Tijuana Fútbol Fans Pumped After Win

On Sunday, November 25, the Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles arrived in Tijuana to play in the national fútbol finals and make history by beating Club León 3-0 in Caliente Stadium before a sell-out crowd.

In the streets, it was unexpected but welcomed, as horns could be heard blaring around town well into the night.

León, from the State of Guanajuato, had won the first leg of the play-offs by a score of 2-0. Since the Xolos (pronounced sholos with a hard sh) have been broadly considered as a great defensive team, few aficionados gave them a chance to pull out a victory in the home game because the scoring is aggregate. The Xolos had other ideas.

Fidel Martínez scored in the first half to pump up the fans, but when Duvier Riascos scored in the 67th minute, it put Tijuana on top, based on the fact that they finished the regular season better than did León. But Tijuana wasn't done. In the 90th minute, Richard Ruiz put an exclamation point on the match and the city went a little nuts, with Tijuana winning 3-0.

Within minutes, car horns were honking while flying the flag of the local club, and one guy with a Xolos cape was running around on Calle Sexta.

The Xolos will play Toluca in the finals on Thursday, November 29, in Tijuana. Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club has been in the 1st division in Mexico since 1953, winning ten titles. Tijuana will be competing for a cup for the first time. This is Mexico's version of the Super Bowl. If the Xolos can manage to win, Tijuana will go even more crazy than it already is.