MEXICO'S BEST: TOLUCA OR AMERICA?

Byline: SCOTT FRENCH SOCCER

It seems, at least in these climes, a cry of rebellion, as absurd as that sounds. But this is Chivasland, and Club Deportivo Guadalajara -- the most Mexican of Mexico's soccer clubs -- holds a tight grasp on Southern California sensibilities, supported by nearly as many fans as follow the Dodgers, Lakers or Raiders.

Then you'll see one car, then another, sporting bumper stickers with Club America's sharp logo: the yellow ball, the blue outline of North and South America, the red ``CA.''

Come December, they'll likely be the ones celebrating.

The Mexican Primera Division's Torneo Apertura passed its regular- season midpoint last week, and this much is apparent:

Toluca, winner of fivechampionships since 1998, is the class of the league. The defending Apertura champion, under Argentine coach Americo Gallego's expert leadership, is 6-1-2 and coming off a 7-0 destruction of UANL Tigres. Bruno Marioni, with 10 goals (four against Tigres), is having an MVP campaign, and the Diablos Rojos' defense has surrendered just four goals and notched five shutouts. Gallego, part of Argentina's 1978 and 1982 World Cup teams, has coached four teams to titles, Toluca included, and another crown is within reach.

San Luis can never be counted out. The little-known club from San Luis Potosi was seconds from relegation last spring -- a draw in its finale against Atlas would have meant a season in second-tier Primera A -- but two late goals forged a 2-1 victory, and three weeks later, San Luis was battling Pachuca in the Torneo Clausura championship.

After starting this season with 1-0 defeats to America, Morelia and Atlante, the Tuneros have been nearly perfect, shutting out five of six foes and climbing atop the Group 2 standings. It's the only team to beat overall leader Toluca and one of two to defeat No. 2 club Atlas.

Cruz Azul is the great pretender -- again. A year ago, the Cementeros, spurred by the plight of kidnapped coach Ruben Omar Romano, started the Apertura 7-0-1. Romano was freed after two months, and Cruz Azul went 2-6-3 the rest of the way with a quarterfinal exit.

Wins in its first four games had Cruz Azul atop the overall standings, but it has managed just one point in the five games that followed -- goalkeeper Oscar Perez, surging forward for a corner kick four minutes into stoppage time, headed home the equalizer last Wednesday at lowly UAG Tecos -- falling to 4-4-1.

Cruz Azul is in the mightiest group, with Atlas, Jaguares and Guadalajara, and no more than three teams will advance to the eight-team playoff liguilla.

Tigres have been the disappointment of the season. The Monterrey club, after luring coach Jose Luis Trejo from Clausura champion Pachuca, appeared ready to contend for its first Primera Division title. Threegames into the campaign -- wins over Tecos and Morelia bookending a 1-1 draw at America -- UANL was fourth overall, behind only 3-0-0 Atlas, Toluca and Cruz Azul.

Since then, Tigres has lost four of six (with ties, curiously, against Atlas and Jaguares, which trail only Toluca in the overall standings). The 7-0 debacle signaled the end.

Chivas' chance came and went. Guadalajara can never be counted out, but it clearly was Mexico's best team last spring, after Jose Manuel ``Chepo'' de la Torre took charge and before Ricardo Lavolpe raided the roster for his World Cup preparations. With five starters gone, Chivas could get no further than the semifinals, and this year's team, 3-2-4 and third in Group 1, has done little to impress.

America is the team to beat. The Mexico City giant is the richest of Mexico's clubs, and it spent wisely this summer, bringing in Paraguayan stars Salvador Cabanas (from Jaguares) and Nelson Cuevas (from Pachuca) and Argentine striker Matias Vuoso (from Santos) to join established stars Claudio Lopez and Cuauhtemoc Blanco. It took nearly half the season for the chemistry to develop, but the Aguilas are on a tear -- with three successive victories following a 1-1 draw with Toluca -- and they're only going to get better.

U.S. pursuing World Cup coaches?

U.S. Soccer's search for a new national team coach, by all accounts, is going swimmingly, not that President Sunil Gulati will confirm that. Expect no official word until a contract is signed.

Juergen Klinsmann, who guided his native Germany to third place at the World Cup, is among the foreign coaches who have met with federation officials, according to reports. The Huntington Beach resident apparently is seeking $2 million a year, more than three times what Bruce Arena was paid.

Klinsmann last week said ``perhaps I'll be a manager once again at the 2010 World Cup,'' and new German federation president Theo Zwanziger suggested the former star striker might take charge of an African team.

ESPN reported that Jose Pekerman, who coached Argentina in Germany, has talked with U.S. Soccer, and The New York Times reported that Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was England's coach at the Cup, is the latest big name to be contacted.

Riquelme quits

Juan Roman Riquelme, the elegant midfielder at the center of Argentina's attack, has retired from the international game so he can devote his time and energy to his ailing mother.

Riquelme, whose stylish, unhurried play served as a throwback in a sport that's becoming faster and more athletic every season, will continue with Spain's Villarreal, but he made his national team farewell in a 3-0 romp over Brazil earlier this month in London.

Riquelme, who turned 28 during the Cup, was the pivotal player for an Argentine side that appeared the best team at the World Cup until its quarterfinal penalty-kick loss to Germany. He was ineffective in that game and departed in the 72nd minute.

Critics have ripped his tendency to disappear in the biggest games, and Riquelme acknowledged he feared criticism of his play might have affected his mother's health.

``There's been a lot of bad blood, and I don't want to make her suffer,'' he said. ``My mother is my mother, and I can't compare her with the Argentina shirt or anything else.''

Just 19 points behind

Juventus won its first Serie B game Saturday, 2-1 over visiting Vicenza on goals by remaining stars David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero, but it helped only so much.

The Turin giant, relegated to Italy's second division and penalized 17 points for its role in the ``Calciopoli'' match-fixing scandal, remains 19 points behind Genoa and Bologna. Juve (1-0-1) plays today at Crotone.

Trezeguet, meanwhile, said he'd hoped to depart Juventus -- as most of the team's frontline stars did -- but new coach Didier Deschamps, his former France teammate, told him no way.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Bruno Marioni, top, has scored 10 goals in nine games as Toluca has sprinted to the overall lead in Mexico's Torneo Apertura.

Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

(2) ERIKSSON

Box:

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