The Cruz Azul Coorporation, a cement-making company, first got into the sports world in 1924 with a baseball team. Three years later, basketball, volleyball and soccer followed. The soccer team turned professional in 1960 and four years later, Club Deportivo, Social y Cultural Cruz Azul reached the Mexican First Division.

 

La Maquina Azul qualified for the inaugural Champions League as the runner-up in the 2008 Clausura tournament. In the preliminary round, they pounded Hankook Verdes (Belize) 12-0 on aggregate.

 

Cruz Azul currently holds the second spot in the standings with a 4-2-3 record and is only one point behind the group leaders. Their captain, Gerardo Torrado, is a National Team veteran, having represented his country more than 80 times. Midfielder Jaime Lozano has almost 30 caps with Mexico’s National Team, while Carlos Bonet and Cristian Riveros represented Paraguay in the 2006 World Cup.

During the 70s, Cruz Azul dominated the Mexican League, winning six titles between 1970 and 1980, earning them the nickname of ‘La Máquina’ (The Machine – so far that’s two monsters and one machine). They also often called ‘Los Cementeros’, being born from a cement company.

 

Only four years after reaching the Mexican First Division, Cruz Azul conquered their first championship in 1968. Since then, they have won seven more League championships, out of 13 appearances in the final, and two Copa Mexico titles (1969, 1996). The team has also won the ‘Campeon de Campeones’ title twice (1969, 1973), a championship between the League and Cup winners (in recent times, the Apertura vs. Clausura winners) that determines Mexico’s representative in the prestigious Copa Libertadores.

 

Cruz Azul has been successful on the international stage as well, winning all five CONCACAF Champions Cup (1969, 1970, 1971, 1996 and 1997) they have participated in, obtaining a 20-1-7 record. In 2001, they reached the final of Copa Libertadores but fell to storied Argentine club Boca Juniors in penalty kicks, after a 1-1 aggregate score in which the Mexicans won the away leg.

 

La Maquina has had some world-class players during its 45 year history including Juventus and Italian National Team midfielder Mauro Camoranesi, who was with the team from 1998 to 2000. Luciano Figueroa, who has played in the English Premier League, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A, was a gold medalist with Argentina’s National Team. Jared Borgetti is a Mexican National Team veteran who has more than 80 caps, while Francisco Fonseca has represented Mexico 42 times.

 

Two of Cruz Azul’s most notable players, Francisco Palencia and Carlos Hermosillo, spent time in the MLS. Palencia played with Chivas USA during their 2005 inaugural season and scored two goals in his debut. He became the team captain in 2006 and was the highest paid player in the League at the time. Hermosillo joined the LA Galaxy for two seasons in 1998 and 1999. He scored 14 goals and 15 assists during this time, helping his team to the playoffs.

 

 

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