After a 70 year long wait, Atlas becomes champions of Mexico's first division soccer league.
On Sunday night at the Jalisco Stadium, the "Zorros" triumphed over the visiting team, Leon, in what became an all-time classic final.
Entering the game, Leon had a 3-2 goal advantage on aggregate, which would have resulted in Leon winning the championship had Atlas not scored the one and only goal of Sunday night.
In the 55th minute of Sunday's match, Aldo Rocha delivered for Atlas with a header goal that would eventually force the game to go into over-time.
There were no goals scored during overtime, which resulted in a penalty shoot-out between both finalists.
The Colombian goalkeeper for Atlas, Camilo Vargas, made two big time saves during the penalty shootout after a questionable performance in the first leg of the final. Both of Vargas' penalty saves eventually led to the title-clinching penalty goal by 32-year-old Argentinian, Julio Furch, to give Atlas their first Mexican league title since 1951.
Atlas midfielder Aldo Rocha gives credit to the organization for assembling a championship-caliber squad, and also credits the club's faithful fan base for believing that this "miracle" would come at some point.
“Very happy, you know the work that the board of directors has done, the structure that they have set. The reward for work is impressive, I think it is this and for all the fans who have always been there for 70 years or more. It is for all of them, for those who got ahead of us, for those who are now and above all for the family that is always there," said Rocha.
This milestone for Atlas comes just six months after Cruz Azul also broke their curse of 23 years without winning a Mexican league title, making 2021 an unusual, yet historic year for Mexico's most popular sport.
