Pachuca beat Monterrey 1-0 in the first leg of the Clausura final yesterday at Estadio Hidalgo vid Francisco Jara's 61st minute diving header that found the top corner of the net.
Here are the highlights.
No Mexican club has ever won the Copa Libertadores, and that will continue for at least another year after Pumas were bounced from the competition in the quarterfinals by Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle via a penalty shootout.
Pumas entered the second quarterfinal leg down 2-1 on aggregate, but quickly took control of the match via an Ismael Sosa breakaway.
Leon's Diego Novaretti had a Sunday to forget. Novaretti's side lost their Clausura semi-final match against Pachuca, 2-1, and that wasn't even the half of it. Look how Pachuca's first goal came about.
#YoElijoClaroSports ¡Autogol! de Diego Novaretti pone en ventaja al Pachuca a los 22 minutos. VIDEO https://t.co/A9IqqBJHY5
Mexico have selected Guillermo Ochoa, Jesus Corona and Alfredo Talavera as their goalkeepers for the 2016 Copa America, a reliable group that has amassed 135 international appearances between them. Such is the strength of the position for Mexico that the highly underrated Jonathan Orozco was unable to make the squad.
However, the most promising and talented goalkeeper for El Tri might be the one lining up across from Orozco in the Liga MX Clausura semi-finals, Hugo Gonzalez.
The 23 players who will represent the Mexico National Team at the Copa America Centenario have been announced, and there were more than a few controversies. Here's the final roster (barring injury):
Goalkeepers:
—Memo Ochoa (Malaga)
—Jose Corona (Cruz Azul)
—Alfredo Talavera (Toluca)
Defenders
—Rafa Marquez (Atlas)
—Diego Reyes (Real Sociedad)
—Hector Moreno (PSV Eindhoven)
—Paul Aguilar (Club America)
—Miguel Layun (Porto)
Mexico fans have kept a close eye on Jesus "Tecatito" Corona for some time now, as he is one of the most exciting young players to break out of Mexico in recent years. Tecatito is now approaching the end of his inaugural season in Portugal with Porto, and so we here at The18 decided to take a look at how he has done so far.
PSV Eindhoven have successfully defended their Eredivisie title after a dramatic final day in the Netherlands. Ajax were on top by goal difference and only needed a win against 17th placed De Graafschap to seal the title. It seemed a simple enough proposition, but Frank De Boer's side faltered dramatically and only managed to draw 1-1, leaving the door open for Eindhoven to clinch it.
France National Team and Tigres striker Andre-Pierre Gignac said recently Liga MX is better than MLS. As for quality, we're not totally sure that's accurate (it's certainly close), but Liga MX is certainly outpacing the MLS, and every other soccer league for that matter, in TV viewership in the USA.
From the Los Angeles Times:
The preliminary 40-man Mexico Copa America roster has been released, and most of the familiar names are on it. The problem now is whittling that number down to 23. Here's how we'd do it.
Here's the roster (Via MLSSoccer.com):
GK - Talavera, Alfredo (Toluca / Mexico)
GK - Corona, Jose de Jesus (Cruz Azul / Mexico)
GK - Ochoa, Guillermo (Malaga / Spain)
GK - Palacios, Miguel Alejandro (Pumas UNAM / Mexico)
When Andre-Pierre Gignac swapped Marseille for Tigres last summer, there were many who thought he was taking a step down. In an interview with France Football however, it was clear that Gignac doesn't think so.