By Roberto Ruiz
At the end of the day, the hectic style of play by Chivas del Guadalajara was enough to force a draw with Swansea City in their 1-1 friendly at Miller Park on Wednesday.
In an interesting match between two teams that have been struggling as of late in their respective leagues, Swansea City was unable to pull out a victory against the fan favorite Chivas team. Swansea City played the friendly without its star striker Wilfried Bony, who amid transfer speculation was left at home. In addition to playing without Bony, Swansea City also brought in every substitute on their bench to begin the second half. Chivas did the same, leaving the second half in the hands of the second unit for both squads. It was the super-subs that did all the damage, though. Nathan Dyer scored the only goal for Swansea after a miscommunication between Chivas defenders. Dyer, a midfielder, received a great pass from Marvin Emnes and easily beat the diving Luis Ernesto Michel. With precious seconds ticking away in injury time, Chivas was awarded a penalty after a cross into the box was negated. Midfielder Giovani Hernandez, much to the crowd’s delight, blasted the penalty kick past Gerhard Tremmel for the equalizer.
The match, despite the score, was a high-octane affair that featured a few great saves, several good runs, and many scoring opportunities. After most fans were left utterly disappointed with the quality of play in the World Cup final, this game was a surprising breath of fresh air. Both teams played as if they had something to prove, unlike the style of play usually witnessed during friendly matches. While Chivas was unable to earn the victory, they played with a lot of heart in front of the raucous Miller Park crowd.
Emotions ran high several times during the match, and this led to a couple face-offs that you don’t normally see during a friendly soccer match. Especially one between two teams that rarely play one another. Hard fouls and forehead-to-forehead conversations were the norm by the end of the match. After penalizing both teams for the initial confrontation by ejecting one player from each side, the referees let both teams play on during subsequent mid-match talks.
After the match there was a lot of talk about the penalty awarded to Chivas in injury time. It was not a clear penalty and many thought that the referees were playing to the crowd. Hernandez, though, said that the penalty was the right call in the post match press conference.
31,237 people watched the match at Miller Park. A lot was made of how the baseball field would play during a soccer match, but players from both sides said that the quality of the pitch was not an issue. Being able to clearly make out a baseball diamond in the middle of the pitch was an interesting sight, though, and one had to wonder how flush the grass was.
You can count Chivas Manager Carlos Bustos as a fan of Milwaukee’s baseball stadium, saying “The field was great, [and] the stadium was beautiful.”
Chivas has been struggling for a few years now, but their first visit to Milwaukee invigorated the large Latino population that paid to witness the match. The stands were filled with passionate Chivas fans that made it seem like Chivas had never left Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
Swansea City has finished near the middle of the pack since their inclusion in the English Premier League in 2011. The first Welsh team to play in the English Premier League since its formation in 1992, Swansea City has not yet been in serious trouble of being relegated.
