BajaNews
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Tijuana team a rising star in struggling community
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/20/1s20socpa...
By Mark Zeigler
May 20, 2009
Xoloitzcuintle (pronounced Show-lows-quint-lee) is a Mexican hairless dog that was considered sacred by the Aztecs and, even today, is thought to heal
all variety of human maladies.
In that sense, it is the perfect mascot for Tijuana's professional soccer team.
The Xolos, as Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente is known, are helping heal a fractured, frightened city by giving it something to cheer about
at a time when there is little to cheer about.
There's another quality about Xoloitzcuintles that fits: The puppies aren't necessarily obedient.
Tijuana has long been considered a soccer backwater in Mexico – beisbol country – and none in its long line of second-division teams, including some
affiliated with Mexico's biggest clubs, has been able to pierce the top division. The Xolos were born in 2006, and the young pups refuse to be slaves
to history.
The Xolos face Merida FC this week in the two-leg finals for the second division's Clausura season, tomorrow in the steamy Yucatan and Sunday at 1
p.m. in Tijuana. The winner plays Queretaro, the first-half champion in Mexico's split seasons, next week for a coveted spot in the first division
beginning in August.
“For Tijuana, it would be something marvelous,” says Roberto Cornejo, a Francis Parker High alum and Club Tijuana's director of new projects. “It's
something that has never been done before here. It would be something fantastic.”
It's also something that has been largely ignored on the U.S. side of the border, given the immense ramifications for the region. Twenty-five years
after the demise of the outdoor North American Soccer League, which included the San Diego Sockers, first-division outdoor soccer would be returning.
Think about it. Chivas, Club America, Cruz Azul, Pumas, Toluca – they'd all be making annual visits to a cozy stadium about a half-hour south of
downtown San Diego.
Ramon Scott, a poker dealer from Lakeside and an avid sports fan, has been crossing the border to attend Xolos games whenever he can, and not just
because tickets start at $6.75 for adults and $1.55 for children.
“I don't think I've been as excited about going to soccer matches since the (Sockers') 1985 indoor championship against Baltimore . . . when I was
16,” Scott said in an e-mail. “From the tacos to the beer – I even bought a jersey – I just feel like I'm witnessing something a little bit noteworthy
in a troubled city.
“I don't think I could ever see a San Diego crowd get excited for a team like the fans are for the Xoloitzcuintles.”
Tijuana teams have gone this far twice before in the promotion playoffs, once as Inter de Tijuana and once as Chivas Tijuana, but neither was as well
positioned for promotion as the Xolos. They have a viable stadium in Estadio Caliente, a new facility on the grounds of the Agua Caliente race track
that currently holds 13,333 and has plans to expand to 33,333. They also have deep-pocketed ownership in Jorge Hank Rhon and Alberto Murguia Orozco.
The coach is Wilson Graniolati, a 46-year-old Uruguayan who worked at four different Premier Division clubs and beat out several other big-name
candidates for the job.
The star is Raul Enriquez, a 24-year-old forward who is averaging nearly a goal a game this season, including both strikes in Sunday's 2-0 semifinal
win against Petroleros de Salamanca.
The Xolos have the 27-team league's best overall record for the split seasons at 18-3-11. Counting playoffs, they have lost just five times in the
past 40 games and only once at home.
Next in their path are the Venados (Bucks) of Merida, who have the second-best overall record and also rarely lose at home. And the Xolos won't have
Enriquez for tomorrow's first leg, a casualty of two yellow cards (the second coming in the 89th minute) in the semis.
Things figure to get easier in next week's promotion final. Queretaro was the upset winner of the season's first half and slipped to 13th in the
Clausura, out of playoff contention. That means it will go a month without competitive soccer before taking the field against Merida or Tijuana.
To meet the Mexican soccer federation's minimum seating requirement, the Xolos would hastily close the lower bowl of Estadio Caliente (it's currently
a horseshoe) to bring capacity above 18,000 by August. It probably would take another year to erect a second deck necessary to meet demand for games
against Chivas of Guadalajara or Club America.
In the meantime, why not bring selected games across the border to Qualcomm Stadium?
Don't count on it happening, for two reasons.
One is that playing league games in another country requires approval from an alphabet soup of international, regional and national governing bodies,
and it is unlikely the Xolos would get it. The other is the loyal Tijuana fans who sat through decades of mediocrity.
“We haven't discussed it,” Cornejo said of moving games to the Q. “It wouldn't be fair to the people who have supported us.”
Tickets for Sunday's game against Merida went on sale during last weekend's semifinal game. By the following afternoon, they were gone.
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rpleger
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Registered: 3-12-2005
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Good for them....If I lived north I would go to every game....Good for them
Richard on the Hill
*ABROAD*, adj. At war with savages and idiots. To be a Frenchman abroad is to
be miserable; to be an American abroad is to make others miserable.
-- Ambrose Bierce, _The Enlarged Devil\'s Dictionary_
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