¡Buena Suerte! Redlands + Loma Linda Ready for Mexico-Brazil Olympics Final

Mexico versus Brazil in the London 2012 men's soccer final is being billed as the Gran Final Olímpica, and futbol fans in Redlands and Loma Linda can watch it live at 7 a.m. PT Saturday on Telemundo.

Audomaro Lugo, owner of El Tepeyac Mexican Food on Industrial Park Avenue in Redlands, says he will be open early Aug. 11 to watch the gold medal match.

"We'll see, Mexico has a good team," Lugo said Friday in a phone interview. "I want to be here early. I'll have coffee. It should be a good game."

If Mexico wins futbol gold, Redlands and Loma Linda residents will be home to numerous celebrations well before noon Saturday. Enthusiasm for the Mexican men's team has been growing on both sides of the border as they progressed to the Olympic final.

Telemundo's broadcast of the Tuesday semifinal between Mexico and Japan ranked as the highest-rated telecast for the time period Tuesday 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. in the history of the network, averaging 1.4 million total viewers and 713,000 adults 18-49, according to Nielsen.

For the gold medal match, Brazil's dangerous players include the tournament's top scorer so far, Leandro Damião, Neymar, Oscar, Thiago Silva and Alexandre Pato.

Mexico's goalscorers include Oribe Peralta, Javier Cortes, Hector Herrera, Javier Aquino, Jorge Enriquez, and Marco Fabian. They will be without one of their best players, Giovani dos Santos, who is ruled out with a muscle injury.

Brazil advanced to the final by winning all its group matches, defeating Honduras in the quarters, and South Korea in the semis. Mexico advanced to the final by going undefeated in group play, beating Senegal in the quarters, and Japan in the semis.

No matter which nation wins, the outcome Saturday in Wembley will be historic. Neither Brazil or Mexico has ever won Olympic gold in soccer.

Pregame for the match on Telemundo begins at 6 a.m. Pacific, with broadcast legend Andres Cantor. Kickoff is expected at 7 a.m., a Telemundo representative in Los Angeles said Friday in a phone interview.

For more information about Saturday's broadcast on Telemundo, visit www.telemundo52.com/noticias. For more information about the London 2012 men's soccer tournament visit www.london2012.com/football/men.

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