contract.
Despite the exodus of some of the big names, Mexican club football is still very high quality and very entertaining to watch. The country is football mad, so new stars crop up all the time.
Two interesting asides:
-Chivas, one of the most popular teams in Mexico, actually has a counterpart in the MLS, called Chivas USA. Both clubs have the same owners. Chivas shares a stadium with Beckham's new team, the LA Galaxy.
-On a personal note, when I went to high school, one of the paraprofessionals (i.e. hall monitors/security people) was actually a former player for the Mexican First League (Mexican equivalent of the EPL) club Cruz Azul, as well as playing for the Mexican national selection.