In game: Quito came out playing well in the 1st half, with control and attack. America had little to offer. In the 2nd half America came out more had more time with the ball up front, but still lacked good dangerous attacks. Then came a red card in the 59th minute and this would seem to seal their elimination, although America did have 1 good opportunity at the 1-0 win, but the Cabañas shot went right to the keeper.

It was a good run, but the better team won.

The America goal came from Esqueda off an awesome header from a corner kick.

2 red cards were given, 1 for each team. America will miss dearly Sebastian Dominguez for their next game. Dominguez has been the heart of the America Defense as of late.

America will have to pull out a 1-1 result in Ecuador to go to penalties in the return leg.

The real test however will be their performance away in Brazil on the 2nd Leg.

In other news, the final 2 games of the Liguilla were played last night as well.

In the first match between Toluca and San Luis, San Luis pulled out a tie to take back to their home stadium. Alfredo Moreno scored the first with a rifling shot past the keeper. It was close to ending with a 1-0 result, until Santiago Fernandez got a very lucky back heal deflection type of a shot that went for the in for the tie.

The second match featured a strong Santos Laguna team play Necaxa in Aguascalientes. Daniel Ludueña made his reappearance know as he shot and scored from a free kick. Rodallega tied it up only to see another final minutes goal by Walter Gimenez. Santos stole the win and showed to be able to withstand the Necaxa attack.

All hope was lost. Ruben Omar Romano was fired after the loss in Azteca to Flamengo. The new Coach, Antonio Luna, said that it would be a dream/fantasy to think they would pass against Flamengo in the 2nd leg in Brazil. No one believed America could do it. I laughed at the chances they had. I didn’t even think of tuning into the game, instead I was watching the Pachuca vs San Luis game.

Then I tuned to FSE and saw Amercia 3-0 Flamengo, with 10 minutes remaining. What an exciting ending and incredible feeling to see a previously down and out America come back with such fight. Cabañas is a monster and even the failure labeled Esqueda with the goals to ensure passage to Quarter finals. Memo Ochoa had some good saves. The defense showed up big time, running and hustling to stop the Flamengo attack.

What a difference a coach made. Same players, but perhaps a different attitude.

Congratulations for the moment, there is still a tough road ahead and a lot of work to recover a disgraceful season.

Atleast he is in touch with reality, but its got to be a bummer to have to coach a team’s next 2 useless games, one in the Mexican League and the other in the Libertadores.

For America the next step would be huge changes in the off season and a new start in the Apertura tournament.

One thing that is sad to see is the defense leaving Guillermo Ochoa out to dry as goal keeper. A great talent like Ochoa has not been able to shine as of late because of the dismal state of the America team as a whole. At a time where I thought Oswaldo was a thing of the past, he is definitely the current option between the pipes especially with the great season he is having with Santos.

As far as any more humiliation that could occur for America, there is always the chance the heated rival Chivas could win the Mexican League Championship. This way Jorge Vergara and company could rub it in the face of America even more.

For real this time. After a disgraceful Mexican League stint as Head Coach, all his hopes hung on the Copa Libertadores. Now America loses 4-2 to Flamengo in Azteca, without an impressive attendance. It just keeps getting worse and the only thing that can fix it is a total cleaning of players, directives and coaching.

Romano says, “I would like to notify you, due to the situation, I believe this was the last opportunity. I have talked with the directors, I will step aside, the attempt was made and we did all we could. I dont blame the directors, nor the players, they gave their all but things didnt happen. This was our last hope and I believe the healthy thing for everyone is to step aside, may someone else come that is able to change things. Thank you America and all the support that I was given, Afternoon.”

Time to clean house.

The lone goal scored was by Mario Leguizamón who shot a smoker from mid range that went just above Guillermo Ochoa’s reach and into the net. Some say the keeper Ochoa was at fault but the shot was powerful and curved just out of reach of the America goal keeper. Maybe, Memo could have been positioned a little closer to the goal line, but he then would have exposed his sides from a low level shot.

What was disgraceful was America’s lack of offense and finishing as More Mosqueda seemed to provide some stability in the midfield, but Cabañas and company couldn’t put it in the net.

The woes still continue for America.

Despite their bad play, America is 1st place in their Copa Libertadores group! Now they face San Martin in Peru. San Martin, who America beat 3-1 in their last match in Mexico. A win in Peru could bring America very close to qualifying for the next round in Copa Libertadores competition. San Martin was supposedly missing various key players last game. America as well was missing Guillermo Ochoa and Enrique Esqueda who were too busy losing games in the Olympic qualifying. They also will have Gringo Castro, who was suspended for getting into a scuffle a couple games back.

Stay tuned tomorrow for this match.

Only one Mexican team remains in the Final 8 of the Copa Libertadores, as they hope to keep a streak alive of having at least one Mexican team in the semifinals for the third straight year.

A formidable task awaits the Águilas, however, as the top seed Santos FC from Brasil awaits. The Peixe comes in after barely surviving a hard-fought battle with the 16th seeded Caracas FC of Venezuela.

Santos found themselves down 4-2 early in the second leg before three goals in the Vila Belmiro saw them through on a 5-4 aggregate. The Brasilians were easily the best team in the group stage, winning all 6 of their matches while allowing just one goal.

América, on the other hand, breezed through their Round of 16 tie against Colo Colo of Chile, winning the first leg in the Azteca 3-0 to effectively put away the tie. The Águilas were able to send a reserve team to Santiago for the return leg, which they lost 2-1, giving them a 4-2 aggregate victory.

Both teams also have domestic competition to deal with, as Santos rested most of their first-team regulars on Sunday in the opening round of the Brasilerao, where they lost 4-1 at newly-promoted Sport Recife.

A much tougher task awaits América, as they have advanced to the semifinals of the Clausura playoffs. For the second straight season, they will play their archrivals Chivas Guadalajara, which gives us two Superclasicos in the frame of four days. It’s always a tricky situation for Mexican teams who reach these stages in both tournaments, as it’s difficult to choose which takes precedence.

It’ll be an interesting week to see if América can take an advantage tonight and whether they can advance in the Clausura playoffs, to be held on Thursday and Sunday. If they do advance, look for the first leg of the Clausura finals to be played next Thursday, a day after the return leg of the Santos tie.

As always, with the lineups up in the air for both matches for América, it will be difficult to make a prediction for the Libertadores tie. Although I’d love to see the Águilas go through, especially in Cuauhtémoc Blanco’s last season before heading to Chicago, I really think that the distraction of the Clausura and having to play the Libertadores favorites Santos will be too much for América to overcome.

Problems? What problems, might you ask?

It seems that Wednesday’s match between Necaxa and Nacional of Uruguay is going to be moved. Necaxa’s Victoria Stadium is unavailable for the Round of 16 return leg in which Nacional currently holds a 3-2 aggregate lead.

Turns out that the Governor of Aguascalientes (the state in which Necaxa plays) has decreed that Victoria Stadium will host a Shakira concert instead of the Western Hemisphere’s most important club tournament. Necaxa is currently looking for other possibilities, including returning to the Azteca in Mexico City, where they played for years until moving to Aguascalientes a few years ago.

Before you ask, yes the Governor is male. And I’m sure he’ll be there.

Hey, at least it’s not a Gloria Trevi concert.