MEXICO CITY — The UNAM Pumas, with a Spanish touch and renewed direction, will fight in the Liga MX Apertura 2016 Tournament to reach the laurels that were denied to them under the command of Guillermo Vázquez Herrera, who was fired despite providing positive results.
Vázquez Herrera stood at the edge of the 2015 Apertura title after falling in penalties against the UANL Tigres tournament in which the “auriazul” (gold and blue) club was leading for the first time in short tournaments with the best offense and continued advancing in the 2016 Copa Libertadores de América, to the quarterfinals where they were finally stopped by Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle.
It was that defeat in continental competition that finished Vázquez Herrera, and incidentally, provoked the change of chairman of the board and the arrival of Rodrigo Ares de Parga; also dismissed was sports vice president Antonio Sancho.
With the jolt in technical and sports management, Universidad Nacional wagered on Juan Francisco Palencia, who along with Hernán Cristante (Toluca) and Ricardo Valiño (Puebla), will debut in the Liga MX as a head technical manager.
The first step for Pumas and Palencia’s debut in the 2016 Apertura will be this Sunday at 12:00 p.m. at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario field against the Chivas of Guadalajara.