Skip to main content

Soccer matches postponed amid violence after army kills Mexican cartel leader ‘El Mencho’

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Four high-level soccer matches were postponed Sunday after the Mexican army killed the leader of a powerful drug cartel in a town close to the World Cup host city of Guadalajara.

Two top-tier games — Queretaro vs. Juarez FC in the men’s tournament and Chivas vs. America in the women’s league — were postponed and two in the second division were called off.

Mexico’s national team has a friendly against Iceland scheduled for Wednesday at the Corregidora stadium in Queretaro. The Mexican soccer federation hasn’t made any public moves to postpone it.

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” who led the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, was wounded in Tapalpa, Jalisco about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara and he died while being flown to Mexico City

Following his death, cartel members burned cars and blocked roads in nearly a dozen Mexican states.

Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, is scheduled to host four games in the World Cup in June, including two involving South Korea. Co-host Mexico, Spain, Uruguay and Colombia will also play there.

The CJNG cartel is considered the most powerful in Mexico with an estimated 19,000 members and operations spanning 21 of Mexico’s 32 states. It has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration.

The Mexican Open, an ATP tennis tournament, will begin Monday at the GNP Arena in Acapulco, Guerrero. Organizers issued a statement Sunday saying “the tournament’s operation continues as normal.”

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Cue the trumpet: Edwin Díaz returns to earn save for the Dodgers after 85-game absence

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cue the trumpet. Edwin Díaz is back to close out games for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old right-hander came off the injured list Wednesday after missing 85 games, having had arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow in April. “We just got a lot better,” manager Dave Roberts said. Fans were on their feet cheering when Díaz entered in the ninth to Timmy Trumpet's “Narcos.” He gave up two hits and one run while earning his fifth save of the season in a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. His four-seam fastball touched 98 mph.
Read Next Story