PUEBLA, Mexico – It was a mixed weekend for Americans in Latin America.
DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Orozco Fiscal and Puebla earned a point at home after a 1-1 draw against Chivas Guadalajara on Sunday.
Beasley broke through the Chivas backline regularly and played higher up the pitch than usual, but should’ve done better with at least one of three good chances he had to score for La Franja. Beasley came off after 67 minutes, after which Puebla posed less of a threat to the Guadalajara team.
Orozco Fiscal was comfortable at right back against Mexico’s Olympic gold medalist Marco Fabián and is making the position his own at Puebla.
Neither Herculez Gomez nor Jose Torres took home the bragging rights on Saturday as Santos Laguna drew 1-1 with Tigres UANL in Monterrey.
Gomez worked hard up front, but spurned a good chance to give Santos the lead in the 69th minute when he mis-hit a shot with only the goalkeeper to beat. He also had an opportunity with his head three minutes later, before being subbed off in the 86th.
Torres was again excellent for Tigres and Jurgen Klinsmann will likely be pleased to see him playing slightly more expansively than in his days at Pachuca. The Texan went close to scoring himself with a left-footed shot from 20 yards in the 50th minute that was saved by Oswaldo Sánchez. Torres exited the field in the 73rd.
Edgar Castillo had a Friday night to forget, receiving a second yellow card and giving away a penalty for pulling down Jaguares’ Franco Arizala just after halftime. The incident represented Castillo’s first red card since moving to Mexico as a teenager and Xolos couldn’t recover, losing 2-0 in Chiapas.
Joe Corona also started and put a diving header just inches wide in the 6th, but was taken off at halftime.
Arizona native Ventura Alvarado had a Saturday evening he will never forgot, as he became the latest American to debut in the Liga MX. The 20-year-old center back came on for Club América in the 85th, but couldn’t do anything about Toluca’s Gerardo Rodríguez scoring an injury-time equalizer to make the final score 2-2.
In the Liga de Ascenso, Sonny Guadarrama grabbed a 5th minute goal as Mérida overcame Necaxa 1-0 on Saturday.
On Friday, Marco Vidal’s Lobos BUAP also won 1-0 with the American going the full 90 minutes against Cruz Azul Hidalgo.
In Costa Rica, Moises Hernandez again played the complete match for Saprissa, who lost 3-1 at Alajuelense on Sunday.
Tom Marshall covers Americans based in Latin America for MLSsoccer.com.
