Consider it the Summer of Soccer in the United States. In the past day, starting as early (or late) as midnight, you can flip on the TV and enjoy the FIFA Women’s World Cup, where some countries (Philippines and Jamaica) are in raptures after winning their first big-tournament game. Others are celebrating walk-off game winners (France and Colombia). And the tournament favorites (U.S.) are trying to win an unprecedented third straight world title.
Then, peer over to Arlington, Texas why don’t you, and no big deal, Real Madrid and Barcelona are playing El Clasico in front of 82,000 fans at AT&T stadium. Earlier in the week, Lionel Messi dazzled in his second game in an Inter Miami shirt, fueling a 4-0 clinic over his coach Tata Martino’s former team, Atlanta United.
And if you still can’t get enough, then there’s the newly formed Leagues Cup, which pits all of MLS against all of Liga MX in a month-long competition. On Sunday, the San Jose Earthquakes welcomed Tigres U.A.N.L, one of the titans of Mexican soccer to a sold-out PayPal Park. And needing an emphatic win to stay alive in the competition, the Quakes played admirably, but ultimately bowed out with a 1-0 loss.
Without a single point in the group stage, their run in the intercontinental competition is over.
“Tigres are not your typical Liga MX team,” Earthquakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez said, ruing his team’s luck drawing such a powerful team early on. “So to go toe to toe with them was definitely a good reference for how we want to play.”
Tigres are about 500 miles northeast of the capital Mexico City, in the hotbed region of Monterrey. Alongside Club America and C.D. Guadalajara, they are one of the cornerstone teams in the domestic league that regularly churn out national team players and coaches.
From the aerial view, at least half of the fans in the stadium were supporters of Tigres.
While American audiences might be enjoying the Barca reunion of Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets in Miami now, the continuity of this Tigres team is something to behold. The team is held together by 37-year-old French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, who signed with the club all the way back in 2015. He’s now their all time leading scorer, multiple title winner, and even has a Mexican passport to show for all of it.
Behind him, Rafael Carioca and Guido Pizarro have been anchoring the midfield for nearly as long. Ditto for former Mexican international Javier Aquino at fullback and Colombian winger Luis Quiñones. Between the sticks, Argentinian Nahuel Guzman has been holding it down even longer, joining the club in 2014.
The Quakes harried the Mexican side in the opening 20 minutes, creating more chances by using clever shapes to drag defenders out of position, but the steady presence of Gignac & Co. eventually won out. Despite his old age, the ball still miraculously sticks him, allowing for Tigres’ midfielders and wingers to run past into dangerous one on one, often two on one, attacks.
Eventually, the marauding Quakes paid the price for these exchanges when Quiñones cut a pass back for new signing, Uruguay midfielder Fernando Gorriarán (from Santos Laguna) to tuck away.
To his credit, Cristian Espinoza, fresh off a brand new contract extension with San Jose, looked up to snuff against the Mexican giants. He caused their backline fits, embarrassing defenders several times throughout the night with decisive moves like the drop of the shoulder. His powerful boot, which leads the team in goals and assists was also the origin to many of San Jose’s most dangerous attacks—some of which, should’ve been converted by his teammates.
Because they didn’t, San Jose now gets a two week break that it wasn’t hoping for, despite what some players have said about needing a break from the congested schedule.
Gonzalez told Soccer Bay Area that the team will resume training on Tuesday and will aim to do at least one intrasquad scrimmage before taking a long weekend break. During that time, they hope to squeeze in some fun team activities to welcome in new loanee Ayo Akinola and recalibrate for the stretch run.
Their next game won’t be until August 20 when they travel to Vancouver to restart the MLS season.
“I’m sad for the guys,” Gonzalez said. “They’re going to be bitter about training these next couple of days without a competition. We came into Leagues Cup wanting to win it, since this organization has never won an international cup before.”
“Now that’ll have to wait until next year.”
New boss at Tigres
While the spine of the team has remained, several coaches have shuffled in and out of the Tigres dressing room since the decade-long reign of Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti.
After the tumultuous runs of recently fired Mexican national team coach Diego Cocca and Miguel Herrera, the club appointed a former player, Robert Siboldi, as its coach, seeking a return to the club’s not too distant glory days.
I asked Siboldi what he is trying to impart on a team with so much continuity and history. Here is what he said:
“Tuca laid a great foundation,” Siboldi told Soccer Bay Area through an interpreter. “Our goal is to impart something new where we can, but without forgetting what has already been done successfully here. The skill level of this squad is already very good. When I first came in, we wanted to help the players to feel secure within themselves again. From there, we hope that they feel free and confident to make their own decisions on the field, attack directly and create, with diversity.”
About the Author:Kevin V. Nguyen has covered soccer for The Guardian, The Sacramento Bee, and The San Francisco Standard. Follow him on Twitter @KevinNguyen_89
