Gregg Berhalter, you sly dog.
18-year-old phenom Efraín Álvarez hasn’t filed a one-time switch from Mexico to the USMNT yet, but that hasn’t stopped Berhalter from luring Zlatan Ibrahimovic's cub into camp, showering him with praise and raising the pulse of Tri supporters everywhere.
Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raúl Jiménez had an operation on his fractured skull following a clash of heads with Arsenal defender David Luiz during Sunday's game, the Premier League club said on Monday.
The Mexican forward needed oxygen on the pitch before being taken off on a stretcher and rushed to hospital.
Sunday’s meeting between Arsenal and Wolves at the Emirates was brought to a halt in the fifth minute after an ugly clash of heads between David Luiz and Raúl Jiménez off a Willian corner kick.
Jiménez was stretchered off while receiving oxygen and replaced by Fábio Silva after coming off worse, whereas Luiz continued for Arsenal. Jiménez was then taken directly to a hospital.
Update: Jiménez is reportedly now conscious and responding to treatment.
Chivas advanced to the semifinals of the Guardianes playoffs after defeating América 2-1 on Sunday night (3-1 on aggregate). América believed they could overturn the one-goal deficit from the first leg at the Azteca, but Cristian “Chicote” Calderón scored two great goals to turn Henry Martín’s strike into nothing more than consolation.
The 23-year-old Calderón — who’s been capped four times by Mexico — opened the scoring in the 31st minute with an unstoppable left-footed drive from distance that flew by Guillermo Ochoa and into the corner.
Tigres has qualified for the quarterfinal round of the Liga MX Guardianes playoffs after defeating Toluca 2-1 on Sunday. Hugo Ayala was sent off in the 71st-minute for Tigres, but André-Pierre Gignac’s pair of quick fire strikes in the 35th and 38th minutes proved enough for the home side.
Gignac is known as "Mr. Liguilla" for a reason, but the cross on his opening goal from Luis Quiñones deserves a lot of praise.
As the rain and mist rolled into Liebenauer Stadium in Graz, Austria on Tuesday, it was Mexico that moved like the onryō ("vengeful spirits") that originated in their opponent’s homeland before being proliferated around the world through the J-Horror genre.
An opening 20 minutes of Japan superiority was beat back single-handedly by Guillermo Ochoa, but the rhythm of the game slowly changed in Mexico’s favor and by the time Raúl Jiménez opened the scoring in the 63rd minute, you felt as though it’d been coming for El Tri.
But first, Ochoa.
The 2020 Liga MX Apertura regular season (renamed Guardianes to honor healthcare workers) came to a close on Sunday to finalize positions for the reformatted liguilla.
The number of teams that qualify for the playoffs has been raised from eight to 12 due to the shortened season, although the top four teams still qualify directly to the quarterfinals whereas seeds five through 12 must now navigate a single-leg play-in round to make up the last eight.
La Liga de Campeones de CONCACAF (CCL) podría no ser la batalla de peso pesado que es la Liga de Campeones de la UEFA (UCL). Pero una cosa es segura que la CCL puede causar algunos enfrentamientos interesantes y momentos dramáticos de alto riesgo.
Desde la fundación de la CCL, la mayoría de los campeones han sido equipos de la Liga MX, pero eso no significa que no hayan ganado la carrera por su dinero. La Liga de Campeones fue la sucesora de la Copa de Campeones por lo que en esta lista solo nos centraremos en los partidos de la Liga de Campeones.
Sebastián Córdova had two goals and an assist in América’s 3-1 victory over Tigres at Estadio Azteca on Sunday night. With one match remaining in the Guardianes regular season, América has secured a spot in the quarterfinals while Tigres needs to take care of business against Atlas next Saturday to have any chance of avoiding the play-in round.