When the Austin Aztex host the Puerto Rico Islanders this Saturday (July 3, 7:30pm; House Park, 13th & Lamar), it’ll be their ninth game in 29 days – the most physically challenging segment of their schedule, and they’ve come through it with flying colors. They’ve gone 5-2-1 since June 5 in all competitions and extended their league lead to a season-high eight points. And as of Saturday, they’ll be halfway through the season, and you won’t have so many more chances to see them – just six more regular-season home games after this one… The Aztex got their fifth road win of the season Saturday, 2-1 over Miami, with Eddie Johnson scoring both Aztex goals, the second on a penalty kick in the 88th minute… Then on Tuesday, the Aztex bowed out of the U.S. Open Cup in Los Angeles, falling 1-0 to Chivas USA in the Round of 16. For the first time in this year’s Cup play, the Aztex used almost all starters, but they couldn’t break through against the Major League Soccer side. Overall, MLS teams went 4-0 against the USSF D-2 Tuesday but 0-2 against the third-division USL-2 (with two games being played as we go to press)… The Aztex will be missing two key players Saturday: Sullivan Silva and Leonard Griffin, both serving suspensions for red cards earned in consecutive wins over Miami… Yordany Alvarez, Miguel Gallardo, and Jay Needham have played every minute of the Aztex’s 14 games; no one else in the league can match that. Leonard Griffin had played every minute as well, before being red-carded with five minutes to go in Miami… In a league where half the teams are scoring less than a goal a game, the Aztex have scored 27 in 14 games. Eddie Johnson, Maxwell Griffin, and Jamie Watson rank second, fourth, and fifth among top scorers in the league.
The World Cup Round of 16 was a joy to watch – all the big teams that are left played up to their potential after some less-than-great play in the group stage. I felt like we saw the Brazil we’d been wanting to see – playing with style and picking apart a very good Chilean defense – and likewise Germany over England, Argentina over Mexico, and Spain over Portugal all showed off teams very near the top of their game. Netherlands maybe less so. But we’ll see. The quarterfinals are this Friday-Saturday, July 2-3, with marquee matchups for the two 9am games: Brazil-Netherlands first, then Germany-Argentina. Full schedule, plus viewing info, on the following page… Silver lining to the U.S. loss: At least one African team made it into the quarterfinals. Go Ghana!… South Americans continue to roll; with four of their five entrants still alive, it’s entirely possible we could see an all-South American final four. By contrast, Europe has three quarterfinalists out of 13 entries, Africa is one-for-six, and the rest of the world is zero-for-eight… I love the Nike ads, but where are all their big stars? Rooney, Ribéry, Cannavaro, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Eto’o, not one of them will play these next two weekends. But we still get to see them in action, bigger than life…
This article appears in July 2 • 2010.