MIAMI, Florida – For Cruz Azul FW Santiago Gimenez, the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League is something that runs in the family.
The 20-year-old striker is of course the son of former player Christian Gimenez, who was a Concacaf club champion four times, including with Cruz Azul in 2013-14.
Now the opportunity to achieve Concacaf glory is in Santiago’s hands, with the six-time Concacaf champions locked in a battle with Monterrey in the SCCL semifinals. La Maquina are down 1-0 on aggregate heading into Thursday’s second leg at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
A win to eliminate Monterrey and another win in the Final would bring another SCCL trophy home to the Gimenez household, but this time delivered by Santiago, giving father and son the chance to share the feeling of being a Concacaf championship.
“That would be wonderful, it would be beautiful. Since I was a boy, I dreamed of these moments and now that it is a reality, it has to be taken advantage of,” said Gimenez in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.
Gimenez was old enough to remember his father and Cruz Azul winning the 2013-14 Final in thrilling fashion against Toluca thanks to a 1-1 draw in the final second leg in Toluca.
“I still have a great memory of that final against Toluca. There was a lot of suffering in that match, also against Tijuana in the semifinal. Those were really close matches, just like all Concacaf games are and this game on Thursday won’t be an exception. It’ll be a nice game and we hope to win. Thankfully we have an opportunity to play it, so we are going to give it our best,” said Gimenez.
Winning the 2021 SCCL would also mean that Cruz Azul will have won every single trophy for which they competed in the last year, plus a chance to play against the best clubs on the planet at the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup.
“To win the Champions League would mean a lot to us. Obviously, we know that winning this trophy would qualify us for a Club World Cup. We also know that if we are champions, we would be the club [tied] for the most championships. This tournament in particular is very special for us because not only do we want to be champions of the league and champions of the Campeon de Campeones, but we also want to make history and win every title possible,” said Gimenez.
But before any travel plans are made or expansions are done to the club’s trophy case, Cruz Azul must first take care of business in their semifinal second leg against Cruz Azul.
It is telling that in the last eight matches in all competitions between the two clubs, no match has been decided by two goals or more, including Monterrey’s 1-0 first leg victory last month.
“Between Monterrey and Cruz Azul, the two teams are full of very good players, the coaches are very smart, the fans are great. They are similar clubs. Obviously in this match we have the advantage of playing at home, but we have the goal against us on the scoreline, so all we can do is play both halves and overturn the scoreline,” said Gimenez.
Needless to say, Gimenez and his teammates are acutely aware of the expectations of the Cruz Azul fan base and the importance of restoring the club to the Concacaf mountaintop.
“It’s a really important game. It’s one of the most important ones that we will play because it’s a semifinal and what the fans want is for us to be champions.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game, knowing that we are facing a deficit, so we have to approach the game in that way. We expect it to be a very intense game, knowing that in order to make the difference we just have to score more than them,” concluded Gimenez.
