FC Juarez Defeats Necaxa 2-1 in Season Opener

Bravos de FC Juarez made a bit of club history Friday night defeating Necaxa by the score of 2-1 Friday night at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium. Forward Diego Rolan was the hero of the night scoring both goals for Bravos.

The win at home was the first time FC Juarez has ever won a season opener since the team has been in Liga BBVA MX, Mexico’s premier soccer division. In addition, with the victory, Bravos head coach Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti also obtained his 500th win as a head coach in Mexican soccer. Also, the Bravos established themselves as the winningest professional soccer team in the history of Ciudad Juarez surpassing Cobras de Cd. Juarez for the late 80’s and early 90’s and Indios from the 2000’s.

Things got off to a quick start on Friday night as the Bravos scored only one minute and five seconds into the contest. Gabriel Fernandez received a ball on a breakaway down the left flank making his way to the six-yard goalbox before crossing the ball to Rolan who pushed the ball in with his right foot.

The remainder of the half saw the match even out with the visiting Necaxa side producing a greater number of threats on goal than the home team. As a result Bravos goalkeeper Hugo Gonzalez had a couple of key saves that allowed Juarez to take the lead into the locker room at halftime.

The second half got off to another fast start as the equalizer for Necaxa came in the first minute of the game when a cross that was headed by Alejandro Zendjas bounced off of Bravos defender Ventura Alvarado’s knee going straight into the back of the net.

Ten minutes later a penalty kick was called in favor of FC Juarez when Necaxa goalkeeper Luis Malagon tackled Diego Rolan in the goalbox. Malagon received a yellow card in the process. Malgon said too much as he received a direct red card in the process of pleading his case to referee Luis Enrique Santander.

The Bravos re-took the lead when Rolan scored off a rebound when his penalty kick was blocked. The ball luckily bounced off the post and directly back to Rolan who kicked the ball into the back of the net on the bounce.

Playing with a one man advantage, the Bravos closed out the match with relative ease to get the win and all important three points that come with it.

After the game, Rafael Puente Jr. who filled in for Ferretti on the bench who is serving a three game suspension by the Mexican Soccer Federation, spoke with the media.

Puentes said, “Our intent tonight was for tonight’s performance to reflect the work we have been doing all preseason. That was fundamental tonight and the result was a just prize for the players tonight. There are a lot of things we still have to improve on and that is something that is a bit easier to achieve with wins like the one we got tonight.”

Puentes did not hold back in declaring that the number objective or goal for FC Juarez this season is to improve their position in the points per average table so they can get out of the last three spots in order to avoid a multi-million dollar fine.

Up next for the Bravos will be a very tough road game against Cruz Azul in Mexico City next Saturday night. Cruz Azul defeated Xolos de Tijuana with relative ease by the score of 2-0 this past Saturday night. Cruz Azul looks to be a protagonist for the league title thus a stern test for Bravos will come next weekend.