Week 10: One Happy Warrior and Ten Solemn Faces

March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recaps

Tapatio 1 – 1Alebrijes

Armando Gonzalez gave us reason to hope that Oaxaca could be on to a winning streak, but a penalty in the 66th minute gave it all back. So let’s keep rooting for an unbeaten streak!

Eintracht Frankfurt 4 – 1 SC Freiburg (F)

Fresh off their stirring Cup performance, the ladies of Freiburg struggled to connect against Frankfurt and suffered a disappointing defeat. Hasret Kayici netted an equalizer, but the Griffins continue to struggle against anyone above them in the table: (better than most, not at the same level as the others)

Rajasthan United 0 – 4 Punjab FC

Punjab put it beyond all doubt in their game against Rajasthan (who, for some reason, played their game in Delhi?). An early own goal (originally attributed to Chenchyo Geltsen) gave way to more and more from the attacking trio: Luka Macjen and Juan Mera got their own and there was no doubt that the Warriors would win the match and take the title!

Borussia Munchen Gladbach 0 – 0 Freiburg (M)

Mark Flekken did everything he was asked to do and more, as Freiburg got a point on the road. Gladbach was a little extra physical, and even though they went down to ten men before the end of the game, Freiburg couldn’t capitalize.

Ross County 0 – 2 Motherwell

Eomonn Brophy followed his sterling showing without doing much of anything. And when center back Jack Baldwin saw red with twenty minutes to play, it was not terribly promising. Sure enough Motherwell brought forward more attack and got the goals they needed to deny the hosts any points.

Dijon 1 – 0 Grenoble

Les Alpiners also had a bit of a hangover from their cup trip to Lyon last week, giving up a first half goal to Dijon and being forced to chase the match from there.

Legon Cities 1 – 1 Real Tamale

Any point is a positive point for Legon Cities, but losing the lead that Samuel Armah gave them with just seven minutes to play stings. They now sit above relegation based only on goal difference. Last time things were this close, it took a major penalty to a relegation rival to survive. Fingernails are getting short in Legon.

Yzeure Allier 2 – 0 Grenoble Foot (F)

There was little to enjoy about Grenoble’s match against their neighbor in the standings. Several ugly errors cost them dearly as Yzeure grabbed three valuable points, and the offense seemed unable to do anything against one of Ligue Deux’s worst defenses.

Vozdovac 0 – 0 Vojvodina

This was a soccer match. It happened. And, it kind of didn’t.

Orense 2 – 1 Emelec (M)

Despite going a man up within 5 minutes, Emelec could not find a way through Orense. In fact, they ended up being out maneuvered by their opponents and coughing up all the points to a shorthanded opposition.

Raya2Expansion 1 – 1 Alebrijes

Oaxaca was first off the mark (again). Armando Gonzalez provided the first half goal (again). But the defense faltered (again). hmm…is there a Time Machine about?

Note: this match is not included in the standings posted below

News & Notes

Boys Weekend!

Your mom went out of town to a yoga retreat for the weekend, so it was boys time! We had a nice time watching superhero movies and you were mightily impressive at cleaning up the house and packing your bags for a sleepover with grandma and grandpa. Once we were there, Alex built some daring marble races out of my old train set, and Owen hit grandpa’s soft toss all over the house (which is more than he let me do). Then you finished your Soccer Shots training program and celebrated both having medals! (HUZZAH Medals!)

The Conquering Warriors

There will be much more to say about Punjab FC’s victory in the I-League (trust me I’ve been writing a piece about it to post later this month), but suffice to say it feels pretty darn good. And I just watch the team!

The victory comes with hardware for the trophy case, yes; but it also comes with the promise of more exciting days to come. First in April, Punjab will be guaranteed a spot in the Super Cup (an event kind of like the World Cup, but only for Indian club sides). Then, next fall, they’ll join the top flight of Indian soccer: the Indian Super League (as long as they prove that they can financially manage it).

Not So Luck of the Draw

Freiburg’s cup opponents are…uh…good. First, the men step into the last 16 of the Europa League against a little team named Juventus: a team with 3 Europa Leagues already (as well as 9 Champions League finals). Then, in the German Cup, they go into the quarter final against Bayern Munich (the team that has 9 straight League titles and twenty cup titles). And the ladies, well, they’ll face RB Leipzig’s women side in the Semi-final of their tournament (the same Leipzig organization that beat the men last year in the final).

But Freiburg did win the second division. When has Juventus done that?!? (Never, they play in Italy…but still, I’m looking for hope)

Player of the Week

It wasn’t a great week for almost all our teams, but when it was good it was down right great! So let’s give a nod to a great goalkeeper well worthy of being the first keeper named this year: Kiran Limbu of the Punjabi champions: this one is for you.

Standings

Emelec’s stay at the top was brief, but Minnesota is still blocking Punjab’s path to the top…for now. (There is a match at home, but having seen them play in sub-zero snowy weather before, I’m not eager to repeat that experience.) Next week we’ll see if Rosenborg continues the trend of strong starts as the men have their first match of the year in the Norwegian Cup.

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Minnesota	1	0	0	3.00	1.00	0.00
Punjab	10	2	1	2.46	2.69	0.85
Emelec	1	0	1	1.50	1.50	1.00
Freiburg	5	3	4	1.50	1.67	2.00
Grenoble	6	4	8	1.22	1.00	1.06
Legon Cities	2	5	3	1.10	0.90	1.10
Ross County	2	3	5	0.90	1.10	1.10
Alebrijes	2	2	5	0.89	1.22	1.44
Vozdovac	1	2	3	0.83	0.33	1.67
Rosenborg–b	0	0	0	—	—	—
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 3/8/22
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, March 9th

Juventus v. Freiburg (M-European Cup)

Emelec v. Deportivo Cuenca (M-South American Copa)

Friday, March 10th

Saturday, March 11th

Grenoble v. Annecy (M)

Minnesota v. NY Red Bulls

Sunday, March 12th

Radnicki Nis v. Vozdovac

Punjab FC v. TRAU

Freiburg v. Hoffenheim (M)

Saint Etienne v. Grenoble (F)

Berekum Chelsea v. Legon Cities

SGS Essen v. SC Freiburg (F)

Viking v. Rosenborg (M-Cup)

Emelec v. Tecnico Universitario (M)

Monday, March 13th

Tuesday, March 14th

Wednesday, March 15th

Alebrijes v. UDG

Week 9: Pouring Goals

March 2, 2023March 1, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recaps

Vozdovac 1 – 1 Mladost Lucani

The Dragons staged an impressive comeback thanks in part to a great goal from youngster Mihajlo Neskovic who netted after a perfectly placed headed pass from Borisav Burmaz.

Alebrijes 4 – 0 Correcaminos

Oaxaca found their scoring shoes at last! A full 40% of their goals this term came from the second 45 minutes of play, their best showing since the first half against Dorados a little under a month ago. The best of the bunch was probably Ernesto Reyes’ volley smash, but that might leave out the sensational play of Cristian Canozales who notched the first goal and two assists on absurd little fakes that seemed to break ankles and hearts in equal measure. (We’ll post Reyes’ goal below, but enjoy Canozales’ celebration as well)

Grenoble 0 – 0 Le Havre (M)

Ordinarily I make a “and that happened” joke, but this was a pretty fraught nil-nil. Le Havre tops Ligue 2 and hadn’t lost since August. But they couldn’t get past Brice Maubleu even on a penalty chance.

Dallas 0 – 1 Minnesota United

Coming into this season there was plenty of talk about how the Loons were so dependent on Emmanuel Reynoso that the Argentine’s absence would be the death knell of any Minnesota opportunities. Enter: Mender Garcia. The Colombian rampaged around Dallas’ area, providing a trap that set up one blast and hitting the rebound even harder. He might have had a second if not for a late tackle that truly looked dangerous to me. Add in Kervin Arriaga’s free kick blasts and the Loons were showing strong shots even without their talisman.

Ross County 4 – 0 Dundee United

Eamonn Brophy hasn’t exactly set Dingwall alight since he arrived on a loan in January, but this might have changed that, as two goals, an assist, and some absolute blasted attempts made the Stags look better than they have in ages over fellow relegation battlers Dundee United.

Punjab FC 8 – 0 Sudeva FC

Not to be out done, Punjab FC utterly smoked lowly Sudeva FC featuring a Juan Mera hat trick and five other goals to boost their point total and their goal difference.

Grenoble Foot 0 -2 Nice (F)

It might have been a bit of a hangover for Nicholas Delpine and his Haitian contingent coming back to a hard grinding league match after clinching World Cup qualification.

Freiburg 1 – 1 Bayern Leverkusen (M)

The Griffins always seem to struggle against Leverkusen, and with Vincenzo Grifo’s early goal to back them, they were quite happy to hunker down and soak up the pressure. Still, Bayern worked their way back into the match and split the points.

Volta Rangers 1 – 2 Legon Cities FC (CUP)

The Royals took the early lead thanks to Adu Medier, but sloppy defending gave Volta a life line in the second half. As is the way when tournament games end in a tie, they turned to Penalty Kicks and Legon got the results they needed to advance on to the next round.

Emelec 2 – 0 Libertad (M)

Miller Bolanos returned to Emelec and swiftly notched his first assist and his first goal for Los Bombillos since February 2016 (he had gotten 42 goals across Brazil, Mexico, and China in the interim.) The cheeky heel flick and the confident goal in stride made it clear, we’re going to like this going forward.

Lyon 2 – 1 Grenoble (M-Cup)

Les Grenobloises had an uphill climb to knock out the Lions of Lyon including a number of world class players. Matthais Phaeton and Jessy Benet didn’t look intimidated, but they also didn’t run the back line, and Lyon capitalized with two first half goals that led to a rare goalkeeping substitution in the second half for Grenoble. A consolation goal for Amine Sbai gave Grenoble a small lifeline, but even biased folks like me have to acknowledge the better team won.

FK Radnik Surdulica 2 – 0 FK Vozdovac

Borisav Burmaz’s second half red card turned the tide and gave Radnik the advantage it needed to push up and get not just one, but two goals to tame the dragons.

Carl Zeiss Jena FC 0 – 4 SC Freiburg (F-Cup)

The Frauen brought their A game to Jena and spread the wealth around ensuring that three different scorers (and one very ugly own goal) notched some credit in the Quarter final victory. The team’s incisive passing and clear communication gave them a big advantage on the unsteady and unsafe hands of Jena’s defense.

Punjab FC 3 – 1 Churchill Brothers

The Warriors rolled through the toughest match remaining on their schedule. Again the dynamic attack of Macjen, Mera, and Gyeltshen was formidable. Each one netted a goal, and the win vaulted Punjab even farther up the standings.

Legon Cities 1 – 1 Tamale United

Kofi Kordzi continues to have the best form of anyone on the Royals roster, but after years with with one of the best defenses in Ghana, Legon’s suspect back line has let them down. There’s nothing wrong with getting a point in a match, but it’s also disappointing after what they wanted to get.

News & Notes

Soccer Shots Shoot-out

For the first time MacKenzie boys took the field for the first time. Okay, the field was a gym and, by Owen’s account, Alex played and he hung out on the sideline dancing around. But still! You had fun, and that alone is celebration!

Immediately after that we got bombarded with snow and over the ensuing 5 day mini-vacation you discovered lots of other ways to play together, in particular fighting mummies (me) and throwing snowballs (at me). I’m awfully proud.

I-League Update

The biggest shift in the I-League didn’t come in a Punjab match. Instead, Deccan’s loss to Mohamadan SC in an absolute wild match, created a vital opening that Punjab promptly capitalized on. The monstrous 8-0 completely erased the goal difference deficit and put them firmly in the driver seat. As if that wasn’t enough, Deccan dropped more points by only getting a draw against 10 man Aizawl FC, and another win puts Punjab up by 5 points with two matches to play.

A win against Rajasthan, and Punjab can be sure of taking home this year’s trophy…set your alarms!

Electric Loons!

Emelec and Minnesota both kicked off this week, giving us 9 of the 11 teams in action. Both teams are in an unusual position to start the year. Emelec, having spent last season outside of the top tier of challengers, they have brought in a host of veterans to bolster their claim to the crown. Meanwhile Minnesota, operating without Emmanuel Reynoso, will need to try to find a way to win without having one man run the show.

Player of the Week

Jiminy Christmas! When it rains it absolutely pours great performances. Cristian Canozales, Kervin Arriaga, Eomon Brophy. But the huge week for Punjab puts them in the pole position for the award, and while I’d like to give it to Kiran Limbu’s dominance in goal, you can’t ignore the fact that Juan Mera scored as many goals ON HIS OWN, as every other team in our competition scored TOGETHER. So, Juan Mera, take a bow, and a plethora of points!

Standings

The early going of the season can often flatter folks. Emelec and Minnesota shouldn’t get too fond of their top of the table position, just ask Vozdovac who went from the top to the bottom in a few short weeks. After all, Punjab is clearly determined to top their own league, and maybe ours too.

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Emelec	1	0	0	3.00	2.00	0.00
Minnesota	1	0	0	3.00	1.00	0.00
Punjab	9	2	1	2.42	2.58	0.92
Freiburg	5	2	3	1.70	1.90	2.00
Grenoble	6	4	6	1.38	1.13	1.00
Legon Cities	2	4	3	1.11	0.89	1.11
Ross County	2	3	4	1.00	1.22	1.00
Alebrijes	2	1	5	0.88	1.25	1.50
Vozdovac	1	1	3	0.80	0.40	2.00
Rosenborg–b	0	0	0	—	—	—
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 3/1/22
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, March 2nd

Tapatio v. Alebrijes

Friday, March 3rd

Eintracht Frankfurt v. SC Freiburg (F)

Saturday, March 4th

Rajastan United v. Punjab FC

Borussia Munchen Gladbach v. Freiburg (M)

Ross County v. Motherwell

Dijon v. Grenoble

Sunday, March 5th

Legon Cities v. Real Tamale

Vozdovac v. Vojvodina

Monday, March 6th

Tuesday, March 7th

Wednesday, March 8th

Raya2Expansion v. Alebrijes

Week 5: Clicking or Sputtering

February 8, 2023February 9, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recaps

Nimes 0 – 2 Grenoble (M)

All hail the conquering hero of Jessy Benet whose return to the Alps has bolstered Matthais Phaeton in the midfield led to a more organized Grenoble side. With new confidence in their approach, the Alpiners are 3 points off of promotion to the top flight of French football again.

FK Radnicki 1923 0 – 1 FK Vozdovac

Our boys in Belgrade made their return to the field this weekend, and despite a shift in their defensive corps, they remained solid at the back in pushing back an insistent and aggressive Radnicki. The dragons didn’t have many chances, but Milos Pantovic converted the penalty after a foolish foul and that was all they needed.

SC Freiburg 0 – 4 VfL Wolfsburg (F)

Ouch…well hopefully the men did…

Dortmund 5 – 1 Freiburg (M)

Ooof….never mind. There are still only 6 points between Freiburg and the top of the table, but they’ll need to get some things sorted out (particularly in the defense) if they’re going to challenge instead of fade away.

Rangers 2 – 1 Ross County

Jordan White gave the Staggies a glimmer of hope against the mighty ‘Gers in Glasgow, but it was snuffed out in the end. The Stags have a promising spine in White, Dhanda and Kenneh, but where the rest of the midfield goes remains a question (especially after Eamonn Brophy was dropped after a miserable first half).

Sudeva FC 1 – 1 Punjab FC

It was a heart breaker, with Luka Macjen putting the warriors ahead courtesy of Chenchyo Geltsyen’s incisive pass it took a last second goal from Sudeva to drop the points. Worse, the tense and chippy atmosphere led to a post whistle red card for defender Huidrom Singh. With 5 matches left, Punjab is in a dead heat with Sreenidi Deccan, and promotion will be on the line.

Legon Cities FC 3 – 1 King Faisal

We have to say, there are few things as fun as Legon Cities in fine form, and that’s what we finally got to see against King Faisal this last weekend. Jonah Attaquye got the first from a solid free kick opportunity just outside the box. The Royals kept the pressure high through the next half until the frenetic final 10 minutes including a Felix Hammond chip and a mammoth free kick from Nasiru Moro. It was a wild but joyous pile on for the Royals, and while it might be expected against a relegation area side in King Faisal, they’re all valuable.

Grenoble Foot 3 – 3 Montauban (F)

The ladies of Grenoble got back in business as well. The were strong right out of the gate with a goal from Jade Decilap straight away after kick off. They held firm and added two more to have a 3-1 lead with 15 minutes to play. Then a poor challenge from defender Elsa Domenjoud gifted Montauban a penalty and reduced the ladies to 10 players. It still took a desperation shot at the end of the match for Montauban to get the draw and spoil the return. Still, hope is high for further progress among the Grenobloises

Sandhausen 0 – 2 Freiburg (M-Cup)

Sandhausen opted to bunker down and absorb everything that Freiburg could throw their way, and it almost paid off with a big cup win. Notice, I said “almost”.

Despite the long defensive slog thrown up by the second division side, Freiburg finally broke through with Phillip Leinhart’s goal that bounced off a Sandhausen defender. After a great block by Lucas Holer, they got another from super sub Nils Peterson to put it beyond doubt, and so, for the second time in two years: Freiburg is headed to the quarterfinals of the Cup.

https://youtu.be/bBJgCs4dG1k

Vierzon FC 0 – 1 Grenoble (M-Cup)

More surprising, the same can be said about the Alpiners! Grenoble has reached the final 8 of the Coupe de France (albeit by beating the underdog darlings of Vierzon FC…not to be confused with Verizon FC…which has marginally less coverage than the third division French side). Loic Nestor delivered the winner after Grenoble besieged their opponent’s goal, and the triumph will put them into a conflict with slightly more prestigious sides.

Alebrijes 0 – 3 CD Tepatitlan de Morelos

An early red card was enough to put Oaxaca at a disadvantage, but two more in stoppage time is true commitment to recklessness.

This result is not reflected in the standings

News & Notes

Your Uncle Simon bests me in golf (both real and imaginary)

Your Uncle Simon is about to be a dad in his own right, so he and I had our own brother bonding time, not unlike yourselves…only with less headlocks that lead to someone running into their room and slamming the door.

An accomplished video game player and golfer, he had a clear advantage in Mario Golf. Still, it was good fun just to joke with him in a game. And I even beat him (on one hole…by one stroke…because the game had a glitch)

Jet-Setting

The biggest club competitions in the world are kicking off again. The Club World Cup in Morocco pits the continental champions from each part of the world against one another. And given that Minnesota United lost to Seattle twice last year, I think it’s fair to say that we’ probably have lost in the Semi-finals just like Seattle did.

And Europe’s elite club competitions (The Champions, Europa, and Conference Leagues) will also kick back into gear this month. Freiburg is our only side still in the hunt (as they have been since last fall) so let’s all knock on some wood.

Player of the Week

At the risk of making this space a Grenoble Appreciation segment, the truth is les Grenobloises are in a groove and its hard to ignore their strong work. This week, we’ve got to tip the hat to Matthaias Phaeton for leading the attack both with distribution and delivery.

Standings

Vozdovac is at the top! (Well they only have 1 match under their belts, so there’s a limited sample size) but even though Punjab has faltered, Grenoble has tied them and has to hope that the ladies give them an added boost.

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Vozdovac	1	0	0	3.00	1.00	0.00
Punjab	4	2	1	2.00	2.29	1.29
Grenoble	6	2	2	2.00	1.50	0.90
Legon Cities	1	3	1	1.20	0.80	0.80
Freiburg	2	1	3	1.17	1.17	2.83
Ross County	1	3	3	0.86	0.86	1.00
Alebrijes	1	0	4	0.50	1.00	1.60
Rosenborg–b	0	0	0	—	—	—
Minnesota–b	0	0	0	—	—	—
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—
Emelec–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 2/8/22
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, February 9th

Golukam FC v. Punjab FC

Friday, February 10th

Saturday, February 11th

FK Vozdovac v. Red Star Belgrade

Freiburg v. Vfb Stuttgart (M)

Grenoble v. Pau (M)

Sunday, February 12th

SC Frieburg v. Meppen (F)

Samartex v. Legon Cities FC

Albi Marsacc v. Grenoble Foot (F)

Monday, February 13th

Aizawal v. Punjab FC

Tuesday, February 14th

Wednesday, February 15th

Alacranes v. Alebrijes

Week 4: The Big 4 – 0

February 2, 2023February 5, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recaps

Punjab FC 2 – 0 Real Kashmir

We don’t take enough time to appreciate Brandon Vanlalremdika the little magician who manages to make a whole heap of Punjab’s surging attack possible. He got a goal and continued to thread expert passes throughout Punjab’s latest win, all the more impressive when you see how physically manhandled he was by their north-western rivals.

Legon Cities 1 – 3 Bechem United

Things started out well for the Royals with Alex Aso’s first goal for the club, but the normally formidable back line became too leaky and Bechem capitalized

Freiburg 3 – 1 Augsburg (M)

Freiburg got back on track with a stirring showing at home, and they were led by a strong showing from their Austrian contingent. Michael Gregoritsch scored the opener, and Phillip Leinhart offerd both lock down defense and a strong head to convert the finishing goal in the 85th minute.

Ross County 3 – 0 Kilmarnock

The Staggies found their scoring shoes before this game and suddenly looked like a team transformed. They developed a clearer game plan built on break aways and crosses (boosted by a slightly staggered Killie defense). It also helped that Nohan Kenneh, newly arrived from Hibernian managed to connect the dots for two different goals as Jordan White and Yan Dhanda started to synch up in their attack.

Grenoble 0 – 1 SC Bastia (M)

Grenoble will rue their missed opportunities on the day, as their nine shots produced nothing of note, and a late winner from SC Bastia cost them very winnable points.

Grenoble 1 – 0 Quevilly (M)

Which is why it is so gratifying to see them come back and get all the credit against Quevilly. While the shorthanded squad fielded a lot of reserves, they did send out returning favorite Jessy Benet and (quelle surprise) he scored the winner. As the rest of the attacking force comes out there will be high hopes to keep climbing the table.

Ross County 1 – 1 Hibernian

The Staggies got another positive result against the surging Hibs in Dingwall. Hibs controlled much of the game and at times the County midfield and defense looked over run (particularly when the back line made a particularly poor decision that gifted Hibs their goal). But all it takes is one sterling moment, and that’s exactly what they got when Yan Dhanda lashed a gorgeous corner kick that befuddled everyone and levelled the score.

Kenkre FC 3 – 3 Punjab FC

It wasn’t looking brilliant for the Punjabi Warriors against lowly Kenkre. They gave up two early goals and were suddenly chasing the game. But then, they absolutely ran their opponents down into the dirt with Chenchyo Geltshen and Luka Macjen in fine flow together at the top. An own goal gave them the lead…but then they promptly gave it back and played out the rest of the match in a stale mate.

Hearts of Oak 0 – 0 Legon Cities

The Royals can count this as a moral victory after playing much of the second half down to 10 men. But moral victories aren’t quite as valuable in the table as actual ones (Legon only has 1 in their last 8 matches)

Tlaxcala 3 – 1Alebrijes

Julio Cesar Cruz got the lone goal after Tlaxcala got out to a fast start. It’s shaping up to be another arduous campaign for Oaxaca.

News & Notes

Your Dad is getting Old

I turned 40 last week. And I felt great. Then, while arranging a fight between Captain America (Alex), Moana (Owen), and a dragon (me) I slipped on the stairs and crashed down a whole flight of them. So, I feel lots of pain, and suddenly 40 isn’t quite so great.

USA-USA-USA Update

Samuel Rogers got 18 minutes worth of time with the US Men’s National Team, which is 18 more than almost everyone else in the country. He connected all ten of his passes, but wasn’t able to take the ball away from Colombian opponents. It wasn’t quite announcing his presence with authority, but he can keep working himself into the conversation as time goes on.

Transfer Tips

The transfer window closed for the winter on Tuesday, with only a few more minor moves of note: County added another pair of strikers in Eamon Brophy and Simon Murray (both of whom are quite familiar with the Scottish league) and brought on two less familiar faces in loan deals with Wigan Athletic with attacker Josh Stones and defender Gwion Edwards respectively.

The Loons also brought in a new player in Sweden’s Mikael Marques, a young defender. I’m not sure how much he’ll actually play having made the jump from the second tier of Sweden into the top US League, but we’ll be happy to see him all the same.

Dragons Take Wing Again

This weekend sees the kick off of the Serbian Primere League’s season. There will be three more months of matches and then, hopefully, Vozdovac will be in the championship play off looking towards the next stage of qualification for a European tournament. But to get there they’ll need to grow more as a team and learn to live without iron man defenders Stefan Hajdin, and Milos Milovic. In their wake has come former local starlet Damjan Danicic, back to his roots, and younger attacker Haris Kadric

Player of the Week

We might have been open to some debate before, but the corner kick sealed it beyond any doubt: Yan Dhanda, take a bow!

Standings

Much as we admire Freiburg, this was not the ideal week to kick off their 2023, as they slide in below even the equally unsteady Ross County and Oaxaca. Meanwhile, despite their defeat, Punjab continues to show serious strength at the top of the table (even if they are no loner perfect)

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Punjab	4	1	1	2.17	2.50	1.33
Grenoble	4	1	2	1.86	1.29	0.86
Freiburg	1	1	1	1.33	1.33	2.67
Ross County	1	3	2	1.00	0.83	0.83
Legon Cities	0	3	1	0.75	0.75	0.75
Alebrijes	1	0	4	0.50	1.00	1.60
Rosenborg–b	0	0	0	—	—	—
Minnesota–b	0	0	0	—	—	—
Vozdovac–b	0	0	0	—	—	—
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—
Emelec–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 1/12/22
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, February 2nd

Friday, February 3rd

Nimes v. Grenoble (M)

Saturday, February 4th

FK Radnicki 1923 v. FK Vozdovac

SC Freiburg v. VfL Wolfsburg (F)

Dortmund v. Freiburg (M)

Rangers v. Ross County

Sunday, February 5th

Sudeva FC v. Punjab FC

Legon Cities FC v. King Faisal

Grenoble Foot v. Montauban (F)

Monday, February 6th

Tuesday, February 7th

Sandhausen v. Freiburg (M-Cup)

Wednesday, February 8th

Vierzon FC v. Grenoble (M-Cup)

Alebrijes v. CD Tepatitlan de Morelos

Week 50: Back in the Saddle Again

December 22, 2022December 22, 2022 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recaps

Churchill Brothers 0 – 0 Punjab FC

This was a match that happened.

Ross County 1 – 2 St. Johnstone

In the first match-day back on the British Isles, Yan Dada did his Welsh family proud with some insightful passing that set up a great opener from Jordan White. But two goals in two minutes from Alistair Crawford undid all that good work…sigh…

Punjab FC 1 – 0 Gokulam Kerala FC

The Warriors of Punjab continued their strong end to 2022 with another win, and remained undefeated at home (just down the road from Chandigarh). Luka Majcen was the man behind the big goal, getting revenge on his former team after a sloppy tackle, with his fourth goal in 6 matches. He’s rapidly becoming our favorite Slovenian!

Kotoku Royals 0 – 3 Legon Cities FC

On the one hand, the Royals are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table in Ghana. On the other hand, you need victories over poor teams just as much as you need them over good teams. Legon got their holiday started early with three goals, their most since April, and will hope to kick off 2023 with as much panache as they finished up their 2022.

News & Notes

Small Man Lifts Big Trophy

We had a heck of a time watching the World Cup final with your grandpa.

Okay, I had a heck of a time watching the World Cup final with your grandpa, and you guys had a great time running around, smashing legos into walls and singing/dancing to your hearts content while jacked up on sugary donuts that grandpa brought. But you both watched for at least 15 to 30 minutes, cheering, clapping, and generally getting sucked into the same feeling that your grandpa and I did: it was very nice to watch Lionel Messi, a man whose nickname should probably be “statistical outlier“, finally win the biggest trophy of them all. Alex in particular has decided that the blue and white shirts are his new favorite. So congrats Leo, you are officially in the stratosphere of Pele and Maradonna…and you have another 5 year old fan.

Player of the Week

We’re late in getting back to these, but it’s worth saying that almost every highlight we see of Punjab FC includes the man-bunned #99, Lucka Majcen celebrating with someone else. So let’s thank him the only way we know how: by writing his name in an obscure corner of the internet, where maybe his mom will be amused!

Majcen (middle) celebrating, which he’s done a lot this year (Photo from ILeague)

Standings

The Table remains pretty locked in place, but Legon did see their win vault them up past Montana, and Punjab ended up just outside of the top three. We’ll see if Grenoble or Ross County can adjust their place again.

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Rosenborg BK–b	36	11	17	1.86	2.23	1.2
Minnesota–b	28	8	15	1.80	1.84	1.27
Freiburg–b	26	14	14	1.70	2.41	1.54
Punjab	12	6	7	1.68	1.52	1.36
Alebrijes–b	14	14	8	1.56	1.28	0.83
Vozdovac–b	14	9	12	1.46	1.03	1.14
Legon Cities	12	13	10	1.40	1.06	0.60
Montana–b	7	7	6	1.40	1.25	0.85
Grenoble Foot	21	10	21	1.40	1.25	1.19
Ross County	13	9	19	1.17	1.12	1.46
Emelec–b	17	13	18	0.67	1.50	1.27