America's goalkeeper Moises Muñoz turns goal poacher to help the Mexico City team defeat Cruz Azul in the Mexican soccer final.
If it were football (U.S.), last Sunday’s finale of the Mexico’s pro soccer season might have read something like this.
With his team loosing by seven, a lineman (yes) gets hold of a loose ball near his own end zone and manages to throw an 80-yard touchdown pass and send the game into overtime. In overtime he makes a terrific fourth down game-saving block and his team goes on to win the Super Bowl. He becomes an instant legend.
What Moises Muñoz achieved on Sunday evening was comparable.
In the dying seconds of the Clausura 2013 final, his team America needed a single goal to take Mexico City rivals Cruz Azul into overtime. Leaving his goal untended, Muñoz made a desperate “Hail Mary” foray into the opposition penalty area as America took a corner kick – surely the final one of the game. Finding space between two defenders and diving to reach the ball, Muñoz connected with a sublime header that took a deflection off a Cruz Azul player and slammed into the goal.When the game finished 2-2 after overtime, Muñoz was again the man of the moment in the penalty shootout. He saved Cruz Azul’s first penalty with his legs, making it the play of the shootout that handed America its first championship in nine years.
With 100,000 delirious America fans packing the capital’s Azteca Stadium, Muñoz will never experience a sweeter career moment.