🏆 Pedro Troglio is at home in Concacaf
Plus: What the hell was the Concacaf League?
The ballcap-wearing Argentine went into the second leg of the Concacaf League final Wednesday holding a slight advantage after a 3-2 win in the first leg.
Olimpia manager Pedro Troglio saw that advantage grow larger in the 28th minute when Jose Mario Pinto found the opener for his team in front of a crowd pushing on Olimpia’s opponent.
That goal and the crowd snapped Alajuelense to life, with goals in the 33rd and 40th minute putting the aggregate level at four. Olimpia dispensed with tiebreakers, though, as Gabriel Araujo’s deflected free kick crept past Leonel Moreira and in for the winner.
Troglio just works at Olimpia. This is his fifth title with the Honduran giant, and while it’s his first continental crown, he’s left his mark in Concacaf competitions before.
Olimpia pushed to the semifinals of the 2020 ‘bubble’ CCL in Orlando, breaking several years of North American hegemony as Troglio pushed his side past a Thierry Henry-managed Montreal in the first leg, then protected the advantage nine months later to move into the final four. A loss to Tigres ended the Cinderella run, leaving Troglio feeling like he still owed the Honduran giant’s fans a international trophy.
“When a manager comes to a big team, he needs to win championships on the national and international level. This title was necessary,” Troglio said upon arriving back in Honduras on Thursday. “I like winning all titles, but since that international trophy was missing, I wanted it, so I’m very happy to win it.”
That obligation looked like it would go unfulfilled. After three years of success with Olimpia, the veteran of the 1990 World Cup team returned to his native Argentina to take the reins at San Lorenzo. The fit felt right, but things didn’t go to plan, as Troglio earned just one win in 10 matches across all competitions. His replacement at Olimpia, fellow Argentine Pablo Lavallén, won more games but couldn’t get the Albos out of the semifinals of the tournament.
The timing worked for Troglio to return, and once again he’s found success in Tegucigalpa.
Olimpia becomes the first and only repeat winner of the trophy, which Concacaf is phasing out as it reconstructs its premier club tournament the Concacaf Champions League.
The achievement will be one Olimpia’s fans hold over the heads of rivals in Honduras and Central America and has kicked off celebrations in Tegucigalpa and in San Pedro Sula. Troglio, however, already has his head back on the field in Honduras as he prepares his team to meet rival Motagua in league play Sunday.
“This is now in the past,” the manager said. “The fans have to enjoy it, but we’ve got to think about Motagua.”
That’s what a manager has to do, but he also was able to bask in the celebrations upon returning to Honduras. Fans want to win the Clásico, of course, but this Concacaf League crown gives them a little extra, especially after a World Cup qualification cycle in which Honduras finished dead last as Costa Rica secured a place in the tournament starting this month.
“International sporting achievements are important for the country. Today, I’m far from my family,” Troglio said, having thanking his six children in a post on social media, “but Olimpia’s fans are my family,”
Troglio’s next step (beyond trying to win the league) isn’t clear. Will another team in his actual homeland give him a shot? Could a contender in a smaller South American country look at what he’s done in Honduras and his stops in Paraguay and Peru and woo him for a Copa Libertadores or Sudamericana run?
It’s possible. But it’s clear that for now Troglio is staying right here. He has a home in Concacaf.
Remembering the Concacaf League (2017-2022)
Well, that’s enough of that.
The weird secondary, not-quite ‘Europa League of Concacaf’ tournament is done. Long live the…no, no.
The Concacaf League is going to occupy a hilarious place in Concacaf history. It took about a year or two for people to understand it and when it finally got rolling, it ended.
It’s important to underline that the pandemic affected two years of the tournament. One of the biggest areas of intrigue for the outside viewer was seeing just how much many of the Central American fan bases care about their teams.
And care they do. The atmospheres for the final rounds of this tournament were nearly uniformly great. Even some of the earlier rounds had fantastic crowds, some at venues where that isn’t something seen day to day.
I’m on the record with my belief that the new Concacaf Champions League format, in which there will be a Central American qualifying tournament and a separate Caribbean one, will be beneficial to the teams involved.
At the club level, these subregions have little in common and rarely are at the same level. Hopefully the Caribbean tournament will allow organizations to build those types of fan bases and sustain some sort of mid-term vision. Hopefully the Central American competition can reward those fans the same high-stakes feeling the Concacaf League took on in the final year it was played.
Goodbye, Concacaf League. I’d say we’ll always remember you, but I don’t know if that’s a promise I can keep.
Hi Jon, first time caller long time listener. Is Justin Arboleda in your all time Concacaf League XI? I’ll hang up and listen.
If I'm Montagliani, I'm giving serious thought to recycling as much of the branding as I can with the new Central American tournament (Concacaf Central American/CentAm League?)... while turning to the Caribbean and claiming that I elevated their championship to the same level as its mainland counterparts.