Uriel Antuna received a special visit at Pumas' Cantera training ground ahead of the second leg of the Liga MX final against Cruz Azul on Sunday, May 24, 2026.
The visit came a day after the first leg ended 0-0, and it was notable both for who came and what Antuna did next. Daniel Aguilar, a pastor at Un Corazón Iglesia in El Paso, Texas, attended the first leg at the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes and then went to Cantera to see Antuna, who is a friend and a fellow Pumas supporter. Antuna posted the moment on his social networks, and broadcast crews captured him arriving at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario with a Bible in hand; he carried the same book while walking the pitch before warm-ups.
Those images — a player moving across the field with a Bible and later celebrating with fans — are the clearest facts tying Antuna to two strands of this title run: a public display of personal faith and an unusually close connection with the club’s supporters. During the Liguilla he was seen celebrating with fans at a taco stand after Pumas eliminated América and Pachuca, an episode Antuna himself documented on social channels.
The timing makes the scene relevant today. Pumas arrive at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario on Sunday seeking to turn that winless first leg into a championship: this Clausura 2026 final is the club’s shot at ending a 15-year title drought and claiming a long-awaited eighth league crown. Every image, every pre-match ritual, will be read by supporters and opponents alike as part of the high-stakes atmosphere around the club.
Aguilar’s presence — a pastor who traveled from El Paso after watching the first leg live — reinforced how visible Antuna’s off-field life has become. The visit is a simple, verifiable moment: Aguilar, identified as a friend and fellow Pumas fan, visited Cantera the day after the 0-0 draw, and Antuna made sure the encounter reached his followers. Media crews recorded Antuna at the stadium carrying the Bible, and the player later shared the visit online, making it part of the match-week narrative.
The image contains an internal contradiction that gives the story its tension. The same player who walked the pitch with a Bible in hand also spent time among fans in a far less formal setting — a taco stand celebration captured during the knockout phase. Those two scenes resist a single tidy interpretation: Antuna is both performing a private ritual in public and inhabiting the rowdy, communal life of Pumas’ supporters. Neither scene cancels the other; together they suggest why his presence has become a focal point heading into the decisive game.
This matters because, in finals, small rituals and shared moments often outsize their literal importance. Antuna’s visible faith and his on-the-street camaraderie with fans will fold into how the match is remembered if Pumas lift the title or if the club falls short on Sunday. For a team chasing an eighth championship and an end to a 15-year wait, those images become part of the folklore around a decisive match.
Whatever the result at the final whistle, the photograph of Antuna moving across his home turf with a Bible — and the memory of him celebrating later with supporters — will be one of the lasting images from this Clausura 2026 campaign. For now, the simple fact remains: Antuna, his friend Daniel Aguilar, and a small circle of fans and cameras have given the closing week of this final a human detail that will travel with the club into the stadium on Sunday.
