by GIANFRANCO PANIZO
Jose Francisco Torres and Pachuca tied UNAM, 2-2, in the Mexican Clausura final on Sunday night but Pumas walked away with the title as they won on aggregate, 3-2.
The game ended 2-1 in favor of Pachuca but with Pumas having won the first leg, 1-0, the game went into extra time. Pachuca entered extra time down a man as defender Javier Mustafa was given a red card one minute prior to the end of regulation.
With Pumas attacking throughout the majority of extra time, Pachuca surrendered a goal in the 107th minute as goalkeeper Miguel Calero mishandled a low shot from Pablo Edson Barrera. The goal gave Pumas the advantage, one which they would not relinquish en route to capturing their second Clausura championship in team history.
Torres, who will join the United States men's national team in Miami on Monday before flying to Costa Rica for their World Cup qualifier against Los Ticos, came off the bench in the 72nd minute for midfielder Gabriel Caballero.
What did you think of the Mexican final? Happy to see Pumas win the title? Should Torres have started?
Share your thoughts below.
Calero actually knocked the slow shot into the gooooooooooooooool. A giant howler.
If Sorber played for them they must have sucked.
Torres beat on game winning goal. Slid when he should have stood on his feet.
Good game. Its a shame the Ref gave the game to Pumas with that straight red which shoulda been a yellow.
I watched and really enjoyed this chess match of a soccer game. Both teams really layed it on the line. Pumas was great!! Pachuca was great!! But the keeper for Pachuca made some critical mistakes that cost him.
I can’t wait till MLS Cup will have that type of feeling and passion surrounded by it. I don’t think American fans will be able to handle the barbed wire though!!
As a pumas fan and a US NATS fan my hearth was divided, I am happy for pumas, its our sixth star and one which i am so very proud of, did anyone know that Mike Sorber played for them?…
Cheers
Dominick
thats his nickname in Mexico, I think its because he was born here in the US. And his mom is American.
Torres-the new Claudio Reyna…may he have a career as distinguished (if not more so) than Claudio’s…
A couple of questions here. Did anyone else notice that the announcer kept calling him, “El Gringo Torres”? Is that his nickname in Mexico?
Also, his slide was his last chance to defend it, the angle he was coming back at would have set him up for contact in the box and a potential penalty had he just kept running. In my opinion, it was a smart play, maybe just not perfectly executed.
the goal that Pachucha gave up to lose was 100% the keepers fault, Jose had a chance to stop it, but the guy had no angle and any professional goalie has to stop that shot, a heck of an entertaining game
i thought torres played well considering what he came into but like Issac said, he was the last guy who got beat that led to the winning goal. but hey, he is young and it certainly wasn’t his fault they lost. going down to 10 men was too much to overcome.
Torres was the final defender beaten on the winning goal by Barrera. At least he’s putting the effort of getting back and defending.
***disclaimer*** this was first time I have watched torres with pachuca. i have watched his appearances in the nats shirt, in which he has been impressive.
Torres was not as impressive last night, this was a big game and he didn’t come in and give the team a boost. He lost possession too often for a midfield player (when they had 11 guys), then nearly disappeared when they went down to 10 men.
He was tracking back a lot and covering a good amount of ground, but was not really winning any balls. He does not have the look of a consistent ballwinner to me.
He did have a couple moments where you can see he has that extra something, a nice run through the midfield to the 18 where his shot was blocked and a couple intelligent touches.
@ DC Josh
Jose’s minutes are consistent. He is normally a starter but has come off the bench 2-3 times over the last 5 games. He is not always a 90 minute guy, though and he does get subbed out quite a bit. But usually it is tactical and has little to do with his play. Jose is not the youngest starter but he is the youngest in terms of experience for Pachuca.There are many veterans in that lineup and Jose is still earning their trust. He must delegate to them. So therefore many times he is sacrificed late in games. His manager, Meza, is very guarded with it comes to Jose. He does not want to put him in position to fail. Jose is not a project per se for Pachuca but is a player they are slowly bringing along in a veteran laden team. From those vets like Alzarez, Gimenez, and Caballero, Jose is learning some valuable lessons. Lessons that he might not get with anyone other club. Jose is in the perfect situation.
I thought last night Jose did well when he entered the match. He kept possession flowing, had good movement off the ball, and tracked back well. He wasn’t a standout but he did his job. Caballero started in place of torres but is understandable given his resume and given that he was played in numerous finals in his illustrious career.
Fun game from what I watched. Soft goals by both keepers. Our main Torres failed to stand up the scorer for Pumas instead he slide in and the attacker moved right past him. The subsequent shot was the winner. I didn’t see much impact from Jose but it was hard to find # 18. I think Joes can be a asset for the WCQ’s.
I went to bed around the 60th minute and Torres had yet to make an appearance. He gets very inconsistent minutes at Pachuca. I don’t follow the Mexican league at all, but it is very weird how he starts one game, then the next plays only 18.
My dad, just your average soccer guy who watches it when the Nats are playing or we have it on, made a comment about wishing he would do more, which is fair, but, for most of the time he was in, Pachuca were just punting it out of their own box to midfield, and he looked good on the ball and hustling all over the place. Kid can ball, as we all know. Sorry he didn’t get that trophy yet, but he will.
What was amazing was watching the Pumas fans lean shirtless on the barbed wire on top of the fences during the post match celebration.
Sucks they lost, but Torres should be right on form when he joins up in Costa Rica. We need him in these away qualifiers in Latin America.
ives is outsourcing.
There is Coup going on here. This site is becoming “Soccer by GianFranco” lately lol. Looking at just the posts on the first page, 6 of the 10 are from Mr. Panizo.