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As rain began to fall at University Stadium Friday night, Néstor Calderón secured El Border Clásico for Santos Laguna.
Calderón’s goal came at the 77-minute mark and pushed the Liga MX team to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids, a Major League Soccer franchise. Santos now has three wins in four all-time meetings against Colorado.
El Border Clásico, an international friendly soccer match, served as a preseason contest for Santos. To the U.S.-based Rapids, it was a break in their Major League Soccer regular-season schedule.
The 9,042 fans at University Stadium, meanwhile, saw a close match while getting a taste of professional athletics in Albuquerque.
Most fans present supported Santos and erupted in chants after Calderón scored his game-winner.
Pedro Caixinha, Santos’ first-year head coach, said after the game he had expected a physical, high-tempo style of play from Colorado. For a preseason contest, Caixinha said his goals involved being fundamentally and tactically sound while building toward the July 26 opener against Cruz Azul.
“We have a principle more about the moments of the game, not the physical,” he said. “The physical is important, but the tactical is more important.”
Santos’ regular season has yet to begin, so Santos midfielder Marc Crosas said it was particularly challenging to play a Colorado squad that has 20 games under its belt. The Rapids are 7-7-6 in MLS play and sit in sixth place in the Western Conference.
“It was a very good test for us because in two weeks we are starting,” Crosas said. “They are a strong, physical team and they put us under a lot of pressure during the game. We played some decent football at some points of the game, and at the end we won.”
The teams fought their way to a 1-1 tie through the first half.
Colorado scored the match’s first goal at the 12-minute mark when Rapids forward Kevin Harbottle sent a free kick from 30 yards out into the back of the net.
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Alanso Escoboza knotted things up five minutes later. The Santos player took a long ball over the Colorado defense, putting a boot on the ball from roughly 15 yards.
The Calderón goal came on a breakaway, leading him to fire his shot from about 5 yards away.
“For a moment I thought the ball was about to go run from him, but it was a fantastic goal at that angle,” Caixinha said.
Colorado used the game’s final 13 minutes plus stoppage time to try for another goal but had a difficult time breaking through the Santos defense in the final stages. Through a translator, Harbottle said Santos defended well and Colorado found itself out of rhythm in the second half.
“Obviously it changes a little bit, the game, but I think we were able to still play pretty well and take our chances,” Harbottle said, referring to the different styles displayed by the teams.
“It’s a little different in that they play with the ball a lot more than they run and they’re not as much (into the) physical part of the game.”
Colorado coach Óscar Pareja said it was a great exercise for his team to compete against what he called one of the best teams in Mexico.
“Certainly today (Friday) was one of those games that lifts the confidence,” he said.
