By NAYIB MORAN
In October, Club America will be one year away from its 100th birthday. The planning for a memorable celebration is on the verge of starting, but before all that occurs, it’s absolutely necessary for the club to be fighting for the title in each of its upcoming seasons.
Since the arrival of Ricardo Pelaez to Club America’s presidential seat, the club has won two league titles, and most recently a CONCACAF Champions League. Before appointing Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Ambriz as the new head coach back in May, three coaches had been on the coaching seat during the Pelaez era – Miguel ‘Piojo’ Herrera, Antonio ‘Turco’ Mohamed and Gustavo Matosas – each of them leading America to a championship.
Pelaez backing Ambriz as America’s new head coach raised concerns, considering the bad luck Ambriz had at Queretaro, where instability predominated right after the club made one of Mexican soccer’s biggest transfer splashes by bringing Ronaldinho.
Before Ronaldinho started playing in the Apertura 2014, Queretaro only had three losses in eight games. With ‘Dinho’ in the squad, the team lost five matches of nine. Missing the playoffs in the Apertura 2014 led to Ambriz being under the loop, and midway through the Clausura 2015, he lost his job.
Arriving in America automatically meant that Ambriz was going to face his biggest test as head coach, but in his official unveiling as America’s new profe, he lowered the tone of the colossal challenge ahead of him by reiterating, in more than one occasion, that he was going to always work to get the result and work with humility.
America’s start to the new season didn’t impress, the term “crisis” was used, but Ambriz continued to transmit calmness when the red lights started to light up around Coapa, America’s training grounds. America hadn’t started a season with two consecutive losses since 1997.
On Wednesday, after the club’s 4-0 win over Honduran club, Motagua, in CCL play, Nacho declared, “On Saturday (vs. Atlas), we couldn’t finish the plays, tonight we did. To tell you the truth I have been calm because they’re understanding the idea.”
Days later it was America’s captain, Rubens Sambueza, who publicly showed his support to the football ideas Ambriz wants to implement. “We are convinced that if we play the way he wants us to, things will get better,” Sambueza said.
“It hasn’t been easy because the team wasn’t complete during most of the preseason, but in the upcoming games, I believe that there will be an improvement,” concluded ‘Sambu’.
In its three last visits to Pachuca’s Estadio Hidalgo, America hadn’t lost a match; the record read two wins and one tie. For the Mexican soccer fans, the hopes were that Saturday’s match could somehow equal to those playoff matches both teams gave last season. The aggregate score in that quarterfinal battle finished 7-5 in favor of Pachuca.
Pachuca came into the match as the favorite, taking into account its two consecutive wins, but team captain and former America center back, Aquivaldo Mosquera, discarded the favoritism, saying: “In reality it’s not a winning streak that merits calling you a favorite, it’s not a winning streak of 5, 6 or 7 games. I think we have had a great start to the season, that’s it.”
As it was the case in last week’s game at Estadio Azteca versus Atlas, America missed a lot of scoring chances. Once again, it was Dario ‘Pipa’ Benedetto, who missed wide-open chances to add to America’s lead, while Pachuca’s 42-year-old goalkeeper, Oscar ‘Conejo’ Perez, made exquisite saves throughout the evening.
In Pachuca, the motor that separates the club from the rest in Liga MX is its young trio composed by Rodolfo Pizarro (21 years old), Erick Gutierrez (20 years old), and Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano (20 years old). On Saturday night, Gutierrez didn’t dress up due to injury, and Pizarro felt a knock on his right knee and asked to be taken off in the 31st minute.
Without Pizarro and Gutierrez, two of Mexico’s best young midfielders, Pachuca’s midfield looked desolate, allowing America’s Javier Guemez, Osvaldo Martinez, ‘Sambu’ and Andres ‘Rifle’ Andrade to take over the game.
America got a 3-0 win on Saturday night, and even though Oribe Peralta picked up a brace, it was ‘Rifle’ Andrade, who continued to dazzle in America’s midfield.
Currently, there are two Colombian footballers in America’s squad, Andrade and Darwin Quintero. For the Clausura 2015, America paid almost $10 million to Santos to acquire Quintero. Between 2009 and 2014, Quintero scored 79 goals for Santos. It was a signing that was supposed to improve America’s attack, but it hasn’t been the case.
Since signing for America in the Clausura 2015, Quintero has missed three games due to suspension and has only scored two league goals.
However with Andrade, the situation is different. He came to America for an undisclosed fee, likely to be less than Quintero’s. After spending a year in Chiapas on loan, learning more about Liga MX and gaining experience, he’s back at America.
After three league games, he has one goal and one assist. Andrade’s post-match thoughts went in line with Sambu and Ambriz’s recent declarations.
“The win demonstrates us that if we believe in what we’re trying to do, things will go good for us,” said Andrade.
Ambriz shows the same calmness during the win and defeat.
“Now is when we have to have more humility. On Tuesday, we have another game, and on Friday, we will play again,” pointed out America’s head coach. “Tonight’s win is not one to celebrate with fireworks.”
Talking Points
– The current Liga MX champion, Santos Laguna, has started the Apertura 2015 with three consecutive losses. On Friday night, it lost against Xolos, a team that also came into the match with two losses. What’s worrying about the reigning champion has been its lack of balance; the team, managed by Portuguese head coach, Pedro Caixinha, has only scored two goals but conceded six.
– Chivas vs. Tigres had four goals, two send-offs, three golazos, a midfielder acting as a last-resort goalkeeper and Andre-Pierre Gignac’s first goal in Mexico. Chivas achieved its first point in the new season, while Tigres ended a terrible week, in which it lost 3-0 to River Plate in the Copa Libertadores final and lost a 2-0 lead at home.
– Christian ‘Hobbit’ Bermudez’s left-footed volley from outside the box that gave Puebla a 3-2 win over Pumas was the best goal of the weekend. Make sure to watch it.
– The last time Cruz Azul won the league title was back in the Invierno 1997. After years of suffering, it was becoming obvious that the Cruz Azul fans were getting tired of hearing the same message before the start of every season. For the fans, the message from the directors got stale, and a good bunch of them gave up to the idea of going to the stadium to support the team. After three games and two wins, Cruz Azul has shown glimmers of hope under new coach Sergio Bueno. Unfortunately the journalists at Estadio Azul weren’t able to hear the coach’s thoughts about the team’s second win because he sent assistant coach, Francisco Rotllan, to attend them, a lo Jose Mourinho.
Results
Veracruz 2-1 Chiapas
Santos 0-1 Xolos
Cruz Azul 2-0 Leon
Pachuca 0-3 America
Atlas 0-3 Monterrey
Dorados 1-1 Queretaro
Toluca 0-1 Morelia
Puebla 3-2 Pumas
Tigres 2-2 Chivas