Copa de Campeones y Subcampeones CONCACAF. As usual, this tournament depended largely on the will of the Mexican participants. Money and transportation were familiar problems – the teams from Surinam withdrew for financial reasons and group tournaments were organized in one city in order of battling exactly the mentioned problems. Few draws were played in the familiar 2-leg format. Canada did not participate at all. USA was represented by amateur clubs having no chance to distinguish themselves for USA and Mexico were grouped together (as usual). One can say the US teams did quite well… Saint Louis Busch won at home 1-0 against CD Guadalajara (Mexico) and Greek Americans tied UNAM 2-2 in their home match. That was the maximum – in the away legs the Mexicans simply destroyed the Northerners: CD Guadalajara won 8-0 and UNAM 5-1. On the other hand, Cuba made a rather rare appearance in the tournament and Havana hosted the group tournament for the Caribbean section, taking full advantage of home turf. Cuba participated with only one team, but Pinar del Rio had teams from the Dutch Antilles and Trinidad & Tobago against them… class was hardly the factor; hosting was, and Pinar del Rio won the group. There was one more round to play to reach the final – in it, Pinar del Rio met Riviere-Pilote (Martinique). Financial reasons played in favour of the Cubans again – they hosted both legs and managed to prevail 1-1 and 2-1. Meantime UNAM reached the final from the parallel side of the competition – the continental football was stronger than Caribbean and it is hard to justify arrangement which clearly benefited extremely weak teams, but apart from financial problems, very likely that was the only way for CONCACAF to keep small, but numerous members interested. Thus, the final was between Pinar del Rio (Cuba) and UNAM (Mexico). Even Fidel Castro could not hope for Cuban victory – in Havana Pinar del Rio managed to extract a tie, 1-1. In Mexico City UNAM made sure who is the boss, scoring in the 8th minute. The second goal came from the flamboyant goalkeeper Jorge Campos – very likely playing as striker, as occasionally he did. At the end it was 3-1 UNAM.
Pinar del Rio is pure exotica even today – Cuban football is still little known. Cubans prefer baseball and basketball, so football is minor sport, one of the reasons Cuba rarely participated in the CONCACAF tournaments. Reaching the final was great, but one must take the circumstances into perspective: Pinar del Rio played against weak opponents only at home. 6 games to reach the final, all in Havana. At the end, they played only once in another city and that was enough: facing much stronger opponent without home advantage immediately put them in their rightful place, no miracle possible.
UNAM (Mexico City) won as expected. Jorge Campos among the goalscorers suggests that they were sure of their victory, perhaps even too sure and taking the final leisurely, but the difference of class was enormously in their favour: about 16 players of UNAM, including their reserve goalkeeper, played for the national team of Mexico. There was at least one player who was well known around the world – Manuel Negrete. Jorge Campos, Miguel Espana, and Alberto Garcia Aspe were rapidly becoming international stars. The team was bursting with talent, was quite young, and, unlike most strong Mexican teams, had only Mexican players. They also had young homegrown coach – their former star Miguel Mejia Baron, who took the team in 1988. In fact, the only team able to really challenge UNAM was fellow Mexicans of UAG (Guadalajara), but the structure of the tournament made Mexican final impossible. Unlike the Cubans, UNAM had tougher road to the final and they had to play against stronger teams. Their campaign was faultless: 2-2 and 5-1 with Greek Americans (USA), 4-0 and 6-0 with Plaza Amador (Panama), 1-1 and 5-0 vs Olimpia (Honduras), 1-1 and 5-1 vs Herediano (Costa Rica), 1-1 and 3-1 against Pinar del Rio (Cuba). Not even one match lost and scoring plenty of goals. Thus, UNAM won their 3rd CONCACAF Cup – a much deserved success, making them one of the most successful clubs in this competition.
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