By Carlos Ramírez Zago
Chivas Preseason in Spain
Sports Club Guadalajara, better known as Chivas or Rebaño Sagrado (sacred herd) headed to Spain for two friendly preseason matches against Getafe and Athletic Bilbao. This set the stage for the new team, which was joined in Spain by new sports director Fernando Hierro and technical director Veljko Paunovic. Their first match in Spain was against Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez Stadium, where Chivas represented itself well against Getafe, winning by the minimum with a goal by Fernando Beltrán.
The second match was against Athletic Club on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Bilbao team. Competing for the Arbol de Gernika (Tree of Gernika) Trophy, Athletic beat Chivas in San Mamés by two goals to zero in the first leg of the trophy competition. The second leg will be played in the summer of 2023 at Guadalajara’s Akron Stadium.
Dozens of «Chiva-brothers» accompanied them to Spain, making it clear that they are the most popular team on the planet, with more than 40 million fans.
It is always a pleasure to see Mexican teams compete against European teams.
Sergio «Checo» Perez is Awarded by the FIA
Mexican driver Sergio «Checo» Perez received an award at racing’s FIA prize-giving ceremony in Bologna, Italy, along with Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. Perez made history by being the first Mexican driver to be present at the ceremony, which only the top three drivers can attend.
The official photo shows Sergio Perez, who finished third in the drivers’ world championship; Christian Horner, director of Red Bull Racing after winning the Constructors’ World Championship as a team; and the current two-time world champion in the highest category of motorsport, Max Verstappen.
This was an incredible season for Red Bull and an historic season for «Checo» and Mexican motorsports. Congratulations, Checo!
Brazil Failed in Qatar 2022
From being the number one candidate to win the World Cup, to going out in the quarterfinals on penalties—such was Brazil’s failure in the Qatar 2022 World Cup. After being the leader in the group stage, delighting everyone, and defeating South Korea 4-1 in the 16th round, it was time to face the current runner-up of the world, Croatia.
The match was quite close, ending with no goals in regulation time. It was not until the 105th minute of extra time when Neymar’s goal gave the «Canarinha» the lead, but it was at the 117th minute when Croatia reacted, and Petkovic’s goal tied the match at one goal to settle it in penalties. It was in the penalty shootout where Brazil’s mistakes and Croatia’s successes defined the match. 4-2 was the final score in the penalty shootout for Croatia to advance to the next round in search of World Cup glory by eliminating the five-time world champion and candidate Brazil.
After the defeat against Croatia, the Brazilian Football Federation announced the dismissal of Tite as Brazil’s coach.
With Brazil’s elimination, who will be champion in Qatar?
Cristiano Ronaldo is Out of the World Cup
The end of an era has come. Portugal was eliminated from the Qatar 2022 World Cup against the surprise team of Morocco, which has been the «dark horse» of this World Cup and the first African team to advance to the semifinals of a World Cup.
The match was won by Morocco with a solitary goal by Youssef En-Nessyri in the 42nd minute, which was enough to leave the Portuguese team out.
The controversy was caused by the decisions of the technical director, who decided to leave Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench in his last World Cup and put him in almost at the end of each match. CR7’s last chance to be world champion vanished when he was surprisingly eliminated against a fiery Morocco.
It is the end of an era; the end of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career is near and we can only enjoy his soccer.
Thank you, Cris!
