By: Jonny Rico
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Following the CONCACAF Champions League Final (CCL) I produced five quick conclusions here on Prost Amerika. One of which said that Club America captain Rubens Sambueza could be on his way to becoming a club legend. Here in my debut column for Prost I expand on this and make the case for Argentine midfielder.
Don’t miss Rico on Futbol, my weekly column about the beautiful game in Mexico here on Prost Amerika or my participation in The Mexican Soccer Show podcast also here on Prost.
With a rich and long history Club America has seen its fair share of club legends come and go, both as players and managers and sometimes both. Names like Carlos Reinoso, Cristobal Ortega, Luis Roberto Alves ‘Zague, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and many more will always be remembered and talked about in Mexico.
The team will be celebrating its 99th anniversary come October and the term ‘legend’ is not something that is used lightly. Might there be a case for Argentine born midfielder Rubens Sambueza inching himself towards that distinct honor.
I’m not saying he is there already, there is still some ways to go. But as the century mark approaches it is only natural for people to be compiling their lists of all time Club America greats.
It is usually a little more difficult for foreign players or even Mexican players that didn’t come out of the America youth system to achieve this status; but it can be done.
For example Argentine striker Claudio ‘El Piojo’ Lopez or Chilean striker Ivan ‘Bam-Bam’ Zamorano. Lopez arrived at America after a having won several trophies in Spain and Italy with Valencia and Lazio.
Zamorano had an impressive career with Real Madrid before joining America. Both Lopez and Zamorano won league titles in Mexico with America (2005 and 2002 respectively) and should be entered in the conversations when talking about the great America players of the past.
But the fact that they did not come from the youth system along with their short stay at the club makes people over look these two South American greats.
The last Club America legend is recently retired Cuauhtemoc Blanco and in terms of silverware Rubens Sambueza has already surpassed him. Blanco was only able to win one league title and one CONCACAF Champions Cup (Now CONCACAF Champions League – CCL). Sambueza now has two league championships and one CCL title under his belt. But there is more to it to become an America legend than just silverware.
Blanco has the youth system product advantage as well as his ‘superman’ reputation with the Mexican National Team. But above these two conditions, Blanco always had a certain attitude on the field. He was a natural leader and produced his best talent when adversity hit. He was usually the one his teammates and managers called upon to get through the tough times and more often than not Blanco delivered.
In 2001 Mexico looked close to missing out on the 2002 FIFA World Cup due the poor performances by the Mexican National Team in the CONCACAF Qualifiers. Manager Enrique Meza was replaced by Javier ‘El Vasco’ Aguirre. One of the first moves that Aguirre made as manager in order to turn things around was to recall Blanco into the National Team.
Blanco had been out of action due to a nasty injury that kept him away from the fields for six months. Many felt it was too early and that Blanco was still not at optimal fitness to return but Aguirre put his faith in him. By Blanco’s leadership Mexico was able to win the tough remaining matches and qualify for the Japan/Korea World Cup.
In recent season Sambueza has picked up the captain’s armband for Club America and his on field importance has shined in those moments even if he is injured and unable to play. When Sambueza is absent you realize that if he is not on the field there really isn’t anyone else that can produce his talent.
When matches become difficult and teams lockup in the back and the America offense is struggling to produce any danger, it is usually a Sambueza individual effort that allows the team to find a breakthrough.
He has come a long way to becoming that important man for Club America. He joined the team in 2012 when former manager Miguel ‘Piojo’ Herrera brought him in. Originally I was pessimistic about Sambueza joining the team since he had just been relegated with Estudiantes Tecos the season before. In my mind Sambueza was not the caliber player that a big team like America deserved. But little by little the Argentine has proven himself and proven doubters wrong.
If by the talent of Sambueza’s left foot Club America is able to pick up more trophies – which they seem they are more than capable to – then it will force people to mention his name when talking about America legends.
A huge step towards this would be the current Clausura 2015 LIGA MX championship. If Sambueza can lead America to this title the Mexico City giants would be the first team to win the makeshift treble in Mexico (Apertura, Clausura and CCL).
Since the creation of the short tournament system in 1996 only twice has a team managed to win back-to-back league titles. The first to do it was Pumas UNAM winning first the Clausura 2004 (part of the 2003-04 year) and then the Apertura 2004 (part of the 2004-05 year) seasons. They came close to winning the ‘treble’ but lost the 2005 CONCACAF Champions Cup Final to Costa Rica’s Saprissa (last time a non Mexican club won the CONCACAF title).
The second team to win back-to-back titles was Club Leon by winning the Apertura 2013 and the Clausura 2014. They were the first team in short tournament history to win both championships in a football year (2013-14). Thanks to the titles won Leon participated in the 2014-15 CCL but were eliminated in the group stage of the competition.
Winning this Clausura 2015 season would make Sambueza and his Club America teammates the first to achieve the ‘treble’ and it would take his trophy count up to three league titles and one CCL. With another league title opportunity and a FIFA Club World Cup participation awaiting in the second half of 2015.
