World Soccer - UK (2022-07)

Twoin a row...Atlasplayerscelebratewiththe trophy

WORLDSERVICE

WORLDSOCCER 81

AmericanandFrenchinternationals,

VenezuelanJefferson Soteldoand the

MexicansJesusAnguloandSebastian

Cordova–andtheircityneighbours

Monterrey,whohadsignedanother

Mexicaninternational,LuisRomo.

However, bothteams,andthe

othertwofavourites,AmericaandCruz

AzulfromMexicoCity, fell short in a

tournamentin whichtheindividual

talentofthe richerteamstooka back

seattoAtlas’teamworkandthe

intelligenceof theirmanagerDiego

Cocca.

Atnotimewas thatclearerthanin

thesemi-final,inwhichtheRojinegros

facedTigres,withtheirinternational

stars andtheircoach,theflamboyant

formerMexicomanagerMiguelHerrera.

Inthe first leg,Atlas,aware of the

offensivepoweroftheirrivals,beton

patience,andtookadvantageofthe

spacesleft forthecounter-attack.In a

displayof practicalityandpunch, they

tookanunexpected3-0leadwith goals

fromJulioFurch,LuisReyesandJulian

Quinones,which seemedtodefinethe

tie.

ButTigreswerenotdead,andinfront

of 42 ,500spectatorsatthe Estadio

Universitario,bothteamsstarredin the

craziest matchinMexicansoccerina

longtime.

After 45 minutes,itseemedthat

everythingwasdecided.Quinones

hadscoredagainforAtlasandthe

aggregatescorewasalready4-0. But

thenGignacarrived.TheFrenchman

showed that,at 36 yearsold,heisstill

thebestplayer in theLigaMXand with

a hat-trickin 20 minutes,hereturned

Tigrestothetie.WhenLichnovskymade

it4-1,itseemedtohavesealedthemost

incrediblecomebackinrecentmemory.

Then,withjustthreeminutesofadded

timeremainingandthe grandstand

celebratinginadvance,Atlascaptain

AldoRochawasknockeddowninthe

boxby Anguloand,after a reviewof

severalminutes,therefereedecided

toawardapenalty.

Whatfollowedwas farcical.Tigres’

goalkeeper, Nahuel Guzman,interrupted

thegamefor severalminutesbetween

tears andcomplaintstothereferee,and

wassentofffor puttingtwoballsonthe

pitchafter Rochascoredthewinning

goalfromthe penaltyspot.

Theworstpartis that noneofthis

reallymattered.Herrera,inhiseagerness

tocomebackfromthe deficit, had

forgotten theregulationsandbrought

innineforeignplayers,onemore

thantheauthorisedlimit,so,in practice,

thefinalresultwas2-0forAtlas.

After thedramaofthe semi-final,

thedecisive duel pittedtheRojinegros

againstPachuca,a teamwithgood

young players, ledbythe excellent

UruguayancoachGuillermoAlmada,

whohadfinishedinfirst placeinthe

regularseason.

However, Atlas’experiencewastoo

muchfor theTuzos. In thefirstleg,

despitebeingdominatedathomefora

goodpart of thematch,theRojinegros

tooka 2-0lead.Andin thesecondleg

theysurvivedaninitialonslaughtfrom

Pachuca,keepingtheircooldespite

beingdown2-1 in thefirsthalf, to keep

a cleansheetinthe secondandwin

theirsecondconsecutivechampionship.

Eventheirmostloyalfanswouldnot

havedreamedof seeingthislevel of

success,aftergrowingupseeingtheir

parents andgrandparentssuffer year

after year. Thecurse,it seems,has

undoubtedlynow beenlifted.

Infrontof42,500spectatorsattheEstadio

Universitario,bothteamsstarredinthecraziest

matchinMexicansoccerinalongtime

Chaotic...Tigres’

keeperNahuel

Guzman was

sentoffin the

semi-final

Semi-final
hat-trickhero...
Andre-Pierre
Gignac