Leagues Cup | Club America advance to Semifinals in penalty drama

Giovani Dos Santos celebrating after scoring winning penalty to send Club America to the semifinals of the Leagues Cup.

Houston, TX - Club America debuted in the new international competition "Leagues Cup" against the Houston Dynamo. A game that will have fans remember it as the day Giovani Dos Santos not only made his debut for Las Aguilas, but also as the night that he stole the show by scoring the winning penalty in a tight penalty shootout. Yet, the real narrative should be the inconsistency of play and disorganization that was displayed out on the pitch for this Club America side.

After coming off a sensational win in the opening weekend of Liga MX in which Club America beat Monterrey 4-2, expectations where set high for Miguel Herrera's side. Going up against a struggling Houston Dynamo in their quarterfinal match of the Leagues Cup, the team from Mexico City was the heavy favorite to win this game, but did not play like it. The most concerning thing about this display was the fact that Miguel Herrera fielded a strong starting eleven that saw many repeat their starting roles from last Saturday. So the question could be made as to what happened to this team, that they couldn't take care of business with in 90 minutes and had to take this game to penalties.

When the announcement was made of this Leagues Cup competition and Club America's involvement in it, many questioned how much importance the institution would give this new tournament that many criticized to be a glorified friendlies cup. Well that question was soon answered by Miguel Herrara, by stating it was a competition they are looking to win and not take lightly. And he did just that by starting a strong starting eleven in Houston: A. Marchesin, P. Aguilar(c), B. Valdez, E. Aguilera, J. Sanchez, R. Gonzalez, M. Uribe, S. Cordova, R. Martinez, J. Menez, N. Castillo.

Starting XI vs Houston Dynamo | Photo via twitter @ClubAmerica_EN

Yet even with a strong side, this team still struggled to play any type of convincing soccer on the field. The first opening minutes gave indication of exactly what this game was going to be for Club America against the Houston Dynamo, a scrappy, tough and physical game. Credit to the MLS side who went out to play and disrupt exactly what Las Aguilas where trying to achieve on the field by closing themselves down and blocking any space at the back. With a Houston Dynamo thrown back early in the match and thru out the whole game, the ball was really on Club America's court and all eyes where on them to see how they could break this team down. Key players like Jeremy Menez where in charge of bringing a little bit of an extra factor but even with fancy flares and passes, the orange wall of defense just did not budge. The team fell into frustration quickly as they saw the opposing team was just sitting deep and their own play of passing was not only not good, but also caused plenty of counter attacks that Houston Dynamo didn't capitalize on. After the first 45 minutes where up, the scoreline read 0-0.

The second half posed to be better for Club America as they saw improvements to their playing style, but not enough to see this game thru until the end even after grabbing the lead in the 73rd minute of the match. Defensive mistakes and careless tackles really tainted the second half performance for this side and only gave fuel to the fire of frustration. Even with the introduction of Giovani Dos Santos and Nicolas Benedetti the team dynamic on the field didn't quite seem to fit exactly to what Miguel Herrera was trying to get. And with so much attacking threat going forward the team got left exposed in the midfield and because of that the Dynamo where able to find an equalizing late goal.

But it wasn't all negatives for Miguel Herrera as he'll be able to take some positives out this match. The introduction of Gio to the team boasted well for his side and the return of Benedetti to the field means two more players he can now consider for the season ahead. Both players looked in good game rhythm when coming on and even finding a way to link up for the goal and this sure will please the fans and manager a like.

After 90 minutes where up and the scoreline read 1-1 the game was taken to penalties. A task this team would know all to well after just playing in a penalty shootout not so long ago against Tigres in the Campeon de Campeones match in Carson, CA. The shootout was tense, but an entertaining one none the less, with both teams scoring most of their penalties in the first round with both missing just one. When it came down to the crucial moment of the match Houston Dynamo player Sam Junqua missed his penalty, and up came Giovani Dos Santos to score the winning penalty and advance Club America into the semifinals of the Leagues Cup.

Overall a bad performance from this team and it's players, but in a one off match this team will hope to use this game as a stepping stone for them to continue in the right direction. Up next for them is an away game versus Club Leon on Saturday July 27 in the second Jornada of the Liga MX, a game that poses to be no easy task at hand.