by Mark Walsh - Like a Latin soap opera, a week can be a long time in Mexican soccer. Before the penultimate matches of the Clausura 2008 tournament, the majority of the 18 teams in the Primera División could still dream of making the playoffs, while three teams – Puebla, Tigres and Veracruz - were in danger of relegation. Even the league’s long time “superleaders” Chivas of Guadalajara still had work to do to guarantee qualification.

After a melodramatic three days of fixtures, however, the serious issues of the league portion of the tournament have all but been resolved – hearts have been broken, dashing heroes have thrust to the fore and the ugly bad boys have had an early funeral.

Speaking of baddies, like all good telenovelas, the Clausura 2008 has had some compelling villains. Top of the list – but already emphatically bottom of the table – were the embarrassing Eagles of Club América. Already condemned to a shameful last position in the general standings, América plumbed new depths of humiliation with a sixth league defeat on the trot, this week against Necaxa. Goals from Marvin de la Cruz and Hugo Rodallega secured a comfortable 2-0 win and put the Hidro Rayos within sniffing distance of a wild card berth.

In fairness, of course, América’s performance in the domestic scene was ignobly killed off long before the denouement of the final fixtures of the Clausura 2008 series. Even the Aguilas’ coach Ruben Omar Romano had given up on the Primera División at least a month ago and his team selection for the Necaxa game – no starting places for either top scorer Cabañas, Ricardo Núñez or Juan Mosqueda - underlined his determination to concentrate on the Copa Libertadores first leg against Brazilian club Flamengo on Wednesday.

Nonetheless, thanks to the percentage point relegation system in Mexico, América were never in danger of dropping out of the Primera División. The ignominy of that struggle was left to a trio of clubs including UANL Tigres, from the industrial city of Monterrey, the port side Veracruz and newly promoted Puebla. Tigres and Veracruz had no excuse for their perilous position, having consistently harvested poor totals during the previous three years. Puebla, on the other hand, promoted to the Maximum Circuit last summer, had to ensure their average points during the Apertura 2007 and Clausura 2008 tournaments was better than at least one of their rivals.

This system of averaging points meant Puebla faced their penultimate fixture with a fair chance of reaching the playoffs while fighting relegation at the same time. However, a crucial away win in Week 15 against direct rivals Veracruz left the Poblanos needing only one more point from their remaining two matches to guarantee safety.

On the other hand, Veracruz required a maximum six points to drag themselves to salvation and it was the Red Sharks who kicked off Week 16 with a home match against Pumas on Friday night. Anything less than a win would guarantee second flight football and Miguel Herrera’s charges seemed to be rising to the challenge when a deep cross from Rodrigo “Pony” Ruiz eluded the central defenders and invited Sidney Balderas to score at the back post.

The early tide of hope soon receded, however. In the 23rd minute, a one-two between Rubens Sambueza and Esteban Solari allowed the former to equalize, before Ignacio Scocco found himself given the freedom of the Veracruz penalty area to head home the second goal from a Leandro free-kick in the 38th minute. Heads began to drop in the Red Sharks ranks as the reality of the drop inched closer and Pumas top scorer Solari sealed the win with two second half strikes, before Pony Ruiz grabbed a late consolation.

A few Tigres fans had the good manners to display banners on Saturday to thank former coach Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti for the Pumas victory that ensured another season in the top flight for the Monterrey side. The misery of others was the only reason for cheer for Tigres fans, however, as yet another disappointing defeat at home, this time a 2-1 loss against free-scoring Santos meant Tigres will be favourites for the drop next year. After taking over early in the Clausura 2008 tournament, Manuel Lapuente looks set to continue as UANL boss into the new season, but the experienced coach has his work cut out to find the solution to a team which should have enough quality on paper to be at the other end of the table.

Puebla’s relief also failed to translate into an improved performance, as the “Franja” were thumped 4-0 by Guadalajara in the Estadio Jalisco on Saturday. Omar Bravo finally scored his 100th goal in the Primera División to join Jared Borgetti, Paco Palencia and Rodrigo Ruiz as only the fourth active player to reach three figures. Sergio Ávila, Édgar Solís and Antonio Salazar were the other scorers as Chivas kept up the pace at the top of the table and head of Group Three.

Unfortunately, the “superleaders” will have to wait to confirm their direct passage into the playoffs after San Luis battled to a 0-0 home draw with Atlas the same day, despite a red card for the Gladiators’ Marcelo Guerrero as early as the 17th minute. The Foxes failed to press home their advantage, however, and when the Red-and-Blacks’ Omar Flores was given a second yellow card in the 62nd minute, an otherwise open game stuttered to a goalless stalemate.

The draw allowed Cruz Azul to leapfrog San Luis into the direct qualification spot in Group Three after a Jaime Lozano penalty earned a 1-0 win over Morelia in the Estadio Azul on Saturday. Those results meant the best three teams in Mexico will go into the final day still needing points to guarantee a playoff place, though a wild card position is already a certainty for the club that finishes third.

Jaguars’ 1-0 home win on Saturday against Pachuca confirmed their qualification alongside Toluca from Group Three, as the Red Devils made short work of UAG Tecos at home on Sunday to win 3-0 and top the section. Meanwhile, another two goals from Humberto Suazo in a 3-2 away win against Atlante kept the Chilean in pole position in the individual scoring charts and ensured Monterrey Rayados will finish second to Santos in Group Two.