The Mexican Pachuca suffered until the last moment of a dramatic penalty shootout to eliminate the Egyptian Al Ahly (6-5 after 0-0), this Saturday in Doha, and thus qualify for the final of the Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday against the Real Madrid.
The pass of the ‘Tuzos’, who participate in the tournament as current champions of the Concacaf zone, was heroic, after the Venezuelan Salomón Rondón and the Spanish Borja Bastón missed the first two shots of the Mexicans and the Egyptians scored theirs .
Everything seemed lost at that moment for the Mexican team, which rose from its ashes thanks to the subsequent failures of Mahmoud Kahraba and Omar Kamal for the African champions, while Pachuca’s pitchers did begin to convert.
The situation had balanced and remained that way until Faber Gil put Pachuca ahead 6-5 and then Khaled Abdelfattah failed, definitively condemning Al Ahly and sparking celebration for the Aztecs in Stadium 974 in the Qatari capital.
In the footsteps of Tigres
Pachuca thus continues its adventure. They had just surprised Brazilian Botafogo (3-0), representative of South America, on Wednesday in their first match in this competition in Qatar.
In this Saturday’s duel, played as a semi-final and called the ‘FIFA Challenger Cup’, the rival of the Spanish team, automatically classified for the final as the current European champion, was decided.
In the previous format of the Club World Cup, which from 2004 to 2023 measured the champions of each confederation, Pachuca had failed four times in its attempt to reach the final.
Only one Mexican club, Tigres in the 2020 edition – played in February 2021 due to the pandemic – had managed to reach the final of that ‘Mundialito’, but then lost to Bayern Munich.
This time Pachuca has a date with history and with Real Madrid, in what will be an appetizer before both face each other in the group stage of the new and expanded Club World Cup, on June 22, 2025 in Charlotte ( USA).
Little football, few opportunities
If in the match against Botafogo Pachuca had given a lesson in effectiveness, this time the clash against Al Ahly was very lackluster, with the two teams fearing each other and having many problems creating chances.
In the first half, the Egyptians were better and Ashraf had two good chances (12, 37). Rondón, sending high in the 23rd minute, had wasted the best of the Concachampions champion.
In the second half, both abused long-range shots, rushing to define the plays. The Ecuadorian Ángel Mena and the Colombian Nelson Deossa, with a quarter of an hour left before the end of regulation time, had the two of them with the most intention.
Boredom took over the extra time, where goalkeeper Carlos Moreno saved Pachuca on one occasion, with a great intervention against Kharaba (105).
The match went to a penalty shootout and there Pachuca won the war of nerves to earn the right to continue dreaming of becoming intercontinental champion, something from which they are now just one obstacle away.
