Ángel Malagón on Real Estelí: “I don’t watch Nicaraguan football”

One of the questions which reporters were keen to ask América goalkeeper Ángel Malagón regarded Byron Bonilla’s ‘Panenka’ penalty in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup tie against Real Estelí. The 26-year-old keeper admitted that he doesn’t know very much about Nicaraguan soccer, he doesn’t follow the league and he doesn’t even know the name of the opponent who scored the goal: “They sent us the list of possible shooters and this guy... Is Byron his name? I don’t remember what his name is. Sorry, I don’t watch football there, brother,” he offered.

Bullish Otoniel

Surprisingly, América lost last week’s first leg at the Independencia stadium 2-1 with Julián Quiñones’ last-minute strike giving the Mexicans a lifeline for the return leg. In his press conference, Estelí coach Ramón Otoniel, declared that he feels confident that his side can eliminate the current Mexican champions from the tournament - a feat that, according to him, would be historic for his club.

América and Estelí return to decide the tie at Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes on Wednesday night. A 1-0 win would be enough for the Liga MX side to advance to the next round as they have a crucial away goal. Extra-time will be played if the aggregate score is level after 90 minutes but away goals will no longer count. If the aggregate score is still level after 30 minutes of extra-time, the tie will be decided in a penalty shootout. If América turn the tie around and eliminate Estelí, they will meet Chivas in the Round of 16.

It is not the first time that the Águilas have found themselves up against the ropes in the Champions Cup. In both the semifinals and final of the 2015 tournament, they were forced to come from behind to beat Costa Rica’s Herediano and the Montreal Impact respectively. Dario Benedetto came to their rescue, scoring a hat trick in both ties to ensure América clinched their seventh title