Super-20 League Feature
Thursday, July 18, 2013
BRADENTON, Fla. – The Chicago Fire knew they’d have a target on their backs at the 2013 Super-20 League Championship presented by Nike, coming in as the defending champions and representing one of the strongest soccer brands in the country. The Fire has a lot of work to do if it hopes to defend its title after a 1-0 loss against Alamo SC on the opening day of Group D play.
San Antonio, Texas-based Alamo SC, which qualified as the No. 2 team from the Mid South (South) Division with a 5-1-2 record, pulled off the upset thanks to an opportune play by Ruben Dominguez and some stout defending down the stretch. Dominguez found his way behind the Chicago defense in the 29th minute, and defender Cristian Sanchez had no choice but to bring him down, giving Alamo a penalty and ending the day for Sanchez, who received a red card on the play.
Dominguez tucked home the penalty to give Alamo the lead, but playing a man down had the opposite of the expected effect on the Fire. Chicago seemed to come into the game more following the goal, and had its best chance of the half late when Luis Medina had a clear shot from the top of the box that he hit just wide.
Chicago came out of halftime a different team, and Alamo suddenly found itself backed in on defense despite the man advantage. Chicago’s high-pressure style forced Alamo turnovers, and the forward pair of Medina and Alex Underwood worked well to keep the pressure on.
The Fire came close on several occasions but couldn’t get the last pass to connect, and the Alamo defense held firm down the stretch to earn a huge victory in group play.
“I’m very happy with the performance,” Alamo SC Head Coach John Dicks said. “These boys have worked hard all season, and to be able to come in and to play the Chicago Fire in the first game of the tournament was an honor on our part, and we’ve been preparing for this all season.
“Chicago is a very good team and very disciplined, but our defense is strong and they’ve worked hard all season together. We play in a hard division, the Mid South, and we worked very hard. We have a lot of people not returning next season, so they came to leave it all here.”
Chicago will need a victory against Force FC Academy on Friday to stay alive in group play, while Alamo will hope to move to 2-0-0 when it faces the Western United Pioneers.
Force FC Academy 2, Western United Pioneers 1
In the second game of Group D play, Force FC Academy of Michigan almost saw victory slip away against Western United, only to find a last-minute winner.
Force FC played a strong tactical game against Massachusetts-based Western United, maintaining possession for long stretches. The final pass to break down Western United’s defense remained elusive throughout the first half, resulting in many long-distance attempts that were well off target.
Western United had two of the best chances early, with Luke Alvaro coming closest when he hit the post after the Force keeper spilled a rebound in the 18th minute.
Force FC finally found the breakthrough it was looking for in the 52nd minute on a long free kick to the back post that was headed across the goalmouth by center back Phillip Piper right to Joseph Tinnion, who flicked in a header to give his side the lead.
Force FC was energized by the goal and produced several more chances, mostly through the work of Tinnion, but couldn’t find the second goal. It came back to haunt them in the 85th minute when Western United took advantage of a rare free kick in the Force FC end to find the equalizer from the head of Luke Alvaro.
It appeared that Force FC had wasted their opportunity for the victory until a corner kick in the 90th minute produced the game-winner. Gregory Timmer hit a low ball to the top of the box that Gambian-born Bubacarr Jobe hit with a first-time volley into the top corner for the winning margin.
“I thought we possessed really well, we just didn’t want to go to goal today for some reason,” Force FC Head Coach Chris Edwards said. “I had a feeling [Western United] were going to get one form any set piece, that just shows you the joy of soccer, it’s exciting stuff.
“It was frustrating, I thought we controlled the game but we didn’t impose ourselves like I thought we could. It was an amazing goal by Buba at the end. He’s got a lot of talent and he’s fun to coach.”