Estudiantes Tecos

Club de Futbol Estudiantes (often referred to by its nickname "Tecos"^[2]) is a Mexican professional football club associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara AC. It currently plays in the Primera División, with home games in the Estadio 3 de Marzo (March 3 Stadium, for the University's 1935 date of founding). The 30,015-seat facility is located in Zapopan, a municipality within the Guadalajara, Jalisco conurbation.

Previously named Club de Fútbol U.A.G., Estudiantes is one of three top-flight teams in Guadalajara. They have won the national championship once. The club was runner-up in the Mexican League's Clausura 2005, after losing to Club América in the second game, 6-3.

History

The University was founded in 1935 and soon had a team to play amateur football until 1971 when they joined Federacion Mexicana de Futbol. They gained promotion to Liga de Ascenso, and two years later in the 1974-75 season, they were promoted to Primera División Mexicana. In First Division they didn't have much of a chance, so they had difficulties, until the 1986-87 season where they could enter the Liguilla (playoffs) because of a good season where they led most of the tournament with players "Oso" Zalazar, Julio Cesar Uribe and Javier "Chìcharo" Hernandez, but they lost in the quarterfinals against Cruz Azul in the penalties shoot-out.^[3]

First Years in the First Division

The club played its first Primera División Mexicana match on September 3, 1975 against Puebla FC ,a match which the club went on to loss 2-3.The club first win was played against Atleticos Campesinos matched played in the Jalisco Stadium.That year the club finished in second place and qualifying to its first liguilla .In quarterfinals the club went up against Club America who eliminated the newly ascended club.The foloowing year the club fishiness 4thoverall and once again qualify s to the liguilla ,but is once against eliminated in quarterfinals this time by Tigres de la UANL.

In the 1979-80 tournament the clubs invited to play a friendly tournament in Spain the Torneo Sol de Valencia which the club manages to win.It was a complete different story in the league tournament were the club fail to qualify to the liguilla.

1993-94 Championship

After some seasons where they faced bad seasons and others where they could not pass the quarterfinals in the Liguilla, they decided to contract Victor Manuel Vucetich, a trainer who had helped bring some teams, like Potros Neza and Leon, to success. Vucetich had also trained the last team to win the championship years before. The squad was formed by players like Carlos Briones, Jorge Gabrich, Porfirio Jiménez, Osmar Donizette, Marcelo Goncalvez and others. During the first part of the season they fought the top of the table with CD Guadalajara and at the end of the season, Guadalajara got the first place, but a consistent second part of the season, combined with a record input by Alan Cruz of having more undefeated goals, made the Tecos reach the top of the table, beating CD Guadalajara in the last game and making them play the Repechaje against Atletico Morelia.

In the Quarterfinals, Tecos beat a weak Atletico Morelia, scoring 3-0 in both games. In the semifinals, they met América. Tecos got the first win of 3-2 in the Azteca Stadium; in a dramatic game, América beat Tecos in the Tres de Marzo stadium 2-1, but the goal from Edson Zwarich put the tie in the global score and Tecos was able to pass the finals in the top position.

The final was against Santos Laguna. The first game was a very rude game that ended 1-0 for Santos in the Corona Stadium in Torreon. The final, in the Tres de Marzo stadium, was also very rude, but Tecos was able to beat Santos 1-0 in the normal time, making the game go to overtime. In overtime, Osmar Donizette made a great goal to break the tie and give Tecos UAG the championship.

Clausura 2005

Some years later, after some bad seasons where they were unable to get to the Liguilla, Tecos formed another good squad with Daniel Guzman as the trainer, and reinforced the squad with players like Eliomar Marcon and Daniel Ludueña.

This season was one of the best for Tecos in terms of goal effectiveness, as long as both players were able to reach the top 10 goalers table. Tecos was able to reach the fourth position in the table and, even though they were third in their group, they qualified for the Liguilla.

In the quarterfinals they beat Necaxa in two games 4-1. In the semifinals they confronted the top team of the tournament, Monarcas Morelia, in the first game in Zapopan. Tecos won the game 1-0 and then were able to retain their advantage by getting a tie 1-1 in the Morelos Stadium, eliminating the leader.

In the finals against América, Tecos were close to get a big advantage in Zapopan, but in the last minutes a nonexistent penalty marked by the referee allowed América to get the tie 1-1. Finally, Tecos lost in the Azteca Stadium, 6-3.

2009 renovation project

In 2009 a renovation plan was released, where a name and logo change for the club were proposed. This plan was supported by Mexican chairman José Antonio Leaño and family (the owners of the team), and Juan José Frangie, chairman, who previously worked with C.D. Guadalajara. On May 25, 2009 the project was officially released. The first change was the name; C.F. U.A.G. (Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara) turned into C.F. Estudiantes, The actual reason as to the name change is that they feel so behind they underwent a quickie make-over to imitate South American team monikers. The new colors are now wine and yellow, which before were white and red. The new uniform and project have been in use since Clausura 2009.

The Tecos name

Originally Estudiantes Tecos was commonly called Tecos U.A.G., since the name Tecos has a double meaning for U.A.G. students, as it's a short way for saying "Tecolote" (some types of owl in Mexico), as well as an acronym for "Tarea Educativa y Cultural hacia el Orden y la Sintesis" (Educative and Cultural Work for the Order and the Synthesis), a group formed by students and academics of the university.

Former Crest

Kit evolution and rare kits

• Home kit: Burgundy shirt with a yellow transparent slash going from thr right shoulder to the left waist, with burgundy shorts and socks.
• Away kit: White shirt with a golden slash going from the right shoulder to the left waist,with white shorts and socks.

First kit evolution

Checker patterns

First kit evolution

Stadium

They play their home games at the Estadio Tres de Marzo which is located in Zapopan, Jalisco. It has a capacity of 30,015 and was constructed in 1971. Its most recent renovation was in 1999.^[4]

Goal Scoring Records

Current roster

Current squad as of January 7, 2011 ^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Notable players

Honours

• Primera División de México: 1

1993-94

• Segunda División Profesional: 1

1974-75

• Tercera División de México: 1

1972-73

International

• CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup: 1

1995

• Torneo Sol De La Valencia: 1

1979

See also

• Estudiantes reserves, composed of U-20 and U-17 players.

References

External links

• (Spanish) Official Website