América wastes Azteca in a bitter 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Concachampions semifinals

What should have been a very even fight of superpowers in the history of the Champions Cup of the North, Central America and Caribbean Football Confederation (Concacaf) between America and Pachuca was due, above all, to the Águilas, who were unable to take the lead in the first leg of the Concachampions and They had to settle for a 1-1 draw that favors the “Tuzos” team.

A draw that tastes bitter for the team led by Brazilian André Jardine, who were expected to show another side to last Saturday in which they lost to the UNAM Pumas on date 16 of the Clausura 2024 tournament by a score of 2-1in a CU stadium that has been indigestible to the Americanists and that in the Concacaf contest was no exception.

Now it was no exception with Pachuca, because despite the fact that America has seven titles In this contest, more than any other Mexican team in the history of the event, in the end the weight of the numbers at the Azteca Stadium with the Hidalgo eleventh in the Mexican tournament came to the fore to prevent the victory of the Coapa team.

To go no further, Pachuca in 34 games in the history of short tournaments has 14 wins to eleven for the Águilas and nine draws.which when it came to looking for a winner must have influenced the atmosphere, beyond the fact that it could be said that numbers never play.

Pachuca, beyond seeing themselves down on the scoreboard in the first minutes with a goal from Mexican-American Alejandro Zendejas, never despaired. On the contrary, they were crushing the game until the Ecuadorian Andrés Micolta managed to score the tie and with this forcing a stubborn duel, without giving or asking for quarter, which little by little diminished the attractiveness of the encounter.

America started with such force that after 20 seconds it generated the first arrival of danger on Carlos Moreno’s cabin, when Henry Martín failed to finish a service from Álvaro Fidalgo with power. Then, after 10 minutes, Zendejas made it 1-0 and five minutes later Julián Quiñones made it 2-0, but he missed it.

Then came other arrivals from America, no longer with as much force, so that in the 40th minute, after taking a foul from Alejandro Zendejas, the Ecuadorian Micolta, beating the mark of the Uruguayan Sebastián Cáceres, finished off a goal to leave goalkeeper Luis Malagón with no options to score. go to half-time at 1-1.

For the second half, only in the first 15 minutes did they maintain the back-and-forth, where Cristián “Chicote” Calderón had the clearest option, but his shot grazed the post, allowing Pachuca, with some adjustments, to take the actions to a important tie that next Tuesday they will seek to obtain credit to advance to the grand final of this Concacaf competition.

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