Tag: Brandon Vazquez

Inter Miami crumbles under Monterrey pressure, crashing out of Concacaf Champions Cup

Messi’s return didn’t prevent another instance of Miami losing its composure against Los Rayados

Inter Miami’s dreams of worldwide glory will have to wait another year.

Lionel Messi’s return was not enough for Miami, who boiled over en route to a 3-1 second-leg defeat in its Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal against Monterrey.

Just like in the first leg, the Herons finished with 10 men — Jordi Alba was sent off after the damage was already done — and Los Rayados would end up strolling to a 5-2 aggregate win thanks to goals from Brandon Vazquez, Germán Berterame, and Jesús Gallardo.

Coming off of a 2-1 Monterrey win at Chase Stadium, Miami and Monterrey settled into an unsurprising pattern: the slower but technically gifted visitors looking to use possession to unlock the hosts’ defense, while Los Rayados emphasized counter-attacking play from a mid-block.

“I think that the players understood where the game was going,” Monterrey manager Fernando Ortiz told reporters after the game, explaining his use of a 4-4-2 diamond in defensive phases. “We knew that they were going to dominate the game with the ball, and we wanted them to feel desperate, close the spaces, so that they couldn’t find the internal [passes] that has damaged so many rivals.”

Miami may have been trying to replicate what the Columbus Crew had done on Tuesday in knocking off Tigres, but the Herons could only end up copying the wrong aspects of that performance.

Drake Callender — as Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte did the night before — got it all wrong with the ball at his feet, gifting possession to the opponent’s most dangerous goalscorer.

For Monterrey, that’s Vazquez, and the U.S. men’s national team prospect quickly punished the mistake to give Monterrey a two-goal aggregate edge.

Beyond the goal, an otherwise plodding first half offered two talking points: the dreadful pitch conditions at Estadio BBVA, and Luis Suárez wrenching Víctor Guzmán’s arm to a painful angle.

The former slowed possession for both teams down to a crawl in certain areas, with divots popping up all over the field. The latter was not spotted by the officiating crew, and somehow evaded a VAR check, much less an actual punishment.

That might have been more of a flashpoint when Suárez scored shortly thereafter thanks to a flick from Messi, but the Uruguay star was correctly called offside.

In the end, Miami probably needed the lucky break that would have been an illegitimate goal. Monterrey came out of the locker room and thoroughly dominated the start of the second half. After a slew of chances, the Liga MX powers finally found a critical second on the night via a blistering strike from Berterame.

“I believe that what got us out of the game is the second goal, 15 minutes into the second half,” admitted Miami boss Gerardo “Tata” Martino. “I think at that time, we lost our way, we were [already] eliminated.”

Miami was adrift, and another giveaway at the back ended the already remote hopes of a late comeback.

This time, Diego Gómez’s attempt to switch fields was instead slammed directly into Gallardo, who just kept his run going to head home Berterame’s lob into the box.

With advancement out of reach in an acrimonious match, things only went downhill from there for Miami. Jordi Alba picked up two yellow cards in four minutes, exploding at referee Iván Barton as the Salvadoran issued the second in the 78th minute.

Before the match veered into truly embarrassing territory, Messi managed to help save some dignity for the Herons. The Argentine, booed throughout by Monterrey fans, found Gómez with an inch-perfect dead ball delivery, allowing the Paraguay midfielder to nod in a consolation goal in the 86th minute.

Still, the whole experience was chastening for Miami, who didn’t have the legs or mental strength to compete with the best of Concacaf over two legs.

“We knew Monterey is a very good team, and obviously a tough opponent. They played really well, and we made some mistakes that cost us,” said Julian Gressel in an interview with FS1 after the match. “Hopefully we’ll learn from it, and we can move on into the next competition and do well.”

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Brandon Vazquez is doing all he can

Vazquez tells Pro Soccer Wire about his early success with Monterrey, and his USMNT prospects

Whether he breaks through for the U.S. men’s national team or not, Brandon Vazquez seems to know things are going well for him.

His club, Monterrey, is very much in the running for Liga MX glory again, and Vazquez is playing a major role after finding goals and starts immediately following a $7.5 million winter transfer from FC Cincinnati.

Speaking to Pro Soccer Wire one day before a Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal first leg at Inter Miami, Vazquez projects the kind of calm confidence that comes when you’re scoring on the regular for one of the continent’s best teams.

The San Diego native is even ready to get the awkward questions of the USMNT — which won the Concacaf Nations League last month without him — out of the way early.

“I’m doing all I can, you know?” reasoned Vazquez. “There’s nothing more that I could be doing that could make my chances better, I guess? There’s some stuff that’s out of my control, that I can’t let bother me.

“I just have to keep the same mindset I’ve been having, stay motivated, and keep the same work ethic and routine and when my time is called upon, I’ll be ready for it.”

In March, Vazquez told the Cincinnati Enquirer that he hadn’t heard directly from Gregg Berhalter, and that he “didn’t know” where he stood in the USMNT coach’s eyes. That situation has changed, with the 25-year-old confirming that Berhalter gave him a call just before the Nations League roster was announced.

“The day before that roster came out, Gregg Berhalter had called me,” Vazquez said, anticipating the question before it even arrived. “[He] basically told me that they were really happy with my performances, that I have been a killer in the box, that I’ve been doing great, have been killing it down here.

“He had called me to let me know and give me a heads up that I wasn’t going to be on the roster, which I respect quite a lot.”

Per Vazquez, Berhalter’s message was “to keep it up, because they’ve been watching all my games, and to not lose motivation because of it … it gives me a bit of confidence.”

Discussing the U.S. setback barely dampens Vazquez’s mood, because things are going quite well with Monterrey.

Even as he and Germán Berterame have sometimes been rotated as Los Rayados‘ starting No. 9, Vazquez has been an instant hit in Mexico. In 820 minutes across Liga MX and Concacaf Champions Cup play, Vazquez has put up eight goals, making him Monterrey’s leading scorer in a season that could end in a double.

Even with Monterrey suffering just one loss this season — Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat against Chivas snapped a 16-match unbeaten start to the campaign — and his own red-hot form in front of goal, Vazquez says he feels like he’s still trying to get used to his new surroundings.

(Photo by Azael Rodriguez/Getty Images)

“It’s a little bit of a complicated one, because I still feel like I am adjusting,” Vazquez admitted, balancing the evidence of his and the team’s strong run with things he knows can improve. “Getting to know your teammates and their habits, that takes a while to adjust to, but my teammates have found me in the box. The runs that I’ve made, they are starting to get those pretty well.

“I try to make clear for the teammates around me what I like, where I like the ball, what runs I’m usually making, and they’ve been doing a great job at putting the ball there for me. All I’ve had to do is just hit the back of the net.”

Much has been made of the differences between American and Mexican soccer, whether that be training structure, tactics, or granular details like injury prevention and nutrition. For Vazquez, the job is to make “the same dish, with a different recipe.”

“Obviously with different coaches, you have different training sessions, different drills, different warm-ups,” explained Vazquez. “Everything is a bit different, but at the same time, a bit the same.”

Amid the big professional change, Vazquez is also a new father, with his wife Jessie giving birth to a son, Luca, in February. Vazquez can’t help but break into a grin at the thought, but in the short term, he’s on his own in Monterrey.

“My family and my newborn is still in Cincinnati,” said Vazquez. “We’re waiting to get some vaccines and my baby’s passport for them to travel down.”

Vazquez has made it up to visit twice, taking advantage of the Concacaf Champions Cup bracket putting Monterrey on a collision course with FC Cincinnati, as well as the international window, to make the trek.

Vazquez admitted that it’s been tough to be separated, but joked that there’s at least a silver lining: He’s getting to sleep.

“I have been missing my family for the past couple months, but from what I’ve heard, I would have no sleep if my newborn was down there.”

Vazquez talks Inter Miami clash

In the meantime, Vazquez has his work, which on Wednesday means suiting up against Inter Miami. The striker admits that Monterrey isn’t immune to the potential once-in-a-lifetime nature of a competitive game against the stars on the Herons’ roster.

“I think everybody has it in the back of their mind,” conceded Vazquez. “There’s so much hype around this team, there’s so much limelight on this team.

“We’re not only playing against a good team, but everything that goes around it — all the attention, all the media that’s around it. You just have to stay focused on the job and be able to perform on the field when you step out onto the pitch.

“I think we have we have an amazing group here. So I have no doubt that we can get the job done.”

Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

Monterrey tends to do just that in the Champions Cup, winning the tournament five times in the last 13 years. Vazquez called the prospect of adding a continental trophy to his resumé “incredible,” and expressed belief in Los Rayados‘ chances of making it six trophies out of 14.

“There’s a lot of history in this club with this tournament, and a lot of trophies won here,” said Vazquez. “We know that we’re capable of doing it. We have the players to do it, and we’ve done it plenty of times before. So, we have an expectation, a high demand on ourselves to be able to get to the final, be able to win this trophy.

“We know we can do it. We’d be the only people in our way. If we just do what we know how to do, the quality of our players will just take over.”

It’s a recurring theme for Vazquez, whose attitude towards his very unusual occupation often comes across like any grounded person working in a field they enjoy.

“You just have to focus on the step in front of you,” concluded Vazquez. “We just have to take it one game at a time, one step at a time, and just focus on getting the job done 90 minutes at a time.”

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Vazquez: I’ve already decided to play for USMNT over Mexico

The USMNT striker sounds like a player who has his mind made up

Brandon Vazquez has said he’s “already made” the decision to play for the U.S. men’s national team over Mexico.

Vazquez was born in California but has dual citizenship and is also eligible for Mexico, which the USMNT will face in a friendly on Wednesday night in Glendale, Arizona.

Ahead of the game, Vazquez spoke to the media on Monday and said even after Diego Cocca took over El Tri in February, he’s heard nothing from the Mexican federation.

“I’ve heard absolutely nothing from them,” Vazquez said, repeating his answer from last summer when El Tri was coached by Tata Martino.

“Right now my mind is just on playing with the U.S. and creating a good relationship with the players around me and just winning myself a position here.”

Though Vazquez will still be eligible to play for Mexico after Wednesday’s game, which is not part of any official competition, the striker had the sound of a player with his international future already decided.

“I believe the decision is already made,” Vazquez said.

“I grew up playing with the U.S. youth national team and for me, the decision was where I feel I would fit best and where I think I would perform at my best and for me, that’s the United States,” he continued.

“I grew up with a lot of the players around here and I feel like my chemistry with the players around me fits best here, and I think I can perform my best with this group.”

The FC Cincinnati striker has become one of the best forwards in MLS in the past year, scoring 18 goals and adding eight assists last season.

Vazquez marked his USMNT debut in January with a goal against Serbia.

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USMNT striker stock watch: Final rankings before the World Cup

The USMNT will announce its World Cup roster on Wednesday. Which strikers will make the cut?

The United States men’s national soccer team will announce its roster for the 2022 World Cup on Wednesday evening.

The striker position has been in flux for most of the year but with just two weeks until kickoff in, some clarity has started to emerge.

Before the roster is revealed, here’s the final edition of Pro Soccer Wire’s 2022 striker stock watch series, with players ranked 1-3 expected to make the flight to Qatar.

FC Cincinnati coach Noonan says Vazquez is ‘going to be gone’ if he keeps scoring

The 24-year-old will likely have European suitors after a breakout 2022 campaign

FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan is realistic about the prospects of keeping Brandon Vazquez around.

Vazquez just completed a breakout 2022 campaign that saw him tally 18 goals and eight assists in 33 games. At 24, the forward looks to be the right age to make a big-money move to Europe.

Though Noonan would clearly like to keep Vazquez around for the long term, the coach knows there could be offers that are simply too good to turn down.

“I would say that if he continues on this path, he’s going to be gone,” Noonan told the media on Wednesday. “That’s my guess. Do we want to lose him? No. If he continues in the form that he is in, he can produce for us for a long time and that’s what we want.”

Though he excelled at a position that’s hardly an area of strength for the U.S. national team, Vazquez will not be a part of the team’s World Cup roster barring anything truly unforeseen.

That could potentially open the door for Mexico, a country Vazquez is also eligible to represent through his parents.

Vazquez could have a choice of clubs to make soon as well as national teams. Though it could be a blow to his team on the field, Noonan has said he’d be happy to see the striker move on if the right opportunity arises.

“For Brandon, the person [and] the player, if other opportunities come about and he’s able to go onto something bigger and better, I think that’s fantastic,” Noonan said. “I think it’s a sign of players being able to be a part of our staff and this club, being in position to develop to play at a higher level, wherever that is, whatever that means.

“So, again, we want Brandon here for a long time. But when you score goals, others are going to take notice of that and he is going to be sought after.”

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Philadelphia Union grind it out, besting FC Cincinnati 1-0 in MLS playoffs

The Union were just a little bit better in a bruising battle with Cincy

MLS playoff wins are often a long way from pretty, and if that’s how it has to be, the Philadelphia Union are ready.

Philadelphia and FC Cincinnati duked it out at Subaru Park Thursday night, and the Union did just enough in a physical battle to take a 1-0 decision. Leon Flach, who hadn’t scored a goal all season, picked up the game-winner in the second half of a hotly contested Eastern Conference semifinal.

The Union front three of Julián Carranza, Dániel Gazdag, and Mikael Uhre combined for 49 goals and 25 assists on the season. Cincinnati had pretty much the same situation with their attacking trio: Luciano Acosta, Brenner, and Brandon Vazquez totaled 49 goals and 25 assists in MLS this year.

And yet, the stars of this battle ended up being eaten up for long spells by the unsung players in the respective engine rooms. Philadelphia’s ferocious pressing and defensive organization meant the visitors never had time to think. Going the other way, Obinna Nwobodo was seemingly everywhere for Cincy, preventing the Union from assembling any passing fluency.

It was fitting that when the Union broke the deadlock in the 59th minute, it wasn’t an attack-first Designated Player. It wasn’t even a star fullback like Kai Wagner, or a set piece. It was Flach, the midfield shuttler  — that’s Leon “zero goals in 2022” Flach — sweeping the ball past Roman Celentano after a scramble inside the Cincinnati box.

They say goals change games, and while Cincinnati did go for a classic center back out/striker in substitution, with Ian Murphy coming off for Sergio Santos, the game largely remained a hectic scrap. Referee Tim Ford somehow only gave out five yellow cards as the tackles continued to fly in, and if any big-name player stood out, it was Union goalkeeper Andre Blake.

Ultimately, while both of these teams are capable of some lovely soccer, the fact is that they’re two of the rough-and-tumble East’s roughest, tumblingest teams. This was never likely to become a game about technical proficiency. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, Philly is just a little bit more comfortable with the sort of battle this game turned into, and that’s why the Union are off to the conference final.

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USMNT World Cup roster to be revealed on November 9

Who will make Gregg Berhalter’s list?

We’ll know the 26-player U.S. men’s national team roster for the 2022 World Cup in less than a month.

U.S. Soccer announced Thursday that they will announce the full squad heading to Qatar on Wednesday, November 9, at Brooklyn Steel in New York City.

ESPN2 and ESPN+ will broadcast the event, with coverage beginning at 5:00pm Eastern. Gregg Berhalter and some players from the squad will be present in person.

In World Cups past, the run-up would mean a roster reveal coming out as far as a month before the tournament. However, with Qatar holding the World Cup in November and December, in the thick of the European club season, the announcement will come just 12 days before the USMNT opens its schedule against Wales on November 21. Many players will likely have one more round of club matches the following weekend before joining up with the USMNT and heading to a pre-tournament training camp in Qatar.

Expect Berhalter to stay young

USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter is expected to call up one of the youngest squads going to the World Cup. Per data from U.S. Soccer, the average age of the USMNT in their 14 qualifying matches was 23.82, making them by some distance the most youthful group to qualify for the tournament.

Berhalter will have some tough calls to make over the next few weeks. A dispiriting pair of friendlies against Japan and Saudi Arabia saw few players improve their stock, and while important players like Christian Pulisic and Ricardo Pepi have since gotten into better form with their clubs, fans are justifiably nervous with the group’s struggles in their last pair of rehearsals.

It feels as though there are few roster mysteries, provided that some key players stay healthy. Recent call-ups like Johnny Cardoso and Sam Vines appear to be on the outside looking in, while striker Brandon Vazquez has said that Berhalter told him it was too late to integrate him.

With Berhalter seemingly not particularly moved by Jordan Pefok’s excellent start with Union Berlin, the strike force question also seems close to settled. Center back should see the most heated competition, though that stems in part from injuries and poor showings in September for several candidates.

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Vazquez: Berhalter told me it’s too late to integrate me before World Cup

The ship has sailed for Vazquez’s hopes of making the USMNT World Cup squad

Brandon Vazquez said Gregg Berhalter has informed him that his 2022 World Cup roster hopes are over.

Vazquez has put himself on the U.S. national team radar with a stellar 2022 season with FC Cincinnati, scoring 18 goals and adding eight assists to lead his side to the playoffs.

The 23-year-old, who is also eligible to play for Mexico, is still awaiting his first senior team call-up for either country.

It’s that lack of experience with the USMNT that has proven costly in Berhalter’s eyes, which Vazquez said the U.S. coach relayed to him last month.

“I talked to Gregg right before that [September] camp,” Vazquez told MLS Today, “and he was basically saying that it was a little too late to integrate me and that he feels I made it really hard for him and that I just need to keep proving myself and that I’ll [have] that opportunity in the next cycle. Pretty much was that.”

The ship appeared to have sailed for Vazquez when Berhalter omitted him from that September roster. The USMNT boss said at the time that Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent and Jesús Ferreira were preferred in part because they all had USMNT experience.

“For us, it’s comparing him to what we have, comparing him to other guys and then the body of work both with his club and with us,” Berhalter said last month. “And with us, it’s very difficult for him: He doesn’t have a body of work.”

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Pefok, Ream and Vazquez headline the biggest USMNT roster snubs

Barring injuries or a real turn of form at club level, these guys are likely to be watching the World Cup on TV

There will always be a few snubs from any U.S. men’s national team roster, but rarely are they as meaningful as these ones.

Head coach Gregg Berhalter has insisted that the non-injured players who didn’t make his 26-man roster for September’s friendlies still have a shot to make the World Cup squad.

But it will be tough.

This is the last chance to impress Berhalter before the World Cup, so barring injuries or a real turn of form at club level, the following players are likely to be watching the USMNT on TV in Qatar.

Let’s get to the biggest omissions from the USMNT September roster.

Berhalter explains Pepi call-up ahead of in-form Pefok and Vazquez

The USMNT coach opted for experience and potential over players scoring at their clubs

Of the 26 names on September’s U.S. men’s national team roster, Ricardo Pepi’s was perhaps the most surprising.

The USMNT has a host of in-form striker options at the moment, but Gregg Berhalter opted to omit three of those in favor of a player who hasn’t scored a goal in nearly a year.

Brandon Vazquez has had a breakout campaign with FC Cincinnati, Jordan Pefok is off to a strong start in the Bundesliga with Union Berlin, and Haji Wright is still scoring with Antalyaspor in Turkey.

None of them made the cut.

Pepi has only just completed a loan move to Groningen in the Netherlands after a difficult start to life with Augsburg.

But Pepi’s track record with the USMNT, as well as his obvious potential, made the difference in Berhalter’s mind.

“Keep in mind this is a guy that scored three goals for us in World Cup qualifying and has had a tough time since then,” Berhalter told the media on Wednesday.

“We’re trying to get him confidence. We’re trying to get him into the group and see if he can make a push for the final roster — that’s TBD right now.

“You can see that he can be dominant in the Dutch league. And now it’s a question of if he actually is, and can he really take his game to the next level?

“Pepi has had some good history with us. He started in really important games. And we just weren’t willing to give all that up right now on Pepi, and we still think there’s a big upside with him. We still think he’s got really good potential.”

Berhalter addresses Pefok & Vazquez snubs

Berhalter didn’t go in depth into why Pefok missed out, saying that he was already familiar with what the striker brings to the table.

“We’re pretty confident we know Jordan’s profile, we know what he can do,” Berhalter said. “And we didn’t feel like we needed to see him in this camp to determine whether he can be on the [World Cup] roster or not.”

Berhalter did speak more on Vazquez, a player who has had a breakout campaign in MLS. In the USMNT coach’s eyes, however, his lack of experience with the national team is costly at this late stage.

“For us, it’s comparing him to what we have, comparing him to other guys and then the body of work both with his club and with us,” Berhalter said. “And with us, it’s very difficult for him: He doesn’t have a body of work.”

“I feel bad for Brandon,” the coach continued. “I talked to him and I told him it’s not the end and continue to do what he’s doing and keep himself in the conversation. That’s all I can do.”

(Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports)

Berhalter also laid out his vision for what he is looking for in a striker, which could be instructive in explaining some of his personnel decisions.

“We use them in a number of different ways,” Berhalter said. “One of them is to drop in and give us an extra man in midfield. One of the ways is to run behind the backline and then arrive in the penalty box, making good runs inside the penalty box.

“And then finally, starting our defensive pressure. We want to be a high-pressing team. We need forwards that understand the press, know how to use triggers to initiate the press and then actually execute the press well.”

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