Tigres UANL of Mexico and C.D. Aguila of El Salvador face off Saturday night at BBVA Compass Stadium in an international friendly at the home of the Houston Dynamo. Here is a breakdown of both clubs, including history, current form and top players.
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Tigres UANL
Full name: Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
City: Monterrey, Mexico
Founded: 1960
Stadium: Estadio Universitario (nickname: El Volcan)
History: Tigres won Mexico’s first division title in 1977-78, 1981-82 and most recently, the 2011 Clausura. Tigres captured the 2005 InterLiga Championship in Houston to qualify for the prestigious Copa Libertadores. The club also won the 2006 InterLiga to become the first Mexican team to qualify for consecutive Copa Libertadores. Tigres is in the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League.
2012 Clausura season: Finished in fifth place in the 18-team Mexican first division. Lucas Lobos was Tigres' top goal-scorer, with eight goals. Lost to Santos Laguna in the playoff seminfinals on a tiebreaker after aggregate series finished 3-3.
2012 Apertura (current): Tigres is currently in 11th place, with a 2-3-2 record through seven games. Lobos is tied for the league-lead with five goals.
Notable players
Lucas Lobos: 31-year-old Tigres captain is leading Liga MX in scoring this season and was named "Player of the Year" in Mexico for both seasons in 2011. Last season, 2012 Clausura, he led Tigres to a fifth-place finish and a trip to the playoff semifinals while earning "Best Attacking Midfielder" honors for the season. Lobos spent six seasons in Argentina with Gimnasia and two seasons with Cadiz in the Spanish third division before joining Tigres in 2008.
Jonathan Bornstein: The Torrance, Calif. native has 38 appearances with the U.S. men’s national team, including two starts at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Bornstein joined Tigres in 2011 after five years with Chivas USA of Major League Soccer.
Alan Pulido: 21-year-old forward's breakthrough came at the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament with Mexico, where Pulido scored five goals, including a hat trick against Honduras and a goal against Canada in the all-important semifinal. He was the tournament's co-top scorer with teammate Marco Fabian. A Tigres youth-product, Pulido joined UANL in 2008.
Edno Cunha: 29-year-old Brazilian midfielder has a long resume, including clubs such as PSV Eidhoven (Holland), Figueirense, Corinthians and Botafogo (Brazil).
Luis Garcia: A Real Madrid youth player, Garcia is a veteran of La Liga in Spain, with eight top flight seasons between Mallorca, Espanyol and Real Zaragoza. The Spanish international (7 caps) joined Tigres on loan on July 5.
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C.D. Aguila
Full name: Club Deportivo Aguila
City: San Miguel, El Salvador
Founded: 1926
History: Aguila is one of the largest clubs in El Salvador, and its fifteen league titles are second-most in league history. Like the Houston Dynamo and Tigres, it is participating in the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League. Aguila won the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup (predecessor to Champions League) in 1976.
2012 Clausura: Aguila won the Salvadoran Primera Division’s championship in May, its fifteenth title in the club’s 87-year history.
2012 Apertura (current): Aguila is currently in fourth place, with a 4-2-2 mark through eight games.
Notable players
Luis Anaya: 31-yead-old is Aguila's captain and has 37 appearances for the El Salvador national team.
Deris Umanzor: 32-year-old played with the Chicago Fire in 2010 and has 44 appearances for La Selecta
Mardoquero Henríquez: 25-year-old defender has 25 caps for El Salvador
