COLUMBUS, Ohio – Cruz Azul’s Argentine player Gonzalo Piovi hit his 40-yard shot straight off the crossbar to give the Liga MX stars triumph in the skills contest over MLS stars in the All-Star Skills Challenge Tuesday night in Columbus.
Thanks to Piovi’s long shot, Liga MX won the contest called ‘Crossbar Challenge’, which consists of hitting the crossbar with shots from 18 and 40 yards. Up to that point, each league had won two contests, so the millimeter shot by the Cruz Azul winger got him and his teammates jumping. The All-Star game will be this Wednesday.
Mexican soccer legend Luis Hernandez participated as a special guest in the crossbar contest, as did former MLS star Sacha Kljestan. After the teams tied the score at five times from the edge of the box (18 yards), the long-range finish came (40 yards).
The Liga MX participants in the skills contest were Luis Malagón (América), Kevin Mier (Cruz Azul), Gonzalo Piovi (Cruz Azul), Jonathan dos Santos (América), Andrés Guardado (León), Juan Brunetta (Tigres), César Huerta (Pumas), Maxi Meza (Monterrey), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres), Salomón Rondón and the player Alicia Cervantes (Chivas Femenil), a special guest like “Matador” Hernández.
Participating for MLS were Roman Bürki (St. Louis City), Maarten Paes (FC Dallas), Jordi Alba (Inter Miami), Sergio Busquets (Inter Miami), Federico Bernardeschi (Toronto FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Riqui Puig (LA Galaxy), Evander (Portland Timbers), Luciano Acosta (FC Cincinnati), Juan “Cucho” Hernández (Columbus Crew) and player Diana Ordóñez (Houston Dash), in addition to Kljestan.
The first competition of the evening was the shooting challenge, where participating players accumulate points by hitting different targets located between the posts. Jonathan dos Santos was the best shooter. with 67 points for a Liga MX victory of 158-96.
It is worth mentioning that Salomón Rondón, the top scorer for Pachuca and the Venezuelan national team, was booed by the crowd at Lower.com Field because he was the main executioner of the Columbus Crew in the Concacaf Champions Cup final won by the Tuzos on June 1.
The MLS stars tied the score by winning the Touch Challenge, in which two players combine to control the ball without letting it touch the ground and then touch it into large holes. The Blaugrana duo of Jordi Alba from Inter Miami and Riqui Puig from LA Galaxy stood out here, accumulating 71 points. The cumulative score was 137-71.
The Cross & Volley Challenge went to Liga MX with brilliant shots on goal from César “Chino” Huerta and André-Pierre Gignac, beating the MLS goalkeepers enough times to earn a 90-45 victory for their squad.
MLS temporarily tied the competition by winning the ‘Passing Challenge’ when Sergio Busquets beat Andrés Guardadotwo legends still active, with more precise kicks towards the designated areas. It is worth mentioning that both Alicia Cervantes, from Liga MX Femenil, and Diana Ordóñez, from the NWSL, stood out in this competition, where the Mexican prevailed over the Californian in their direct duel before Busquets’ decision.
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