If Club America can pull off either the Copa Sudamericana title or the Apertura 2007 championship, they will only add to their already grand lore. But if the club can pull off the double, they will set a new standard that even Pachuca didn't achieve.
America is currently alive and well in two campaigns. Today, the Mexican club will host Millonarios of Colombia in the second leg of their Sudamericana semifinal series. America pulled out a 3-2 win in Colombia last week and need just a draw to go through to their first-ever Sudamericana final.
The club gets no breaks, though. America is in the repechaje of the Apertura and will play at Morelia on Thursday.
While Pachuca held both the Sudamericana and Mexican league titles at the same time, los Tuzos did not pull off the double when winning Sudamericana. America has a chance to top Pachuca's grand run to finish off 2006 when they won the Sudamericana and reached the semifinals of the Apertura 2006.
America might be running on fumes though. Since Sept. 22, America has played 15 games in 53 days. By Sunday, they will have played 17 games in 58 days. That's about one game every four days, and that calendar has included games in Colombia and Brazil and all over Mexico. In fact, here's how they've fared over that time:
Sept. 22 at San Luis (1-2 L)
Sept. 25 at Pachuca (4-1 W)
Sept. 30 Cruz Azul (2-2 T)
Oct. 3 Pachuca (0-2 L)
Oct. 7 at Toluca (1-3 L)
Oct. 10 Vasco da Gama (2-0 W)
Oct. 14 Veracruz (0-0 T)
Oct. 20 at Pachuca (2-1 W)
Oct. 24 at Vasco da Gama (0-1 L)
Oct. 28 Chivas (2-1 W)
Oct. 31 at Atlante (1-2 L)
Nov. 4 Necaxa (1-0 W)
Nov. 7 at Millonarios (3-2 W)
Nov. 10 Monterrey (1-0 W)
Nov. 13 Millonarios
Nov. 15 at Morelia
Nov. 18 Morelia
It's a taxing schedule to say the least but so far America has come away with excellent results.
3 comments:
I'm not sure what constitutes the double in Mexico, but I would make a case for Pachuca.
Winners of the '06 and '07 Clausura, the '06 Copa Sudamericana, the '07 Concacaf Champions Cup and the '07 SuperLiga(in which they were the only Mexican team to make the semi-finals).
Pretty strong record of sustained success.
my 2 cents. :)
True. Pachuca had perhaps the greatest run of any club in Mexican history and held four cups at one point.
But if America wins both the league and Sudamericana within the same calendar month, that would be significant. Even Pachuca didn't do that.
I feel sorry for america's players having to play so much the past couple months. Hopefully, they can start their Christmas/winter break after the match on Nov. 18th
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