The UNAM Pumas were not only hit by a deluge from the sky, but also a storm of reality. This Friday night the huge ridicule was consummated in the Leagues Cup after biting the dust 2-0 against FC Cincinnati.
Chronicle of an announced death that seals his premature elimination and exposes an uncomfortable truth: the interest of the university students in this tournament was a resounding zero to the left and the night was more dramatic due to the loss of Sebastián Córdova, who had to leave the field on a stretcher.
The purists and the paleros will come out and cling to the usual catalog of excuses. What if the MLS squads play with the cards marked for being local, what if the logistics for the Aztec clubs is a nightmare of airports, delays and cold hamburgers in the waiting rooms.
But the truth does not sin, but how uncomfortable it is: the Pedregal squad was lazy about the binational competition. After the first slap that Charlotte FC gave them with a humiliating 3-0, the cats promised to make amends, but came out with the same apathy.
This time, the vaccines, courtesy of Pavel Bucha and Kenji Mboma Dem, administered just as each half was dying, ended up sending them home to watch the rest of the tournament on television.
Defenders of the failure will blame the annoying thunderstorm protocol that delayed the opening whistle at TQL Stadium. Pure cheap pyrotechnics. The reality is that those from UNAM arrived with water up to their necks and bills to pay. When the regulation 90 minutes were up, the university card was frozen, rejected and without funds due to an evident lack of football resources.
There was desire, there is no doubt about that, but the ideas were conspicuous by their absence. That cold blood was missing, that long and twisted fang to bend a Cincinnati that is not the Brazil of '70 either; a stubborn rival, more stupid than talented, but hungry enough to bite first. Therein lay the small big difference: one wanted it and the other just went to complete the procedure.
Nor can we talk about a boycott on the bench. No one will be able to blame coach Esteban Solari for not having thrown the meat on the grill. Perhaps the only eyebrow raised was the absence since the start of the Brazilian Juninho, but in the green rectangle was the rest of the artillery with which they face the Apertura 2026 of the Liga MX. Zero claims of absurd rotations; Those who supposedly know played.
Unfortunately for the national cause, Cincinnati applied the classic and old MLS trick: give the ball to the Mexican team, let them make the physical expenditure and wait for them crouching in the bush. When the first half was already calling for time, Pavel Bucha appeared to punish the Auriazul's naivety and change history.
For the complement, the feline bank tried to react by moving the board. Pedro Vite and Álvaro Angulo went to swim early to make way for the firepower of Sebastián Córdova and Uriel Antuna. Much ado about nothing; The violin remained out of tune and the gameplay did not change one bit. To make matters worse, the thinnest dog gets fleas.
Córdova, that eternal “scholarship” of Mexican soccer who contributes little to the dynamic game, but who continues to find directives that praise his supposed genius, ended up leaving on a stretcher due to an injury. With the level shown, the truth is exactly the same whether he is on the field or in the infirmary.
The final blow came in the 93rd minute. Kenji Mboma Dem saved the ball for the final 2-0, blowing out the last candle of hope and unleashing the local carnival. The party was great for Cincinnati, which in the process gave Pat Noonan the 100th victory on the bench.
Pumas only has the return trip left, but first he must visit the Columbus Crew plaza before setting foot on Mexican soil with a suitcase full of doubts and the bitter taste of having gone to the United States to feel the pure pain of others.
