Indy Eleven Defeat Liga MX Champion C.F. Pachuca in International Friendly
Indy Eleven defeated Liga MX champions C.F. Pachuca 1-0 in a friendly match between the two sides at IUPUI’s Michael A. Carroll Stadium. Eamon Zayed scored the lone goal of the match in the seventh minute to give the 2016 NASL Spring Season champs the early lead in front of its home crowd.
Soccer News: On a day that made conditions difficult for players and spectators alike, it was Indy Eleven that conquered the heat and visiting Mexican Liga MX champion C.F. Pachuca by posting a 1-0 victory in their international friendly at IUPUI’s Michael A. Carroll Stadium.
While the 6,055 fans in attendance had to deal with temperatures hovering in the low 90’s, the players on the field had to deal with surface temps that peaked over 130 degrees. The game would get off to a hot start for the NASL Spring Season champs, with Indy Eleven getting on the board just seven minutes in thanks to some considerable help from a pair of Pachuca defenders who converged on a ball 30 yards from goal but had trouble corralling. The ball popped loose to an opportunistic Eamon Zayed, who easily collected and dribbled into the area before slotting low and left of Pachuca ‘keeper Alfonso Blanco to give the home side an early lead.
While a 4-3-3 formation and a high-sitting back line allowed Pachuca to create repeated forays into the final third, the Mexican champion’s quality chances were few and far between. Los Tuzos created their best look of the half when Jonathan Urretaviscaya and Franco Jara combined to put the latter into the left side of the area in the 18th minute, but Ivan Ochoa would knick Jara’s near-post cross just over the crossbar to leave Pachuca wanting.
Another defensive miscue, this time a lazy backpass by Jose Esquivel, put Zayed in alone again on Blanco in the 26th minute, but this time the Irishman rushed the chance and pushed his chip past the onrushing goalkeeper just wide left.
A brand new eleven-man squad for Pachuca to start the second half had much the same effect as the starters, producing some fluid, attacking football out of the break. Los Tuzos began their assault on the Indy goal in earnest with a pair of Wilson Morelos headers in the 55th and 57th minutes, the first saved by Cardona coming across his goalline and the second flashing just wide left.
One of the biggest cheers from the crowd for Indy during the second half came in the 62nd minute when midfielder Gerardo Torrado would finish his debut for the “Boys in Blue,” being replaced by Eleven original Brad Ring. Torrado, the second-most capped player in Mexican National Team history with 146 appearances, will look to make his first official start for the “Boys in Blue” on July 9 at home against Minnesota United, five days after the FIFA international transfer window opens.
Indy’s best chances in the second half would come from a pair of crosses sent into Pachuca goalkeeper Jose Gonzalez’s six yard box, the first an offering off the foot of Justin Braun that Gonzalez smothered before it could reach the run of Souleymane Youla. Braun was almost on the receiving end of the most dangerous chance of the day created by Indy in the 87th minute, but his sliding attempt to reach Duke Lacroix’s square ball on the doorstep went for naught.
Pachuca had its chances to equalize down the stretch, with the most dangerous coming off a pair of looks by Erick Sanchez in the 82nd minute. The crafty attacker first challenged Cardona with a 15-yard shot only to be denied by a fine kick save, followed by a rebounded effort he headed just past the upper left corner of frame.
One last chance would come in the final five minutes for the Mexican side, first in the 85th minute when Mateus Goncalves’ free kick smacked off the wall but still made it to the far post, only to have Jose Ramirez unable to put an open touch towards goal. A red card issued to Morelo for an elbow to the head of Cory Miller on a 50-50 ball in the final minute of regulation all but guaranteed the result for the home side, with the final whistle giving Indy Eleven another first during its increasingly historic 2016 season – a first win over international opposition.
With a two-week “break” that included today’s friendly in addition to a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup fixture in Chicago 10 days ago in the books, Indy Eleven (4W-6D-0L, 18 pts., 1st place overall in NASL) now gets to turn its focus back to NASL action. The “Boys in Blue” will kick off its 22-game Fall Season next Saturday, July 2, when it serves as the first-ever opponent for expansion side Puerto Rico FC at the Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in San Juan (7:30 p.m. ET, live on WISH-TV).
The following Saturday, July 9, Indy Eleven returns home to Carroll Stadium to face off against Minnesota United FC (7:30 p.m. ET, live on WISH-TV).
Source/Photo Credit: Indy Eleven
