Club América has won the CONCACAF Champions League for the second consecutive year in a row, after defeating Tigres UANL by an aggregate score of 4-1. They will now represent the CONCACAF in the 2016 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, joining Auckland City (the Oceania Football Confederation representative) as the first in qualifying for the tournament.
After defeating Tigres in Monterrey by a score of 2-0, Club América played host to Tigres hoping to clinch the CONCACAF Champions League title in their home stadium that is the monumental Azteca. Tigres was hoping to erase the 2-0 deficit that América had over them by scoring a goal late in the first half.
After holding most of the possession in the first half, Tigres finally broke though near the end of the half. A shot by Rafael Sóbis was blocked by Amé keeper Hugo Gonzalez, but it ended up rebounding back to Sóbis. The Tigres midfielder then smartly fed the ball to the French talisman himself, and André-Pierre Gignac scored with precision from around the penalty spot for the 1-0 Tigres lead. With that goal, the university squad found new life and were only a goal away from tying the aggregate score.
Tigres seemed to hold the advantage going into the break, but Nacho Ambríz must have given las Águilas a stern talking to in the locker room as it was all Amé in the second half. They held most of the possession and created a majority of the chances. They finally stuck pay dirt in the 68th minute when substitute Michael Arroyo scored three minutes after he came in, and what a goal it was. A great individual effort from Arroyo saw him dribble his way to the top of the 18-yard box and he unleashed a shot that caught Tigres keeper Nahuel Guzmán out of position. Take a look at Arroyo’s goal:
Goal AME No. 11 Michael ARROYO @Mikyjr1 | @ClubAmerica @tigresoficial @scotiabankfc #SCCLfinal #SoyAficionado https://t.co/3lhY2afjMX
— THE CHAMPIONS (@TheChampions) 28 de abril de 2016
And if that wasn’t the dagger that put Tigres away, they conceded a goal in the 87th minute thanks to Hugo Ayala taking down Miguel Samudio in the box which led to an América PK. Osvaldo Martínez rifled the shot past Guzmán who had no chance at the ball and with that América put the last nail in Tigres’ coffin as they would win this game as well 2-1 and win on aggregate by a score of 4-1.
As the Estadio Azteca boomed and celebrated the second consecutive CONCACAF Champions League crown for América, and their seventh in team history, the players donned championship gear and lifted the trophy on what is the team’s 100 year anniversary celebration.
Now Águila fans will have even more reason to celebrate their 100th year of existence as they once again were able to crown themselves CONCACAF champions and booked their ticket to Japan for this December to play against the world’s best.
