Mexico vs. El Salvador ShowGol Los Angeles Game Guarantees Continuation of a Rivalry, and Lots of Goals
Legends face off for what should be a high-scoring indoor soccer match
The Mexican Soccer Legends will face El Salvador Legends in an indoor soccer match scheduled for this Saturday, April 26, at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles as part of the National ShowGol 2014 Series. The match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will include many of the legendary players from both countries.
ShowGol Los Angeles is part of a four-city, six-country indoor soccer tournament to be played across the United States in 2014. The series kicked off with ShowBol 2014 in Miami, where the legends of Venezuela took on the legends of Colombia. Future matches will be played in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey and will also include legends teams from Ecuador and Honduras.
For many of the participants in ShowGol Los Angeles, the game will be the continuation of a long running sporting rivalry between the two countries. For many of them this personal rivalry started specifically in April 1993 on the first date of the final round towards the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. The venue was Cuscatlan Stadium, after La Selecta had finished in First Place in the previous qualifying round, with victories over rivals such as Jamaica and Canada.
With many of its leading figures on the roster, Mexico was shocked 2-1 in what was to become the first Salvadoran victory over Mexico in El Salvador.
For El Salvador, the roster included William Osorio, Raul Diaz Arce and Mauricio Cienfuegos and was led by Jorge “Mágico” González. Mexico’s lineup included Jorge Campos, Claudio Suarez , Ramon Ramirez and Alberto Garcia Aspe, in a match where Hugo Sánchez also participated .
For over a decade, these men were the pillars of their respective National Teams, making history in the world of football. Over the years Mexico, as a team, had major success in international competitions. Individually, Salvadorans players have also continued their successful careers, both inside and outside their country.
Another 2-1 win over Mexico by El Salvador in the elimination matches to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, revitalized the rivalry between the former “Giant of CONCACAF” and the so called “Tom Thumb of the Americas.”
Now the legends of these countries take the field again to revive the rivalry, returning to competition before an audience that still remembers them with respect, love and admiration. They bring on their teams a number of the greatest scorers they have had in their countries, including Ronald Cerritos, one of the best scorers in the history of San Jose Clash, and Raul Diaz Arce, the leading all time scorer for El Salvador in international competition.
Mexico will present gunners like Mexican striker Luis Hernández, the leader in scoring in France in 1998, Luis Garcia, and four players with the most caps for Mexico, including Suarez (178), Campos (130), Ramirez (121) and Garcia Aspe (109).
Besides the old rivalry, several of the participants agree that a small field lends itself to a lively show and plenty of goals .
“In this kind of game, in a smaller court, mobility is required. The player positions change at any time and the target of the strategy tends to be focus in the attack and on goals, rather than on defense,” said Suarez. “Also, with short distances between both goals, in a few seconds there can be many opportunities for shots on goal.”
“In these are games reflexes are more important that location for the goalkeeper, as the shots are very strong and very fast, favoring the attack,” said Campos, a man characterized by being something of a soccer spectacle himself. “The essence of the game does not change; what changes is the speed of the ball and the number of exciting plays. Bottom line, there will be a lot of goals.”
Julio Palacios Lozano, a defensive pillar for the Cuscatleco team agrees that indoor games favors the attacker. “The time you have to defend is much shorter in indoor games, plus the use of walls and rebounds makes the game faster,” he said. “It requires the defender to cover many changing attacks. Unlike the outdoor field, the strategy here is to score the most goals as possible, knowing that the defense will be continually overcome by the strikers.”
Cienfuegos, the tireless El Salvador midfielder, is also aware that indoor soccer is a game of attack. “The dimensions of the court are made to have goals and plenty of show,” he pointed out. “The ball does not leave the court that often, or the action stopped as much as on the outdoor field, and because of that there are many opportunities for scoring.”
Asked about the 12-11 score in Colombia’s win over Venezuela in the first game of ShowGol held in Miami in March, Cienfuegos added, “That is a common and logical score in these kind of games. I think you can expect something similar in Los Angeles, and the winner will be the team that can take advantage of all the opportunities they will have in the game.”
Legends Rosters
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MEXICO
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EL SALVADOR
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1- Jorge Campos
2- Alberto Garcia Aspe
3- Luis Hernandez
4- Mariano Trujillo
5- Martin Zuñiga
6- Ramon Ramirez
7- German Villa
8- Paulo Cesar Chavez
9- Luis Garcia
10- Claudio Suarez
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1. Mauricio Cienfuegos
2. Raúl Días Arce
3. Emiliano Pedrozo
4. Melvin Barrera
5. Jose Alexander Amaya del Cid
6. Wilfredo Sanabria
7. Julio Palacios Lozano
8. Roberto “Catalinca” Martinez
9. Ronald Cerritos
10. Vladan Vicevic
11: William Osorio
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JUNIO in Concert
As part of ShowGol Los Angeles, Latin Rock recording artists JUNIO will perform in concert at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The 60 minute concert will start at 6:00 p.m. and Julieta Arrieta will be the Concert MC.
Tickets
Tickets for the Mexico vs. El Salvador match are available at Ticketmaster.com, the Los Angeles Sports Arena box office, Niky’s Sports outlets, El Toro Market in Santa Ana and Pepe Sports in Los Angeles. A toll-free number for all ticket information and game is 800-910-0727. Tickets start at $ 25.
Doors open at 6:00 PM. Children 5 and under are free in general admission seating. Children pay full price on sections of reserved seats.
Open Practice Friday, April 25
Players participating in the Los Angeles ShowGol will have workouts open to the public on Friday, April 25, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at John H. Liechty Middle School, 650 S Union Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90017 (Corner of 7th and Union Street).
Celebrity Match
As in the opening show of ShowGol Miami, Showgol of Los Angeles will open with a preliminary match between celebrities and personalities from the press, radio and television media in Los Angeles.
About ShowGol Tour 2014: Presented by SportsSeven Miami , U.S. Showgol Tour 2014 began in Miami on March 21 and will continue through Los Angeles , Washington , DC and New Jersey. The tour will include football legends of Mexico , El Salvador , Honduras , Colombia , Ecuador and Venezuela.