Villafana completes MLS-Liga MX double

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, May 21, 2018

Jorge Villafana became the third American after Herculez Gomez and Omar Gonzalez to play for MLS and Liga MX champions when Santos Laguna won the 2018 Torneo Clausura on Sunday night.

Toluca-Santos Highlights:


Villafana came on in the second half of Sunday's second leg in Toluca, where ‎Los Diablos Rojos could only manage a 1-1 tie after losing, 2-1, in Torreon.

Julio Furch scored in the first half to extend Santos' aggregate advantage to 3-1. Gabriel Hauche's goal eight minutes from time was the only goal Toluca could put past goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco, who otherwise held off the Diablos Rojo onslaught.

Villafana, who was robbed of $20,000, a day after the first leg in which he did not play, had started for much of the Torneo Clausura but was taken off in the first half of the opening playoff match at Tigres and did not start the next five games. He is slated to join the U.S. national team in Philadelphia, where it is preparing for the match against Bolivia next Monday.

Gomez played for the LA Galaxy when they won MLS Cup 2005 and was on the bench when the Seattle Sounders won MLS Cup 2016. He played for Santos in the 2012 Clausura but didn't play in the Gran Final when it beat Monterrey.

Gonzalez played on three MLS Cup champions (2011, 2012 and 2014) for the Galaxy and won the Torneo Clausura in 2016, his first season with Pachuca in Mexico.