Después de 34
días y 51 partidos, el experimento de la MLS en el complejo de Disney ha
llegado a su fin con muchas más luces que sombras.
El 8 de julio
arrancó uno de los mayores experimentos en el mundo, no sólo del fútbol
profesional, sino de todos los deportes. Y es que la MLS, ante la casi
irremediable situación de tener que reanudar su competición, decidió realizarlo
de una forma un tanto especial. Debido a lo afectado que estaba -y sigue
estando- Estados Unidos a causa del COVID-19, la liga, de la mano del
comisionado Don Garber, apostó por crear un torneo en Orlando, exactamente en
el Wide World Complexo of Sports de Disney, donde formarían una burbuja con las
26 franquicias. Todo esto teniendo en cuenta que sería la primera de las
grandes ligas del país en retomar la actividad (muchas de ellas por cuestiones
de calendario), por delante de la NBA, que terminó por seguir su mismo modelo,
la MLB o la NHL.
Precisamente,
este no tenía nada que ver con la temporada regular que ya había dado, como
siempre, su pistoletazo de salida en la primera semana de marzo y que por la
pandemia tuvo que frenarse con apenas dos jornadas disputadas. Por ello,
pensaron formar un torneo dividido en dos claras partes: primero se disputaría
una fase de grupos, con tres partidos cada equipo, los que contarían de facto
en la puntuación de la ‘Regular Season’. De ese modo querían asegurarse de
premiar de alguna forma a aquellos que fuesen mejores en dicha parte de la
competición. Mientras que, por otro lado, una vez clasificados de ronda, se
pasarían a unos Playoffs que irían de los octavos hasta la final, con un premio
para el campeón de cerca de 900 mil euros, además de un billete para la próxima
edición de la CONCACAF Champions League, el cual se terminó embolsando Portland
Timbers al derrotar a Orlando City.
Sin embargo,
todos estos planes estuvieron cerca de truncarse a pocos días del estreno. Y es
que tanto FC Dallas (diez contagiados) como Nashville SC (otros nueve
positivos) tuvieron que verse obligados a abandonar el torneo ante la
imposibilidad de competir y, sobre todo, el peligro de expandir el virus por el
complejo. Esto produjo retraso de fechas, reestructurar algunos grupos (Chicago
Fire tuvo que pasar del A al B)… Un cúmulo de dudas que hacían presagiar que el
#MLSisBack estaba en peligro.
Finalmente, tras
51 partidos y 34 días, ese mar de dudas se terminó por despejar, haciendo gala
del excelso trabajo que ha realizado la Major League Soccer. Tanto que el
'Guiness World Records' les premió por hacer un torneo tan rápido, tan grande y
en un espacio tan reducido con tal éxito. Ahora, sin apenas una fecha de
descanso, se reinicia la auténtica MLS con su "nueva" y remodelada
temporada regular mediante, justamente, las dos franquicias afectadas por el
coronavirus: FC Dallas y Nashville SC. ¿El objetivo? El 12 de diciembre, día en
el que está fijada la final por la MLS Cup en su 25ª edición.
[(Gangwon FC) Strength]: 1. Last season in the Korean FA Cup, Gangwon FC were eliminated in the Round of 16. This season, the team have made a breakthrough so far and have advanced to the semi-finals. In this second leg, they will play at home and have a strong desire to win.2. Lee Ji Ho, a forward of Gangwon FC, has had limited playing time this season. However, he has maintained high offensive e...
[(Everton F.C.) Strength]: 1. On August 24th, in the 2nd round of the Premier League, Everton F.C. secured a comfortable 2-0 home victory over Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., with Jack Grealish providing two assists and putting in an impressive performance.2. Everton F.C. kept unbeaten in the last 3 Premier League home games with 2 wins and 1 draw, showing excellent performances.3. Everton F.C. h...
[(Nagoya Grampus) Strength]: 1. Nagoya Grampus are on a 2-game losing streak. They are motivated to win this home game to boost their morale.2. Soichiro Mori scored a goal and made an assist in the last game, showing outstanding form.3. Nagoya Grampus secured a 3-game winning streak in their last 3 encounters between both sides, giving them a better mentality.[(Nagoya Grampus) Neutral]: 1. Nagoya ...
[(Grimsby Town F.C.) Strength]: 1. Grimsby Town F.C. player Jaze Kabia scored in the last game, with reliable form.2. Grimsby Town F.C. drew 1-1 against Accrington Stanley in the last game, but they still kept unbeaten among all events in the new season, being in stable form.3. Grimsby Town F.C.'s home performance was outstanding. They won all the last 3 home games.4. Grimsby Town F.C. have a good...
[(FC Machida Zelvia) Strength]: 1. FC Machida Zelvia are undoubtedly motivated to win this home game to qualify for the semi-finals.2. Yuki Soma scored 10 goals and made 6 assists across all competitions this season, being important on the team's offense.3. FC Machida Zelvia drew 0-0 with Yokohama F. Marinos in the last game. They were unbeaten with 11 wins and 1 draw in the last 12 games, showing...
[(Reading F.C.) Strength]: 1. Reading F.C. are playing in the EFL League One this season and are on a 3-game winless run lately. They need to return to winning ways, indicating full motivation in this game.2. Lewis Wing scored a goal and made an assist in the last game, helping the team tie with Wycombe Wanderers F.C.3. Reading F.C. won the last 2 games in AH, revealing recent performances in line...
[(Sheffield Wed) Strength]: 1. Sheffield Wed have a rather impressive track record in the EFL Cup. In the first round of this season, they defeated Bolton Wanderers F.C., another team from the EFL Championship, and have posted 3 wins and 2 draws in their last 5 EFL Cup games.2. Sheffield Wed lost only 1 of the last 5 games in AH with stable performances. They ended all the last 4 games with OVER.[...
[(Eintracht Braunschweig) Strength]: 1. As a 2. Bundesliga side, Eintracht Braunschweig have made a solid start to the new season. Having been eliminated in the first round of the DFB-Pokal in each of the past two seasons, the team will undoubtedly be eager to achieve a better performance when they compete in the tournament again this season. Therefore, they will be full of determination when faci...
[(Sturm Graz) Strength]: 1. Sturm Graz suffered a crushing defeat in the first leg on the road. In this home match, they have to go all out to attack, with full motivation to win.2. Sturm Graz midfielder Otar Kiteishvili scored 4 goals in three league games this season, performing excellently in the league. As the starting forward of the team, his performance in this match is worth keeping an eye ...
[(Burnley) Strength]: 1. Burnley's key midfielder Josh Cullen not only opened the scoring for the team in the last game but also provided an assist, emerging as the biggest contributor to the victory with an outstanding individual performance.2. Burnley claimed a comfortable 2-0 win over Sunderland in their last game, securing their first victory of the new Premier League season and boosting the t...
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