A 1-0 lead during a match never guarantees you’ll be the eventual winner. Not in professional soccer. Especially not at the Club World Cup. The Club World Cup, the premier club tournament that only includes the top teams from each of the six confederations and the host country's champion club, was the opportunity Club America needed to end their year on a high note.
Come the new year, they’ll be celebrating a year to forget. A poor Clausura and Apertura season this year have led many to question the direction of the club. One of the few highlights of the year was the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League win over Montreal Impact. With very few positives this year, Club America was hoping to make amends by concluding their year with a strong performance in the Club World Cup.
That opportunity went to waste, with Las Aguilas failing to win their first match of the tournament. Instead, they lost the match 2-1 against Guangzhou Evergrande – a match that they were winning all the way up to the last 10 minutes. Chaos ensued in those last 10 minutes. Guangzhou, led by former Brazil Mens National team manager Luiz Felipe Scolari and former Tottenham Hotspur misfit Paulinho capitalized on poor defending by America.
Oribe Peralta had given America a 1-0 lead in the first half and the CONCACAF team continued to dominate up until those last ten minutes. Zheng Long equalized in the 80th minute and Paulinho scored a brilliant header in the 93rd minute, concluding a memorable comeback and booking themselves a match against Barcelona. A match they would go on to lose 3-0.
Winning the Club World Cup was always going to be a tough task. Even if America won this match, they would have faced an incredibly difficult opponent in the next round, Barcelona. The overall expectation was that America was going to progress and set up a must-win match against Luis Suarez. No Mexican team has won the tournament, or has any come in second place.
They could have been the first with Barcelona missing two of their MSN trio, Messi and Neymar. Losing to Barcelona would have been understandable, with Barca continuing a run of great form of late. Nevertheless, Club America was eager to show their fans that they can compete against the best and that their past losses and disappointments are behind them.
Not to mention that if they lost to one of the best teams in the world, fans would have been somewhat content with their team and how much they’ve accomplished so far. Instead, Club America left many wondering what is wrong with the team and what 2016 will bring for the faltering Aguilas.
On the upside, they did end the year with a win. Having failed to make it to the semifinal round of the tournament, America had to make due with a 5th place match against TP Mazembe. The African Champions put up a great fight but would eventually go on to lose against the Mexican side 2-1.
Club America beings their 2016 Clausura campaign in Liga MX with a match against Puebla. Will they have better luck in the new year? Don’t miss the start of the Clausura tournament.
