Weekend That Was – March 19

The MLS season continued this weekend with another series of games in the books. Similar to last weekend the difficulty to pick up wins on the road was again highlighted this week as only three out of the nine away teams picked up three points away from home. Houston, for the second straight weekend, along with Colorado and Vancouver were the three teams who won away from home. In addition, perhaps the more telling stat that became apparent this weekend was the seemingly large dispartity between the East and West conferences. Other than Houston, no Eastern conference team has won against a Western conference team and the overall record in cross-conference games is ten wins for the West and only two for the east. It will be interesting to see if this disparity continues to play out over the course of the season.

Elsewhere, despite the FA cup quarterfinals taking place and the continued race for supremacy in leagues across Europe, by far the most significant story line this weekend was the horrific incidient involving Fabrice Muamba in the Tottenham-Bolton FA Cup game. Roughly 40 minutes into the match Muamba collapsed on the field because of what has now been confirmed as cardiac arrest. Muamba has remained in intensive care in a London hospital and it still remains unclear exactly what happened and if Muamba will be able to recover. This was a truly tragic event, one whose significance certainly transcends any games or standing. The outreach in support of Muamba has been fantastic to see as players abroad from all different countries, including MLS players, have reached out to support Muamba and his family via twitter and other means. Steve Zakuani, for example, tweeted, “Have been numb for over an hour. Thinking of you Fabrice. Praying he will be fine. He’s a fellow countryman and a childhood friend.” Louis Saha, now with Tottenham, tweeted, “Big up Fabrice Muamba. Wish him good and will pray alongside his family. Pls [please] forget abt [about] winning or losing. #Lotoflove.” In addition, teams playing all across Europe on Sunday showed support for Muamba with shirts to warm up in before the game. 

It is great to see the global soccer community unite together so effectively in support of Muamba. With an event such as this it is not fair to be focusing on other results and things that happened because the health and safety on Fabrice Muamba is without doubt the most vital concern. With that in mind, heres to hoping nothing but the best and a full recovery for the Fabrice Muamba and his family. Lets all remember to keep him and his recovery in mind. 

#PrayforMuamba

(image courtesy of mirrorfootball.co.uk)