Mexican Clausura 2018 Final: Toluca v Santos Quiz

Answer: La Bombonera

The first leg was played in Torreon, the city where Santos is from, and ended 2-1 in favor of the home team. Since Toluca ended with a better position in the standings, the second leg was played in their stadium. The Mexican Army spearheaded the opening ceremonies, and played songs like the "Huapango de Moncayo" and of course, the Mexican National Anthem.

Toluca's stadium, the Nemesio Diez, is named after Nemesio Diez Riega, a businessman who took over the team in 1953 and led them to several championships and successful tournaments. It shares its nickname of "La Bombonera" with Boca Juniors, one of the best Argentine soccer teams. Chorizo, by the way, is a pork sausage that is traditional in Toluca.

Answer: Cesar Ramos

Cesar Arturo Ramos was appointed to referee this match by the Mexican Commission of Refereeing, led by former referee Arturo Brizio. Ramos was assisted by Jose Luis Camargo and Miguel Angel Hernandez, also two of the best assistant referees in the country.

The fourth official was Jorge Isaac Rojas. Ramos' appointment was a little controversial, given that for some, Fernando Guerrero, who was selected as the official of the first leg, did a much better job in the tournament and deserved the second leg (regarded as the "real" final.) People like former international referee Felipe Ramos Rizo criticized the decision, and argued that Guerrero should've been the official for the second leg, and that Brizio only selected Ramos to give him international fame before he headed to the World Cup in Russia (which was less than a month away.)

Answer: Julio Cesar Furch

In the ninth minute, Julio Cesar Furch surprised the Toluca defense line and most importantly, goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera. Furch surprised the "Red Devils" with a low shot, and Talavera failed to reach the ball (although, in my opinion, he could have done much more to prevent that ball from going in.) Julio Furch was nicknamed "The Goal Emperor" when he played for Argentine team Olimpo, his first team in professional soccer.

He also played in San Lorenzo, Arsenal de Sarandi, and Belgrano in Argentina, before moving to Mexico to play for Veracruz.

After only one season, he was sent to Santos Laguna. He scored five goals in the Clausura 2018 regular season, but this goal was his fourth only in the playoffs.

Answer: Pablo Barrientos

Pablo Barrientos is an Argentine midfielder who has played in many countries, such as Argentina (San Lorenzo and Estudiantes,) Russia (FC Moscow,) Italy (Catania,) and Mexico (Toluca.) Barrientos has also played some matches for the Argentina national squad. Barrientos came into the match with a muscle tear, and coach Hernan Cristante was not sure if he should start, but he was on the starting 11 nonetheless. Barrientos was substituted by fellow Argentine, Pedro Alexis Canelo, who was very close to scoring a goal at the 58th minute.

Answer: They both could have been red cards

Both the broadcasters of the match and refereeing analysts for multiple platforms argued that referee Cesar Ramos could have (and should have) shown a red card for both plays. The game had been heated since the first leg, and that trend continued in this second leg.

In total, 8 yellow cards were shown by the referee, 4 per team. Although there were no red cards, Toluca's assistant coach Joaquin Velazquez was ejected from the game in the 83rd minute.

Answer: Cape Verde

Djaniny Tavares was born in 1991 in Cape Verde. He initially moved to Portugal to pursue educational goals but ended up playing soccer for Grupo Desportivo Velense. He then played for U.D. Leiria, Benfica B (the reserves team of one of Portugal's best clubs, Benfica) and then moved to C.D. Nacional. In 2014, Tavares moved to Mexico to play with Santos Laguna. Tavares has also played for the Cape Verde national team, and was the top scorer of the Mexican Clausura 2018 tournament. Tavares was struggling with injuries throughout the play-offs, so the injury in the final was the final straw. Tavares became the first African player to be champion for the second time in the Liga MX, as well as the first African player to be the top scorer.

Cape Verde is a country in Africa which obtained its independence from Portugal in July of 1975. Portuguese influence is still very much alive in the country though, as most of their cities are named in Portuguese (including the capital Praia, which translates to "beach"), and one of their official languages is Portuguese.

Answer: Gabriel Hauche

Gabriel Hauche is an Argentine player who debuted in 2004. After playing for several Argentine clubs and Italian team Chievo Verona, he moved to Mexico's Xoloitzcuintles de Tijuana in 2015, and was then loaned to Toluca in 2017. He went into the match at 68', replacing defender Santiago Garcia, who had complained about the stadium's lighting minutes before. Hauche had his first goal-scoring opportunity at 78'.

At 81', he scored a goal after a cross from Rubens Sambueza, and even though it tied the game, it was not enough to defeat Santos.

The aggregate score ended 3-2 in favor of Santos. Hauche also received a yellow card when the match was about to end, at 94'.

Answer: Jonathan Orozco

Jonathan Orozco is a Mexican goalkeeper who began his career in Monterrey's youth academy in 1996, when he was 10. After a short loan with Monterrey's subsidiary, Club Cobras, he returned to Monterrey in 2005, where he would stay until 2016. He began to appear regularly in the starting line-up in 2009, and won two league championships with Monterrey.

He was transferred to Santos in December of 2016. Orozco was key in Santos' victory, as he stopped multiple shots that were extremely close to being goals, such as an outside-the-box shot by Sambueza at 37'.

He was given a yellow card at 85' after attempting to intentionally taking up time by delaying goal kicks and exaggerating injuries. In the end, he won his 3rd league title, and first one with Santos.

Answer: They both are former goalkeepers

Hernan Cristante is an Argentine former goalkeeper and coach. He debuted in Gimnasia de La Plata and transferred to Toluca in 1993. After being out on loan in three different teams in Argentina, he was the goalkeeper of Toluca until 2010, when he was released after a knee injury. He played for Leones Negros before retiring in 2012, and began managing Toluca in 2016, replacing former Toluca striker Jose Saturnino Cardozo.

Robert Dante Siboldi was born in Uruguay and began his goalkeeper career in Peņarol. He belonged to Argentine team Gimnasia de La Plata for a year, and then went to Mexico, where he played for Atlas, Cruz Azul, Puebla, and Tigres. He also played a few matches with the Uruguay national team. After his retirement, he worked several different roles in Mexican clubs, such as goalkeeper trainer and Youth Academy Director for Santos Laguna. In 2017, Siboldi became manager after Jose Manuel de la Torre was fired.

Answer: The Avengers

Carlos Izquierdoz, an Argentine defender who was the captain of Santos, received the trophy from Liga MX Commissioner Enrique Bonilla and lifted it. Izquierdoz previously played for Lanus and Atlanta in Argentina, before arriving to Santos in 2014. He became team captain a year later, after the departure of goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez. Izquierdoz lifted the cup, Santos' sixth title, as the stadium blasted Queen's song "We Are The Champions". Toluca players left the field and were not present in the crowning ceremony, since the league suspended the practice of giving medals to the runner-up after incidents where players would take them off or simply reject them, particularly in the Tigres-Chivas final in 2017.

The Avengers began as a superhero team in Marvel comic books. Several different versions have been published in diverse media, such as TV shows and movies. In 2012, Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributed the movie "The Avengers". A sequel was released in 2015 ("Avengers: Age of Ultron"), and another one, "Avengers: Infinity War", in 2018. Coincidentally, every time one of those Avengers movie was released, Santos Laguna went on to become the new league champions. Talk about a strange good luck charm!