Mexican football club Chivas de Guadalajara has arrived in the US to take on New York Red Bulls in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday.
After winning the first leg 1-0 on Wednesday thanks to a goal by Isaac Brizuela, the Mexicans have to win or draw on Tuesday to reach the final, which will be played against either Mexico’s Club America or Major League football champions Toronto, reports Efe.
The team’s Argentinian coach Matias Almeyda rested some of his best players on Saturday in a domestic league match against Veracruz before setting off to the US.
Despite being one of the two most successful teams in Mexico with 33 titles, Guadalajara has only once won the Champions League, which includes teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean.
They beat Guatemala’s Comunicaciones 6-0 in 1962 and the team is now looking to play its first final since they lost to Pachuca in 2007.
On Wednesday, the Chivas did not play its best football but managed to win after Brizuela converted a Rodolfo Pizarro pass following a defensive error by Tyler Adams.
Almeyda, who has not revealed the probable line-up, will miss the services of defender Jair Pereira, who was suspended for two games after the first leg.
(IANS)
