[colocolo]

Atlas beats Club America 4-1 in Interliga tourney

Jan 10, 2009

(AP)—Carlos Ochoa scored twice to lead CD Guadalajara to a 4-2 victory over UANL Tigres on Friday night in the second game of a double-header in Group B play at the InterLiga tournament.

In the first game, Bruno Marioni and Jorge Achucarro scored pivotal goals as Atlas reached the finals on goal differential with a 4-1 rout of Club America.

CD Guadalajara, also known as Chivas, won Group B and will face Morelia in one game of Sunday’s concluding double-header. Atlas will play Pachuca, which won Group A.

Sunday’s winners will receive two of the three berths for Mexican teams in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s most prestigious club tournament.

Ochoa, the tournament leader with four goals, scored in the fourth minute on a diving 7-yard header. Sergio Avila’s 11-yard header gave Guadalajara a 2-0 lead in the 23rd minute.

UANL Tigres narrowed the deficit on Lucas Lobos’ 17-yard shot in the 34th minute. But Alberto Medina’s 15-yard shot in the 45th minute made it 3-1, then Ochoa scored in the 63rd minute on a 13-yard header.

UANL Tigres’ Ariel Bogado ended the scoring with a 16-yard shot in the 89th minute. The team played with 10 men after Jose Antonio Castro received a red card in the 70th minute.

Chivas USA’s Francisco Mendoza, loaned to CD Guadalajara for the off-season, entered the game in the 55th minute to make his second appearance for the Mexican team.

Marioni broke a 1-1 tie against Club America in the 36th minute. Gonzalo Vargas deflected Edgar Pacheco’s pass from the right flank to Marioni, who threaded a 17-yard shot between two defenders that settled inside the right post.

After Pacheco converted a 20-yard shot off a breakaway in the 66th minute, Achucarro gave Atlas its advantage in goal differential in second-half stoppage time.

Marioni ran past three defenders before Club America’s Ismael Rodriguez tackled the ball away. But Achucarro secured the loose ball and scored from 13 yards.

Andres Chitiva gave Club America a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute but Vargas tied the score in the 19th minute.

 

[colocolo]

Pachuca beats Atlas on penalty kicks at Interliga

CARSON (But NOT 35) , Calif —Miguel Calero stopped four shots in 13 rounds of penalty kicks to lead Pachuca past Atlas on Sunday night after the teams tied 3-3 in regulation in the first game of the concluding doubleheader at the InterLiga tournament.

Pachuca used the victory to qualify for the Copa Libertadores, South America’s most prestigious club tournament, for the second time ever.

Morelia and CD Guadalajara, also known as Chivas, played the second game to determine the tournament winner.

Paul Aguilar converted his penalty kick to give Pachuca its 10-9 lead in the tiebreaking round. Then Calero lunged to block Jorge Achucarro’s shot with his right hand.

Calero previously stopped Achucarro by pouncing to his right, dived to parry Luis Robles’s shot away and blocked Lucas Ayala’s attempt.

Pachuca’s Leobardo Lopez and Blas Perez each converted two spot kicks, as did Atlas’ Edgar Pacheco.

Pachuca built a 3-0 lead in the first 34 minutes. Edgar Benitez scored in the 14th and 17th minutes, followed by Christian Gimenez in the 34th.

But Atlas rallied in the second half despite playing with 10 men once Hugo Ayala received a red card in the 45th minute.

After Gonzalo Vargas scored in the 49th, Lopez committed an own goal in the 71st. Achucarro tied the score in the 88th with a looping 18-yard header just out of Calero’s reach.

 

[colocolo]

Chivas and Pachuca In Libertadores...They join San Luis, already qualified for the South American prestigious Tournament.

The InterLiga 2009 featured great football, lots of goals, and nerve-wrecking penalty shootouts, but in the end champion Chivas and Pachuca took the tickets for the Copa Santander Libertadores 2009.