When the final whistle blew, the San Jose Earthquakes were gutted.
The Quakes had just battled Chivas Guadalajara for 100 minutes before a record-breaking crowd of 50,675 at Levi’s Stadium, most of it spent tenaciously defending the early lead Jeremy Ebobisse’s header had carved out, only to concede a last-gasp, close-range leveler from Roberto “Piojo” Alvarado eight minutes into injury time.
The many Chivas supporters in the building went haywire as the last-place team in MLS were rocked by the late gut punch in their Leagues Cup opener. In most circumstances this would be a disaster, two dropped points and gnawing disappointment at falling seconds short of a massive upset.
But the story wasn’t quite over yet, thanks to this tournament’s tiebreaking innovation: A penalty-kick shootout to award an extra point to the winner, potentially the difference between advancing out of the group or going home early. So Quakes interim head coach Ian Russell quickly gathered his squad to rally the troops.
“There was a lot of emotion after that, a lot of frustration with our team. So I had to bring them together and tell them that everybody needs to calm down at this point,” Russell later explained. “I told them they played a great game, but we need to calm down and we need to bury our penalty kicks; we know Daniel’s a really good shot-stopper in goal.
“So they did that. I feel like they were so emotional, that it wouldn’t have gone well if we hadn’t gotten together and talked about it a little bit.”
Different challenge
San Jose recovered their poise and converted four of their five spot kicks, claiming two points that position them as West 2 leaders heading into Wednesday night’s meeting with Cali Clásico rivals LA Galaxy (10:30 pm ET | Apple TV - Free). It was a textbook example of the rule tweak – one also implemented across most of this year’s Copa América – that’s added a new wrinkle to this competition based on old rivalries across MLS and LIGA MX.
“You have to practice PKs, yes. I like it,” Tigres UANL manager Veljko Paunovic said in Spanish in a Tuesday media availability ahead of his side’s much-anticipated clash with Inter Miami in Houston on Saturday night (8 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
“Like everything, soccer will evolve. I think this is a good way; it seems like some competitions have adopted it also around the world. But now we know we have the ability at the end, when confronting certain rivals at that moment, what is going to determine who's better … It’s a good way to determine who qualifies.”
Steve Cherundolo has dueled Mexican opponents in the high-stakes setting of Concacaf Champions Cup, having led LAFC to the final of last year’s continental competition, and sees chances to improve both individually and collectively in the comparable situations Leagues Cup presents. He and his squad will surely hope to take lessons from this summer into future CCC campaigns.
“Liga MX teams is awesome to play against, it’s great for us coaches to really see and to be kind of pushed, pulled and poked in a different manner than we get in MLS,” he said this week. “It’s a test to see how strong our system, our team is and where our weaknesses are and maybe our strengths lie.”
Or as new Nashville SC head coach B.J. Callaghan noted this week ahead of his team’s Leagues Cup opener vs. Mazatlán: “It extends your players in a good way to really be challenged and face different profile of players, different tactical setups, and having to do it on kind of short preparation time.”
Heightened drama
With three-team groups, there’s a pragmatic aspect to the shootout – that extra point reduces the potential for extensive tiebreaker scenarios when determining which two sides advance to the knockout stages. Needless to say, spot kicks are getting a lot more attention on the training ground than during a typical practice during the regular season.
“It’s another challenge when you're in a tournament play and you're looking at a group of three for standings,” said Callaghan.“Of course you have to manage the game knowing that there's an opportunity to get two points if you play a draw and win the shootout. For us, we're prepared for all of those opportunities. We've trained through those opportunities and hopefully we're able to win in regulation, but confident in the group that we can execute in penalties if we have to.”
Then there’s the reality that 30 minutes of extra time would pile further wear and tear on bodies already being tested by congested calendars at both club and international level.
“I think the structure of going straight to penalties is inevitable because it’s just all these extra minutes being put on guys’ legs that haven’t been there in the past, so you can’t really go to overtime,” said LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead. “You also can’t just end in ties because there’s three teams per group and it just sets up for coin flips at the end of the group stage.”
It also happens to serve up an extra dose of drama for players and fans alike. On Monday, Guillermo Almada likened it to an extra squeeze of mustard or hot sauce on your stadium meal of choice.
“I do find it appealing. It’s one more condiment that people at the stadium can enjoy,” Pachuca’s veteran manager said in Spanish, one day before his Tuzos edged the New York Red Bulls 5-4 in the shootout after their 1-1 draw in Harrison, New Jersey. “It adds more expectations to the ultimate result and it just forces us as coaches to go for the win. I don't think it adds anything to our planning.
“It's just an extra topping, yet one more risk as we strive for those three points, and whether it adds any merit to the tournament or not, it breaks the tie, it makes it more appealing, perhaps. Maybe it's hardest on the goalkeepers, because they're the ones that have to stop the penalties! Though in my case, honestly I do like it.”
Goalkeepers time to shine
Tuzos goalkeeper Carlos Moreno let slip a fleeting smile when asked about the format on Monday, admitting these shootouts give ‘keepers like him a chance to seize the spotlight.
“It is the most complex part,” said the Mexican in Spanish. “You’re somewhat at the mercy of what the shooter does, but it adds a dose of adrenaline, and people are able to leave knowing that there was a winner, no? I also like the chance that I have to have a starring role as goalkeeper when it comes to penalties, so I find it quite interesting and appealing.”
D.C. United took part in one of the opening weekend’s wildest fixtures, a shootout win over Atlanta United after they seized a 3-1 first-half lead only to allow their hosts to make a late comeback. Goalkeeper Alex Bono bailed out his teammates by saving one of the two PKs they conceded in the second half, then stopping two more in the shootout to secure two points for the Black-and-Red.
“The coaches did a good job, throughout the week, we did PKs twice and we worked on it, we talked about it,” said D.C. winger Jared Stroud. “It's really entertaining, to be honest, even watching other Leagues Cup games and you know it's tied and you know that there's a little bit more to the game. For a fan, I think it's exciting to watch PKs. Obviously, in the tournament style, that's something that's enjoyable to watch … Bones [Bono] obviously came up huge as well. So I think it's really entertaining for the fans, and as a player it's fun as well.”
Between the shootout tiebreaker and the extra edge the cross-border matchups carry thanks to the history and culture involved, most of these Leagues Cup encounters just feel different, especially as the clock ticks down towards full-time in tight affairs.
“Not just Nashville, but for the entire league, it’ll be very beneficial to play against Mexican teams,” said NSC’s Panamanian international midfielder Aníbal Godoy.
“Beyond the high level in the Mexican league – it's a very competitive league – we know we're not just playing friendlies with them anymore, not just for the sake of competition between teams. I think it's something different now. It’s a matter of earning spots in international tournaments.”
