The 2005 InterLiga was a tournament organized by the Mexican Football Federation to determine which two Mexican clubs would qualify for the 2005 Copa Libertadores. That year, Mexico was granted three berths; one, designated Mexico 1, was awarded based on league performance, while the remaining two, designated Mexico 2 and Mexico 3, were decided in the InterLiga. The tournament ran from January 2 to January 12.
The group phase of InterLiga remained the same as in 2004, but the final games were changed. The top team from each group plays the second-place team from the opposite group, with both winners advancing to Copa Libertadores. Of the two final winners, the one with the highest point total during group play will be designated "Mexico 2" and automatically advance to the group stage. The other final winner will be "Mexico 3", and will enter the preliminary round of Copa Libertadores.
The tournament was played across six cities in the United States: Phoenix, Houston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Dallas, and San Jose. Two finals were held on January 12 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
The eight qualified clubs participated in the following groups: Group AGroup BTigres UANLChiapasGuadalajaraTolucaAtlante F.C.AmericaSantosNecaxa
Match schedule Matches at Bank One Ballpark (Phoenix, Arizona) 1. 2 Jan 05Guadalajara vs Santos1-1 2. 2 Jan 05Tigres UANL vs Atlante2-1
Matches at The Home Depot Center (Carson, California) 3. 2 Jan 05Necaxa vs Chiapas0-4 4. 2 Jan 05América vs Toluca1-2 9. 8 Jan 05Atlante vs Santos4-4 10. 8 Jan 05Guadalajara vs Tigres UANL1-0
Matches at Spartan Stadium (San Jose, California) 5. 5 Jan 05Santos vs Tigres UANL3-4 6. 5 Jan 05Atlante vs Guadalajara3-3
Matches at Alamodome (San Antonio, Texas) 7. 6 Jan 05Toluca vs Necaxa2-0 8. 6 Jan 05Chiapas vs América1-2
Matches at Cotton Bowl (Dallas, Texas) 11. 9 Jan 05América vs Necaxa2-2 12. 9 Jan 05Toluca vs Chiapas1-2
Matches at Reliant Stadium (Houston, Texas) 13. 12 Jan 05Final 1: Tigres UANL vs Toluca2-0 14. 12 Jan 05Final 2: Guadalajara vs Chiapas1-1 (5–3)
Finals Final 1
Final 2
Goalscorers The scorers from the 2005 InterLiga RankNameTeamGoals 1 Irenio Soares Tigres UANL Javier Saavedra Tigres UANL 3 José Saturnino Cardozo Toluca Didi Chiapas Diego Garay Atlante Patricio Galaz Atlante Héctor Altamirano Santos Laguna Jorge Campos Santos Laguna
References