Mexico

FMF: Intense Activity In 2009

The first semester of 2009 will be full of activity for Mexican football with the Torneo Clausura, Copa Libertadores, Gold Cup and Hexagonal final.

Jan 13, 2009 3:12:50 PM

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A busy calendar year for Mexican football in 2009, with a first semester which will be intense.

For Mexican clubs the year kicked-off with the Torneo InterLiga on January 2nd, soon to be followed by the Torneo Clausura 2009 which starts this weekend, Copa Santander Libertadores and the Final phase of the CONCACAF Champions League.

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The Mexican national team is in a crucial moment and in 2009 they will have important activity for the aspirations of El Tri and Mexican football at all levels.

EL TRI
During the first six months, El Tri will dispute 10 matches, five of which will be qualifiers and five friendlies.

The first friendly will take place on the 28th of January, against Sweden in Oakland, California.

Immediately following this preparation match on the 11th of February, México begins participation in the Hexagonal with a visit to the United States at Columbus.

Besides the qualifiers and friendlies, El Tri will also participate in the Gold Cup from July 3 - 26 in the United States. This new edition of the regional tournament does not offer a spot in the Confederations Cup, so it will be interesting to see how México and the other national teams confront the tournament.

All together in the year, El Tri will play 10 matches in the Hexagonal final, eight friendly matches (five in the United States, one in México, and two are planned on European soil), and participation in the Gold Cup which guarantees three first round matches.

2009 México National Team Calendar

Match	Competition	Date and Location
vs. Sweden	Friendly	1/28 - Oakland, CA
vs. USA	Hexagonal	2/11 - Columbus, OH
vs. TBD	Friendly	3/11 - Las Vegas, NV
vs. Costa Rica	Hexagonal	3/28 - México
vs. Honduras	Hexagonal	4/1 - Honduras
vs. El Salvador	Hexagonal	6/6 - El Salvador
vs. Trinidad & Tobago	Hexagonal	6/10 - México
vs. TBD	Friendly	6/20 - México
vs. TBD	Friendly	6/24 - Atlanta, GA
vs. TBD	Friendly	6/28 - San Diego, CA
	GOLD CUP	7/3 - 7/28, USA
vs. USA	Hexagonal	8/12 - México
vs. Costa Rica	Hexagonal	9/5 - Costa Rica
vs. Honduras	Hexagonal	9/9 - México
vs. TBD	Friendly	9/30 - Dallas, TX
vs. El Salvador	Hexagonal	10/10 - México
vs. Trinidad & Tobago	Hexagonal	10/14 - Trinidad & Tobago
vs. TBD	Friendly	11/14 - Europe
vs. TBD	Friendly	11/18 - Europe

*Friendly dates are tentative.

MEXICAN CLUBS

InterLiga
The Torneo InterLiga started off club activity in 2009. In 14 matches, Toluca, Tecos, Morelia, Pachuca, Tigres, Guadalajara, Atlas and América, played for the two remaining spots in the Copa Santander Libertadores. Chivas and Pachuca emerged victorious in the Final phase and took the two tickets.

Torneo Clausura 2009
The Torneo Clausura 2009 of Mexico’s Primera division will begin on the 16th of January, with a total of 167 matches scheduled to conclude on May 30-31 with the crowning of the champion.

Primera “A”
In turn, Mexico’s second tier will feature 216 regular season matches, and 14 in the Final phase. Since this is a relegation season, there will also be matches to determine promotion to the Primera División, which should bring the total to 234 encounters.

Copa Santander Libertadores
Mexico’s participants in South America’s premier club competition are San Luis as “México 1,” Chivas as “México 2,” and Pachuca as “México 3.”

San Luis earned the right to represent México for being the overall leader of classification in the Torneo Apertura 2008. They were placed in Group 8 with San Lorenzo of Argentina, Libertad of Paraguay, and Universitario of Peru.

Chivas incorporated Group 2, with Lanús of Argentina, Everton of Chile, and Caracas of Venezuela.

Pachuca qualified to the first phase of the tournament where they will meet Universidad de Chile in a home and away series to determine who advances to the group stage. The winner will join Group 7, with Gremio of Brazil, Aurora of Bolivia, and Boyacá Chicó of Colombia.

First phase activity for Pachuca will begin on January 28, when they visit Universidad de Chile in the first leg of the series. The return leg is scheduled for February 2nd.

There will be a total of 138 encounters in the Copa Libertadores, with the Mexican clubs guaranteed at least 14 matches.

CONCACAF Champions League
Santos, Atlante, Pumas and Cruz Azul all advanced to the Quarterfinals of the competition.

In this phase, Cruz Azul will have to dispute elimination with Pumas, Atlante will do the same against Houston Dynamo, and Santos faces Montreal Impact. The quarterfinal first legs will take place on February 24-26, and the return leg on March 3-5.

If three Mexican clubs advance to the Semifinals, they have disputed 10 matches, and if one or two clubs make it to the final, they participated in 12 encounters.

Summary
The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol anticipates around 475 matches between the national team and Mexican clubs in the first six months of 2009.

--César García, Goal.com

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