GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The three amigos are together again, and they’re welcoming a fourth American to town this weekend in a battle of unbeatens in Round 4 of the Mexican Clausura.
With Joe Corona’s return from the US Under-23 squad’s trip to Costa Rica, Club Tijuana will have all three of their Gringos – Edgar Castillo, Greg Garza and Corona – available for their home game against Herculez Gomez (above) and Santos Laguna (Sunday, 3 pm ET, Azteca America).
At the other end of the table, DaMarcus Beasley’s Puebla are already in need of points so they don’t fall too far behind in the playoff race early in the season.
Puebla, coached by former Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls boss Juan Carlos Osorio, have only one point from three games and travel to Jaguares on Saturday (6 pm ET, ESPN Deportes, Azteca America) amidst rumors of late paychecks for players and fiscal problems at the club. Beasley is likely to start.
Meanwhile, Beasley’s 2010 World Cup teammate José Francisco Torres and his Pachuca side take on Querétaro on Saturday (8 pm ET, TeleFutura), looking to maintain their own unbeaten start.
After suffering defeat last weekend, Michael Orozco Fiscal’s San Luis have a big game at home against Club América (Saturday, 9:45 pm, TeleFutura).
Also on Saturday, Sonny Guadarrama’s Atlante play at home against Mexico City club Cruz Azul (10 pm ET, Galavisión), while Jonathan Bornstein’s Tigres UANL face Estudiantes Tecos (8 pm ET, Galavisión).
The game of the weekend sees Sacramento, Calif., native Miguel Ángel Ponce’s Guadalajara take on Pumas UNAM (Sunday, 1 pm ET, Univisión).
Down a division on Sunday, Marco Vidal’s Club León take on Neza (1 pm ET), while Jesús Padilla’s La Piedad play Celaya (1:30 pm ET).
Comunicaciones’ newest scoring machine Jeff Cunningham will travel back north, where his new Guatemalan team will play an exhibition game against Municipal at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. (Saturday, 9 pm ET).
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America. He can be reached via tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com.
