America wins back to back CONCACAF titles, beating Tigres

MEXICO CITY (AP) Osvaldo Martinez broke a tie on a penalty kick in the 86th minute and America beat Tigres 2-1 on Wednesday night for its second straight CONCACAF Champions League title and record seventh overall.

Michael Arroyo came off the bench in the 65th and tied it for America in the 68th.

French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac put the visitors ahead in the 38th.

America won the series on a 4-1 aggregate.

The Eagles broke a tie with Cruz Azul, another Mexican team, for the CONCACAF Champions League record. America also won in 1977, 1987, 1990, 1992 and 2006 and will play again in the clubs World Cup in Japan next December

''I have been blessed to be a football player and now a coach, I came to America to work hard, and this title is a product of all the hard work of everybody in the club and now we get a chance to play again in the club's world cup,'' America*s coach Ignacio Ambriz said.

America lost in the first round of the World Cup against China*s Guangzhou.

''We are very happy to be back in the World Cup, last year we blew it and now we are blessed to be back,'' Martinez said. ''Last year we made several mistakes, the anxiety played a role, but we learned from our mistakes and we will do better this time around.''

Tigres, the reigning Mexican champion, lost their second international final in a row. Last year, River Plate beat them in the Copa Libertadores final.

''Every time you lose it hurts, I hate to lose, even friendly games, but losing in a final hurts deeper,'' said Tigres manager Ricardo Ferretti, who is unsure about his future after losing another final. ''A coach*s job is like death, it can happen to you if you are careless.''