CARSON, Calif. - With a win over Tigres on Tuesday, Necaxa became the first team in InterLiga history to finish the group stage with three victories.
But that seemed to matter little to Gerardo Galindo.
"This group has worked extremely hard since November. But Necaxa has won absolutely nothing as of yet," the Necaxa midfielder said. "We continue to work towards our goal and we believe in the work that is being done... We have a great opportunity of going to South America directly in front of us and we hope to take advantage of it."
With a win over Group B's second-place team - likely Jaguares or America - Necaxa would qualify for Copa Libertadores directly as Mexico 2 and would also claim its first InterLiga title.
Necaxa's South American duo of Kleber Boas and Alfredo Moreno have contributed most of the offense thus far. Kleber and Moreno combined for four goals entering Tuesday's action.
However, Necaxa coach Jose Luis Trejo opted to keep the pair on the bench for the start of the game. Instead, Trejo sent out Aaron Padilla and Hector Jimenez to start the match at forward.
It was an uneventful first half, though, as Tigres generated the game's few scoring chances. Trejo made the switch at halftime to Kleber and Moreno in place of Padilla and Jimenez, and the results were almost instantaneous. Kleber started to wear down the Tigres defense with speedy runs and clever passes while Moreno softened the back line even more with long-range shots.
It was a 17-yard blast that finally opened the scoring. Moreno jumped on a loose ball and slammed the ball into the back of the net.
"The most important thing remains. We have to maintain our level of play on Saturday to gain what's crucial to us," Moreno said. "We're going down the right path and we just hope to continue that way."
For Tigres, the match represented a chance to win the group and put the club in position to win its third consecutive InterLiga title. Instead, the second-half goal put the club's InterLiga streak in jeopardy but, more importantly, forced the team to await the result of the Cruz Azul-Monterrey match to know their fate for Saturday's game.
Still, Tigres coach Mario Carrillo said the club played well, particularly in the midfield.
"Above all we generated a lot of scoring chances," Carrillo said. "We just need to maintain our composure and we'll be fine."
For Tigres forward Juan Pablo Garcia, the match represented an opportunity to return to the site of his league matches over the last 18 months. Garcia joined Major League Soccer side Chivas USA in July 2005. He scored eight goals in the 2006 campaign but left MLS for Tigres and a return to his native Mexico.
Reactions he developed in MLS contributed to his sloppy play on Tuesday.
"(MLS) is very physical and there are a lot of collisions. A lot of times, I would try to get rid of the ball quickly to avoid contact," Garcia said.
"Tonight, there were times when I instinctively knocked the ball away too quickly because I was anticipating that contact."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to InterLiga.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the tournament's organizers or clubs.
