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One of the players during Chivas USA's disastrous 2005 expansion season, forward Isaac Romo did not stick with the Goats, and scored just three goals in MLS play. But he ended up going back to Mexico and carving out one of the better careers among the many who saw time for Chivas USA that year.
After going to Jaguares and Tigres following his stint with Chivas, he ended up signing with Queretaro in 2008. Although he had a few loan stints after that, going to Cruz Azul and Puebla, he has settled with Queretaro.
The 30-year-old survived the offseason merger of Gallos Blancos and Jaguares, and perhaps most importantly, featured for Queretaro somewhat regularly this season. His biggest contribution clearly came this past weekend, however, as Romo featured in his team's playoff match-up against Santos Laguna.
Queretaro entered the liguilla as the seventh seed, and while the playoffs in Liga MX do not often favor the higher seed, as one of the less-fancied teams in Mexico, Queretaro wasn't given a great chance of advancing. While the quarterfinal tie is only at the halfway point, in the first leg, Santos beat Queretaro 3-2 spearheaded by a terrific brace by Darwin Quintero.
Romo, however, proved instrumental in keeping Queretaro in the tie, as he provided two late goals, in the 77th and 78th minutes, to pull the lower seed to within one. The second leg will be Sunday in Torreon. As they are down a goal, Queretaro will need to win by two goals to advance (in Liga MX, in the event of a tie in the earlier rounds the higher seed advances). Add to that the pressure of playing on the road in the second leg. But Romo's brace undoubtedly gives the underdogs some life.
The former Chivas USA striker has never been a prolific scorer in his career, scoring a total of 21 in the Mexican top flight, but he has managed to remain in the mix in a competitive league all these years later, and he may have scored his two most significant goals this past weekend. We'll see if he, and Queretaro, can keep their season alive beyond this weekend.
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