By Jorge E. Witker
After playing in the first leg, French forward André-Pierre Gignac has already made history by becoming the first French player to compete in the final series for the Copa Libertadores throne. Only two players born in France had previously participated in this tournament, Gonzalo Higuaín and David Trezeguet, both with Argentine teams.
The first, although he represents the Argentine National Team, was born in Brest and was present in this tournament representing River Plate in 2006: he scored two goals in four matches.
The most recent case was that of David Trezeguet, world champion with the French National Team in 1998 and winner of the UEFA European Championship in 2000. In the final stretch of his career, he played for Newell's Old Boys, scoring two goals in six matches in the 2014 edition of the Copa Libertadores.
Gignac, former forward for Marseille, has scored one goal in three games wearing the Tigres jersey. He is the third European player to compete in a Copa Libertadores final and wants to repeat the history of the previous two, who lifted the trophy.
Czechoslovak midfielder Christian Rudzki was a two-time Libertadores champion with Estudiantes de La Plata (1969 and 1970), as was Italian player Dante Mircoli, who won the trophy in the 1972 edition with Independiente.
None of them were able to score in the series for the throne, something that Gignac will try to achieve at the Monumental stadium against River. Czechoslovak midfielder Rudzki was a specialist in finals. He played two matches, both as a starter, against Nacional de Montevideo in the 1969 final, and two more as a substitute against Peñarol the following year, as well as two more matches in the 1971 edition, in which Estudiantes was defeated by Nacional de Montevideo and failed to achieve the continental three-peat.
On the other hand, Italian player Mircoli was present in the 1972 final, in which Independiente defeated Universitario de Peru. He started in the first leg and came off the bench in the second leg, contributing to the "King of Cups" adding another star.
In addition to them, the name of Croatian Mirko Jozic can be added, the only European coach to win this trophy, leading Colo Colo of Chile to victory in 1991. Jozic, by the way, briefly coached Mexico's América, in seven matches of the 1994-95 season, when he replaced Leo Beenhakker, inexplicably separated from his position by then club executive Emilio Díez Barroso.
Gignac (29 years old) has not yet made his debut in the Liga MX, which could happen next Sunday against Guadalajara. He will only be the second French passport holder to try his luck in the Mexican league, after Amara Simba, originally from Senegal, who played for León in the Verano 1997 tournament, where he played 14 matches and scored three times.