Bravo set to make history

By: Chris | April 24th, 2007

One of the biggest complaints about the Mexican League in the last few years has been the number of foreigners in the league. Many critics have said that the arrival of players from all over Latin America has stunted the growth of young Mexican players, leaving them on the bench while high-priced foreigners get valuable playing time.

One of the statistics these critics point to is the fact that no Mexican player has won the golden boot in the league since Jared Borgetti in the now-defunct Summer championship in 2001.

A Colombian, two Uruguayans, two Paraguayans and a plethora of Argentines have all led the league in scoring in that time, with Paraguayan Jose Saturnino Cardozo being the most memorable, racking up 50 goals in just 37 regular season games for Toluca in the Apertura 2002 and Clausura 2003. His 29 in the Apertura (with 7 more in the playoffs) still stand as the single-season record as Cardozo led Toluca to the title. 36 goals in 25 games. An unbeatable mark if you ask me.

But Omar Bravo of Chivas Guadalajara is set to break that trend. With one game remaining, the 27-year old Mexican international sits on 11 goals, one ahead of Jaguares’ Argentine Javier Cámpora. Four players sit on 7 goals, so it’s down to Bravo and Cámpora. In addition, the disparity between Mexicans and foreigners is still visible, with only Bravo, Pachuca’s Juan Carlos Cacho, Morelia’s Fernando Arce and Cruz Azul’s Miguel Sabah as the only Mexicans in the top 12 in scoring.

Personally, I’d love to see Bravo take the title, just so the critics and commentators can finally shut up. The foreign infusion has made the Mexican League easily the best from top to bottom in Latin America. You can’t say that about Brazil and Argentina, so don’t even try and make that argument. It’s the highest-paying league in Latin America and the players are treated with dignity and class, which is why so many of them come there.

And for Bravo, I don’t think he’ll be spending much more time at Chivas, unless Jorge Vergara doesn’t heed his request to move to Europe as he did after last year’s World Cup.