Necaxa and Club America won Mexico’s second and third spots in the Libertadores Cup with wins in the final of the InterLiga Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 27,000 at the Home Depot Center.
Necaxa won its fourth straight game in the competition with a 1-0 win over Jaguares thanks to Kleber’s first-half goal. The InterLiga marked a turnaround for Necaxa, which finished last in its group in the fall’s Torneo Apertura and fired Coach Hugo Sanchez, since hired as Mexico national team coach. Guillermo Ochoa saved two penalty kicks as America beat Tigres, 4-2, in a shootout after their game ended in a 0-0 tie. The Eagles move into the Libertadores Cup for the fifth time.
Necaxa, the winner with the most points in group play, qualifies as Mexico’s No. 2 entrant, moving into a group with Sao Paulo (Brazil), Audax Italiano (Chile) and Alianza Lima (Peru). America qualifies as Mexico 3 and will face Peru’s Sporting Cristal in a play-in for a spot in the 32-team group stage.