Chivas and Tigres, a final with musketeer overtones and where football is played with heart and balls

Alberto Aceves

Sent

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, May 28, 2023, p. a10

Guadalajara, Jal., One more step to go, we still haven’t won anything, emphasizes the Serbian Veljko Paunovic insistently, while observing that in various parts of Guadalajara a monumental party is being prepared in the event that Chivas is crowned in the Mexican soccer final against Tigres. Although the goalless draw in the first leg has generated a state of optimism in the city, the coach of the rojiblanco team prefers to turn the excessive praise into a new problem to be solved.

If he has ill-wishers because of his way of defending on a visit, that no longer worries Paunovic. Soccer is played with the head, the heart and eggs, he affirms and he does not need his rivals to understand it. More than a powerful squad, what has reached the final match for the League championship is a band of friends who left their egos well guarded for a long time.

He Herd He became strong walking after a start to the tournament that put his chest to his own insecurities. But none of that would have been possible without the shared joy that was missing from so many previous cycles, sidekicks having fun some times and getting serious at others. The old musketeer motto of one for all and all for one Thus, he renewed his football validity at the hands of Paunovic, a man who broke the myth of geographical distances.

We are all to death with him, because he has injected us with the confidence to make history in this clubCaptain Fernando Beltrán mentioned during his visit to Nuevo León, as if Chivas were a hotbed where youngsters scrape their knees and find a bath of happiness in each victory.

It is true that there are 90 minutes left, but this team eliminated their two classic rivals in the league (Atlas and América, in the quarterfinals and semifinals), something that not everyone doessays the former soccer player Alberto Deer Medina, champion in 2006 with the Herd in an unforgettable final against Toluca. There are players with a lot of quality and youngsters who have been pushing hard from the basic forces. That plugin is what got us here.

red and white madness

In the main avenues of the Perla Tapatia, the merchants offer flags and shirts with the rojiblancos colors. If champions come out, the city is going to be crazywarns Don José Melgar, an elderly taxi driver who takes advantage of the great demand for the game to multiply his earnings with trips that go from the airport to the Akron stadium, almost from end to end. Since the league began, everyone has been on the streets with their Chivas shirt.

In Nuevo León things do not seem different. Nearly 25,000 Tigres fans said goodbye to the feline team at the Universitario stadium, in an open training session that was accompanied by trumpets, drums and songs from their main cheerleader group in the stands: Come on, Tigers/ I want to see you/ champion/ another time! Microphone in hand on the side of the field, goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán asked a crowd not to fall for provocations or be fooled by anything they could not control. We are going to leave our hearts and skins in Guadalajara against everyone. Thanks to those who trusted and to those who didn’t, also to those who didn’t want to see us fighting for the championshipironized the Argentine with his fist raised.

According to the authorities of the Guadalajara club, the last tickets that were available to the general public were sold on Friday in less than 25 minutes. Given these circumstances, the former soccer player and Olympic medalist in London 2012, José Chaton Enríquez offered resale locations on Twitter with prices well above the original value.

On the lower side they cost 25 thousand. I have four in the premier area at 35,000 and three VIPs at 30,000the Baja Californian responded to one of the users, just a few hours after Chivas issued a statement in which he recalled that this practice is illegal. The original owner could revoke your ticket or leave you empty-handedhe warned.

Coach Robert Dante Siboldi also attends this great event, who as Tigres goalkeeper experienced relegation to the Second Division in the 1995-96 season. It was like carrying a giant bear on your back., the Uruguayan once confessed after one of the worst campaigns in memory in the northern team. Now the story seems different.

With a serious face and a height (1.93m) that commands respect in his walk, Siboldi went beyond the idea of ​​Diego Cocca and Marco Antonio Chima Ruiz, his former colleagues on the bench, transforming his team into a work in progress tailored to their talents. As he did in the 2018 champion Santos, his offensive philosophy boosted the ingenuity of players like Sebastián Córdova and Diego Lainez, in addition to quieting the disenchanted voices that roamed the corridors of the Volcano.

massive operation

In a stadium where more than 46,300 attendees are expected, in addition to a massive security operation, Chivas and Tigres are playing all or nothing for another league championship. No one forgets what happened in 2017, when the Herd He gave the Olympic lap in the middle of a controversial arbitration night.

We have a new opportunity to continue making this institution great, says Guido Pizarro, captain of the cats. Thus, with a city that will be the epicenter of soccer, history awaits a new consecration in the maximum Mexican circuit.