I celebrate the competitiveness with which América represented Mexican soccer against three powerful European clubs. In the preseason carried out by the latter in American cities, the Eagles faced Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid.
With the English teams he lost by the slightest difference, with two separate 1-2. With the historic Spanish team he ended up drawing 2-2. In the three confrontations, those led by Fernando Ortiz received praise from locals and strangers.
I watched all three games, but I was more interested in the one against Real Madrid. I liked the gall and courage of the Americanists, putting high pressure for at least the first 15 minutes, causing the rival to drown in their own field and making it 1-0.
It took Real Madrid to react. It can even be said that he equalized the score at one due to a brilliant execution by Karim Benzema, with a wonderfully curved shot from outside the area, but not due to a collective reaction corresponding to his talent and crests.
And the performance America had in the second half was absolutely worthy. They never stopped fighting, despite being down on the scoreboard. They achieved the tie through a penalty that was marked by the madridistas’ drive and presence in the box.
Gaining international recognition, giving prestige to Liga Mx soccer is something that should generate pride and that should be recognized. The role played by America in these three games, I am sure, can be replicated by teams like Tigres, Monterrey and some others, such as Pachuca, Toluca, Pumas and Cruz Azul. Liga Mx is competitive.
That if the European clubs are in preseason and the Mexicans have already been competing for a month, some commentators point out, and that is real that it puts things a little in favor for our team. But then there is no other way to measure ourselves to them. The FC Barcelona game against the Pumas is coming up at the Nou Camp. I’m not going to miss it.
Rafael Ocampo
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