The crowds are cheering, the wins just keep coming and coming, you are ahead of everyone, everyone’s watching you, and the final match is in your hands – but what could’ve gone wrong? Throughout the first 2024 Mexican Liga season, Cruz Azul has been successful with their ratio of wins, losses, and ties – 14:4:5, to be exact. They surpassed the quarterfinals and semis, and were close to winning the finals, unfortunately losing by 1 goal to Club América. What exactly happened that gave them the disadvantage of winning the secondary final match?
Before the second final had to be conducted, Club América went head to head with Cruz Azul in the first finals. The game took place in Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, and ended tied 1-1. 9 minutes into the game, Uriel Antuna, one of Cruz Azul’s forward players, scored the penalty making the game 1-0. Afterward, 5 minutes passed, and Julián Quiñones (America), playing midfielder, scored a right-footed shot from very close range to the high center of the goal. (Assisted by Henry Martín) Now the score is 1-1, Cruz Azul and America are tied. If either team scores, they will take home a victory. Throughout the game, multiple shots are taken from both teams yet no goal is made. After the 90 minutes, the game receives an extra 9 minutes, yet none of the shots taken enter. The game ends, meaning to have one winner, a second game will have to be played.
Sunday, May 26th, 2024 – The game took place in Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico. The game was delayed due to the stormy weather that day, yet over 70,000 people attended this exciting event to see who would take home the Liga MX trophy and title. When the game commenced, the first minute in, Carlos Rodriguez, one of the five midfielders playing for Cruz Azul, received their team a foul. This gave América a free kick, which was taken by Henry Martin, who unfortunately missed.
During the first half of the game, various shots were taken from Cruz Azul that were on target, meaning the shots went directly to the goal, however, they were blocked by the opposing team’s goalkeeper. Cruz Azul was dominating the first half leading to uncertainty for América to make a play. There wasn’t much doubt that Cruz Azul would surpass Club América if they continually played in sync, however, the game does not end in Cruz Azul’s hands.
10 minutes after the second half had started, Lorenzo Farvelli, 1 of the 5 Cruz Azul midfielders scored on the opposing team. It could be thought that Cruz Azul took the lead, however, the midfielder was then later called offside, ruling out the goal. The score is now back to 0-0. Throughout the second half, various injuries, on-target shots, yellow cards, fouls, and penalties transpire, but no goal was entered successfully. The match is close to ending, and so is Cruz Azul’s victorious season. In the 78th minute of the game, Henry Martin, playing for América, takes a right-footed shot to the top left corner. The shot enters the goal and América takes the lead, leaving Cruz Azul with the only options of an attempt to score or a loss.
After the 90 minutes end, 10 minutes are additionally added. Within those 10 additional minutes, neither team successfully scored and the game ended as 1-0. The match had its ups and downs, it was both upsetting and intriguing. Both teams played hard to surpass each other. If Cruz Azul had played safer or taken more shots, there was the possibility of victory. A loss that could’ve been prevented, but took action anyway. America goes home with their 15th title, while Cruz Azul is at 9. Maybe the next season or 2 they’ll get glory to their name, the next victory is unknown. Statistics, commentary, and reports about the match, could be found on ESPN.
