On 7th February, Tigres UANL’s 1-0 win against the Brazilian club Palmeiras in the FIFA Club World Cup semifinal made the Mexican club the first CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football) team to ever make the tournament final. The CONCACAF is the third-most successful body (out of FIFA’s 6 governing bodies) of the FIFA association.
After a foul challenge by Luan Garcia inside the box, it was Tigres forward Carlos González who was on the receiving end of it. The French striker Andre Pierre-Gignac was awarded a penalty at the 54th minute, which resulted in the game’s only goal.
Tigres has been the prevailing force in Mexico in the last decade, with five titles, but were still struggling to get international recognition. Barcelona legend Xavi congratulated the club through a post on his Instagram account: “Another night of good football at the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar. Congratulations to @clubtigresoficial for becoming the first CONCACAF team to qualify for the final of the FIFA Club World Cup, ”
Carlos Gonzalez and Andre Gignac’s partnership helped turn things around for the Mexican club and played a key role for them to win a Club World Cup Semi-final after 10 tryhard attempts.
They will now face the Bundesliga dominant club Bayern Munich who defeated Al Ahly 2-0 in the semis. It will be Andre Pierre-Gignac who has had 14 goals this season facing the ‘goal-scoring machine’ Robert Lewandowski with 24 goals into the finals.
Now, along with a shiny golden trophy, there is also a big incentive for the winner of this year’s FIFA CWC, who shall receive a sum amount of 5 million dollars. In-case Tigres end up as the runner ups they still will get 4 million which does not seem a lot less than the grand prize, but still, as a football club it often comes down to the question of higher morality which indeed would be for them to beat the European Champions and Treble winners of 2020.
