Club America vs. CS Herediano
Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League semifinals, 2nd leg
April 8, 10 pm ET
TV: FOX Sports 2, Univision Deportes (US); Sportsnet World (Canada)
If you can't get enough CONCACAF Champions League drama after the Montreal Impact's unforgettable clincher last night, you're in luck.
The Impact will learn their opponents for the final on Wednesday night when Costa Rican side Herediano travel to Mexico with a 3-0 aggregate lead over Club America. Though 23-time champions of their own domestic league, the Costa Ricans were underdogs against America, arguably the most storied club in CONCACAF, and their convincing win at home two weeks ago came as a big shock.
America's fans, however, seem fairly confident of a turnaround, and given that America play at one of the toughest away venues in the region, it certainly seems like the requisite four-goal win is possible on paper. It's a viewpoint shared by America striker Oribe Peralta, who believes the team has shown an improved attitude and spirit after a tough stretch of games.
If they're to complete the turn-around, the home side will need to be much better than in the first leg -- a rough-and-tumble affair that saw America's Michael Arroyo shown a red card int he 27th minute and defender Pablo Goltz receive a six-game suspension (reduced to three on appeal) for kicking Herediano's Cristian Lagos. Yendrick Ruiz was the protagonist for the home side, setting his team's first goal before scoring the second.
Ruiz and Lagos form the team's first-choice strike pairing and may be the key players for Herediano going into the second leg, where one away goal could ice the series for Herediano. They are not likely to get many chances, and one goal would require America to score five to advance because of the away goals rule.
In recent league play, America secured a vital derby win against Cruz Azul last weekend after a rough five-game stretch that saw them pick up four points and lose 4-0 to Veracruz on March 20. Herediano have won their last two and lost just three times in 14 games across all competitions in 2015, though a preponderance of draws have them sitting a hair outside a playoff spot (top four) in domestic play.
As far as the Impact are concerned, the first leg of the final will be held on April 22, at the home of the America-Herediano winner, with the Impact hosting the decisive leg on April 29. Herediano may certainly seem like the preferred opponent on paper, but an upset of America should be enough to put any team on warning.
