That of Monterrey is the story of a total reborn. Four months ago they were relegated, without a coach and with little chance of competing for the League. And, in addition, they had to make a trip to Doha to play the Club World Cup. The hustle and bustle made the chances of smiling disappear. Until Antonio Mohamed arrived. El Turco, as he is affectionately nicknamed, took charge to make up the club’s bad tournament. And there his awakening occurred: they finished third in the Mundialito and, this Sunday, the Rayados took the throne in Mexico by removing America, the team with the most titles, in the penalty shootout (4-2).
América is a club that has made hate its best fuel. His soccer players prefer to go through the villains of any story. Not for nothing have they earned credit for the team that generates the most aversion in Mexico. They were the specialists in frustrating the exploit plans, but they ran into Monterrey. In the first leg, the Rayados had taken the lead, 2-1. His challenge was to keep it in the Azteca stadium to win his fifth League.
“Come on, come on America, we have to win tonight!” The traditional chant resounded through the plastic seats of the Azteca stadium. It was a hymn that appealed to a comeback, to a full night. They shouted it and it seemed that they had it when in the first half they won it 2-0 with goals from Federico Viñas and Richard Sánchez (3-2, on aggregate). The happiness ended in the 75th minute when Monterrey equalized with a goal from Rogelio Funes Mori that deflated the spirits of the locals. The America-Monterrey was about a conflict between the team from the Mexican capital and the country’s industrial core, respectively. A battle that the royals won over the chilangos on the field that was twice the venue for the World Cup.
The America seemed paralyzed. The moral leader, goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, went out to clear with the calm of someone who has been winning by a landslide. The passivity of the América soccer players collided with the vehemence of the Rayados, commanded by the bossy midfielders: Carlos Rodríguez and Celso Ortíz. The extension demanded more from Monterrey, with few days off. The America, in airplane mode, gave up the attack waiting for a counterattack. It never happened. Not even at the feet of a Giovani Dos Santos away from the talent of those years in Barcelona.
“Party in America!”, It was heard through the Azteca’s speakers. It was Chayanne. It was a kind of elixir to get America out of its sudden nap. And that didn’t revive the eagles either, who only found the crossbar in a shot by Sebastián Viñas. On penalties, Americanism relied on Ochoa, Malaga and Granada exporter. But tonight his gloves were not sticky: he was only able to save once. The rest of the shots entered through his lair. His teammates missed twice Only the hard blow of the defeat woke up the soccer players of America.
The Mexican championship is played at two different rates and does not always reward the best. The first played, at least this last tournament, on 18 dates; the second is based on a direct elimination phase between the first eight qualifiers. In Monterrey they have understood it quite well: they qualified as the eighth place and knocked down the two favorites and more constants such as Santos Laguna and Necaxa. Mohamed, who failed as coach of Celta, directed the Rayados.
Monterrey, classified to the final of the Mexican League, had to travel to Doha to play the Club World Cup. There they eliminated Xavi’s Al Sadd (3-2) and in the semi-finals they came up against the power of Klopp’s Liverpool. Those of Anfield, and in fact most of the bookmakers, predicted a comfortable victory. But it was the Rayados who made the defending champions of the Champions League anguish for 90 minutes. A goal from Roberto Firmino gave the Reds an agonizing victory. His balm was winning third place in the Mundialito, an achievement he had already achieved in 2012. On his return to Mexico, America remained. And the forecasts were not in his favor either.
With tired legs, the Monterrey soccer players survived the hostility of playing in the Azteca. And also to his hardship of losing the last two League finals. That is left in the story. They have crowned themselves on foreign land and have made America bitter on New Year’s Eve. That stays in the windows.