Necaxa survives in rowdy finale

Victoria Sun

Monday, Oct. 4, 1999 | 10:39 a.m.

All that was missing were the ring girls and the padded gloves.

Water bottles, beer cans and punches were thrown during the finals of the Football Confederation Champions Cup between Alajuela of Costa Rica and Necaxa of Mexico on Sunday afternoon.

Adding to the mayhem were the 9,763 fans at Sam Boyd Stadium, who were involved in at least three fights of their own.

When it was over, one player was ejected (Necaxa's German Villa in the 55th minute), one team was dejected and the winner was resurrected.

Necaxa rallied for a 2-1 victory to beat Alajuela and earn a spot in the prestigious FIFA Club World Championships to be played in Brazil in January 2000.

For its efforts, Necaxa pocketed $75,000 while Alajuela earned $50,000.

Tournament MVP Alex Aguinaga of Necaxa said the game was very important and both teams treated it that way.

"Humongous," Aguinaga said of the victory while he was being sprayed with water in the locker room. "This tournament was very important to us so we have to win it.

"We must win. We have the best team in the tournament."

It didn't start out that way against Alajuela.

In the 35th minute, Josef Miso scored for Alajuela on a penalty kick for a 1-0 lead.

The penalty was against Necaxa defender Salvador Cabrera and it prompted angry fans to shower the field with water bottles and empty cans.

By halftime, the referees had called seven fouls against Alajuela and eight against Necaxa.

"Not nervous," Aguinaga said of trailing by one at the half. "But we felt like, sad, because the referees were against us.

"We knew we had to attack the way we attacked earlier. We have to stay concentrated to recover goals."

Aguinaga played a huge part in Necaxa's offensive strike.

His bicycle kick in the 47th minute off an assist by Edgar David Oliva tied the score and left Alajuela deflated.

Alajuela goalie Alvaro Mesen was selected as the tournament's top goalkeeper, but had more trouble in the second half.

"They were more dangerous in the second half," Mesen said through a translator. "I had many more problems trying to solve that."

With the score tied, Necaxa made its first attempt to take the lead in the 50th minute when forward Sergio Vazquez appeared to score. But the play was whistled offsides.

Tempers continued to flare between the two teams and Villa was given a red card in the 55th minute after he punched Alajuela's Enrique Smith.

Shortly after, Necaxa's Jaime Hernandez punched Miso which led to a penalty kick and a chance for Alajuela to regain the lead.

Miso's kick was saved by Mesen.

Smith and Miso weren't severely injured, though teammate Carlos Castro was admitted to University Medical Center after a collision with Necaxa's Hernan Vigna midway through the second half.

Castro was struck by Vigna's leg and incurred injuries to his throat and neck. Doctors at the medical center still were evaluating him hours after the game.

Sergio Vazquez scored the winning goal for Necaxa off another assist by Oliva after Agustin Delgado's shot missed.

"I am very happy and very proud to belong to an institution like Necaxa," head coach Raul Arias Rosas said.

"Why did we win? Because we have a great spirit and great competitive atmosphere in the team. We have 11 players on the field who never give up and always keep fighting.

"We gave away the lead, but never quit and earned the win."

In the consolation final, Major League Soccer's D.C. United and Chicago Fire played to a 2-2 draw.

United took a 2-0 lead with a goal in each half, but Chicago scored twice late in the second half to even things up.

The teams earned $32,500 each, which was the combined total of the third- and fourth-place purse ($65,000) split in half.