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In a heated match between Léon and Club América at the Estadio Azteca on April 1, Mexican referee Fernando Hernández kneed León player Lucas Romero below the belt, as they say, shocking the football world and earning the official a 12-match ban. But it wasn’t the only scrap of the night.

León manager Nicolás Larcamón also tussled with América’s head coach Fernando Ortíz on the touchline that night. Ortíz had managed to rip Larcamón’s black T-shirt. Larcamón walked away with a torn shirt, his left pectoral clearly visible. Immediately, Larcamón vs. Ortíz was a trending topic on social media.

Carlos Fabian Padilla, owner of T-shirt locale TranceStore in León, was watching the game from his home when his business partner Ariel Martínez called. He asked Padilla excitedly if he had seen the skirmish. Martínez was adamant that Padilla should sell a ripped T-shirt that resembled Larcamón’s.

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“At first I said, ‘No, who’s going to buy that?’” Padilla told The Athletic.

But Martínez insisted, and so two days after the incident, Padilla designed a prototype and posted the image on the store’s website to see how their customers would react. Priced at $17, they had 20 pre-orders within a few hours. The demand quickly increased as the image of Larcamón’s partially hair-covered chest picked up steam on social media.

“It wasn’t until the next day that we realized that it had gone viral,” Padilla said. “People were talking about it online and then the national press picked it up. It took off in Mexico. The rest is history.”

Padilla said that the store sold close to 500 T-shirts in two weeks before the phenomenon cooled.

A LA GENTE NO SE LE VA UNA

Crean playera inspirada en la playera rota de Nicolás Larcamón.

FB/ Trancestore Avenida Guanajuato pic.twitter.com/xlhQfTEWM1

— Andre Marín (@andremarinpuig) April 4, 2023

It was an unexpectedly fitting homage to the fiery 38-year-old coach, who is hoping to lead León to their first-ever CONCACAF Champions League title with the first leg of the final against LAFC on Wednesday. His teams over the years have adopted a similar intensity on the field. The Argentine may be unknown to casual followers of the game in the United States, but in Mexico, Larcamón is one of the league’s brightest minds.

A former physical education teacher who gave up a career as an architect to pursue his passion for coaching, Larcamón began in Argentina’s second division with Nueva Chicago, after receiving his coaching licenses at the Escuela de Técnicos de Avellaneda. He later taught a course at the school that focused on football tactics and strategy.

Unknown in Argentina’s coaching circles, Larcamón went to Venezuela to coach the modest Deportivo Anzoátegui, managing the side to the Copa Sudamericana in 2017.

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Coaching in Venezuela is about as unglamorous as it can get for aspiring managers in South America. The world’s game is dwarfed by baseball and Venezuelan football has long suffered from a lack of financial resources and infrastructure. Deportivo Anzoátegui, for instance, ceased operations in 2019 due to a financial crisis.

León is Larcamón’s second club in Liga MX. He spent two years at Puebla where he implemented his now trademark high-tempo brand of positional football. He has made a career of maximizing his rosters’ talent, many of which were far from star-studded.

Puebla is at the bottom of Liga MX in terms of roster spend, but over two years, Larcamón’s side punched above its weight. They were a high-pressing team whose tactical versatility evolved during Larcamón’s stay. Puebla’s football was fast and direct and they became a sensation during the 2021-2022 Apertura and Clausura seasons. The side’s personality changed under Larcamón as well.

“We’re a team of absolute ball breakers,” Larcamón said in 2021. “Nobody wants to play us. We’re an uncomfortable opponent for any team. And it can be very uncomfortable. When you think you’ve got the game won or you’re close to an equalizer, my team will run, they’ll pressure, they’ll tackle, they’ll be right there. That causes tension and entertainment.”

At Puebla, Larcamón signed U.S. international striker Jozy Altidore. The American was a depth piece after Puebla lost its starting No. 9 to a fractured leg.

“This guy, he’s gonna be a star,” Altidore told The Athletic in 2022. At the time, Altidore was convinced that Larcamón was ready to lead a big club in Liga MX. Though, he felt that an ambitious MLS side should consider Larcamón, as well.

Altidore called Larcamón “a really smart hire for a lot of the bigger teams in MLS.”

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“Young but smart, up-tempo,” Altidore said of his former coach. “The football (Larcamón) wants to play is the football of today, of the best teams today. He and his staff are first class.”

Larcamón left Puebla without a trophy, but he still earned club icon status. He was linked to Club América and was viewed as a darkhorse option to succeed Gerardo Martino as Mexico’s manager. Altidore, meanwhile, went as far as to choose the best MLS fit for his former boss.

“When I think of an Atlanta United, and this is the Jozy post-career hat, I think ‘What’s a better hire than this guy?’” said Altidore. “His staff has a good mix of South Americans but he’s fair, he speaks good English, he’s bright, he’s willing to learn and he wants to push the envelope. When you think about the biggest clubs, I just think what a wonderful fit it would be for Atlanta United. I’m like ‘Sorry Gonzalo Pineda!’ but what a good fit this guy would be for a team like Atlanta. It’s a match made in heaven.”

Instead, Larcamón landed at León, which, compared to Puebla, is certainly an upgrade in terms of personnel and overall expectations. León relies on the veteran leadership of 35-year-old goalkeeper Rodolfo Cota. Colombian center back Jaine Barreiro patrols the backline, while Mexican midfielder Jesús Ángulo and Ecuadorian playmaker Ángel Mena are León’s ball progressors. Larcamón has a decent bench, too. Colombian wingback Yairo Moreno and Costa Rica international Joel Campbell are attacking alternatives.

And even though he’s not yet in his 40s, Larcamón is a respected tactician with proven results. That’s why comments from LAFC central midfielder Timothy Tillman struck a nerve among fans of Mexican football ahead of the Champions League final. Tillman told reporters on Monday that Mexican teams “really don’t play that tactically” then added that his LAFC teammates are “aware of the bad conditions over there, speaking of the fans and maybe the pitch, too.”

Tim Tillman, “I think Mexican teams really don’t play that tactically. It’s more or less emotional. Very much 1v1s. It’s all about fighting, all about the emotions. Of course they’ve got quality up front but if we play well I’m sure we can win over there.”

📸: @TheStrikerNews pic.twitter.com/n0v0TAZQu1

— Justin Ruderman (@JustinRuderman_) May 29, 2023

Tillman, a German-born U.S. dual national who only recently came to the U.S., isn’t familiar with football in this region. His shade towards León was likely unintentional, and to Tillman’s credit, to beat León, LAFC will have to win their individual battles and match the home side’s vigor in leg one.

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But León has become a team that will give everything for 90 minutes. Larcamón’s principles of play, which he honed at modest stops in Venezuela and Chile, remain intact: verticality that begins with positional play from the back and aggressive counter pressing. León is comfortable playing direct if needed, and over the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, the club has played out of a balanced 4-3-3 system or a 3-4-3 with a double pivot in central midfield.

Larcamón has also used a 5-3-2 set up late in games. His strikers are expected to recover possession like defensive midfielders, his fullbacks are drilled to create overloads in wide channels and play third-man football.

León’s press can be broken, obviously, and they’re susceptible to counter attacks, but Larcamón has installed a tactical wrinkle that resembles man-to-man marking. He has used that approach since he began coaching in 2016 and calls it juego de prevención or a game of prevention. Every León player must be in a position to win a second ball or interrupt an opponent’s possession after a turnover.

On Wednesday night, one key to the match will be León’s ability to disrupt LAFC’s ball control and force the MLS side to make mistakes close to their own goal. The two sides met in 2020 in the Champions League round of 16, with LAFC prevailing, surprisingly, 3-2 after two legs.

This time around, LAFC are considered the favorites, notably stateside. They are the reigning MLS Cup champions who have cruised through the competition up until now. For León, it feels as if the Champions League is a trophy that they simply cannot lose.

León were expected to be a Liga MX contender this year, but they conceded 42 goals across both Liga MX tournaments, which signaled their defensive struggles in Larcamón’s first season in charge. The added pressure of needing to defeat an MLS side will account for a familiar narrative to this U.S. versus Mexico cup final.

As for the viral t-shirt, sales have slowed, but one of TranceStore’s first customers was Larcamón himself. Two days after the t-shirt went on sale, León’s equipment manager reached out to Padilla and asked for one small and one medium t-shirt on behalf of the coach. Larcamón, the equipment manager said, insisted on paying for it in person.

The coach’s money was no good, though. His partially bare chest had done enough.

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“I said of course we’ll give them to him because we’re making money off of his chest,” said Padilla with a laugh. “He was very down to earth and humble. He loved the idea but said ‘You made my chest too hairy.’ We didn’t add anything! He signed a t-shirt and that was like Larcamón blessing the product.”

(Photo: Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)

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