By Miguel Rapetti
24 Jul 2024, 00:40 AM EDT
A shot by Argentine Gonzalo Piovi (Cruz Azul) onto the goal crossbar was enough for Liga MX to defeat MLS this Tuesday during the new edition of the Skills Challenge, one day before the celebration of the 2024 All-Star, at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.
A group of 10 MLS players and another 10 from Liga MX, made up of two goalkeepers per team and eight field players, as well as players Diana Ordóñez (Houston Dash), Alicia Cervantes (Chivas) and legends Luis Hernández and Sacha Kljestan, took to the field to show off their skills with the ball and delight those present in the stands.
The first challenge was taken by the Liga MX players on the street (96-159), with the effective shots of Tigre Juan Brunetta and the Venezuelan from Pachuca, Salomón Rondón, with 47 points each and the 64 points of Jonathan dos Santos, who was one point away from the competition record.
The 37 points of the Italian Federico Bernardeschi (Toronto FC), the 49 of the ex-Barcelona player Sergio Busquets (Inter Miami) and the 47 of the Colombian and local centre forward Juan ‘Cucho’ Hernandez were useless.
In the challenge of control and touch, Rondón and Dos Santos achieved 50, compared to 67 for the former Barcelona midfielder of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Riqui Puig, and the Hospitalense defender of Inter Miami, Jordi Alba.
UNAM forward César Huerta and CF Monterrey’s Maximiliano Meza added 65 points, while Hernández, from the local team Crewulación de Colón, and Luciano Acosta, from Cincinnati, scored 66.
In the category of crosses and volleys, the former Juventus player Bernardeschi added 30 points and Hernández 35, while for Mexico Huerta contributed 45 points and the veteran French striker for Tigres, Andre Pierre Gignac, 45.
In the passes, the Guadalajara Cervantes winger surpassed the Houston player Dash Ordoñez.
Puig broke the record set in the category of passes by Almada with 5, while Piovi added 2, León midfielder Andrés Guardado 4 and Busquets 5.
The goalkeeping challenge for the best goalkeeper belt went to Chituru Odunze (Crown Legacy FC), who prevailed over North Texas SC goalkeeper Michael Collide (1-0).
MLS and LIGA MX competed on behalf of Adaptive Sports Connection and Special Olympics Ohio, which will result in $25,000 in donations to their respective charities.
The All-Star Game will be played tomorrow, Wednesday, in which Miami stars Lionel Messi will not participate due to an ankle injury, and Luis Suárez due to knee problems.
Bernardeshi, showing off his blond braids, said after losing that he had had a great time and had enjoyed himself a lot with the players he had lost the challenge to, whom he knows well because he played with them when he was at Juventus and who he is sure he will win against tomorrow.
Keep reading:
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- The United States national team hired a former Venezuelan player as its main scout