Recaps
Medeama SC 2 – 0 Legon Cities FC
Second only to the despair of losing to a team in mauve, will be the defensive miscues that led them there. The Royals can’t seem to pick their jaws up off the floor after they concede, and it has put them perilously close to relegation.
Kolubara 1 – 0 FK Vozdovac
The dragons responded to the beat down they got from Red Star with 80 minutes of strong defense. And then they lost anyway. They also shipped Nikola Vujnovic down the road from Minneapolis to Kansas City. But at least they have some nice gear in the team store!
Vfl Bochum 0 – 2 Freiburg (M)
Freiburg seemed to get their legs back underneath them after last week’s win. As ever it helps to have Christian Gunter and Vincenzo Grifo delivering the crosses.
St. Mirren 1 – 0 Ross County (M)
In what might have been the most frustrating game of a frustrating year for County fans, the stags ceded an early goal and then were utterly ineffective at making opportunities to equalize the game. The loss dropped them further down the table and set up a big game against fellow cellar dwellers Dundee United.
Caen 2 – 1 Grenoble (M)
A tenth minute goal by Mathais Phaeton gave Grenoble the advantage and set up a series of defensive gambits to try to preserve that lead. However, Caen simply provided too many challenges for an overtired backline and a late header gave the hosts the edge in winning the game.
Neroca FC 0 – 1 Punjab FC
Ajay Chhetri got the go ahead goal, and while we’d love to break it down more, it seems that the I-League’s highlights stream has been deleted from the interwebs. 😦 Apparently Kiran Limbu stood strong during the second half, so we’ll appreciate that.
News & Notes
Haiti (and Grenoble’s) History.
While Freiburg had players in friendly national team action for Austria, Switzerland and Germany, the real story was down in New Zealand where Nicholas Delpine, coach of Grenoble Foot 38 had several of his charges on side for Haiti’s playoff campaign to make the World Cup.
In the first match Maudeline Moreyl had a spot in the back and Jennyfer Limage and Sherly Jeudy started together in the midfield, and while Chelsea Surpris remained on the bench throughout it is hard to be dissatisfied with a 4-0 win over Cameroon.
Wednesday saw them face Chile with a berth in the Cup on the line and again saw Melchie Dumornay make the difference and while Jeudy and Limage were pretty quiet, there is no denying the joy and exhilaration that you can see on their faces as the final whistle blows.
So, all this to say, we have our new adopted team at the Women’s World Cup. Congratulations to Jeudy, Limage, Supris and coach Nicholas Delpine!
$17 and 90 minutes on the TGV?
Speaking of Grenoble, we want to plug the excellent deal that’s available for their next cup matches. That’s all it’s going to take for Grenoble fans who want to go to their side’s next matches in the Coupe de France. Both the Men and the Women have drawn Lyon (just a short ride northwest). The club that is a traditional power in French football (for both male and female divisions) will not be short of confidence heading into the matches, which will make an upset all the sweeter…even if it may come at the cost of Melchie Dumornay, who was recently signed to Lyon)
I-League Update
So, I can’t keep track of my own schedules. I’m not sure when I get tripped up on the timing of skating practice how I’ll be able to manage a whole league of balancing, but clearly I couldn’t.
What I said last week about Punjab and Sreenidi Deccan having three more matches was partly correct. They had three matches, and then they had two more that needed to be rescheduled. After each team played one this weekend, they have 4 left. One of those has yet to be rescheduled. So perhaps we should just focus on how the race is going rather than how it will go.
In that regard, not great for the guys in Orange. Their win over Neroca was good, but Deccan’s win gave them an extra goal cushion in the goal difference category. Squeaky bum time forthcoming.
Player of the Week
Tempting as it is to acknowledge Melchie Dumornay and all the historic success for Haiti, if we set the expectations that we will reward one of our 11 teams, it has to go to someone whose deserved it for a couple weeks…and years…and forever: Vincenzo Grifo!
Standings
Freiburg’s consistency has buoyed them up the standings again (Grenoble and Vozdovac’s slip-ups helped a bit) but right now Punjab continues to set a very lofty standard for everyone involved, though it’s yet to be seen if they get some hardware to go with it.
| Team | W | D | L | PPG | GFA | GAA |
| Punjab | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2.30 | 2.00 | 1.00 |
| Freiburg | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1.63 | 1.75 | 2.38 |
| Grenoble | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1.62 | 1.31 | 1.00 |
| Vozdovac | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1.00 | 0.33 | 2.33 |
| Legon Cities | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0.86 | 0.71 | 1.14 |
| Ross County | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.75 | 0.88 | 1.13 |
| Alebrijes | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0.57 | 0.86 | 1.71 |
| Rosenborg–b | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Minnesota–b | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Montana–b | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Emelec–b | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
b–Team is between seasons
What’s Next
Thursday, February 23rd
Vozdovac v. Mladost Lucani
Friday, February 24th
Volta Rangers v. Legon Cities FC (CUP)
Alebrijes v. Correcaminos
Saturday, February 25th
Grenoble v. Le Havre (M)
Ross County v. Dundee United
Sunday, February 26th
Punjab FC v. Sudeva FC
Freiburg v. Bayern Leverkusen (M)
Monday, February 27th
Emelec v. Libertad (M)
Tuesday, February 28th
Lyon v. Grenoble (M-Cup)
Wednesday, March 1st
Punjab FC v. Churchill Brothers
Legon Cities v. Tamale United
FK Radnik Surdulica v. FK Vozdovac
MacKenzie's Boot Room 