Liga MX Review: Are The Olympics Ruining Pachuca"s Chances Of Defending Their Title

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No Liga MX team, or its supporters, suffered more during the past weekend than Pachuca.

Many might make the argument for Atlas, who scored two own-goals, or a nine-man Veracruz side that had to defend against America, but Los Tuzos had it worse. Let me explain.

Mexico"s Olympic soccer 5-1 victory against Fiji on Sunday in the group stage of the tournament felt very bittersweet for Pachuca fans.

That morning, three of the five players from Los Tuzos" roster with El Tri in Brazil were given the start: Hirving Lozano, Erick Gutierrez and Rodolfo Pizarro. Although Gutierrez was highly impressive with his four goals against Fiji, the same couldn"t be said for either Lozano or Pizarro.

Read More: Olympic Hospitality Houses Are a Place to Cry and Party During the Games

Lozano, who has struggled to meet lofty expectations, was substituted out during halftime. The 22-year-old Pizarro fractured his right fibula during the 35th minute and has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament.

Pizarroand injured America striker Oribe Peralta, who broke his nosewill be replaced by alternates Raul Lopez and Carlos Fierro. Lopez, like Pizarro, Gutierrez, and Lozano, is another Tuzos player. Lopez"s departure for Brazil means that Pachuca will now have sent a total of six first-team players to El Tri"s 2016 Olympic roster more than any other Mexican squad. Pizarro will be heading back home to Pachuca, but will be out of action for awhile.

There was something strangely appropriate about the fact that Pachuca allowed a goal within the first 20 seconds of their match on Sunday against Toluca just as El Tri was finishing off Fiji in Brazil. During the away match, Los Tuzos struggled to create much in the attack and were desperate for a player like Lozano or Pizarro to take charge. Even with more possession, the team faltered against Los Diablos Rojos and only managed three shots on target.

Rodolfo Pizarro was injured during Mexico"s 5-1 Olympic win against Fiji on Sunday. Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

During the eventual 2-0 loss, Pachuca was forced to give minutes to 18-year-old Francisco Venegas and 16-year-old Erick Sanchez, who was making his Liga MX debut. Now that Lopez will be heading to Rio, Los Tuzos will once again have to find another backup player to take over a starting role during the next game.

It wasn"t much of a surprise that the talented Pachuca team was able to lift last season"s 2016 Clausura trophy. Yet, as evidenced this weekend, this success has come at a price.

To make matters more difficult, Pachuca has a match lined-up against Liga MX giants Tigres during this month. And the team might be missing their Olympic based players until at least the 21st should Mexico find a way to once again make it to the Gold or Bronze medal game. Although the rest of the country will be rooting for El Tri to regain the Gold, there will be numerous Pachuca fans back at home who will see their chances of another league title slowly slipping away.

Los Tuzos aren"t the only Liga MX team that is hurting because of the Olympics. Chivas, who sent four players to Rio, looked lackluster in the 0-0 draw against Queretaro on Saturday. Los Rojiblancos dominated possession against Los Gallos Blancos but couldn"t find a way to find the back of the net. Chivas could have benefitted from being able to substitute in players like Marco Bueno or Carlos Cisneros, who are both in Brazil.

Luckily for Pachuca, and Chivas, the Apertura competition is far from over. Even in the aforementioned worst-case scenario, Los Tuzos will have their full roster without perhaps Pizarro by Week 7. With a total of 17 games scheduled for the regular season, Pachuca should easily have plenty of matches to compensate for lost time.

However, there will be many bothered Pachuca fans who will feel that there was no opportunity to build off of last season"s title. Instead of maintaining momentum, there is now a decent chance that the club will struggle during August.

As long as a significant portion of their first-team is gone, it"s difficult to imagine that Los Tuzos will gain points in the Apertura. By the time that the final week of the regular season rolls around, Pachuca supporters might be left wondering what could have been if the Olympics didn"t alter their chances of a second consecutive title.

Notes from Week 4 of the 2016 Apertura

Miguel "Piojo" Herrera and Xolos are off to a fantastic start in the Apertura. After defeating Cruz Azul 2-1 last Saturday, Tijuana has now moved up to first place in the Liga MX table.

Tigres are the only club left in the Liga MX that has not allowed a goal. Thanks to a goal from French international striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, Los Auriazules sneaked past Chiapas with a narrow 1-0 victory.

With a hat-trick for Los Rayados, Argentine striker Rogelio Funes Mori led Monterrey to a noteworthy 3-0 win against Leon on Saturday. Despite the win, manager Antonio Mohamed has only been able to collect five points from the first four games of the tournament.

In a match that had three red cards, 10-man America recovered from a 2-0 deficit and defeated 9-man Veracruz 4-2 on Saturday night. Colombian Carlos Darwin Quintero was near-perfect with his goal and two assists for Las Aguilas.

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Vardy Makes Shocking Claim About His Life After Title Winning Season

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Jamie Vardy has had quite an eventful 12 months.

This time last year, the Leicester City striker was coming off the back of a narrow escape from relegation, and looking forward to heading off on holiday ahead of the new season.

Fast forward 12 months, and the former FC Halifax Town man is a Premier League winner, fully established England player, and the record holder for scoring in 11 successive Premier League games.

But the dramatic shift in Vardy’s life has come with a fair few issues, as the striker now lives under a self-imposed curfew to stay out of the limelight that comes with scoring 24 goals and lifting the league title.

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Throughout his career, the 29-year-old has attracted attention.

From his days at Halifax, he was the star man, despite being forced to play with a tag on his ankle after being charged with assault in 2007 – the tag actually prevented him from going to some away games as they were out of range.

At Fleetwood, his scoring record soon earned him a move to Leicester – a transfer that saw him become the first million pound non-league player in history.

And after last season, he’s now on £100,000 per week, and has to do all he can to stay grounded and away from the limelight that comes with his achievements.

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Speaking to The Telegraph, Vardy explained:

It is carnage. I basically can’t go out at the minute and I don’t leave my house.

I have put myself on a curfew but without the tag on my ankle.

It was alright-ish before but now it doesn’t matter where you go. It changed after breaking the record, when I scored 11 league goals in a row.

Now I prefer to stay at home and spend more time with the kids and on my computer, time with my wife.

I’m still pinching myself all the time at how the last few years have gone.

And he could be forgiven for pinching himself. Who’d have thought a Sheffield Wednesday reject at 16 years old would go on to have an autobiography and movie being released in the next year?

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Vardy is hoping for a footballing sequel to last season’s incredible achievements though, as Leicester begin their title defence with an away trip to Hull City.

However, bigger clubs are sniffing around the Foxes, and N’Golo Kante has already left for Chelsea in a £30m move.

And Arsenal are chasing another of Leicester’s heroes – 17 goal winger Riyad Mahrez – but Vardy wants the Algerian to stay and be part of Leicester’s magical adventure.

He said:

I feel the club is still going up. It’s like one of those fairground rides, the volcano ones where you sit in a chair and just go ‘whoosh’! That’s what the owners want as well, and so does the boss.

We’d obviously love Riyad to stay. There is nothing personally I can do, it is down to the club, the player himself and any interested parties.

On that front there is nothing I can do, but hopefully me signing my contract is a way of showing that clubs can be rejected.

Vardy and Mahrez – if he stays – will have pencilled in August 25 in their diaries.

That’s the day the draw for the Champions League group stages is announced, and Leicester get to mix it with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

The Vardy fairytale continues.

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UFC 201 Predictions: Will Robbie Lawler Retain His Title In Atlanta?

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Well hello, fight fans. UFC 201 is here, and while there have been some card shuffling, I think there’s still a pretty solid night of fights, ending with a welterweight title fight, and those have been pretty great recently. The prelims start at 6:30 p.m. ET, so let’s see the main card predictions.

2016 Important Results:

Jessica: 137-105-4 (57 percent)
Burnsy: 99-101-3 (49 percent)
Ryan: 5-1 (83 percent)
Jason: 45-36-1 (55 percent)
Bill: 24-11 (69 percent)
Jared: 16-13 (55 percent)
Jackman: 7-5 (58 percent)
Enrique: 7-5 (58 percent)
Jamie: 16-13-1 (55 percent)
Justin: 13-4 (76 percent)
Marty: 20-12-1 (62 percent)
Parker: 3-4 (43 percent)
Team Davis: 72-52-3 (58 percent)

Flyweight – Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall vs Justin “Tank” Scoggins

Jessica: Oh dip, this should be a fun fight. McCall might have a slight edge across the board, but he sometimes doesn’t put in a complete performance. Scoggins is scrambley and very active, and I think his pace will get the better of McCall. Justin’s also got good range on Ian, and I think that combination will let him take over in later rounds. Scoggins wins by suuuuper late third round TKO.

Jared: The Uncle Creepy who put the boots to Demetrious Johnson is long gone, folks, and all that’s left is some creepy-looking hipster who lives with his parents and listens to boy bands “for the laughs.” The minute any fighter starts talking about retirement is the minute I stop picking them to win, and McCall’s been doing that for about three years now. Scoggins.

Jason: Man, I just don’t know what to make of Uncle Creepy anymore. He’s had four fights in the last four years after coming into the UFC hyped (appropriately) as one of the world’s top flyweights. He was seconds away from beating Mighty Mouse before the fight went to a draw, but has yet to really beat anyone of note in the UFC. Maybe a dehydrated Brad Pickett? I don’t know. I guess I’m picking him to win, but I don’t like it. I think Bill’s science is sound.

Bill: I’m picking against Uncle Creepy just because his nickname is Uncle Creepy, which is too close to Uncle Deadly, who is one of my favorite Muppets and the subject of my only Muppet-related tattoo to date. We don’t need that sort of confusion in the Uncle marketplace.

Burnsy: I’m always an Uncle Creepy fan, so I won’t pick against him to open the big show with a W.

NOTE: Scoggins couldn’t make weight so this bout is off. Dang it!



Bantamweight – Francisco “Cisco” Rivera vs Erik “Goyito” Perez

Jessica: Perez is okay, but I don’t think his wins are that impressive. Rivera is in a similar boat, and he’s got more losses, but those are mostly to top notch guys in the division. Plus, Rivera has really good striking. I’m going to say that Perez catches these hands. Rivera wins by second round KO.

Jared: Francisco may have had a rough run of things lately, but I’ll be damned if I pick against the guy who was one-half of the craziest exchange in UFC bantamweight history. WAR CISCO!

Jason: This is a fun fight where anything can happen, and I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if Rivera wins, but I’m going to go with Perez.

Bill: I don’t know a whole lot about either of these guys, so I yield to Jessica’s expertise, because she’s right 57 percent of the time, which in MMA is close to perfect.

Burnsy: I can’t say I know who these guys are, so here’s some scientific analysis for you — back in my swinging bachelor days, my JDate user name was Goy Toy, so I’ll take Goyito. BOOM take THAT, MMA journalists.

Suzanne: John Lineker vs. Francisco Rivera still gives me feelings that I have yet to come to terms with. I’m getting the feeling that maybe I’ve overvalued Rivera. He’s slowly working his way to that list of fighters that I wish were better, but they’re just not. Erik Perez has been a good win-loss-win-loss fighter that is probably most recognized for getting fish-hooked by Bryan Caraway. This bout feels like a coin flip, so I’m literally flipping a coin. Francisco Rivera, decision.

Welterweight – Matt “The Immortal” Brown vs Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger

Jessica: A few years ago, Ellenberger probably would have been more of a threat to Brown. Now, I don’t think Jake’s got much left in the chin department. He’ll have to look for takedowns, but that just kinda puts his head in Matt’s clinch range, which is THREAT ZONE ALPHA. Brown is gonna Muay Thai Ellenberger’s face to bits. Brown wins by second round TKO.

Jared: Matt Brown by murder.



Jason: Elbows are going to be thrown, blood will be spilled, and Jake Ellenberger will get his second win in the last three years. Oh, and can we just agree that Robbie Lawler took the souls of both of these men?

Bill: Matt Brown is going to take this one, for sure. I’m thinking second round submission.

Burnsy: The Immortal one takes this and gets back into the title hunt, but that’s a tall order considering welterweight is still jam-packed with talent.

Suzanne: Could Jake Ellenberger beat Matt Brown? Sure. Matt Brown’s liver is like a Legend of Zelda boss; it flashes so you know know when to hit it. The moment they announced this fight, I tweeted, “Oh my lord, Matt Brown going to kill the death out of Jake Ellenberger.” I’m sticking with that. Matt Brown KO/TKO, round 2.

Strawweight – “Thug” Rose Namajunas vs Karolina Kowalciewicz

Jessica: Karolina’s got good striking and whatnot, but I just don’t know if she’ll be able to deal with Thug Rose and her solid mix of kickboxing and submissions. If Rose can turn up the intensity, I think Kowalkiewicz will make a mistake and get tapped. Rose wins by first round submission.

Jared: This fight is a real no win scenario for me. Thug Rose was one of the only fighters ever brave enough to don the CP logo (and we only had to pay her money to do it!) and Karolina Kowaiapkljxzc is one of the most adorable people to ever break faces for a living. That being said, Thug Rose 2.0 has destroyed something beautiful before and will likely do it again come Saturday night. I can only hope that Kowlkjklzxcklkjkjzx is able to come out the other side with her pride and her cheekbones intact.

Jason: I’ll never pick against Thug Rose. Ever. She’s the MMA version of ’11’ from Stranger Things.

Bill: THUG ROSE. Karolina doesn’t even have a nickname. That should tell you all you need to know, people.

Burnsy: Thug Rose all day, every day.

Suzanne: Since losing to Carla Esparza on the TUF 20 Finale, Rose Namajunas has been on a hot streak and seems to be putting her game together. However, having to fight herself mentally before engaging her physical opponent has made her a slow, nervous starter. Her past three fights have shown her dealing with that struggle, but now she’s in the co-main event with a lot more on her shoulders. Karolina Kowalkiewicz wins the first via wink and Rose wins the rest of the fight. Rose Namajunas, decision.

Welterweight Title – “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler vs Tyron “T-Wood” Woodley



 

Jessica: I really don’t think Woodley should even be in this fight, but it’s not like I’ve ever been consulted about what UFC should do regarding matchmaking before, so I’ll just let that go. I think Robbie will defend against Tyron’s takedowns, roll with the punches and land some big shots of his own. Please, momma Woodley, don’t scream so loud as your baby boy is going down. Lawler wins by second round KO.

Jared:I hate hate HATE this matchup, you guys, and mostly because it seems perfectly
suited to end Lawler’s incredibly entertaining title run in the least entertaining imaginable. “Ruthless” is the Sultan of Swingin Them Bungalows, the King of KO’s, the Colossus of Crushing Your Damn Face Into a Thousand Pieces, and you’re gonna let Woodley go out there and lay an egg on him for five rounds when he hasn’t won a fight in close to two years and even that fight was a split decision over Kevin “Extra Gravy Please” GastelumGAHHH WHY IS THIS FIGHT EVEN HAPPENING. I’m gonna place my faith in Fifth Round Lawler to pull out the win here, and I’m probably going to pray harder than I’ve ever prayed before that he can shuck off Woodley’s takedowns long enough to blast him into the NetherRealm, but in the back of my mind I’m already preparing for the worst four words I have ever put onto paper: Tyron Woodley, Welterweight Champion.

Jason: I’m with you, Jared! I hate this fight. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Woodley is a fine fighter, but I just don’t think he deserves a title shot. The only reason he got it was because he was as loud as his mom in angling for it. I swear to god if he lays and prays Lawler to a decision… Ugh! Lawler’s resurgence has been one of the greatest stories of the last few years, and it seems like few good stories end with anything but a wet fart when it comes to MMA. Tyron Woodley is going to take the decision from Lawler, and it’s all going to be a wet fart. I hate life. Please prove me wrong, Robbie. Please… I pick Woodley because I’m stupid. Whatever.

Bill: Robbie Lawler is going to eat some lunch, for sure. Woodley’s lunch. It’s a big bag of wood. And Robbie is going to eat it.

Burnsy: Woodley and I are both Missouri men, fans of the St. Louis Cardinals, too, which means that we’re classier and more intelligent than other baseball fans. I am going to pick Woodley to fight and win the Cardinal way — by benefiting from the other guy’s mistakes, getting ridiculously lucky when it matters most, and getting some really lucky calls at the expense of his opponent. Also, he’ll be gritty and scrappy.

Suzanne: Every second of Bobby Lawler’s 2nd UFC run has been fun to watch. Right up there with Sea Level Cain and Motivated BJ Penn, 5th Round Lawler is a thing of horrifying violence.

In contrast, outside of the Josh Koscheck and Jay Hieron knockouts, Tyron Woodley has been more boring than watching someone watch paint dry. I mean, he got outstruck 132-97 by Jake Shields. JAKE SHIELDS! If there’s anyone that can make a Lawler fight nearly unwatchable, it’s Tyron Woodley.

All week, I’ve had a nagging voice telling me to pick Woodley. Over the past couple of years, Robbie has taken a lot of damage and fought a lot of rounds. Surely it’s catching up, right? But, I just can’t. So, for the sake of everyone watching, I’m picking and hoping that Cthulhu’s blood-letter takes this one home. Robert Glenn Lawler by TKO, late fourth.

Performance of the Night

Jessica: Krylov, Namajunas

Jason: Lawler, Namajunas

Bill: Brown, Namajunas

Burnsy: Brown, Woodley

Jared: Namajunas, Brown

Fight of the Night

Jessica: McCall vs. Scoggins UH, I MEAN PEARSON VS MASVIDAL

Jason: Lawler vs. Woodley

Bill: Namajunas vs. Kowalciewicz

Burnsy: Brown vs. Ellenberger

Jared: Pearson vs. Masvidal

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