Mexico has done quite a bit better since the often-sacked Sven Goran Eriksson was rightly booted out as manager in April. They now play an attacking style like they used to and it paid off in their opening Group C game of the Gold Cup in as they beat Nicaragua 2-0 in front of 32,000 fans on July 5th in Oakland, California.

Javier Aguirre is the new boss and he’s definitely not the same as the old boss. He watched as his young squad pressed the action and created numerous chances against the defensive-minded Nicaraguans in his fifth game in charge of Mexico.

The game got of too a bard start for the Mexicans though as striker Carlos Vela, who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League, injured his leg just minutes after the kick off. He collided with a Nicaraguan and fell to the ground. He went off for a few minutes, but then came back on and it looked like he might be okay, but he then went off for good in the 10th minute as he was substituted. The 20-year-old took an ambulance to the hospital for X-rays and it’s not clear yet if he’ll be back for the next game.

“When he fell, he got his foot stuck and got a twinge in his leg,” Aguirre stated after the match. “We hope it’s only a scare. We hope we confirm there’s nothing broken and he can continue with us. If it’s a worst-case scenario, we’ll tell you guys who we’re bringing to replace him.”

Just before half time, Nicaragua midfielder Armando Reyes fouled Israel Martinez from behind in the penalty box and Luis Miguel Noriega scored his first international goal on the ensuing penalty kick. It was Noriega’s official national team debut. Second-half substitute Pablo Barrera then doubled the score in the 86th minute and that closed the door on the hopes of any comeback by Nicaragua. Barrera tapped the ball into the net from about seven yards out on a great cross from Alberto Medina on the right wing.

The Gold Cup is an important event for the relatively young and inexperienced Mexican side and they will use it to try and get back on track for the remaining World Cup qualifiers after Eriksson derailed them. Their next qualifier is on Aug. 12 and it will be a huge game played before about 100,000 fanatics in Mexico City. Mexico sits in fourth place in the CONCACAF qualifying standings for next year’s World Cup in South Africa with a 2-3 record, which is unusually low for them, and only the top three teams will make it.

If they can’t get back in the groove, it’s possible they could miss the World cup and that will be seen as a national disaster back in Mexico. However, they have an amazing unbeaten record of 22-0-1 against the US at home so it should be quite a game as the US is pretty hot right now.

However, Aguirre said they’re only concerned with the Gold Cup at the moment and he was happy to see his side attack all game long, outshooting Nicaragua 18 to 6. Giovani Dos Santos had a great game for Mexico as he wasn’t afraid to take defenders on with his dribbling skills and speed.

Mexico lost the 2007 Gold Cup final to America and both countries have won the tournament four times each.

Mexico’s next Gold Cup match is July 9th in Houston, Texas, against Panama, who were beaten 2-1 to Guadeloupe in the first match of the double header in Oakland on July 5th.

The Champions League semi finals kicked off today (April 28th) with Barcelona and Chelsea playing to a rather uneventful 0-0 draw in front of 95,000 fans at the Camp Nou in the Spanish port city. Barcelona had the best chances, especially in the last 10 minutes, but Chelsea held on. It was actually the first time all season that Barcelona failed to score in a home game. Chelsea didn’t really seem interested in trying to score and that shows in the statistics. Barcelona had 71 per cent of possession and had 19 attempts on goal compared to three by the Londoners. For some reason Nicolas Anelka was kept on the Chelsea bench until about the 93rd minute. It’s Man United vs Arsenal up next (April 29th) and let’s hope it’s a much better match than this one was.

Mexican striker Carlos Vela has rejoined Arsenal for the game after being quarantined for a day due to fears over the swine flu outbreak in Mexico. Vela was told to stay away from training after some friends from Mexico came to visit him. Over 150 people have died from the virus so far and some Mexican teams have taken to playing in empty stadiums with no fans to help control the disease. The CONCACAF Under 17 championships and a beach soccer championship have also been scrapped due to the flu.

Newcastle United took a step closer to relegation yesterday (April 27th) with a 0-0 draw at home with equally unimpressive Portsmouth. Newcastle sit in with games to go and it looks like they’re going to end up in the Championship Division next season unless they realize the desperate situation they’re in and start playing like they’re actually trying to win a game.

Thirty-five-year-old Manchester United star Ryan Giggs was voted English Premier League player of the year by his fellow pros. It’s about the only trophy Giggs hadn’t won yet in his career by the way. So far, Giggs has lifted 10 Premier League titles, two Champions League sups, four FA Cups and two League Cups.

Giggs received the award on April 26th and is still waiting to make his 800th appearance for United during Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal first leg against Arsenal. Giggs didn’t play in the win over Spurs on the weekend.

While Giggs is and has been a great player, there’s no way he deserves the award on his play this season though. He has only started 12 games for United and it seems the award is basically being awarded to him to honour his excellent career. But even so, the players voted on it and that’s good enough for me.

The players also voted on the English Premier League team of the year and it looks like this:

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar (Man Utd), defenders Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd), Patrice Evra (Man Utd), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), winger Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd), midfielder Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), striker Fernando Torres (Liverpool), striker Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea) and Aston Villa winger Ashley Young.

Young, 23 was also fittingly named young player of the year.