The 2002–03 season was Deportivo Cruz Azul's 76th season in existence and their 38th consecutive season in the top flight of Mexican football. The club participated in the Apertura and Clausura tournaments of the Mexican Primera División and in the 2003 Copa Libertadores.
Cruz Azul started the season under José Luis Trejo as manager, but he was sacked at the end of the Apertura tournament; club chairman Guillermo Álvarez cited the "lack of adequate results" as the main reason for firing Trejo. Mario Carrillo was chosen as Trejo's replacement. Trejo had managed to lead Cruz Azul into the playoffs, but were eliminated in quarterfinals by UNAM.
On 12 March 2003, in an unusual situation, chairman Guillermo Álvarez fired Mario Carrillo and the whole squad due to the bad results. Cruz Azul had not won a single match in the first nine rounds and had managed to get only six points; besides, the team had recently suffered a disgraceful 6–1 loss against Uruguayan club Fénix in the Copa Libertadores. After Álvarez terminated the entire first team squad contracts, the players were allowed to return but were given a new contract only for the remaining ten games; this new contract was subject to the team's results during the rest of the season. That same day, Enrique Meza was appointed manager of Cruz Azul.
Despite the mediocre season, Meza managed to lead the team into repechage, a playoff between Guadalajara and Cruz Azul; the winner would qualify to the championship playoffs. Despite winning the first leg 4–1, Cruz Azul lost 1–4 on the second leg and due to Guadalajara finishing ahead of Cruz Azul on the regular phase of the tournament, Cruz Azul was not able to enter the playoffs.
Internationally, Cruz Azul beat the Copa Pre Libertadores and qualified to the 2003 Copa Libertadores group stage. Despite losing on its inaugural match against Corinthians 0–1 and the 1–6 loss against Fénix, Cruz Azul advanced to the knockout stage as second best team in the group.
Players Apertura No. Pos. Nat. Name Date of birth (age) Since 1 GK Óscar Pérez 1993 2 DF Melvin Brown 1998 3 DF Norberto Ángeles 2000 4 MF Cristian Leiva 2002 5 DF Víctor Gutiérrez 1999 6 MF José Alberto Hernández 1999 7 DF Sergio Almaguer 2001 8 MF Tomás Campos 2000 10 MF Mariano Messera 2002 11 MF Julio César Pinheiro 2000 12 GK Emmanuel González 2002 13 FW Sebastián Abreu 2002 14 MF Marvin Cabrera 2000 15 FW Francisco Palencia (Captain) 2002 16 MF Miguel Gómez Palapa 2000 17 MF Alejandro Corona 2000 18 MF Miguel Zepeda 2001 19 MF Marinho Ledesma 2000 20 MF Flavio Davino 2002 21 FW Juan Carlos Cacho 2001 26 FW Mario Ortiz 2000 29 DF Aarón Galindo 2002 31 DF Ricardo Osorio 2001 35 DF Pablo Campos 2002 45 MF Gerardo Blanco 2002
Clausura No. Pos. Nat. Name Date of birth (age) Since 1 GK Óscar Pérez 1993 2 DF Melvin Brown 1998 3 DF Norberto Ángeles 2000 4 DF Gilberto Jiménez 2003 5 DF Víctor Gutiérrez 1999 6 MF José Alberto Hernández 1999 7 DF Sergio Almaguer 2001 8 MF Tomás Campos 2000 9 FW Daniel Baldi 2003 11 MF Julio César Pinheiro 2000 12 GK Emmanuel González 2002 13 FW Sebastián Abreu 2002 14 MF Marvin Cabrera 2000 15 FW Francisco Palencia (Captain) 2002 16 MF Miguel Gómez Palapa 2000 17 MF Alejandro Corona 2000 18 MF Miguel Zepeda 2001 19 MF Marinho Ledesma 2000 20 MF Flavio Davino 2002 21 FW Juan Carlos Cacho 2001 22 MF Pablo Galdames 2003 26 FW Mario Ortiz 2000 28 MF Alan Guadarrama 2002 29 DF Aarón Galindo 2002 30 DF Adrián Cortés 2003 31 DF Ricardo Osorio 2001 35 DF Pablo Campos 2002 45 MF Gerardo Blanco 2002
Transfers In No. Pos. Nat. Player Moving from Type Transfer window Ref. 12 GK Emmanuel González Celaya Transfer Summer 15 FW Francisco Palencia Espanyol Loan return Summer 20 MF Flavio Davino Morelia Transfer Summer 29 DF Aarón Galindo Academy Promotion Summer 4 DF Gilberto Jiménez Puebla Loan Winter 9 FW Daniel Baldi Plaza Colonia Loan Winter 22 MF Pablo Galdames Veracruz Loan return Winter 30 DF Adrián Cortés Academy Promotion Winter 7 MF Andrés Chitiva Pachuca Loan Special
Out No. Pos. Nat. Player Moving to Type Transfer window Ref. – MF Cesáreo Victorino Pachuca Loan Summer 4 MF Cristian Leiva Gimnasia y Esgrima Transfer Winter 10 MF Mariano Messera Rosario Central Transfer Winter
Competitions Overview
Torneo Apertura
League table
Matches
Playoffs: Quarterfinals
Torneo Clausura
League table
Matches
Repechage
Selectivo Pre Pre Libertadores The Selectivo Pre Pre Libertadores 2002 is the last edition of the tournament which distributes the two tickets to the Mexican teams for the 2003 Copa Libertadores. The tournament was won by Club Universidad Nacional by obtaining the first place of group with 6 points and thus obtained the place of Mexico 1, while cruz Azul achieved second place with 6 points by goal difference with which they managed to qualify as Mexico 2 to the Pre-Libertadores 2003 against Venezuelan clubs for two places to the Copa Libertadores 2003.
Group A
PositionTeamsGamesWonDrawLostGoals scoredGoals concededGoal differencePoints1UNAM210133 032Cruz Azul210132 133Morelia210112 -13
More info on the games is here:Games
Second round
PositionTeamsGamesWonDrawLostGoals scoredGoals concededGoal differencePoints1UNAM220086 262Cruz Azul220094 563Toluca200259 -404Pachuca200258 -30
More info on the games is here:Games
Pre-Libertadores Tournament From 1998 to 2002, Mexican and Venezuelan clubs played a mini tournament known as Copa Pre Libertadores to determine two teams that would qualify to the next year's Copa Libertadores group stage. In 2002 UNAM participated in the Pre Libertadores trying to earn a spot in the 2003 edition of the tournament.
Copa Libertadores
Group stage
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Copa Pachuca
Source: RSSSF
Statistics Appearances and goals No. Pos. Player Total Apertura Clausura Copa Libertadores (including pre libertadores) Pre Pre Libertadores Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals 1 GK Óscar Pérez 50 0 20 0 19 0 11 0 - - 2 DF Melvin Brown 51 1 21 1 16 0 14 0 - - 3 DF Norberto Ángeles 29 0 9 0 12 0 8 0 - - 4 DF Gilberto Jiménez 25 1 – – 16 0 9 1 - - 5 DF Víctor Gutiérrez 50 2 18 1 18 0 14 1 - - 6 MF José Alberto Hernández 40 1 16 1 14 0 10 0 - - 7 DF Sergio Almaguer 9 1 1 0 6 1 2 0 - - 7 MF Andrés Chitiva 4 0 – – – – 4 0 - - 8 MF Tomás Campos 50 1 17 0 18 0 15 1 - - 9 FW Daniel Baldi 8 1 – – 5 0 3 1 - - 11 MF Julio César Pinheiro 29 5 18 3 5 0 6 2 - - 12 GK Emmanuel González 9 0 1 0 2 0 6 0 - - 13 FW Sebastián Abreu 32 25 14 8 9 8 5 7 4 2 14 MF Marvin Cabrera 24 2 5 2 8 0 11 0 - - 15 FW Francisco Palencia 47 11 16 3 17 4 14 4 - - 16 MF Miguel Gómez Palapa 10 0 0 0 8 0 2 0 - - 17 MF Alejandro Corona 20 3 3 0 9 3 8 0 - - 18 MF Miguel Zepeda 40 9 17 5 13 1 10 3 - - 19 MF Marinho Ledesma 30 1 11 0 16 0 3 1 - - 20 MF Flavio Davino 24 1 6 0 9 1 9 0 - - 21 FW Juan Carlos Cacho 39 18 15 6 16 10 8 2 - - 22 MF Pablo Galdames 11 0 – – 8 0 3 0 - - 26 FW Mario Ortiz 20 2 4 0 8 1 8 1 - - 28 MF Alan Guadarrama 1 0 – – 1 0 0 0 - - 29 DF Aarón Galindo 37 0 13 0 17 0 7 0 - - 30 DF Adrián Cortés 3 0 – – 3 0 0 0 - - 31 DF Ricardo Osorio 46 0 20 0 16 0 10 0 - - 35 DF Pablo Campos 6 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 - - 37 FW Luis Alberto Orozco 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - - 45 MF Gerardo Blanco 6 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 - - 48 FW 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - - Players that left the club during the season 4 MF Cristian Leiva 22 0 18 0 – – 4 0 - - 10 MF Mariano Messera 22 2 16 1 – – 6 1 - -
Goalscorers Rank Pos. Player Apertura Clausura Copa Libertadores (including pre libertadores) Pre Pre Libertadores Total 1 FW Sebastián Abreu 8 8 7 2 25 2 FW Juan Carlos Cacho 6 10 2 - 18 3 FW Francisco Palencia 3 4 4 - 11 4 MF Miguel Zepeda 5 1 3 - 9 5 MF Julio César Pinheiro 3 0 2 - 5 6 MF Alejandro Corona 0 3 0 - 3 7 MF Marvin Cabrera 2 0 0 - 2 DF Víctor Gutiérrez 1 0 - - MF Mariano Messera 1 – - - FW Mario Ortiz 0 1 - - 11 DF Sergio Almaguer 0 1 0 - 1 FW Daniel Baldi – 0 1 DF Melvin Brown 1 0 0 MF Tomás Campos 0 0 1 MF Flavio Davino 0 1 0 MF José Alberto Hernández 1 0 0 DF Gilberto Jiménez – 0 1 MF Marinho Ledesma 0 0 1 Own goals 1 0 0 - 1Total3229252+88+
Hat-tricks Player Against Result Date Competition Ref. Sebastián Abreu Nacional Táchira 4–0 (H) Copa Libertadores Sebastián Abreu Guadalajara 3–3 (H) Primera División
Own goals Player Against Result Date Competition Pablo CamposUNAM1–1 (A)Copa Libertadores Melvin BrownUNAM2–3 (A)Primera División Pablo GaldamesUANL1–3 (H)Primera División Norberto ÁngelesAtlante1–3 (H)Primera División
Notes
A. Andrés Chitiva was loaned to Cruz Azul to participate in the knockout stage of the Copa Libertadores. B. Guadalajara finished the regular phase of the tournament ahead of Cruz Azul; therefore, Guadalajara advances to the playoffs.
References