Mexico
MARTINDELPALACIOLANGER
Ecstatic...Atlas’
LuisReyes
celebratesscoring
inthefinal
80 WORLDSOCCER
hereis nothingmore
excitingfora clubfan
thantoseetheir team
breaking a curse–
toleavebehinda
droughtwithouttitles
andfinally celebrateavictoryon the
mostimportantofoccasions.Butwhen
a secondchampionshiparrives,the
feelingisdifferent.It’sthe certaintythat
thedroughtisoveronceandfor alland
thatthegoodtimesarehereto stay.
TitledroughtwellandtrulyoverfortheGuadalajara-basedside
afterextraordinaryruntotheClausurafinal
That’showAtlassupportersfeel,the
sameoneswhosufferedfor 70 years
theridiculeoftherestof theMexican
fansandwho,justsixmonths after
havingwontheirfirsttitlein thoseseven
decades,are celebratingagain,having
wontwotitles in arowforthe first time
inthe club’s long history.
Althoughitwasn’t as unexpected
asthe first championship,noone
wasreallypredictinga repeatforthe
Rojinegros. Firstlybecause,sincethe
Two ina rowforAtlas
implementationofthe short
tournamentseverysixmonths in1996,
onlytwo teamshadmanagedtobe
crownedtwiceina row, andnever in a
footballyear– Pumasdiditin 2004
andLeonin 2014 – andsecondly
becauseAtlasdonothavethe most
expensivesquadinMexicanfootball,
northemost talentedplayers.
Thattitlewas sharedbyTigres– who
hadaddedmorenationalteamplayers
totheirsquad,alreadyfullofLatin
T
