He who dies because of his pleasure, even death knows him. It will not be the first and much less the last time that Mexican soccer breaks our hearts for being “green chilis.” What happened this Saturday night was not a simple day of football; It was a true lesson in periodic humility.
Both Atlante and Toluca jumped onto the field thinking that the pure shield was going to play for them. They wanted to earn more with their name and lineage than with sweat on their shirts, and look, nothing more: the slap of reality was heard from the north of the continent to the capital's main square.
The Horseshoes accommodated the Colts (Real Salt Lake 4-0 Atlante)
The Atlante thing was not a defeat, it was an authentic quinceañera dance! The blaugranas entered Real Salt Lake's house with the attitude of someone who is going to borrow money and ended up robbed and without shoes. The resounding final 4-0 was a bucket of ice water that brought them down from their cloud in a single trip. The town's team was returned to its reality in the worst way.
And the worst thing is that they were not danced by a team full of world stars with fantasy feints; They were eliminated by a rough, orderly team, one of those that bites in every corner of the field and that, based on pure physical drive, showed them that in modern football romanticism does not score goals. They painted the Colts' faces and reminded them that to fly high, you must first have your horseshoes firmly on the ground.
The Devil's hell went out in his last breath (LAFC 1-0 Toluca)
For their part, the Scarlets had a little more luck in the process, but the outcome hurt like a mule kick on an empty stomach. When it seemed that Toluca rescued a golden tie at the BMO Stadium and everything was going to be decided from the eleven steps, the bucket of ice water arrived. In the 91st minute, an agonizing shot from Eddie Segura blocked Hugo González and left the choriceros with an inch of their noses, biting the dust in the last play of the game.
The wound bleeds more because the team led by Antonio Mohamed was naive and committed the worst sin in football: they cheapened the game at the end. They wanted to pass the ball slowly in the final stretch, as if the clock was no longer ticking, and the Los Angeles team showed them that at home no one comes to draw the line. They forgot that the devil is a devil because he is old, not because he trusts himself before the referee whistles the end. Now they will have to risk their lives and put on the overalls at full speed against Dallas.
The moral: More action and less chatter
This Saturday's lesson is very clear for both projects. Today's football does not forgive the arrogant or those who feel handmade. If Atlante and Toluca want to be respected again, they are going to have to leave the gala suit in the dressing room, put on their work overalls and start putting their legs in as God intended. Because to win games, you need much more strategy on the court and much less smoke in your head.
