Is Cruz Azul still one of the “Big Four”?
by Jonny Rico
Liga MX like all other leagues around the world has its elite teams that separate themselves from the rest. This can be done by popularity or championships won but in most cases it is the combination of both.
In Mexico the there is the traditional ‘Big Four’ of Chivas of Guadalajara, Club America, Pumas UNAM and Cruz Azul. Three from Mexico City and one from Guadalajara, Jalisco. But should we still consider Cruz Azul as one of the ‘top’ teams?
The Clausura 2015 season just finished its regular season and playoffs are set to begin on Wednesday night for the top eight sides; Cruz Azul is not one of the eight that will be fighting out the league championship. Needing only a win to secure a playoff spot on the final matchday, Cruz Azul suffered a 2-0 loss at home to the team that was relegated at the end of the very match Leones Negros.
Cruz Azul’s rise came in the late 1960s and all throughout the 1970s where it won a vast majority of its eight league titles. Six consecutive years Cruz Azul were either the champions or runners-up. It won the 1968-69 tournament, finished in second place the following season (1969-70), then won four consecutive titles (Mexico 1970, 1971-72, 1972-73 and 1973-74). It then won back-to-back titles again in 1978-79 and 1979-80.
The most frustrating part for all of the Cruz Azul fans is the second place finishes the club has had. It has been close to ending the trophy drought but is never able to get the job done. Always the bridesmaid but never the bride, as they say.
In 2013 Cruz Azul made the league final against arch-rivals and city neighbors Club America. Cruz Azul took a 1-0 first leg win. For the second leg Cruz Azul took a 1-0 lead (2-0 aggregate) early in the match. Its fast counterattacks also produced Club America going down to 10 men rather early in the match. It all seemed Cruz Azul was on its way to the ninth crown.
Cruz Azul could have sealed the win in the second half on more fast counterattacks as the host had pushed forward looking for a goal to bring back hope. Heroic goalkeeping along with the post denied Cruz Azul of a third goal that would have wrapped up the series.
Always the bridesmaid but never the bride
Photo: Mexsport
In the 88th minute Club America’s central defender and captain Aquivaldo Mosquera got his head on the ball in the center of the box after a cross from the right came in. The ball slowly bounced into the back of the net and added drama to the closing stages of the match.
Center referee added three minutes to the match. Two and a half had gone by and it still seemed Cruz Azul were putting an end to its long trophy-less drought.
A last minute corner kick for Club America had to be played, goalkeeper Moises Muñoz went up the field to join in the attack. And it was the shot-stopper who produced an epic diving header that found a fortunate rebound and ended in the back of the goal to tie the series at 2-2.
Cruz Azul was never able to regroup from the shift in momentum and crumbled under the pressure of another final lost when it came time for the penalty shoot out. Muñoz stopped the first Cruz Azul shot, the second has sent way over the crossbar after the Cruz Azul shooter Israel Castro slipped in the wet and rainy Estadio Azteca pitch.
Cruz Azul has a total of 10 second place finishes (1969-70, 1980-81, 1986-87, 1988-89, 1994-95, Winter 1999, Clausura 2008, Apertura 2008, Apertura 2009 and Clausura 2013). That is 10 times that the team has risen the hopes of its fans only to crush them.
Since those golden years Cruz Azul has only been able to win the title once (Winter 1997). Is one league title in 35 years enough for a ‘big’ team? And lets keep in mind that one league title came over 17 years ago. If Cruz Azul does not win the next Apertura 2015 tournament it will celebrate 18 years of trophy drought.
Thanks largely to the short tournament system which was introduced in Liga MX in 1996 other teams have now risen its title count and even surpassed Cruz Azul. Toluca now want to be considered when speaking of the ‘top teams’ because it now stands at ten league titles. Just behind Club America (12) and Chivas (11).
So should we still consider Cruz Azul in the ‘Top Four’ of Liga MX?
