Liga MX’s Uriel Antuna celebrates after scoring Mexico’s opening goal against Canada in the Concacaf Olympic Games qualifiers. (Photo by ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images)
With Liga MX joining clubs from around the world on a FIFA break, attention in Mexico has been on the national teams (and on the Liga MX Femenil which staged a Super Clásico of its own on Saturday night with the Lady Chivas exacting revenge for the men’s result and spanking the Lady Aguilas 4-2).
El Tri is in Europe in the middle of two friendly dates, losing 1-0 to Wales in Cardiff earlier Saturday and set to take on Costa Rica in Austria Tuesday. (Oh, and by the way, coach Leonardo Cuéllar resigned immediately after América lost the Super Clásico Femenil).
Meanwhile, Guadalajara is hosting the Concacaf Olympic Men’s Soccer qualifying tournament where the Mini Tri clinched a spot in Tokyo with a 2-0 win over Canada in Sunday’s second semifinal. In the first semi, Honduras stunned Team USA and eliminated the North Americans who have not qualified for an Olympics Games since 2008.
Liga MX veterans chasing Gold
Mexico will play Honduras in the Olympic Qualifier Final on Tuesday night but it is mostly an afterthought since both teams have their ticket to Tokyo ensured. The Mini Tri can now dream of repeating their 2012 Olympic glory when the boys came home with gold medals after beating Brazil in the Final.
The outcome in Guadalajara is redemption of sorts for coach Jaime Lozano who was named U-23 coach in December 2018, a full year after he’d been fired from his one and only Liga MX managerial post (Lozano had gone 10-10-15 with Querétaro in 2017).
The chatter before the tournament was one of concern as six of the players on Mexico’s roster are Chivas and they arrived at training camp coming off an embarrassing loss to América in the Liga MX Super Clásico. Pundits worried that the negativity from the “Rebaño Sagrado” would infect the rest of the team.
After the march to the finals with a perfect 4-0-0 record (10 goals for, 1 goal against), the narrative has flipped. Winger Uriel Antuna and forward Alexis Vega played starring roles while Jesús Angulo and Alejandro Mayorga made significant contributions, and J.J. Macías and Gilberto Sepúlveda also saw action. The thinking is perhaps the six Goats return to Guadalajara and make an inspirational run into the playoffs.
On the other hand, the play of Vega and Antuna had Chivas fans criticizing their coach, Víctor Manuel Vucetich, for not getting the same production out of his men in Liga MX. But it must be pointed out that playing against U-23 teams from the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Canada is not the same as facing América, Monterrey, León and the Tigres. So it will be worth watching if the Chivas gain any momentum when league play resumes this week.
Liga MX season picks back up</a> after the FIFA break on Friday with a Matchday 13 double-header: Mazatlán FC at Puebla followed by Cruz Azul at FC Juárez.</p>
<p><a href=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/30/olympic-qualification-liga-mx-return/"https://www.espn.com.mx/futbol/posiciones/_/league/mex.1/liga-mx">League-leading Cruz Azul</a> visits the Bravos aiming to extend their win streak to 11 in their final game away from Estadio Azteca.</p>
<p>The Cementeros tied the franchise record of 10 straight wins with <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/30/olympic-qualification-liga-mx-return/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_lNMhIEjms%22>a 3-2 triumph over Atlas</a>, ending the Zorros 7-game unbeaten streak in the process. A goal by Atlas defender Anderson Santamaría in minute 38 ended the Cementeros’ goalless streak at 442 minutes, just a dozen short of the franchise record.</p>
<p>Second-place América hosts lowly Necaxa on Saturday eager to keep pace with Cruz Azul. The Aguilas pushed their own win streak to 5 with a hard-fought 1-0 road win at Mazatlán FC.</p>
<p>The two Mexico City giants are careening toward a mammoth Week 14 showdown on that could decide who ends up with the No. 1 seed for the <em>Liguilla</em>. Both clubs will be doubling up until that April 17 Estadio Azteca clash since they each have two midweek Concacaf Champions League matches on their calendars.</p>
<p>The other Mexico City club sits at the other end of the table. Last-season’s losing Liga MX Finalist finally recorded its first road win of the season (now 1-2-4 away from home), but the Pumas got <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/30/olympic-qualification-liga-mx-return/"https://bolavip.com/concacaf/Fue-o-no-falta-de-Ibanez-polemica-por-el-gol-anulado-en-contra-de-Pumas--20210320-0120.html">considerable help from the officials</a>. Three times ref Marco Antonio Ortiz annulled an apparent San Luis goal. Yep! Three times.</p>
<p>To further stack the deck, San Luis midfielder Felipe Gallegos was red-carded just before halftime and then UNAM’s game-winning goal came as a result of a penalty in the game’s final 10 minutes. So, ref Ortiz was directly involved in 4 goal-related decisions. The Tuneros are furious, especially as video replay shows the “goal” scored in minute 6 was clearly not offside nor was a foul committed, but video replay officials either did not alert Ortiz or the pitch referee declined to confirm his call by going to the monitor.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/30/olympic-qualification-liga-mx-return/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Chasing playoff spots </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-486425" src=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/30/olympic-qualification-liga-mx-return/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1305880923-850x560.jpeg" alt="Liga MX Olympics" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Santos midfielder Fernando Gorriarán will miss the remainder of the Guardianes 2021 after tearing a hip muscle in training. (Photo by Manuel Guadarrama/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>Northern clubs look to hit their stride</h3>
<p>Third-place Santos Laguna was hit with a massive blow during the FIFA break as midfield fireplug <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2021/03/30/olympic-qualification-liga-mx-return/"https://www.mediotiempo.com/futbol/liga-mx/duro-golpe-santos-fernando-gorriaran-pierde-resto-torneo-guard1anes-2021">Fernando Gorriarán apparently tore an abductor muscle</a> during training and will miss up to six weeks. The Uruguayan will have a tough time being fit for the playoffs and the youthful Guerreros will have to step up to replace their leader (“Gorri” had not missed a single minute of action through 12 games). Coach Guillermo Almada has his work cut out for him.</p>
<p>In the northwest, Tijuana hopes to be back on track after defeating the visiting Gallos Blancos on March 20, the first time the Xolos had beaten Querétaro in seven all-time meetings. The 3-1 victory ended Tijuana’s 5-game winless streak and kept them in the top half of the table (8th place) ahead of the hard-charging Esmeraldas of León. The champs won their second straight in convincing fashion and sure seem poised to make a deep postseason run.</p>
<p>Fourth-place Monterrey hosts the hard-luck Tuneros coming off an extended layoff. Their Matchday 12 opponent – the Chivas – petitioned for and were granted a postponement since six of their players are on the Olympic qualifying team meaning Monterrey will have been off for three full weeks when the whistle blows at Estadio BBVA Bancomer.</p>
<p>Coach Javier Aguirre has his Rayados playing stingy defense (7 goals allowed in 11 games) but the offense has yet to start clicking (15 goals scored). With the talent on the roster (the deepest and most expensive roster in Liga MX), one would suspect it’s only a matter of time.</p>
<p>Across town, the Tigres appear to be in serious trouble. Since returning from Qatar with a second-place trophy in the FIFA Club World Cup, <em>“Los Felinos”</em> have gone 1-2-4 and are winless in their past five (0-2-3). Coach “Tuca” Ferretti will be back on the sidelines after hip surgery, and he’ll have to find a way to light a spark under his veteran club. One way to do that might be to juggle his line-up, but the cantankerous coach is famous for sticking with his favorites, regardless of how many minutes they’ve logged.</p>
<p>Tigres fans will be hoping that the FIFA break will have allowed their heroes to re-energize for the stretch run. The return of midfielder Rafa Carioca (a back injury that sidelined him for the 1-0 loss to Pachuca) will be key to the team’s fate.</p>
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<p><strong>Notes:</strong> Puebla’s Santi Ormeño is the top Mexican-born scorer in Liga MX with 7 goals. Angel Sepúlveda (Querétaro), Henry Martín (América) and J.J. Macías (Chivas) follow with 6 goals each. Ahead of Ormeño are Argentines Alexis Canelo of Toluca (9 goals), Rogelio Funes Mori of Monterrey (8 goals) and Nicolás Ibáñez of Atlético de San Luis (8 goals).</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">