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With a week to reflect on the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, and another week to go before the semifinals, CONCACAF analyst Enrique Borja mulls the results and discusses what to look for in the final four of the confederation club championship.
With Mexico again sending three teams to the semifinals, and looking at the scores of the quarterfinals -- especially the second legs, are Mexican teams just that much better than everybody else in the region?
First of all, coming from a soccer background, I acknowledge the importance of results. The results derived from the matches between Santos against Seattle and Pumas against Metapan proved to be definitive; however, it is also true in soccer, that saying one team is better than another based solely on results would be inaccurate. I think that in this occasion, the Mexican teams were better prepared as a result of having more experience in this tournament, and that Toronto played two very smart games against a tough team like the Galaxy.
How much do you think Dario Veron's broken foot will impact Pumas' defense and their chances against Monterrey?
I think it has had a great impact on the team, which was visible at the match against America. Yes, Veron is a leader and a great player, two very important characteristics in a team that is filled with young players, and that has capacity but sometimes lacks experienced players that could give an extra support and direction to the team; nonetheless, Erik Vera, who substituted Veron since the match against Metapan, is playing well and it is a good opportunity for him to show what he can do and to earn a place in the team as other young players have done, little by little consolidating themselves on the field.
On the other hand you have Monterrey, who is recovering its striking game style as well as its players' capacity to compete in the two tournaments; in soccer, nothing is written, so we have to wait for the two games to see how everything will turn out. I think that Pumas needs to take advantage of closing at home, while trying to score some Goals in Monterrey; but we'll see what happens, it's going to be two very complicated matches.
Toronto FC was considered a surprise to reach the quarterfinals and a shock to get to the semifinals. Is it dangerous to count them out again, or are they really overmatched this time?
No one should be counted down in soccer ever because, it is always 11 versus 11 on the field. I have always said that the ball doesn't ask for passport, not bank account, nor birth certificate, the ball simply says "play!", so those players going on the field will be playing to win the games. Toronto did what it had to, even if in the first leg it lost its winning advantage and ended up with a draw, but in the second leg, they knew how to win and the Galaxy was not available to turn the score around. Toronto will be a great contender against Santos and it will give us another pairing of very competitive games.
Considering the relative form we saw in the quarterfinals, and how the teams are playing in the Mexican league and MLS, any predictions for the final four?
No, I don't like trying to guess what could happen. I think that now the four teams know exactly what they're doing and what their game is. In Toronto's case, it will arrive with three or four games on the MLS, and the Mexican teams will have 12 weeks on their tournament, so the four teams will arrive to the semifinals well on the road and we, as spectators, will be able to watch very even, very tough matches. Some could talk about favorites, some could say that one team is more likely to win than the other, but I prefer to just watch the games because they have been very interesting thus far, and what I have enjoyed the most is seeing that we have had wonderful attendance in all the stadiums, as well as an interesting number of TV viewership, which indicates that fans are enjoying the games and that tournament is on the rise.
