Veracruz Red Sharks 2012 First Division Quest

Hello everyone. I know most won't care about this thread but I think this could be fresh new content and I would love to share with you my local club's season in the Mexican Liga de Ascenso (Promotion League) as we seek for the long awaited promotion back to First division. So welcome to: Veracruz Red Sharks 2012 First Division Quest.

First of all I will explain you the league system. There are two tournaments played during the football year Apertura (2011) and Clausura (2012). Champions of both tournaments play each other in a two legged tie called Promotion Final in order to determine wich team will get promoted and play in the First Division the following season.

The Apertura champions were Correcaminos UAT from Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas and they'll play against the Clausura winners in the Promotion Final, if they also win the Clausura Tournament they will gain automatic promotion.

There are currently just 15 clubs in the league since Indios de Ciudad Juarez were kicked out of the League earlier this year due to financial reasons, so that means that no team will get relegated this year and that every team will have an off week when they were supposed to play against Indios.

After regular season ends 7 teams qualify for the Playoffs. Playoffs are played in two legged ties with the team better placed during the regular season receiving the second leg at home. League leaders qualify directly fo the Semifinals and teams placed between 2nd and 7th will play in the Quarter-Finals to determine who'll join league leaders at the Semifinals. Apertura and Clausura champions will play each other on the Promotion final, of both champions the team with most points during both tournaments will have home advantage on the second leg.

I hope you understood the rules, if not ask me and I will explain it again.

Our Clausura 2012 schedule.

01 Pumas Morelos H January 7 (Won 1-0)
02 Irapuato A January 14 (Lost 2-1)
03 La Piedad H January 21 (Lost 2-3)
04 Correcaminos UAT A January 27 (Won 1-2)
05 Celaya A February 4
06 Cruz Azul Hidalgo H February 11
07 Altamira A February 17
08 Dorados Sinaloa H February 25
09 Merida A March 3
10 Leon H March 10
11 Necaxa A March 16
12 Week Off
13 Neza A April 1
14 Lobos BUAP H April 7
15 Leones Negros UDG A April 13

Current League Table after four weeks

Thanks for following, I'll try to update after every match with our results and the current stats.

Our next match: MD 5 Clausura 2012 Celaya vs Veracruz February 4 Estadio Miguel Aleman.

Opponents: Celaya FC, they are the newly promoted team after they won the Second Division title last season.

Highlights of last meeting between both sides.
Veracruz 1 - 1 Celaya MD 5 Apertura 2011



Club's official promo for the upcoming match.



By the way: Saca Tu Lado Tiburon = Embrace Your Shark Side. I think it sounds cooler in English.

well good luck this season

Thanks mate.

On a very dissapointing night we lost 2-1. Didn't watch the game but for what I've read it was a very tight match and could have easily been a draw. After this defeat we're out of the Playoffs places.

Current League Table

Next Match:

Veracruz vs Cruz Azul Hidalgo February 11 Estadio Luis "Pirata" de la Fuente

A must win game, if we keep droping points at home we can start saying goodbye to the Playoffs and the First Division.

Edit:

Just found the higlights of last match.

Hopefully Sinaloa reaches promotion, I like Veracruz but I lived in Culiacan for a couple of years and used to go see Dorados during the Guardiola, Sebastian Abreu and Borghetti days, so I have a soft spot for them, Veracruz is still such a legendary club here in Mexico though, as long as Atlas doesn't go down I wouldn't mind either of them.

Doubt it, Dorados are no longer what they used to be. After they got relegated they had 2 great teams that could have won promotion but since then they basically lost their essence for some reason. I know, Veracruz as well as Leon and Necaxa (and maybe Irapuato and/or Leones Negros) should be on the First Division we have the history and tradition that teams like Chiapas, San Luis or Queretaro lack with all due respect to fans of those teams.

To be honest I have a soft spot for Atlas, when I was a kid I used to love that great Lavolpe team and was gutted when they lost that final at Toluca on penaty kicks. Also I think Atlas and Leones Negros' jerseys are the most beautiful ones in Mexican football.

I think we should make a bet on who ends their First Division Title drought first my Red Sharks (Veracruz 1950) or your Foxes (Atlas 1951).

Yeah Dorados don't really look likely to come up any time soon, wishful thinking on my part more or less. I agree, I cringe every time I see the likes of Jaguares, Queretaro, and especially San Luis in the first division while the likes of Necaxa, Leon, Veracruz and even the newly formed Neza still lingering in the lower divisions, hopefully Tecos gets relegated since there's probably nobody in Guadalajara that would care, Leones Negros have way more following throughout Jalisco than Tecos anyway.

That Lavolpe side was brilliant, in my opinion the best Mexican side never to win a title, it's quite sad how far we've fallen since those days, even though we never won anything at the very least we played attacking football bringing up the best youngsters in the country, now we don't even have that, I have to say though that Apertura 2004 Veracruz side was very enjoyable to watch, Kleber, Cuauhtemoc, lorito Jimenez, Chaco Gimenez, Quatrocchi, Luna, Irenio Suarez, that was a hell of a side I have to say.

I wouldn't want to make the bet since there's easily a better chance of Veracruz ending their drought before Atlas, we have the most clueless backroom staff in the world, I've always admired Veracruz's ambition even if they haven't played in the first division in a while, el Travieso Guzman is a quality manager as well.

Makes me sad to look back and think that team as well as Guzman's Clausura 2003 sides were by far our best shots at winning the Title and to look at the position we are now makes me want to cry but hey there's always the hope that one day we'll be back stronger than ever.

Anyway leaving nostalgia aside and concentrating on the present so there can be a future...
Next Match: Veracruz vs Cruz Azul Hidalgo MD 5 Clausura 2012 February 11 Estadio Luis "Pirata" de la Fuente

Opponents: Cruz Azul Hidalgo is the most important youth developement squad of one of Mexico's biggest teams Deportivo Cruz Azul, not a real contender for the title or promotion but traditionally have been a competitive side on the division even reaching two finals on the late 90's and early 2000's.

A must must win match for the Shark's Playoffs aspirations. I predict a hard fought 2-0 victory for the Sharks.

Our most recent encounter. Cruz Azul Hidalgo 1-1 Veracruz MD 5 Apertura 2011. A 9 men Veracruz rescued a valuable away point.

Highlights of that match:

Well Guzman is back, all a football club needs is structure, I really can't think of a better manager out there for Veracruz atm, he's got championship pedigree, knows the club well, his sides generally play good football, hopefully his return to the Puerto Jarocho is more successful than Cuauhtemoc's, if Veracruz's management is patient and gives him their backing I can definitely see Veracruz back in Primera very soon.

Hello Mates well basically this is what happened since my last post.

MD 6

Guess what Nachito? After that dissapointing draw Daniel Guzman was sacked/resigned or something like that. Another interrupted cycle in Veracruz. ¿Hasta cuando?

The next match was an away defeat at Altamira. MD 7.



Then former Veracruz manager and player Joaquin Del Olmo was appointed as new manager.

His first match MD 8 Veracruz 1-0 Sinaloa Nachito



The next match away at Merida last saturday.

I'm sorry but last match just needed it's own post.

I'll start by telling you a little bit about myself. Last october after living there my entire life I left my beloved Veracruz in the quest for better job opportunities at the Riviera Maya especifically Playa del Carmen the heart of Mexican Caribbean. Me and my girl practically feel at home because there are lots of Jarochos (how people from Veracruz are affectionally called) over here including some University friends of us that live in Cancun.

The closest and basically my only chance of attending to a Sharks match this year was last week at Merida, Yucatan, a three hour ride from Cancun. My day started early because me and my mates planned this trip for over a month and I went from Playa to Cancun and got to my friends place around 1:00 PM six hours before Kick Off. We had lunch and at 2:30 PM we took the road.

We arrived at Merida around 5:30 PM and once we got to the stadium we were very excited, we were about to see the Red Sharks play for the first time since we left Veracruz. Once we got the tickets we decided to take a walk around the place. We were looking also for a store to get some beers and we were very surprised to see on the distance a bunch of people wearing red shirts. Could it be? Yes, a bus with around 35 people came all the way from Veracruz to Merida (16 to 18 hour ride) we were so happy we were not alone, the Guardia Roja (Veracruz firm) was there to support the team. I ran into a couple of mates since I was a member (and still am) of the Guardia Roja since I was 15 years old.

We then got into the ground chanting and cheering and let me inform you this was Liga de Ascenso football at it's best, an awful, horrible, small so called stadium was the place of my encounter with my beloved team. We started drinking some beer and when the players got into the pitch for prematch warming I almost drop a tear. At this point I didn't care about the result to be honest, me and my mates were just happy to be there. We later found out that we were not the only Jarochos in exile there, we talked to many of them, some came from Playa del Carmen, others from Cancun, Chetumal and a few that lived there in Merida, what a feeling.

After a boring first half the second one was much better, the Sharks took over posession and deservedly got the lead, the emotion of shouting Goooooooooool again was unbelieavable what a magical feeling. After that we should have got a second one and actually almost by the end we got a goal disallowed after a clear offside. The match was dying and then they got a player sent off it was bassically three points in the bag but then the unexpected happened and Merida got the equalizer with virtually the last kick. After that we got a set piece and almost won but we blew it. After the final whistle several Veracruz players went to the away end to thank us for our support and threw their shirts to us. Unfortunatelly I did not catch any.

In the end it was dissapointing not to win the match but the joy of attending to a Sharks match again, chanting with the Guardia Roja after several months and meeting more Jarochos in exile made it a very pleasant day.

This trip reminded me of what football really is about. The hell with money and trophies and plastic glory fans. Love for the colours, passion for your team and getting behind your club no matter what is what it's all about and why this is not just the most beautiful game in the world, but a true lifestyle.

Match Highlights. MD 9 Merida 1-1 Veracruz.



Thanks for reading.

Next match: Veracruz vs Leon.

Top post. Anyway I can't believe they'd sack Guzman, I've always said that the problem with Mexican football is the lack of continuity, I mean the number of clubs that change managers every 6 months or so is quite unbelieveable, just look at the likes of Monterrey for example, they've stuck with Vucetich for a while now and the results are there, even Cruz Azul who might find Finals as their cryptonite have stuck with Meza and you never see them having awful years like America did last season or Chivas during the beggining of this one, hopefully Del Olmo works out for you, I don't rate him as high as Guzman, but he seems to do well in the lower division, he didn't have much luck with Tijuana after winning promotion with them though and his sacking was a bit unfair since they were playing good football just lacked that abillity to finish teams off.

I enjoy reading your posts in this thread Veracruz, keep up your good work

Hello mates. It's been a long time since my last post here and I'd like to keep updating this thread.

Basically since my las post everything went downhill for the sharks and we were far from reaching the playoffs on another dissapointing season, so we'll have to play for at least another season on the recently renamed Ascenso MX.

By the way congratulations to Leon FC a club with one of the richest histories in Mexican football that finally got back to First Division after 10 years in the second tier.

After the nightmare which was last season there was a busy summer in Veracruz with several signings. We seem to have formed a team that blends youth and experience and that is capable of fighting for that long awaited promotion.

Unfortunately we lost the first match. On the bright side we dominated most of the game and showed there could be an interesting season ahead of us.

Ascenso MX MD 1: Sinaloa 2-1 Veracruz

Changes were made in Mexican football in order to "improve" the domestic league including the rebirth of the cup tournament under the name of Copa MX.

The cup format is odd. Teams involved in CONCACAF Champions League don't participate in it. 28 clubs compete in the Copa MX, 14 Ascenso MX clubs and 14 Liga MX (First Division) clubs. There are seven groups, each one with two Ascenso teams and two Liga teams. Teams will play each other home and away with the first place of each group along with the best second placed team qualifying to quarter finals.

Our gruop is:
America, Correcaminos UAT, Queretaro, Veracruz.

Our first Cup match was last wednesday at home against America one of the biggest clubs in the country.

Copa MX Apertura 2012 MD 1: Veracruz 2 - 1 America



It was a very entertaining game with both teams playing atacking football and for sure this will be a great confidence boost for our lads and hopefully we'll improve through the games.