Final 2nd Leg: Atlante 2 - 1 Pumas (agg 2-1)

Video with adverts.

On an intense and emotional night in Cancún, Quintana Roo Atlante were crowned champions of Mexico for only the third time in their history. Despite a solid performance from the Pumas of the UNAM the old failings in front of goal appeared and two well-taken goals by Atlante were sufficient to win the title.

Atlante had started with a more attacking line-up including both Pereyra and Toledo, while midfield scrapper Zamora was suspended. Pumas began with the same team that had dominated the 1st leg in Mexico City. Interestingly both coaches, "El Profe" Cruz and Pumas' "El Tuca" Ferretti had previously won the title with their respective clubs as players. The referee Armando Archundia was in charge of his 11th final match in Mexico.

The game started at a good pace, with Solari and Pereyra looking lively in their respective forward positions. Toledo too was looking to get into the action early against his old club and he had a long shot that flew wide. After about five minutes, though, Pumas started to gain the ascendancy and establish a rhythm that was to last throughout the first half.

Castro and particularly Leandro were dominating the midfield area, and with only one ball-winner in the middle Atlante found it hard to win or hold the ball. Pumas on the other hand were able to build from ample possession and they looked dangerous despite this period being scrappy as both teams committed their fair share of fouls. Espinoza and Barrera worked an opening down the right in the 6th minute but the final cross was just too close to Vilar, while Scocco had an excellent run into the penalty area, but was dispossessed by an excellent Mustafá tackle as he made to shoot.

In a similar play Scocco surged into the area again in the 12th minute, but was again unable to get in a shot. But this time it was clear that he had been unfairly impeded by Mustafá, first with a tug of the shirt and then by a foul. The action took place quickly but the sluggish Archundia did not manage to get into position to award what should have been a penalty.

Finally after 20 mintes Atlante started to claw their way into the game with a couple of long range efforts from "El Hobbit" Bermúdez, and a couple of dangerous moments inside the Pumas area that were smothered by the defence. But Pumas did not fall back and defend and they pushed forward with Barrera whose running was testing Ovalle but whose crossing lacked precision.

After 29 minutes Scocco again picked up the ball in the middle and drove at the defence. His shot was badly miss-hit but it fell nicely for Solari inside the area who dragged it back only to have his shot well saved by Vilar who had narrowed the angle well. Then four minutes later another chance went begging as a neat one-two between Leandro and Sambueza found the Brazilian in space in the area but again Vilar was able to save, this time with his legs.

Atlante had to change something and Alcántar came on for Castillo to give more fight to the midfield, but Pumas still continued to dominate and Scocco and Barrera worked a cross for Solari with Vilar out of his goal. However "El Tano" could not quite reach the inviting centre with the net beckoning. The "Potros Caribeños" (Caribbean Colts) did create a couple of chances of their own in the last five minutes of the half. A long Toledo cross found Maldonado who knocked back into the area where a clash of heads between "El Hechizero" Verón and "El Místico" Pereyra saw the ball fall invitingly free in the box; unfortunately for Atlante there was no-one there to finish. Then Bernal had to be sharp to deny Maldonado after a deflection fell to him in the area.

Pumas had dominated as in CU but had failed to take their chances, and Atlante were starting to look more solid. Mustafá had been excellent, and Carevic was solid at the back for Atlante, but Sambueza, with amazing work-rate, and Leandro had been outstanding for the university.

Arturo Muñoz came out for Guerrero at the start of the second half, while Pumas kept the same line-up but Sambueza and Barrera switched wings to look for further opportunities, possibly for Sambueza to cut inside and shoot with his favoured left foot. The first few minutes of the half were scrappy with Archundia being fooled by a couple of soft free-kicks from both sides, and Pumas giving Atlante a couple of chances to shoot from the area just outside the penalty box.

When Barrera and Sambueza switched back after 55 minutes they had achieved little and Ovalle defended well against both of them from left-back. Pumas were starting to look shorter on ideas and Atlante pressured the ball a little more.

Then all of a sudden Atlante were in the lead. "El Chícharo" González picked up the ball in midfield and the Pumas defence mistakenly tried to play the offside trap on Pereyra, with Verón rushing to meet González and Moreno pushing up fast. But Maldonado timed his run from deep and had no trouble taking the nicely weighted pass from "El Chícharo". He then easily rounded Bernal who had madly rushed way out of his area, taking it past an off-balance Espinoza and running the ball into the empty net. It was just the sort of sucker punch that Atlante are capable of but a bitter pill to swallow for Pumas having dominated the first two-and-a-half hours of the tie.

Atlante looked more sprightly after the goal, but Pumas stuck to the task, and almost levelled with a Moreno header that just clipped the top of the bar. Nonetheless the measured football which had been the UNAM trademark gave way to a tendency to rush things, and Castro was booked for a clumsy tackle on Pereyra, who inevitably made a meal of it. As the final quarter approached, Nkong replaced an injured Toledo, while Sambueza, who had given his all, gave way to the fresh legs of Iñiguez.

Within two minutes this second substitution paid dividends, in one of Pumas' best moves of the match. A 68th minute free-kick was quickly taken by Leandro, and receiving it back from Barrera he floated in a lovely cross to Solari whose header hit the base of the post. Iñiguez, fresh and alert, was first to the rebound and headed in for the equaliser.

Minutes later Mustafá should have gone into the book as a nasty elbow caught Solari on the side of the head, and he came off to be cleaned up. Then Pereyra was booked for what turned out to be a significant foul, as he came in studs up on Leandro. While "El Tano" came back on Leandro was unable to continue, and although Jehu Chiapas put in a lot of effort, Pumas' shape and confidence disintegrated. Atlante's attacks became stronger and more insistent and Verón had to be alert to clear a Peryera header, while Atlante should have had a penalty after Espinoza bungled a challenge on Bermúdez. But "El Hobbit" made too much of it and not only did Archundia not award the penalty, he cautioned the diminuitive midfielder into the bargain.

Pumas were looking tired and disorganised, and Nkong got in a shot after good work from Bermúdez, while Verón was booked for a poor challenge on Pereyra, who again got to practice his theatricals. Although Atlante were now on top, with only three minutes to go it looked like extra-time was going to be played. It was then that Atlante grabbed the winner. After a scramble in his own penalty area, Barrera brought the ball clear, but naively pushing the ball out of defence he was crudely blocked. The ball fell to Clemente Ovalle who lashed the ball from 25 yards into the top corner past a poorly positioned Sergio Bernal.

It only remained for Palencia to come on and try and save it by replacing Velarde, but Atlante were able to play out time comfortably and the capacity crowd of 18,000 rejoiced at Atlante's first title since 1992-93. Pumas were probably the best team in the Liguilla, but Atlante's pragmatic approach paid dividends after a magnificent regular season.

Goals
Maldonado (59 minutes) 1-0
Iñiguez (68) 1-1
Ovalle (87) 2-1

Cards
Pumas: yellow: Moreno (late tackle); Castro (bad tackle); Verón (bad tackle)
Atlante: yellow: González (not sure); Pereyra (studs up tackle); Bermúdez (dive in area)

Player Ratings
Bernal 5 - not his best game and at least partially at fault on the goals
Velarde 7 - solid without creating any attacking threat
Verón 7 - good except when at fault for the first goal
Moreno 7 - similar to Verón, possibly more to blame for the goal as he rushed up to play offside
Espinoza 7 - worked very hard and created some things going forward too
Leandro 9 - excellent display, ball winning, creating chances, didn't deserve to be on the losing side
Castro 8 - another solid display
Solari 7 - worked harder than at any time during his Pumas career
Scocco 7 - looked dangerous and should have had a penalty, but closely watched
Sambueza 8 - worked hard in defence and attack
Barrera 7 - running very good but crossing needs work

Tuca 8 - can't blame the tactics or the selection, and made the right substitutions. Just unlucky things did not go for his team.

Elsewhere in Mexico
Pachuca lost their opening (and final) game in the World Club Championship against Etoile Sportive du Sahel 1-0 with a drab performance ina game they could and should have won. Sahel now advance to play Boca Juniors in the semi-final.

Dorados and Indios de Ciudad Juárez will contest the Primera 'A' final after both drawing their second-leg matches over the weekend. Dates for the final will be decided after a meeting between the teams on Monday.

Next Up
The next competitive action for Pumas will be in the Interliga in the USA in the New Year. The first fixture will be Pumas v Monterrey on 2nd January in the dreadfully named Pizza Hut Park, in Frisco, Texas. Other teams in Pumas' group (Group B) are San Luis and Cruz Azul. Group A consists of América, Atlas, Toluca and Morelia. Two teams will qualify for the Copa Libertadores from this tournament.