1997 Invierno Final vs Cruz Azul
The Cement Machine of Mexican football.
Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Cruz Azul, is a Mexican professional football club based in Mexico City. The club competes in Liga MX and plays its home matches at Estadio Azteca. Founded in 1927 in Jasso, Hidalgo, the club relocated to Mexico City in 1971. Cruz Azul are one of only seven Mexican clubs to have never been relegated from the top flight.
Lore & Background
Cruz Azul was founded in the late 1920s in Jasso, Hidalgo, where cement company Cooperativa La Cruz Azul fostered a connection with football. The club was formally established on 22 May 1927, with Carlos Garcés López as its first manager. In 1931, the cooperative faced financial difficulties during the Great Depression, but workers assumed control of the plant in 1932. Between 1932 and 1943, Cruz Azul won 15 consecutive league titles in a local amateur league. The club earned promotion to the Primera División in 1964.
Reader's Guide
Domestically, the club has won ten league titles, four Copa MX, four Campeón de Campeones, and holds the joint-record with one Supercopa de la Liga MX and one Supercopa MX. In international competitions, with seven titles, the club holds the joint-record for the most successful club in the history of the CONCACAF Champions Cup/Champions League. Cruz Azul also holds the distinction of being the club with the most league runner-up finishes (12), and the first team from CONCACAF to reach the final of the Copa Libertadores. The club achieved a continental treble in the 1968–69 season by winning the Primera División, Copa México and CONCACAF Champions' Cup, becoming the first CONCACAF club and third worldwide to accomplish this feat.
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