Weekend Watch: Just the two of us

By: Bob | November 16th, 2007

There’s World Cup qualifying in South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. There’s critical qualifying games for Euro 2008. There’s a bunch of friendlies where you hope your guys don’t pick up an injury. There’s also the championship of the 2007 MLS season. Here are just a few of the games to keep an eye on while you do your weekend thang.

Saturday

Oxford Utd v Ebbsfleet United - As one of the new owners of the mighty, unstoppable Ebbsfleet United, all I can say is that my team is going to kick the shit out of Oxford United. If not, I will be on the Internet in a heartbeat calling for the coach’s head on a platter and a whole bunch of new players.

Cruz Azul v Pachuca - They might have won the Mexican Clausura championship earlier this year, but they doesn’t mean anything when it comes to Pachuca and the Apertura playoffs. They must defeat Cruz Azul in a two-game series to reach the eight-team playoffs. Confusing, isn’t it?

Scotland v Italy - A huge clash in Euro 2008 qualifying and if you live in the United States you’ll need ESPN Deportes (or a good Internet feed) to see it. That is a crime.

Sunday

New England v Houston - I don’t care if this is a repeat of last year’s final nor do I care that these are two teams that can cure insomnia, this is the MLS Cup final dammit and that means waking up early in the morning, pounding some drinks, and trying to convert pointyball fans over to the beautiful game at the local watering hole.

Urawa Red Diamonds v Shimizu S-Pulse - It is getting down to crunch time in the J-League and Urawa have their destiny in their own feet. They are five points clear at the top of the table with three games remaining. Meanwhile, my once favorite J-League team Yokohama FC are a mere 57 points behind in last place. Oh how the mighty have fallen!

Turkmenistan v Hong Kong - When I lived in Kazakhstan, people used to refer to Turkmenistan as the armpit of Central Asia. The armpit doesn’t stink that much at soccer. They are in the second round of World Cup qualifying and played Hong Kong to a 0-0 draw in the first leg. Ashbagat will be rockin’ for this one.

These are but a few of the games this weekend. Which games are you going to check out? Let us know in the comments.