It was an old rival in a new tournament for Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles but with a familiar result.
A shorthanded Xolos squad played to a scoreless draw against visiting Merida FC Tuesday night at Estadio Caliente in the opening match of the Torneo de Copa, a domestic tournament between teams from Mexico's First and Second divisions.
The first leg of the initial round of the 28-team tournament was a rematch of sorts. It was Merida FC who knocked Tijuana out of the Liga De Ascenso promotional semifinal playoff series in 2009. That kept the Xolos from their shot at reaching the First Division. It took two more years and Tijuana finally reached the next echelon. Merida is still in the Second division.
But Merida is still to lose to the Xolos. Tijuana has not beaten Merida in the last six meetings between both clubs.
This time the Xolos couldn't recover from a first half ejection. Tijuana's Alfredo Tahuilan was shown a red card in the 35th minute for a foul on Merida's Francisco Uscanga.
That helped add to the lethargic match. A man down meant less scoring chances. That forced Tijuana coach Antonio Mohamed to switch from his 4-4-1-1 formation to a 4-3-2 strategy.
Mohamed used a roster mostly made up of players from the club's farm system and backups from the senior team.
Defender Joshua Abrego, a regular on the first team, saw his first action since suffering an injury during the last regular season tournament, the 2012 Clausura.
He helped keep the scoreless tie after stopping a ball at the goal line.
Merida's Edgar Martini sent in a shot after taking in a centered pass into the area, getting behind the defense and Xolos goalkeeper Afrian Zermeno, who started in the place of regular Cirilo Saucedo.
Martini's shot found Abrego standing in the way.
Both teams spent most of the match playing in the midfield with neither team creating not more than a handful of scoring opportunities.
The draw means both teams earn a point in the Group 6 standings. Both teams meet for the second leg of the series July 31 in Merida. Each group winner and the two best second place finishers move on to the knockout stage of the tournament that runs through November.
The Xolos will juggle Torneo de Copa matches and games in the main tournament, the 2012 Apertura. Tijuana opened that tournament with a 2-0 win against Puebla last week. The Xolos travel to Leon Friday for a Week 2 matchup.
Competing in two tournaments in the same season gives Mohamed a chance at looking at other players that normally would not play in the main tournament.
"We have a good team, a roster with variables," Mohamed said in a statement before the Merida match Tuesday. "That gives us the possibility to make modifications as we go. This forms a complete team. We have what we need to compete and be contenders in both tournaments.
ivan.orozco@yahoo.com
