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Ventura Alvarado accomplishes personal goal of booking ticket to Club World Cup

Ventura Alvarado Club America 12

photo by Eric Bolte/USA Today Sports

By FRANCO PANIZO

MONTREAL — Less than an hour after hoisting the CONCACAF Champions League trophy with his teammates, a clearly happy Ventura Alvarado wore a white chef wrap with Japan’s flag symbol on it while he spoke in English to a small contingent of Japanese media.

Alvarado was not only delighted to win the regional crown, but also to accomplish a personal goal of his.

Club America claimed the 2014-15 Champions League on Wednesday night, using a second-half assault to rally to a 4-2 win over the Montreal Impact at Olympic Stadium. The victory made Alvarado the second U.S. Men’s National Team player to ever win the tournament, and the 22-year-old centerback is now poised to become the third U.S. player to ever compete in the FIFA Club World Cup this winter in Japan.

“I’m very, very excited. I had visions of playing in that,” said Alvarado, who will follow in the footsteps of Jose Torres and Herculez Gomez if he sees time in the annual competition. “It’s a goal I set for myself, and now it’s a just a proud moment being able to go.”

Alvarado did not play spectacularly in Club America’s second leg victory, but he did just enough to help slow down an Impact attack that looked lethal during the first half. He held his own when facing numerous counterattacks and never really got beat by Montreal’s speedy attackers, though Alvarado did commit a foul in the second half that other referees might have given him a yellow card for.

The night may have ended enjoyably for Alvarado and his Liga MX teammates, but it did not start out that way. With a roaring crowd of 61,004 fans urging them on, the Impact took the game to Club America in the opening minutes of the match before taking an early lead in the eighth minute via a silky-smooth finish from Andres Romero.

“We were still getting into the groove of the game, and feeling them out,” said Alvarado. “They came at us a bit differently than in the first leg, and their goal disoriented the team a little bit. But in the second half we made some changes and we remained confident that we would turn the game around.”

Club America did more than just that. It thoroughly pummeled Montreal after the intermission, scoring four straight goals in a dominant second half that sent many Impact fans to the exits before the final whistle was blown.

That still did not take away from the show put forth by the Montreal faithful’s boisterous support, which Alvarado was impressed by.

“I think in Mexico it’s a little stronger, but to get here and see this atmosphere did surprise me,” said Alvarado. “We’re used to it, though. We play in front of much larger crowds in a bigger stadium, and there’s no comparison.”

The crowds in Japan might also not be quite as large as the ones that Alvarado is used to playing at Estadio Azteca, but the competition he’ll take part in at the Club World Cup this December will be like nothing he’s ever experienced before.

He’s eagerly looking forward to it, but for now will focus on cherishing the capture of this Champions League crown.

“I’m very proud and very happy, honestly, for all of my family and friends and my teammates who played a great game,” said Alvarado. “I’m very happy to hoist this trophy.”

Comments

  1. For now he has been under a lot of pressure and he needs time to recuperate.
    He plays for the real Madrid of Mexico and gets plastered by media 24/7, while gonzalez plays with galaxy in mls and plays against sucky teams in calm atmospheres. He might be going to Spain sooner or later.

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    • I think the reason that some are high on him is because he has excellent speed and you can’t teach that. He’s still young at 22 and playing good defense is a lot about positioning and reading the game which comes with experience and you can teach that. When Brooks first started playing for the US he often looked kind of lost out there, but now he’s starting every week in the Bundesliga. My other favorite spectator sport is college basketball and the great coaches will pick great athletes and teach them how to play defense. And it is usually good defense that wins championships.

      Reply
  2. if he keeps playing like he did against Montreal and Chivas he maybe won’t make it to the CWC, Club America’s defense has been heavily criticized in mexican media and it seems that Alvarado is the weakest link.

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