Futbol Americas: Tigres With The Advantage

0:08Hello, hello everyone and welcome into our studios for another edition of Football Americas. I'm Alexis Nunes alongside Alejandro Moreno as well as Mauricio Pedroza. It is far too late for Hercules Gomez and Shaka Hislop, our fallen soldiers. Or the producer for that matter. Or our producer, Costa, who said that he would be sleeping already one hour by now. But you know what? These three were made of something tough. We're little night owls here because we had to wait for that game that we're going to talk about in a bit. A lot to talk about on this show somewhat, including a breakup that we all saw coming.

0:48And Ale, I'm not talking about it in my personal life. Wait, another one. No breakups here. I believed. You believed. To break up, you have to have someone first, which alas I know. But I'm talking about a messy breakup in Mexican football. We're going to talk about that later on. Interesante. Speaking of muy interesante, our boy Neymar, we haven't spoken about him in a while, but finally he has had something to celebrate with Santos, and now he has his eye on making it into Brazil's squad for the World Cup. I'm going to get these guys' opinion and see if they think that that could be a possibility.

1:30Well, like I said, this is what we were waiting for. It's the Apertura Final 2025 in Mexico. Tigres taking on Toluca, hoping that they can dethrone the champions in leg one. 18 minutes in, though. It remains nil-nil as the shot is saved. Ooh, González reacts well on the deflection, makes a save, and Diego Linus then cuts to the inside, hits it well. It bounces right in front of Hugo Gonzalez. He does just enough off the crossbar and now it's still 0-0. Still 0-0. Just kissing the post there. 45th minute now, bit of a mistake here. Linus finding this man right here, Angel Correa, as he did so much for Atleti, he does it again here as Tigres take the lead.

2:18I was very brave to tweet out the first time. And best 40 minutes I've seen from Hugo Gonzalez. Of course I jinxed that. Horrible mistake from the Toluca goalkeeper. Linus with the assist to Angel Correa. One of the best signings in recent Liga MX history. Will we call that Shaq-a-strophic? We absolutely do. Shaq-a-strophic. Home field advantage. Home field advantage for Tigres. What happened? Look at that. The old spin of the backside. The spin of the backside. Oh, somehow it stops it from going into the back of the net. Luck of the champion.

2:58That's flirting with danger right there. 68th minute now. If you have a big backside, that can help you sometimes. That's all I'm saying. It can help. It can help. I think I'm slightly no. I'm slightly no there. What? I'm sorry. What chance there for Angel Correa, but he misses it. Yeah, he's going to want to have this one back. It was a clear chance for the Tiger striker. And then things get a little naughty here, as red is shown. Yeah, for Robert Morales. He barely played during the league. Now he has a chance to play in the final. No longer. He's going to be suspended for the second leg in Toluca.

3:39It's the serving of the red card because he made the attempt to kick the player. But the contact was not that. The theatrics was very Ale Monero. Let me just say, for anybody that has been kicked there, that is, you don't even have time to do all of that. I like the theatrics, though, Ale. That was like you back in your day. They sold it? They sold it. For you? They sold it? Yep, yep. I think that's, if you're going to do it, you got to sell it. All right. So, Tigres, they definitely take the advantage into the second leg now. Of course, they were at home. Like I said, they are looking to dethrone Toluca, Mau.

4:14How would they be feeling about that now? Not great. Not great. This is exactly Antonio Mohamed's Toluca's manager plan. This is exactly what he did against Monterrey, and it paid off in the second leg. That's why they made the final. Tigres had their chances. We saw them. Great saves by Hugo Gonzalez in the second half. That opportunity by Angel Correa. You've got to be clinical. This is a final. You cannot waste those kind of opportunities. Toluca was the best team playing at home during the regular season. And this is a short, short margin for Tigres. They needed a bigger lead to have a shot at dethroning Toluca.

4:55It's going to be, again, a tough game. This was probably the easiest first leg to predict in any of Liga MX finals. We all knew this was going to happen. Nevertheless, Tigres had enough chances to go to Toluca with a bigger lead. It's a wasted opportunity. Alex, how do you see that they played right into Toluca's hands? What I can tell you is that if you're watching the first half of this match, you're thinking, there is only really one team that is actually trying to push for a game winner here. They're trying to push for a win, and that is Tigres. To your point, Mauricio, el Turco Mohamed said, you know what?

5:33We're not going to go chase the ball. We're not going to commit numbers forward if we don't need to. In fact, if you think of Toluca in the attack, you would think of a name like Paulinho. If you saw him in the first half, he spent more time defending set pieces and 1v1 situations. And he was sort of in a much more of a defensive posture as the whole team was. They're more than okay with this result. And I think the one thing that would be disappointing for Toluca is the fact that you didn't give up a goal because Tigres did something special. It's because your goalkeeper did something. Sheikas traffic.

6:12And that, I think, is the part that will disappoint El Turco Mohamed. But beyond that, you're thinking, we're going to absorb pressure. We're going to try to take the crowd out of the game. And right around the 35th minute, after it had been like, ah, ah, ah, Tigre, Tigre, Tigre, then all of a sudden it just became a lull in which there were no opportunities being created. There was nothing going on offensively of any sort of quality on either side. It became a game about fouls. It became about stoppages. It became about people rolling all over the ground. This was played in the pace that Toluca wanted to have it played.

6:48It was Tigres' responsibility to change the view of this game and the personality of this game, and I don't think they did enough over the course of 90 minutes. Well, both of you, of course, saying that this played right into Toluca's hands. I think that El Turco Mohamed must definitely subscribe to the same school Cholo Simeone went to Indeed because we know those tactics. It doesn't make for a pretty sexy, flowing football type of game, but you know what? It gets the job done, especially in this. You're looking at Tigres now, as Ale was saying, that they're going to be regretting certain chances here.

7:18Angel Correa, of course, he did get the goal, but he had a couple more chances that, as you said, he should have buried. Are these going to haunt him now? What did you make of his performance in this? I mean, Correa was fantastic. He's been amazing all over. I mean, the moment he signed for Tigres, first expectation is this is a guy that just coming to play from Spain, Atlético de Madrid, Argentina national team, world champ. We all know what he's capable of. How is he going to adapt to Liga MX? And Ale, you know this well. There's always this narrative. Oh, Liga MX takes time for a new player to adapt to the league.

7:54Don't expect much. That was not the case for Angel Correa. He's been fantastic. But that last opportunity, it is going to hunt him. Because Toluca's not going to play like this on Sunday when they play at home. They're going to be on the attack. They're going to have more possession. We'll see what the tactics for Guido Pizarro will be. Are they going to sit back and try to counterplay more direct? I don't know. I don't think that's going to be the case. But it is something that at this moment, Guido Pizarro, Angel Correa, André Pierginiak are probably saying, yeah, we could have done more. We should have done more.

8:32Again, they threw everything they had at Toluca. Toluca didn't do that. They can present a very different starting lineup, more aggressive, more offensive. We should make for a better game for neutrals, just as spectators. But I think that Tigres in Toluca will suffer. They will suffer a lot, and they will remember those chances they missed. I just want to pick up on something that Mao said, Alec, because, of course, you and I have definitely watched Angel Correa very closely a lot for many years with Cholo Simeone in La Liga. But what did you make of what he said? that he's not necessarily needing that time that we expected to settle into Liga MX.

9:10And I'm not surprised that he has been as successful as he has been in Liga MX. Angel Correa has been a really good player for Atletico Madrid for a long, long time. In fact, any time that you watch Atletico Madrid play over the years, you're thinking, why is this guy not starting? Yeah. And because every time that he came off the bench, he was a difference maker for Atletico Madrid and Cholo Simeone. So much so that I think Simeone just said, You know what? This guy coming off the bench, he's great. So I'm glad that I have him available. That's how I'm going to use him. Yeah, super sub didn't quite work for him at Atletico Madrid, and he was not going to be a super sub at Tigres.

9:46The moment that he showed up at Tigres, it was all about how much of a difference he could make. And he has made a big difference. Now, he scores a goal, right? And you just referenced the opportunity he had in the second half. There was another opportunity in the first half that it's a half chance for most other players in Liga MX. But he takes the ball basically with the first touch, up and over the defender. It's a tight angle. It falls to a volley on his left foot. Yes, it's a tight angle. Yes, it's a half chance. Yes, it's difficult. But it's Angel Correa. It's Liga MX final. Apertura, you're thinking at home, this is one that at the very least has to go on target.

10:21And it didn't. He's dynamic. He really is. And when he gets the ball, I think everybody knows that something is about to happen. And it feels that way both offensively for Tigres and defensively for Toluca. So it's not a surprise that whenever he did get the ball, Toluca is getting two and three guys around him because they know that while Guignac can put the ball in the back of the net or maybe Guignac can give you an assist, the guy who's really going to create issues for you right now, at this point in his career, is Angel Correa and not so much Andre Pierre Guignac. Guignac can hurt you. There's no question about that.

10:57But he doesn't have the legs to get away from you. Angel Correa has the legs, has the creativity, and still has the goals in him. And that's probably the reason why Turco Mohamed decided to go to the back five. Usually doesn't do that. He did it against Monterrey, understanding this is a two-leg series, right? Home and away. First game away, then I'm going to take my chances when I play at home. I was the best home team during the regular season. So you see the lineup right here. Not even Pollo Briseño started the game. Why? Because Turco Mohamed wanted to go with fast defenders, speedy defenders, because he knew exactly what Alex just said.

11:36Gignac doesn't have the legs anymore, but Diego Linus does. Angel Correa does. Brunetta does. So the tactics for this game were extremely interesting. How am I going to match up while you do well? And yes, again, Tigres had their chances. But it was a gamble that in the end, Turco Mohamed can go now and say, hey, it worked. This is what we wanted. This is still a very even series. We go now to our place. We play it different. Probably go back to the back four. And then having another creative attacking player in the middle or in the front of the attack, then it's going to be a different game. And I like Toluca's chances.

12:17It's a textbook, really, definition of what is called in Mexico and in other places in Latin America, especulando. Aha. Especulando. with the result. And that's exactly what Mohamed was doing here. It's like, you know, all right, let's get to halftime 0-0. And let's see what happens after that. How much of a risk do we really need to take? And even as the game progressed and they gave up the goal in the manner in which they did, they still didn't come out. Yeah. It was almost like, no, 1-0. We good. We good. I think they get the sense that Mauricio just provided there that 1-0 is nothing for us.

12:571-0 with good. In fact, I would have taken 1-0 before this game. Absolutely. Absolutely. That was the plan. That's a feeling I got. And really, the substitution pattern as well from Tuco Mohamed. It's not like, now we're going to go chase it. No, they never really got out of that shape. They never provided too many spaces for Tigres in the attack. I think they're more than comfortable to go back home to Toluca, to Nemesio 10, and say, you know what? Here, in hell, here, you're going to have to survive. And I think what we felt was going to be an advantage for Tigres, the fan and the stadium and this and that, it didn't really pan out that way.

13:37There were a couple of moments in which Saluka got nervous with possession of the ball because they kept playing the ball backwards and sideways and backwards, inviting that pressure. And that kind of sort of created some issues. But on the whole, the stadium, I think, felt into the trap that we all did when we were watching the game. Like, this game is... When is this game going to be over? When is this game going to be over? And I think that's a feeling that Toluca wanted out of the game. All right. Well, I actually have a friend who happens to work at ESPN as well who's a big Tigres fan, and they're watching right now, and they're feeling very depressed hearing both of you break this down because you would never know that Tigres are the ones that take the slight advantage into the second leg.

14:14But give me some predictions now for that second leg. Mau, let me start with you. Do you really just see this all Toluca, or can Tigres change something to take the game to them? No, Tigres definitely, they do have the quality to go and win at Toluca. They can absolutely do that. They have experienced players. Gignac, Guzman, they're going for the sixth title with Tigres in 10 years. Guido Pizarro is their manager, and he was their teammate for five of those league titles. But I feel that Toluca being the defending champs, I know it's a big deal that Alexis Vega is not there. I know that Luan, it is a big deal that he's not there.

15:01But I trust Antonio Mohamed. I trust El Turco Mohamed. This is his 13th Liguilla as a manager. He has won everywhere he's been. He did it with Monterrey, did it with Cholos, did it with America. Didn't do it with Pumas, but nobody does it with Pumas. It's not his fault. So I'm sticking with the champs. I'm sticking with the champs. It's going to be an even game. It's going to be tough. Probably better played than this one. But I think Indian Toluca defends and retained their title. Ale, you too? Yeah, ahead of this final, I felt like Toluca, even though it felt like Tigres had the history with them and all the success that Mauricio's talking about and all these players that have gone through this success, but there is something about Toluca that I think having this second leg at home gave them the opportunity to do what they did today.

16:00So they'll take the air out of the ball, and now it sets them up for success. one-nothing I don't think is enough. Now, the question then becomes for me, if Toluca is able to score goals at home, can they keep Tigres from scoring? Because at some point, Toluca at home, and I imagine this is going to happen from the first minute, they're going to get after Tigres. Well, that opens up the space for transition moments for Angel Correa, and it opens up transition moments for Tigres as a whole, and Brunetta can get forward as well. or is it more a case that Angel Correa is going to be forced to defend?

16:38Brunette is going to be forced to defend. Guignac is going to be in a more defensive posture, and they cannot get out in transition. If they're unable to do that, they cannot exploit some of the vulnerabilities that I think are there from Toluca defensively. I think Toluca, from the very first minute at home, are going to get after Tigres, and Tigres are going to have a difficult time defensively themselves. Can I just point out how refreshing it is not having Herc here right now? Because this means that the viewers, the audience, they have three sets of very objective eyes breaking down this game.

17:15Otherwise, Eric would be sitting here saying, great win for Tigres. This is it. This is the advantage that Tigres needed to go and close out the deal at Toluca. Take it to the bank. Tigres will be champs. But, again, objective set of eyes, talking to you, telling you the truth, advantage to Luca, even though they lost tonight. Well, I appreciate everything that you just said there, Mauricio. Actually, to be honest with you, I would prefer Hercules to be here because that would mean that I would be in bed, cuddling, under my covers. That's why I brought this suit because it makes me feel like it's under the covers.

17:53No, we needed you. That's a fair point. We needed you, Ale. We needed you for this next segment. Grab a cotton candy five-hour energy shot and get into that sweet life. You get that classic throwback cotton candy flavor, but with zero sugar and a five-hour energy boost. A tasty caffeine kick that satisfies that sweet tooth without any of that sugar guilt aftermath. Bring on that sweetness with cotton candy five-hour energy shots, available online at 5hourenergy.com or Amazon. Gab Marcotti here for Gusto. Right now, everyone is trying to run leaner, tighter budgets, smaller teams, higher expectations.

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19:12Plus, you get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price. No hidden fees, no surprises. Try Gusto today at gusto.com slash football and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com slash football. One more time, gusto.com slash football. We're sad for some really and truly because as we know, Chivas bowed out of the competition earlier on. And you'd remember that missed penalty by this man right here, Chicharito. I'm sure it's still haunting him. Well, today Chivas announced that he will not be a part of the club going forward. Here is what was said from the club on Chicharito.

19:56It says Club Deportivo de Guadalajara would like to inform that Javier Hernandez Balcazar is concluding his second period as a Chivas player. The bond between Chicharito and the club he loves, the one that nurtured him and propelled him to become a legend of Mexican football, will last forever. Javier is, without a doubt, one of the greatest figures in Mexican football. But they didn't stop there. They say with the Rebaño Sagrado, he won the Apertura 2006 league title and the top scorer award in the Bicentenario 2010 tournament before embarking on an international career that led him to triumph at several of the most important clubs in Europe.

20:43All right, that was a very, very wordy, nice way of saying thank you for your services, but it just is not working out, which, like I said, it was a breakup in Mexican football that we all saw coming. Mao, this was inevitable. And honestly, it's happened. And now that it's happened and we see it officially, and of course, they've covered it with a lot of nice, fancy words. Yeah. It ended on quite a sour note. It did. the last image we will have from Chicharito is going to be him missing that penalty and as a result Chivas was eliminated from La Liguilla against Cruz Azul. That's it. And the worst part of that is that he was not supposed to take that penalty.

21:26That was not his responsibility. And it was an awful penalty. You can miss that happens. Everybody has missed penalties here, right? But not like that. I mean, not Not in that fashion. Do you guys remember that movie Goal with Cuno Becker a long time ago? Mexican guy that tried his luck at Newcastle United, right? And Cuno Becker, the actor, I know I'm a really good dude, horrible football player. And one of the greatest criticisms in that movie was like, can you see this guy as a football player? He doesn't even know how to run, how to attack the ball. That's exactly how Jucharito looked. Like if he was Cuno Becker during his time at Goal.

22:06Now, the other thing that I didn't understand is part of that post from Chivas, they used the hashtag gracias. Thank you. For what? Gracias for what? Maybe for the first time around. For the first time around, maybe. Chivas already said thank you for that first time around. Yeah. This second time around has really tarnished Chicharito's legacy. And it pains me to say that because me being Mexican and wanting to have more successful Mexican players around the world, this is the last player that really played at the highest of levels of international soccer. But the second half of his career was absolutely disappointing.

22:58And the way it ends, probably when we tell the full story years from now, it's going to tarnish his legacy. And it's just sad. Sad to see. Well, beyond the disappointment of finishing your career, at least with Chivas, by missing a penalty and in the manner in which it happened and what it meant to Chivas and all of that. All of that on its own is disappointing enough. But I don't think that him tarnishing his career has so much to do with him missing the penalty as important as that might have been, as it has the fact that he, for no reason at all whatsoever, has decided to basically take on this social commentary and activism in his own social media channels and outlets.

23:53And it is the equivalent of somebody grabbing two grenades, taking the pins out, and sticking them in their pocket. and just blowing up, blowing yourself up for no reason whatsoever. And I think that actually has hurt him far more than missing the penalty. I agree. Missing the penalty, what it is, is the culmination of this whole frustration that has been surrounding Chicharito and this drama that he has built. He is the one that has fed it, has fed everybody this nonsense. and now everybody was kind of like, oh, oh, and now you missed a penalty and then everybody piles on. Yeah. I don't understand some of these.

24:40These are public figures. A guy like Chicharito Hernandez in his prime was at the front of every newspaper in Mexico forever and ever and ever. Why these people? And I'm talking about public figures in general. Why? they choose to blow themselves off? Self-destruction. Why do they have, why can they not have somebody in their lives that tells them, hey, Javier, listen, buddy, I don't think that this is the right idea. I can tell you why. I can tell you why. Okay. I think he does have someone. No, I mean. But maybe not the right people. We're not going to get into his personal affairs. Right. Into his family affairs.

25:23That's not, that is not for us to tell. We focus on the professional player, highs and lows, like every other professional athlete. But Chicharito made his private life very public. He launched a reality show. And he basically opened the doors of his house to the world. So the moment he did that, he opened the door to the scrutiny of his actions on the field, but also off the field. But now those things just kind of blended together on the field and off the field. When you asked properly, when you properly asked, why was there nobody to tell him, take it easy, buddy. Just don't go out there and start preaching, right?

26:19You have no moral authority on anybody to tell them you're doing this right, you're doing this wrong. The problem is he basically kicked every loved member of his family out of his life. And he surrounded himself with yes people. And the moment he did that, I think the Chicharito persona completely took over the Javier Hernandez, the family man that we saw in the first half of his career. And he never recovered from that. Then he had a couple of tough injuries, one really tough knee injury that sidelined him for almost a year. And mentally, it was tough for him to try to reinvent his career. Chivas opened the door, and it was just a failed experiment.

27:13But the moment he surrounded himself with yes people, happened whatever you just explained. It did happen to him. Yeah, and if I may just say, you can surround yourself with yes people as long as you're scoring goals. Yeah. As long as you're still productive. But eventually it's going to come back in actual life. No, I know, but people will put up with you as long as you're scoring goals. But when you're doing all this commentary and then you're not scoring goals and you're missing penalties and it's not going well for you on the field, then the two worlds collide and collide to bring you down.