Club América wins the Super Copa MX and prepares for the start of the Apertura 2024

Club América beat Tigres 2-1 in the Super Copa MX on Sunday afternoon to open the 2024-2025 season. This cup is another victory for a team that looks to continue its dominance in Mexican football after winning four trophies. Now they will focus their energy on this weekend, as they will open the Apertura 2024 away against Atlético San Luis.

The SuperCopa MX was created to pit the last two Liga MX champions against each other to see who is the better of the two teams. The original Super Copa MX was created in 2014 and ran until 2019. Then another edition of the cup was held in 2022 and now the tournament is back after a year’s hiatus. Tigres went into the game with a new head coach, as the club had parted ways with Robert Siboldi and welcomed former Chivas head coach Veljko Paunović. On the other hand, América came as bicampeón under the leadership of André Jardine, who had signed a contract extension until 2027 after leading the team to four trophies in one year.

The action started almost immediately when Sebastian Córdova nearly put the ball in the net in the second minute. Tigres finally broke through in the sixth minute when Juan Brunneta scored the first goal at Dignity Health Sports Park.

It was only the first few minutes of the game, so the Águilas had plenty of time to make up for the goal. But it was a rocky start as they looked out of form. That’s understandable considering everyone is coming back from vacation, but Tigres, who also had a new head coach, looked pretty good for their comeback from pre-season. América came close to a draw in the 14th minute when Henry Martin played a ball to Alvaro Fidalgo, but the defense was there to stop him. After that, the game slowed down a bit as both teams settled down, with André-Pierre Gignac firing a long-range shot in the 21st minute but the ball went high. Soon after, the Águilas equalized thanks to a goal from Javairô Dilrosun.

It didn’t take long for América to take the lead in the 35th minute with a goal from Henry Martin.

For Martin, this is his 104th goal, making him, along with Enrique Borja, the fifth best goalscorer of all time.

Tigres tried to respond immediately, but all their attempts came to nothing. Not even Gignac could put the ball in the net. Halftime came and went and Tigres were more than happy for a break so they could regroup and fight back in the second half. Unfortunately, that comeback did not happen in the second half. Tigres had chance after chance but could not score. Gignac could not buy a goal to save his life, although he did have several chances in the 60th minute. Renato Cota, who recently signed with the Aguilas, also played a role as he blocked Gignac’s chances and those of his teammates. América did what they had been doing all last year, and that frustrated their opponents. Throughout the season, anyone who faced the Aguilas had trouble breaking through their defense. Whether it was Igor Lichnovosky, Israel Reyes, Cristian Calderon or “Chava” Reyes, someone was always there to fend off any kind of threat. América’s defense held firm and was able to secure the win when the referee blew the whistle and they were crowned SuperCopa MX champions.

Four trophies in a year is no small feat for a coach and his team, and Jardine did just that. Over a year ago, “Tano” Ortiz was coach of América, but he was struggling in the Liguilla. Three times the team made it to the semifinals, and all three times the team was eliminated one game before the final. Then Ortiz left the team after his contract expired and went to Monterrey, where he again failed to help his team reach the final. The Aguilas then brought in Jardine from Atlético San Luis to help the team overcome this crisis, and that’s exactly what the Brazilian coach did. He got the best out of every player on the team, even Jonathan Dos Santos. Dos Santos had little playing time when “Tano” was coach, and it looked like the player was about to leave. Then Jardine came in, and dos Santos quickly became an important part of the team. Cristian “Chicote” Calderon also went through a transformation after signing with the Aguilas before the Clausura began. Calderon left Chivas after his contract was not renewed as the off-field distractions became too much and Chivas decided to let Calderon go. It was the best thing that could have happened to him as the club gave him a new lease of life and he quickly carved out a regular position in the back line. At first he was not well received by the fans who booed him every time he touched the ball but after a while the fans cheered him on. During his time at Chivas Calderon had not won any titles and then moved to Mexico City where he won three trophies in six months while contributing greatly to the team’s success. Dos Santos and Calderon are just two examples of how a great coach can really transform players and clubs.

Now, Club America travels to San Luis Potosí to face Atlético San Luis in the first week of the 2024 Apertura. Jardine will face his former team, whom he has already beaten four times. During the Apertura, San Luis lost by just one goal, which is an achievement in itself, but then they lost to the Aguilas in the semifinals of the same season by an aggregate score of 2-5. Then San Luis lost again 1-2 away in this last tournament. Things are not looking good for San Luis, who played an outstanding Apertura 2023 in which they finished in the top seven of the table, but then things went downhill during the Clausura and they finished only 13th. The team’s performance dropped off a lot from one season to the next, and it doesn’t look like it will get any better. Atlético will not have to deal with Julian Quiñones, who has moved to Saudi Arabia, where he will play for Al-Qadsiah FC on a four-year contract. However, the Aguilas still have a large arsenal of players that San Luis must worry about. It is a tall order but maybe, just maybe, Atlético can do what few teams have managed to do and keep giants Club América at bay.