CARSON, Calif. - Knowing that a spot in one of Saturday's InterLiga finals was secure, America set out to try and win its group.
The club accomplished that with a 1-0 win over Jaguares on Wednesday at Home Depot Center. Now, America is one step closer to reaching Copa Libertadores for the first time in three years.
America will play two-time defending champions Tigres for an opportunity to participate in the renowned South American club tournament.
"It is important to be in the final," America midfielder German Villa said.
"Tigres is always a challenge but we just need to worry about ourselves."
Missing its biggest gun, America came out in a bit of a defensive shell. The first half was dominated with sloppy play and poor marksmanship as Cuauhtemoc Blanco's absence was felt.
Perhaps a possible strategy to take the game lightly and try for a draw got in America's way for most of the night.
"We lacked some rhythm on our end but at the same time we knew America was going to make things difficult for us and they played for a tie and took advantage," Jaguares coach Eduardo De La Torre said.
America's goal came courtesy of Nelson "Pipino" Cuevas, who started in place of the suspended Cuauhtemoc Blanco. In the 70th minute, Cuevas connected with Juan Carlos Mosqueda on a nifty give-and-go. Cuevas slipped by Jaguares' defense, received the ball and hit it with the outside of his right shoe. The ball skipped past Jaguares goalkeeper Omar Ortiz and caromed off the inside of the far post and into the back of the net.
Cuevas paid the price for his goal. Moments after scoring the lone goal, Cuevas raced past Heriberto Morales and nearly went in alone on Ortiz.
Instead, Morales' elbow met Cuevas' face. Morales was immediately shown a red card.
"I just wanted to get in his path. Unfortunately I got a lot more of him than I wanted to. It was not my intention to knock him down. I didn't think I was going to get a red card because I just wanted to stop his progress.
Jaguares did not perform as it had in the first two games. The club was held scoreless after scoring multiple goals in each of the first two games.
Still, the club was not going to let one loss linger.
"We just need to analyze what we did tonight and what we've done this whole tournament and try to progress on Saturday," De La Torre said.
Jaguares faces a tough challenge. Standing between them and Copa Libertadores is Necaxa, who became the first club in the four-year history of InterLiga to win all three of its group games.
"Necaxa is a fine team but I think the match is pretty even. We are confident in ourselves," De La Torre said. "The game is there for the taking."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to InterLiga.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the tournament's organizers or clubs.
