Ten Matches to Watch: The Americas

As is the case in Europe, it is a full fútbol, futebol, soccer weekend in the Western Hemisphere, so much so that matches I would normally include in the Ten to Watch have slipped from the list.

Equally impressive is the diversity in the list.  The Americas have a big three leagues (or, during state leagues in Brazil, countries), but those leagues only make up half of this week's list.  Paraguay is represented as well as Argentina or Mexico and better than Brazil, while Colombia, Peru and Honduras round out the group.

But as is the case in Europe, there is one match that overshadows all, another pairing that deserves mention in any discussion of best club rivalries in the world.

But we have a ways to go before we get there:

#10 - Libertad versus Olimpia, Saturday, Paraguayan Primera Division - Two of Paraguay's big clubs, though one with more recent success than the other, meet in Asuncion on Saturday, Olimpia sitting fourth after nine matches, Libertad in fifth (five back with one match in hand).  LIbertad coach Javier Torrente is expected to save a number of his players ahead of Tuesday LIbertadores match, when Peru's Universitario visits.  Olimpia is not in Libertadores and has hopes of regaining a title they have not won in a decade.  Pushing the 2008 Apertura and Clausura champions out of the race will help clear their path, particularly on a weekend where two of the teams they are chasing face-off against each other.

#9 - América versus Pachuca, Sunday, Mexican Primera Division - After a mild start the Bicentenario, América is unbeaten in four, a run tempered when they gave up two late goals to Atlas last weekend, allowing the Foxes to take a point.  This weekend they welcome Pachuca, who scored a late goal mid-week against a nine man Comunicaciones to qualify for the semifinals of CONCACAF Champions League.  It was the Tuzos' first win since a 5-3 win a Puebla on Valentine's day, a span of six matches.  With rumblings about Guillermo Rivarola's job and the fear of missing a second consecutive Liguilla, Pachuca needs a result, even if it's has to happen at Estadio Azteca.

#8 - Motagua versus Marathón, Sunday, Honduran Liga Nacional - Motagua has ridden the return of Amado Guevara from Major League Soccer to a tie for first in the Liga.  Four wins in a row from Olimpia has one of the league's powers even with them, though Marathón continues to struggle.  They have only lost twice in nine matches, but five draws have kept the Apertura champion mid-table, eleven points behind the leaders.  Marathón's problems could be attributed to their focus on CONCACAF Champions League, a diversion that will no longer bother them after they were bounced out of the tournament by Pumas, whose 6-1 Thursday route in Mexico bounced the Hondurans.

#7 - Sporting Cristal versus Universidad San Martín, Sunday, Peruvian Primera Division - San Martín's 5-0 win over Cienciano was their third win in four matches, their only blemish being a 1-0 loss to Alianza Lima at the end of February.  Sporting Cristal's perfect record went by the wayside last week when they were drawn at Alianza Atlético.  In addition to being a match between the first and third teams in the league, the fixture is notable for Edwin Peréz, who is in his second year at Cristal after eight with USMP.  In Peru, the story line is still a focus of the match, with the media and midfielder reminiscing on his time with the club, where he won league titles in 2007 and 2008.

#6 - Godoy Cruz versus Banfield, Sunday, Argentina - The weekend's final match in the Argentina Clausura sees last tournament's upstarts against this tournament's.  Sitting in second place ahead of the weekend match day, Godoy Cruz has league followers asking how long they can keep up the form that has earned them 18 points in nine matches.  Judging by their good-not-great goal difference of +4, and given the timing of their goals could normalize, El Tomba may come back to earth.  Banfield had a tough, mid-week loss in Copa, losing at home 2-0 to Nacional (Uruguay), and with their best player (James Rodriguez) concentrating his efforts on Libertadores, Banfield's fourth place standing in league can be seen as overachieving.

The top five after the jump, but looking at the games in the poll, it's not difficult to predict which match will be number one.

#5 - Botafogo versus Flamengo, Sunday, Brazil's Carioca - Flamengo is tearing through the second half of the Carioca - not surprising, but the level to which they're ripping through the tournament after unexpectedly losing the Taca Guanabara is noteworthy.  Through four matches, Fla have allowed one goal while scoring 11, all the while pacing Adriano and Dejan Petkovic for Copa Libertadores.  That conservation didn't help on Wednesday when Flamengo lost in Chile to La U.  This weekend, they get a chance for revenge on the team that knocked them out of the Guanabara, one of the few challenges one of the Carioca's top four gets during the qualification stage.  The high ranking for this game reflects this scarcity:  Woo hoo!  A good match in Brazil!  Perhaps they're not that rare, but still.

#4 - Guaraní versus Cerro Porteño, Sunday, Paraguayan Primera Division - Rodrigo Teixeira's acquisition from Ecuador along with a torrid goal rate from Jonathan Fabbro has Guaraní scoring two goals per match, the most in the league one year after averaging only one goal per match in the last Apertura.  Their goal rate improved by roughly fifty percent in the Clausura, and in this year's Apertura they've taken another step, already recording three matches (in nine) with at least three goals.  They sit second to Cerro Porteño, the winner of the last Apertura, who are coming off a mid-week Copa loss to Corinthians.

#3 - Junior versus Real Cartegena, Saturday, Colombian Primera A - The Colombian coastal derby tries to transcend the rival this week, with the top two teams in the league meeting in Baranquilla, Junior trying to give Cartegena their first loss of the season.  Thanks to Copa play, it's been two weeks since these teams played in league, when each drew - Cartegena hosting Envigado and Junior getting an impressive result at Independiente, where a late PK conversation from Luis Arias salvaged a point for the reigning champions.  Junior will be without Victor Cortes, suspended after a red card, while Cartegena will be without Jorge Baron for the same reason.

#2 - Monterrey versus Guadalajara, Saturday, Mexican Primera Division - The two best teams in the Mexican Bicentenario meet, with Guadalajara on a two match winless streak after winning their first eight matches of the tournament.  In a nil-nil result last weekend against Pumas, the difference was Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.  Starting the tournament with eight goals in five matches, Hernández is scoreless in three after earning a series of call-ups to the Mexican national team.  He may need to find his form against a Rayado team that has not lost since their Copa Libertadores trip to São Paulo on February 10.  Young attacker Abraham Carreno is trying to do his best Humberto Suazo, leading the team with five goals.

#1 - Boca Juniors versus River Plate, Sunday, Argentine Clausura - Boca is only three points above the drop, winning only once in nine, while River seems slightly improved on their Apertura form, going 3-3-3 through the first half for the Clausura.  Whereas River can not score goals (8 in 9 matches), Boca can't stop conceding them, allow 18 goals in the tournament.  Martín Palermo continues making his case for a spot with the Albiceleste, leading the league with six goals.  But these are all irrelevant details with Boca and River meet.  It is, after all, the Superclasico, as AV tells us.