Soccer Watch

The CONCACAF Champions League round of 16 starts this week, Tue.-Thu., Feb. 20-22, with five MLS teams in action, none drawn against the four Mexican clubs in the first round. As usual, the competition starts early in the MLS teams' preseason, but the big news this cycle is the problem with Honduras, where continuing violence in the aftermath of President Juan Orlando Hernandez's contested victory for a second term has led to both Honduran clubs being forced to move their home games out of the country. Defend­ing champion Olimpia will face the New York Red Bulls in San Jose, Costa Rica – and in an empty stadium, due to an unrelated sanction levied against the club for fan violence during last year's tourney. Meanwhile Motagua will "host" Tijuana in Edinburg, Texas, which is expected to show strong support for the Mexican side. Univision Deportes will air most of the games, including all eight of the Mexican teams’ games, but only three of the eight games involving MLS teams.[Note: this has been changed from the original to reflect the Deportes airings.]

European Champions League round of 16 continues this Tue.-Wed., Feb. 20-21. Tue.: Besiktas at Bayern Münich, Barcelona at Chelsea; Wed.: Manchester Utd. at Sevilla, Roma at Shakhtar Donetsk, all at 1:45pm on Fox Sports 1 & 2, and ESPN Deportes & Fox Deportes. Solid results for England in the first week: two wins and a draw, all on the road.

The U.S. Soccer Federation elected the establishment candidate, current USSF vice president Carlos Cordeiro, as its new president on Saturday. It took three ballots, but none of the so-called "gang of six" outsider candidates – including former national team players Paul Caligiuri, Eric Wynalda, and Hope Solo – wound up getting any substantial support.