INTERLIGA SOCCER: RETURN FOR BORGETTI.

Byline: IVAN OROZCO Staff Writer

CARSON -- Mexican striker Jared Borgetti looked at the jersey of his new team Cruz Azul and smiled during a news conference in late December.

The sky-blue jersey not only represented Borgetti's return to Mexican soccer, but Cruz Azul's efforts to boost the attack of an underachieving team in the upcoming Clausura 2007 tournament.

Despite finishing as the top team of the Apertura 2006 tournament with 30 points, Cruz Azul -- which has not won a title since 1996 -- was eliminated in the first round of the ``Liguilla,'' or playoffs, by eventual champion Chivas de Guadalajara.

Cruz Azul fans and head coach Isaac Mizrahi got a glimpse of what Borgetti can bring to one of Mexico's popular teams Tuesday night in a 1-0 loss against the Rayados of Monterrey in the second match of an InterLiga doubleheader at Home Depot Center in Carson.

Borgetti had to wait 45 minutes to make his debut with Cruz Azul, when he subbed at the start of the second half for forward Miguel Sabah. A roar and chants of ``Bor-get-ti, Bor-get-ti'' erupted amid the crowd of 10, 212 when the star forward stepped on the field.

The cheers got louder when Borgetti created a scoring opportunity for his new team in the 55th minute.

Borgetti had only Monterrey goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco to beat, but the Rayado's goalkeeper kicked the ball away from Borgetti's feet.

Monterrey scored its lone goal in the 79th minute. Joel Morales scored off a Luis Perez center pass, sending it to the back of the net to ruin Borgetti's return. The 33-year-old striker joined the team Monday after the Mexican Soccer Federation confirmed that Borgetti received his international transfer pass from his former team, the Bolton Wanderers. He missed Cruz Azul's first twogames of the InterLiga, a 3-2 loss to Necaxa in Houston and a 2-2 tie with UANL Tigres in Frisco, Texas.

Borgetti spent the past year and four months playing overseas. He spent a year in the English Premier League wearing the Bolton jersey, then transferred to the Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad before signing with Cruz Azul last month.

Borgetti is the Mexican national team's all-time scoring leader with 37. He is fourth in Mexican League play with 226 goals, behind Evanivaldo Castro (312), Carlos Hermosillo (294) and Jose Cardozo (249). The former Sinaloa Dorados, Atlas and Pachuca forward drew international attention for his performance with the national team during the 2002 World Cup, but was most effective during his eight-year stint with Santos Laguna, scoring 189 goals.

Cruz Azul was eliminated from the tournament with theloss, failing to reach one of two finals to be played Saturday in Carson to close the eight- team tournament, which began Jan. 3 in Houston.

Winners of the finals will take up the last two of threeslots reserved for Mexican teams in the Copa Libertadores tournament, South America's version of the European's Champion's League, which will begin in February and run through June. The top InterLiga finalist secures a spot in Copa Libertadores, while the other will play Sporting Cristal of Peru in a play-in game later this month. Toluca, the Mexican Apertura 2005 champion, secured a spot by beating Clausura 2005 champion Club America.

In the first game of the doubleheader, Necaxa secured a spot in one of Saturday's finals with a 1-0 win against Tigres. Necaxa finished the first round of the tournament undefeated, earning all nine possible points. Necaxa will wait to play the No. 2 seed in Group B, which will be determined today after another doubleheader featuring Morelia against UAG at 6 p.m. and Jaguares against Club America at 8:15 p.m.

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