By Edgardo Avelar
America’s goalkeeper Luis Malagón went from hero to villain in the Leagues Cup by scoring a penalty in the series of penalty kicks and keeping the Eagles alive, but in a matter of seconds the joy went down the drain when he missed the definitive penalty to give him the victory to the Colorado Rapids 9-8 and thus advance to the semi-final of the Leagues Cup.
Indeed, Malagón first stopped the penalty kick in the penalty shootout, becoming the figure of the American team, But when the match had to be decided in sudden death, the Águilas goalkeeper emptied his shot to the right of American goalkeeper Zack Steffen to leave the Mexican team lying on the field with this defeat that once again shows the poor performance of the Liga MX teams.
The truth is that America paid dearly for its mistakes and above all for not knowing how to define in normal time against a rival that had problems containing the American team’s offense, but that knew how to do the job at the exact moment. and in the end, the end justifies the means and the MLS team knew how to take advantage.
The Coapa team missed the ticket to the semifinals in the penalty series, because when they had the opportunity to seal the victory in the fifth penalty, the Chilean Igor Lichonovsky He delivered his shot into the hands of the Colorado Rapids goalkeeper to send the game to sudden death where in the end Liga MX was left without representatives in the Leagues Cup.
The truth is that the Brazilian André Jardine’s squad was guilty of pride, because by feeling superior, they did not have the strength to kill the Americans. and on the contrary, they were indifferent at all times and in that sin they carried their penance.
América did not have any clarity in clear plays in regular time, since Henry Martín, Diego Valdés and Brian Rodríguez got tired of failing and the Colorado Rapids came very close to giving them a scare, but then Luis Ángel Malagón appeared and kept them alive.
Now, America was stuck in the Leagues Quota for the second consecutive year and was now eliminated at this stage, it is a tournament that is not given to The Eagles, despite the fact that in the MX League they have tired of showing that they are the best team today and that is why they are the two-time champions.
Among the negative things, at least the championship It will help coach Andre Jardine to begin to refine his players and it will have to be a wake-up call for players like Erick Sánchez to know where he stands and that he must start raising his level to be on par with América, because he had flashes of brilliance, but when his presence was required with a specific weight, in the end he could not give his all.
Now America needs to focus 100 percent on Liga MX and at the end of September, they will play against Columbus Crew in the Campeones Cup, another tournament between MLS and Liga MX clubs.