Who can fault Miguel Herrera for celebrating like this?
The Mexican soccer coach has twice taken teams to the brink of glory only to lose at the last step. On Sunday, he saw firsthand how the third time can truly be a charm.
Herrera, head coach of Mexican giant CF America, watched his team come back to beat Cruz Azul in the second leg of the Liga MX playoff final. He would would have enjoyed any victory, but the dramatic nature of Sunday’s triumph sent him into a special kind of tizzy.
Cruz Azul was leading 10-man America by a 2-0 aggregate score when Aquivaldo Mosquera cut the lead in half in the 89th minute. Four minutes later, America goalkeeper Moises Munoz scored with a diving header to send the contest into extra time.
The game went to penalty kicks after 30 minutes of extra time failed to produce a winner. The first two Cruz Azul penalty takers failed to score. Then Christian Benitez scored to give America a 2-0 lead. At that moment, Herrera felt relief after years of near-misses.
America won the shootout 4-2, clinching its first league title since 2005.
See Hererra’s celebration in the video below.
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