Tigres defeated favourited Palmeiras 1-0 in the Club World Cup semi-finals on Sunday thanks to a second-half penalty from star striker Andre-Pierre Gignac.
Manager Tuca Ferretti had said his Liga MX team didn’t fear the Brazilians, and his players seemed to take that message to heart on the pitch.
By reaching the Club World Cup final, Tigres made CONCACAF history and ensured the 2021 season would become one of the most significant years they’ve ever had regardless of where they place domestically.
Tigres is the first CONCACAF team to ever reach the Club World Cup final. It beat a team in Palmeiras that had conquered Santos and Boca Juniors to qualify for the tournament by winning the Copa Libertadores
What’s been said?
“I feel calm and happy for the victory and enthusiastic like everyone else but I am not going to be having a party,” Ferretti told reporters on a video conference. “There is still a game to go, the most important is the one that comes and we know the capacity of the team that we are going to face. Prepare the boys and recover them physically because emotionally they are in a good place.”
When asked about fans of other Mexican teams rooting for Tigres in the final, Ferretti said: “People have the right to support or not to support, to want or not to want, to wish or not to wish. It is the right of the people. When Mexican teams participate, I always wish them the best because that’s how I am as a person. I don’t want to be malicious. But people have the right to be whatever, if they do not want to support there is no problem.”
Gignac’s incredible run
Gignac has now won three straight games for Tigres on their dream run, netting the late winner in the CONCACAF Champions League final to qualify for the Club World Cup and scoring a decisive brace in the Club World Cup quarter-finals before Sunday’s victory. The French forward is up to 145 career goals at Tigres.
Who will Tigres play in the Club World Cup final?
Tigres will face the winner of Bayern Munich vs. Al Ahly in the final on Thursday, February 12.
