Battle of Champions

By: John | February 2nd, 2007

The Mexican Clausura season goes into its third week, and the featured game this week is a clash between the last 2 champions of Mexican Football: Guadalajara and Pachuca.

After Pachuca won the Clau2006 last year, they hired Enrique “Ojitos” Meza as their manager.
A slow start in the Apertura tournament this year put Ojitos’ job in jeopardy, but he responded with a respectable semi final finish in the local tournament, but more importantly, he guided Pachuca to the Copa Sudamericana championship. It was the first South American title won by a Mexican team since Mexico began participating in CONMEBOL events in 1993.

Meza has forged a team of young Mexican players with savvy foreign veterans to be one of the most consistent teams in the MFL. Juan Carlos Cacho, one of the Mexican youngsters, got a double as Pachuca tore Monterrey a new one in the Bella Airosa last week. They face stiffer test as they travel to the Jalisco to square off against the Rebaño sagrado.

Chivas, on the other hand, won their first title in many years as they defeated Toluca in the finals of the A06. Like, Pachuca, they have enjoyed success in CONMEBOL tournaments, but haven’t been able to advance past the semifinals of the Libertadores. Guadalajara has evolved into one of Mexico’s strongest teams, which is reflected in the latest call-up by Hugo Sanchez for the national team. 6 players will be on hand when Mexico plays the US next wednesday in Mexico.

Guadalajara is coming off a victory over santos, where Alberto Medina annd Omar Bravo were less than cordial in their first meeting against their former goalkeeper, Oswaldo Sanchez, as they put 3 past him to lead 3-0. They held on for a 3-2 win.

The other more compelling matches on the docket:

America-Atlas — Will Andres Guardado get another screamer by Memo Ochoa?

Monterrey-Cruz Azul — High payrolls, high powered offenses.

Morelia-Tigres — It’s the over-acheivers vs. the under-acheivers, but at least Tigres showed life with a win over America last week.