Monterrey, Tecos advance with wins
A month after winning Mexico’s Apertura, Monterrey is going to the prestigious Copa Libertadores for the first time in more than a decade after beating Club America in penalty kicks in the finals of the Interliga soccer tournament before a sellout crowd at the Home Depot Center at Carson.
After failing to find the back of the net during regulation, Monterrey couldn’t miss it during penalty kicks with Luis Ernesto Perez, Walter Ayovi and Osvaldo Martinez all beating America goalkeeper Memo Ochoa.
Only Oscar Rojas, on the America side, managed to fool Monterrey keeper Jonathan Orozco who, like Ochoa, was brilliant for 90 minutes.
In Wednesday’s first final, Estudiantes Tecos of Guadalajara scored twice in the final nine minutes of regular time to stun Puebla, 3-2, and join Monterrey in the 11-nation Copa Libertadores, which starts this month.
Scoring chances were rare in a conservative first half between America and Monterrey, but the action picked up quite a bit just minutes into the second half. Monterrey (2-0-2 in the tournament), playing with some purpose, narrowly missed on headers from Jose Maria Basanta (wide) and Aldo de Nigris (high) and two shots from Martinez -- a free kick that hit the post and another moments later that hit the side of the net.
On the America (2-1-1) side, blasts from Salvador Cabanas and Daniel Montenegro were turned away after long runs. All that proved too much for America assistant coach Victor Medina, who was ejected by referee Ricardo Salazar in the 63rd minute.
Montenegro had another scoring shot in stoppage time but Orozco stopped him again before Cabanas missed high on a free kick deep into stoppage time sending, the game, by tournament rules, to penalty kicks.
In the first game, Tecos (2-1-1) scored three unanswered goals in the second half, the final coming from Argentine Rubens Sambueza in the 89th minute, to upset Puebla and advance to the Copa Libertadores’ for the first time. Tecos will play in a two-match preliminary stage against Peruvian club Juan Aurich beginning Jan. 27. Three other Mexican clubs -- Morelia, Chivas and San Luis -- earned spots in the Libertadores field last year.
And for a while it looked as if Puebla would join them, with Alejandro Acosta’s goal at the five-minute mark and Nicolas Olivera’s score two minutes in the second half giving La Franja a commanding lead. But 37-year-old Chilean forward Rodrigo Ruiz matched that on his own when he headed in a crossing pass from Sambueza in the 81st minute.
Eight minutes later, Sambueza took a deft feed from Elgabry Rangel just outside the penalty area, deking Puebla keeper Jorge Villalpando to his left, then slipping the ball into the net on the other side.
