Crunch time all over the world right now, as league seasons and cup competitions go down to the last few games. Next week is the first leg of the European Champions League semifinals: Barcelona at AC Milan, Tuesday, Villarreal at Arsenal Wednesday, April 18-19, 1:30pm, live on ESPN2 and/or ESPN Deportes.
In our own neighborhood, that same Wednesday is the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup finale (April 19, 9pm, live on FSC) – as Mexican clubs Toluca and Club América face off for the championship of North/Central America.
Farther south, the Copa Libertadores, the South American championship, winds up its group stage next week as well. There and in Europe leagues have compressed their season schedules this year to end in early May, in advance of the World Cup opening June 9 in Germany. We’ll see how that plays out; a lot of players will go into their WC training camps having played an awful lot of games in the last three months. Speaking of which:
The U.S. men drew 1-1 with Jamaica Tuesday evening in North Carolina, as coach Bruce Arena got a last look at his bubble players before naming his World Cup roster on May 2. Also notable: Tony Meola played his 100th game for the national team, only the ninth goalkeeper of any nationality to do that.
This article appears in April 14 • 2006.