{"id":1498,"date":"2026-05-25T08:04:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T08:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1498"},"modified":"2026-05-25T08:04:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T08:04:25","slug":"cruz-azul-rallies-past-pumas-2-1-to-win-the-clausura-title-on-a-stoppage-time-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1498","title":{"rendered":"Cruz Azul rallies past Pumas 2-1 to win the Clausura title on a stoppage-time goal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Cruz Azul players celebrate after beating Pumas during the Mexican soccer league second leg final match in Mexico City, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fernando Llano)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

MEXICO CITY \u2014 Rodolfo Rotondi played the villain role in 2024 by conceding a penalty that cost Cruz Azul<\/a> the championship match. On Sunday, the Argentine midfielder redeemed himself.<\/p>

Read more In Atlanta, strong pitching lifts Nationals to series win<\/a><\/p>\n

Rotondi scored a stoppage-time goal as Cruz Azul <\/a> rallied to beat Pumas 2-1 and be crowned champions of Mexico\u2019s<\/a> Clausura tournament.<\/p>\n

Paraguayan midfielder Robert Morales scored with a shot from outside the box in the 30th minute to put the home team ahead, but an own goal in the 53rd tied the match. Rotondi scored the clincher in a tense finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe championship feels like revenge, like a release,\u201d Rotondi, who committed that penalty in the Clausura 2024 final against Am\u00e9rica, said. \u201cI was in the eye of the storm, but I bit my tongue, I didn\u2019t make any statements, I worked. And now it\u2019s time to really enjoy this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

La Maquina won its first championship since the Clausura 2021 tournament and now has 10 titles, a total only surpassed by Club America<\/a> with 16, and by Chivas and Toluca with 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a tough time, but I never lost faith, even though it\u2019s not easy to compete at full intensity for so long and be close to winning, but not quite manage it\u201d Rotondi added. \u201cWe had been waiting two years for this and it finally happened.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Pirates bullpen makes deal, hands over signed bat in swap for rookie outfielder\u2019s first HR ball<\/a><\/p>\n

Cruz Azul, one of the most popular teams in Mexico, won the title under interim coach Joel Huiqui, who took over in the penultimate round of the regular tournament after Nicolas Larcamon was fired.<\/p>\n

Huiqui became the first Mexican coach to be crowned in Liga MX since Ignacio Ambriz, who was champion with Le\u00f3n in the Apertura 2020.<\/p>\n

Pumas, coached by Efrain Juarez, was aiming for its eight championship and its first since the Clausura 2011 tournament.<\/p>\n

Pumas finished the match with nine players due to the expulsions of Uriel Antuna in the 90th minute and Angel Rico in the 97th minute.<\/p>

Read more Daniel Suarez wins the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 after NASCAR honors the late Kyle Busch<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/soccer<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cruz Azul has been crowned champions of Mexico\u2019s Clausura tournament after a 2-1 victory over Pumas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nCruz Azul rallies past Pumas 2-1 to win the Clausura title on a stoppage-time goal - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1498\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cruz Azul rallies past Pumas 2-1 to win the Clausura title on a stoppage-time goal - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cruz Azul has been crowned champions of Mexico\u2019s Clausura tournament after a 2-1 victory over Pumas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1498\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-25T08:04:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c2b473fd0163451201c607cd475ccca7-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1498#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1498\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Cruz Azul rallies past Pumas 2-1 to win the Clausura title on a stoppage-time goal\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-25T08:04:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1498\"},\"wordCount\":409,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1498#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/9a21f82025495ef4eef98d54e08e3e01-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1498#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1498\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1498\",\"name\":\"Cruz Azul rallies past Pumas 2-1 to win the Clausura title on a stoppage-time goal - 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