INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Santiago Giménez stepped on the field in the 88th minute to replace Henry Martin in a scoreless Gold Cup final.
Three minutes later he sent SoFi Stadium into hysteria after fighting off Panama defender Harold Cummings and making an absurd run from near midfield, capping it with a beautiful finish past the keeper for the 1-0 lead.
After tense, back and forth action throughout, the match seemed to be heading for extra time. Instead, Santi came up as the hero to give Mexico its ninth Gold Cup title, the most by any CONCACAF team.
Things might’ve been much different if Martin’s goal in the 33rd minute wasn’t called off for offside after VAR took a second look at it. The fans were nervously waiting from that very moment to celebrate again.
Moments later in the first half, a wild double save by Panama keeper Orlando Mosquera kept the scoreline even heading into the break.
It seemed the longer it went on, momentum was slipping away from Mexico in front of what was basically a home crowd of 72,963. Legendary keeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa helped keep El Tri in it despite a few warning shots from Panama.
Unlike last year, this one wasn’t going to end in complaints directed towards a coach. It wasn’t Gerardo Martino or Diego Cocca standing on that sideline. Those days are history, a sour past that Mexico can finally move on from with a fresh mentality and hardware to brag about.
Jaime Lozano is technically just the interim, but after this Gold Cup run he might have done enough to solidify himself for the full-time position.
Winning, especially trophies, changes a lot for a Mexican side used to dominating the region. A month ago, El Tri was in danger after losing the Nations League Final to the United States.
A little time and a switch of direction goes a long way.
Lozano’s late substitution worked out to perfection as Giménez turned the jets on and etched himself in the history books. From that moment on, the party began. The final whistle was accompanied by an epic roar and appropriately followed by Vicente Fernández’s “El Rey,” perhaps sending some a reminder that Mexico is still king of CONCACAF.