CARSON, Calif. - When Club America left Japan and the FIFA Club World Cup last month, they did so with a broken psyche.
A 4-0 loss to FC Barcelona and a 2-1 setback to Egyptian side Al-Ahly closed out what turned out to be a miserable tournament for the Mexican giants.
For America, the road to recovery went through the United States and culminated with a successful InterLiga tournament. America beat Tigres 4-2 in penalty kicks after finishing regulation and extra-time at 0-0.
America will move on to play Peruvian side Sporting Cristal in a two-leg play-in series that starts Jan. 24.
"It's something that we wanted from the start," America goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa said. "We came here with that objective despite not entering in the best physical condition. Thanks to the desire and attitude of everyone, we've achieved it."
Ochoa played a huge role in America's progression. In the penalty kick shootout, he stopped shots from Emmanuel Cerda and Javier Saavedra. America, meanwhile, was four-for-four.
Going through to the next phase has helped ease the sting of the failures in Japan and has sent the club into the league campaign on a high note. America starts the season off on Jan. 21 against San Luis.
"After what happened in Japan, it wasn't easy to raise our morale but the team has done that and tonight was a good indicator of that," America Vice President Manuel Lapuente said.
America's defense was the revelation of the tournament. In four games, America allowed just one goal, against Tecos in the opening match. After a 1-1 draw to start the tournament, America beat Morelia 2-0, downed Jaguares 1-0 and advanced to play Sporting Cristal following a 120-minute shutout of Tigres.
"We had a good tournament but are not going through directly because Necaxa had a perfect one," America coach Luis Fernando Tena said. "But we're still going to go to Peru with the same aspirations we had before we started here which is to continue through to Libertadores."
Tigres, meanwhile, tasted defeat at InterLiga for the first time in three years. Tigres entered the tournament as two-time champions but lost its last two games to squander away the title.
The Apertura 2006 season was a difficult one for the club as Tigres finished near the bottom of the table and dropped toward the bottom of the relegation table.
"We're out of Libertadores so we have to focus our attention on the league. We start the season Friday in Guadalajara (against Tecos) so it's important to start off on the right foot," Tigres' Saavedra said. "We're among the teams fighting to stay in the first division so we have to have a good start to the season and return to being a playoff contender."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to InterLiga.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the tournament's organizers or its clubs.
