The CONCACAF Gold Cup Final was scoreless at the 85th minute when México interim head coach Jaime Lozano inserted Santiago Giménez in place of Henry Martín.
Three minutes later, Giménez sprinted to the goal on a fast break to score the only goal of the match in fighting off Panamá defender Hárold Cummings on Sunday night.
The goal came after an Edson Álvarez block on Iván Anderson's cross in the México penalty area, and Orbelín Pineda made a perfect setup to the center circle to Giménez.
The Argentina-born Giménez sparked a frenzy at sold-out SoFi Stadium, which was packed full of fans of México.
It was a lot of back-and-forth action between both teams, and it seemed as if the game would head to extra time. This wouldn't have been the case if Martín's goal at the 33rd minute wasn't washed out for an offside after a second look from the VAR.
México had countless chances to strike after that, including one just before the break, putting Panamá goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera under heavy siege, to the tune of 23 shots, seven of which were on goal.
Panamá had 14 shots of their own, with their best chance coming in the 87th minute, but Yoel Bárcenas' long shot was wide of the net. For México, it was the legendary goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa who kept them in it.
México's run this time around does not end up in a coach firing. A year after they had one of the worst flameouts in the FIFA World Cup, they rebounded with an excellent Gold Cup tournament with Lozano, who took over the head coaching position last month.
It wasn't Gerardo Martino or Diego Cocca as the head coach, with the latter getting fired after losing to the United States in the CONCACAF Nations League Semifinals 3-0 last month, but winning in the third place play-off 1-0 over Panamá.
México is used to winning. In fact, this is their ninth Gold Cup title in the nation's history, more than any other nation combined in the CONCACAF. The U.S. has seven titles and Canada has one. The loss for Panamá ended an unlikely bid for their first Gold Cup title.
Winning changes things for teams, and México needed just one switch to get past all the turmoil from the World Cup and the Nations League.
And Lozano got all the stars aligned together throughout the tournament, needing one last move to change the course of the game, which he delivered.
Scoring
México: 88': Santiago Giménez [1], left footed shot from the center of the box to bottom right corner. Assisted by Orbelín Pineda following a fast break. 1-0 México
Substitutions
Panamá, 61': Cecilio Waterman replaces Alberto Quintero.
Panamá, 62': Iván Anderson replaces Éric Davis.
México, 75': Roberto Alvarado replaces Uriel Antuna.
México, 75': Érick Sánchez replaces Luis Chávez.
México, 85': Santiago Giménez replaces Henry Martín.
Panamá, 90'+1': Azarías Londoño replaces Hárold Cummings.
México, 90'+2': Israel Reyes replaces Orbelín Pineda.
Disciplinary
México, 11': Johan Vásquez is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Panamá, 21': Hárold Cummings is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
México, 45'+3': César Montes is shown the yellow card.
México, 54': Jesús Gallardo is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Panamá, 55': Adalberto Carrasquilla is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
México, 60': Edson Álvarez is shown the yellow card.
Panamá, 64': Aníbal Godoy is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Panamá, 90'+6': Orlando Mosquera is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Team Stats
Possession: México, 52% advantage
Shots on Goal: México 23, Panamá 14
On Target: México 7, Panamá 2
Fouls: México 24, Panamá 17
Yellow Cards: México 4, Panamá 4
Red Cards: México 0, Panamá 0
Offsides: México 1, Panamá 3
Corner Kicks: México 2, Panamá 1
Saves: México 2, Panamá 6
Miscellaneous
Venue: SoFi Stadium
Location: Inglewood, CA, USA
Attendance: 72.963 (Capacity: 70,240)
Referee: Saíd Martínez (Honduras)
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