FC Juarez Picks Up Steam Toward End of the Season

 By: Alberto Urueta 

In an unorthodox finish, FC Juarez started their match against Atletico San Luis on Sunday the 7th at 6 p.m. local time and did not finish until Monday around 10 a.m.

Below is the statement made by Liga BBVA MX moments after the game was suspended.  

The match featured an exciting first half that saw Atletico San Luis go up 2-1 before Manuel Castro put up his second goal of the day right before half to give Bravos a breath of hope going into the locker room.  

The game was suspended temporarily at the 73rd minute after a transformer failed during the match and parts of the stadium lights lost power, plunging fans into partial darkness. League officials could be seen on the phone trying to take control of the situation but they were of no use. 

Liga BBVA MX in collaboration with the CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) put out a statement indicating the Leagues plan to resume the next day since a timely fix to the transformer was not possible. 

The following morning FC Juarez picked up where they left off and just eight minutes after resuming play, Aviles Hurtado delivered a screamer from outside the box that whistled past the left post and into the net for the Bravos go-ahead goal.  

The win moves FC Juarez up to the 14th position in the league standings. This moves the team out of the bottom three positions of the table. The teams that finish in the last three spots of the Liga MX have to split up a hefty fine. Last season we saw Queretaro (around $4.5 Million), Tijuana ($2.6 Million), Mazatlan ($1.8 Million) suffer from their poor performances and Tijuana might have to sign yet another check after this season concludes.  

With this win, the Bravos moved up to 14th in the League standings, just four spots (8 points) removed from the last playoff spot. Bravos have three matches remaining to make up the points, leaving no room for error.  

FC Juarez are in a stellar position to make a playoff run, they have 2 of the last 3 matches at home and against less than formidable opponents. The last three matches are as follow: on April 14th a winless Tijuana squad travel to the borderland for a 8pm match, five days later Bravos have their final road matchup against Mazatlan who are 15th in standings and their last match is at home against a Leon squad who as of now stand at 11th, behind Pumas on goal differential.  

Barbieri and the Bravos, who have won their last two matches, are putting themselves in a great position to make a playoff push. The team chose the best time to get hot and if they continue to play as they have these last two games they'll be a hard team to beat.  

What's the saying? “It’s not how you start, it's how you finish”?

FC Juarez is finally giving the city something to believe in.