Surprise! Crew Crash Out of CCL

Thursday, March 18, 2010 | View Comments
TOLUCA VS COLUMBUS CREW

Even when they play pretty well, MLS teams just can't win in Mexico.


It happened to the Crew last night against Toluca in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series, and means that once again MLS fails to get a team into the semifinal round of the tournament. I think we're all pretty used to it at this point.


In fact, we're probably so used to it that this post will avoid all of the usual discussion of why MLS teams can't make a dent in international competition (roster restrictions, salary caps, and the knockout stages being in pre-season). Either you're of the opinion that MLS stinks and its teams choke abroad, or you take the different financial world that MLS teams operate in into account and blame circumstance; either way, it looks like it's going to be a long while before an American club wins the thing, and there's no point in wringing our hands over it any more than we already have.


Columbus acquitted themselves admirably, though definitely deserved to lose in the end. Toluca hit the post on three different occasions, and would have been hard done by had Zinha not steered two wonderful free kicks in for goals. Even then, Columbus just needed a goal to win the series, since a 5-5 aggregate score would have had them through on away goals. But their effort was crippled by the loss of Steven Lenhart to a red card (I'm still not sure what happened, just that the card came for something "off the ball"), another seemingly typical occurrence for American clubs when they go south of the border.


On the one hand, it would have been nice to see the lone MLS team left progress in the Champions League. On the other, the pressure on MLS to make some concessions to allow their clubs to better compete in the tournament becomes that much greater with the Crew loss. Don Garber gives lip service to the idea that MLS clubs need to do better in these competitions and if he is not just blowing smoke, he needs to take action. The pressure increases further if MLS clubs do poorly in the group stages of the 2010-2011 Champions League later this year.


Most disappointing for me last night was the play of Robbie Rogers. I wouldn't call myself a fan of his, but I did believe him capable of more. Too often his decision making was poor or he put himself in situations where he no longer had options. Like many MLS players, Rogers seems to have ample athletic ability without the soccer instincts to match.


Disappointing play from Rogers (and others) aside, Crew fans should be extremely encouraged about their league chances heading into the season. They looked good enough to be Eastern Conference favorites to me.


Now if they could stop fouling people 25 yards from goal...
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