The Argentine coach led the team that won the Clausura in the decisive match against Pachuca. The red and black cast had gone 70 years without titles before the arrival of the former Racing strategist
The former Racing coach established himself in football Aztec for the second consecutive time
Diego Cocca made history in the Atlas of Mexico. The fact is that the Aztecan team achieved the bi-championship by winning the Clausura, after the 2-1 loss against Pachuca in the definition of the series for the title of the tournament Cry Mexico C22.
The “Rojinegros” got their third star after those obtained in the 1950-1951 seasonand in the tournament Grita México A21 with an aggregate score of 3-2 after winning 2- 0 in the first leg. “We suffered a lot, it was very hard, we are very happy and proud, winning these titles is the best. I am rescuing the will of this squad that never gave anything up for lost,” Argentine Diego Cocca, who came to the club to end the drought of 70 years without conquests, told the Fox Sports network. .
In the second leg, played at the Hidalgo stadium in Pachuca, the local team took the lead after eight minutes by channel of the Ecuadorian Romario Ibarra, who defined with a shot inside the area after eluding two opponents.
Former Arsenal de Sarandí and Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, among other teams, Julio César Furch equalized at 45 minutes via penalty kick after the referee Fernando Hernández decreed after reviewing a play in the VAR, since the defender Daniel Aceves touched the ball with his hand inside the area.
Pachuca regained the lead at the end of the first half with a header from Argentina’s Nicolás Ibáñez after a center sent by Víctor Guzmán from the left sector, but it didn’t hit him.
Atlas remained one man down at 82 minutes< /b> with the expulsion of the defender Aníbal Chalá who saw the red card after the referee reviewed a play in the VAR where the Ecuadorian defender stepped on Guzmán’s ankle when both were fighting for the ball .
Pachuca, who was looking for his seventh titleafter those won in the tournamentsWinter 1999, Winter 2001, Apertura 2003, Clausura 2006, Clausura 2007 and Clausura 2016, tried to take advantage of the extra player to tie the overall score and send the game to extra time, but they did not succeed.
< p class=”paragraph”>“We played a great game, I think the goal served to give the team a little peace of mind. It is something that cannot be described, I had to score the goal, but keeping the goal clean is a great job by the whole team, we knew that we had a lot at stake, we are happy,” Furch told the official broadcast.
In this way, Atlas became the third club in Mexico to win a two-time championship since the short tournaments were implemented in 1996. Pumas UNAM did it in the Clausura 2004 and Apertura 2004, and León did it in the Apertura 2013 and Clausura 2014.
“It was a final very disputed, Pachuca was a difficult and excellent rival, but the heart of this team was stronger to take us the bi-championship”, the Colombian Camilo Vargas< said in dialogue with Fox Sports. /b>, archer of the Atlas.
In Guadalajara, host city of the Atlas, thousands of fans celebrated at the Glorieta de los Ninos Héroes, located in one of the main avenues of the city located in the western state of Jalisco. The red and black club wrote a new golden page in its history. And it did so under the leadership of Diego Martín Cocca.