by Mark Walsh - And then there were ten. With Veracruz already relegated from the top flight of Mexican football and five of the six automatic qualifiers already assured of playoff action, the final round of matches in the Primera Liga this weekend were all about the wildcard positions. Seven teams - including Chivas, Cruz Azul, San Luis, Atlas, Pachuca, Pumas and Puebla – were to have their fate decided in the final showdown of the 17-game tournament.

At this stage of the Mexican soccer season, a PhD in mathematics comes in handy. The 18-team Primera División is split into three groups of six teams. Each club plays every other club in the league, with the two top teams in each group moving automatically into the playoffs. In the Clausura 2008 tournament, this meant Toluca and Jaguares breezed through Group One, with Santos and Monterrey also safe with a game to spare in Group Two. By chance, however, Group Three was destined to become the Group of Death, with three of the top teams in Mexico on current form – Chivas, Cruz Azul and San Luis - battling for just two automatic positions.

As well as straight qualification, the four top-ranked teams in the general table earn a chance in the “repechaje”. This is a difficult phrase to translate into English, meaning literally a “re-fishing”, where teams are figuratively put back in the pool to be picked out anew. The meaning is probably best rendered by the term “wild card” – a concept common to American sports like football.

Now listen up, as the shampoo adverts say, because here comes the science. Despite Chivas, Cruz Azul and San Luis being well clear in Group Three, one unlucky club would need an extra wild card game to reach the playoffs. Meanwhile, the section’s fourth-placed club Necaxa had also reaped enough points to guarantee a repechaje place, but had no chance of direct qualification. In the other sections, only Atlas in Group Two had any chance of a wild card, while Pachuca, Puebla and UNAM Pumas were still in the hunt – though none of these latter clubs could secure direct qualification.

Phew. The tautest pressure, of course, was found at the top of Group Three. Surprise package San Luis needed a better result against high-flying Santos than either Cruz Azul could muster against wild card-chasing Atlas or Chivas could manage against the already-qualified Jaguars. Necaxa, in fourth, could sit back and relax against the misfiring Tigres.

Chivas kicked off the jamboree on Saturday afternoon. A tense game for the Guadalajara side looked even more complicated when Brazilian striker Itamar Batista notched a goal on the half-hour mark for Jaguars. At half-time, the tournament’s outstanding team was therefore in real danger of missing out on direct qualification and coach Efraín Flores need to work his magic to infuse fresh belief into the league leaders.

The introduction of Alberto Moreno proved the catalyst for a Chivas fightback which started with Sergio Santana levelling on 62 minutes, before Hector Reynoso finished a scramble in the box to put the Goats ahead with just under 20 minutes remaining. Chivas looked home and hosed, but a last minute equaliser from Batista’s compatriot Lenilson gave Guadalajara a Brazilian headache to match the morning after a particularly raucous Río de Janeiro carnival: wins for their two rivals would mean wild card woe.

The draw meant Cruz Azul kicked off later on Saturday evening knowing a win would secure top spot in the Primera División. However, with Atlas also needing a win to keep their wild card hopes alive, Cruz Azul looked blunt in attack, where Miguel Sabah and Nicolás Vigneri were thrown back in for a first start since a six-game suspension for fighting with América players in the Clásico Joven in March. Goals from Jorge Torres after 39 minutes and a second-half strike from Juan Carlos Medina gave the Foxes a deserved 2-0 home win – crowning city rivals Chivas as the Clausura 2008 “Superleaders” in the process.

With Cruz Azul losing, San Luis headed for the Coahuilan city of Torreón on Sunday needing a victory against Santos. After an ambitious, attacking opening, Colombian star Tressor Moreno gave the Gladiators the start they deserved when he fired in a fabulous 25-yard curler after 10 minutes. At that point, San Luis were headed directly for the playoffs and the enthused team hit the crossbar twice in two minutes in a determined effort to secure qualification.

Then, inexplicably, the game turned on its head. First, a corner from Christian Benítez was expertly despatched by Rafael Figueroa after 36 minutes, before Matías Vuoso showed his deadly finishing by shooting Santos into the lead just before half-time. The shell-shocked San Luis players were unable to recover from the double blow after the break and two late goals from Benítez secured a 4-1 win to send the Gladiators to the repechaje.

Atlas’ victory over Cruz Azul meant Sunday’s matches between Pumas and Pachuca, plus Puebla’s game against Atlante, would define the final wild card berths. The uncertainty seemed to affect Pumas and the Tuzos, who played out a nervous 0-0 draw early in the afternoon which definitely eliminated UNAM and left Pachuca praying desperately that Puebla would fail to beat deposed current champions Atlante at home later that day.

Puebla were hoping to turn their recent relegation battle into an outside bid for the crown of Mexican soccer. Fresh from the joy of harvesting enough points to ensure Primera División football for at least two more tournaments, Puebla played freely and took the lead on the stroke of half-time from a penalty by Andrés Olivera.

With little to play for, Atlante conceded a slick second by Javier Cámpora after 62 minutes. Puebla’s renaissance looked complete, but the home side then decided to shut up shop and conceded territory and possession to the visitors. As surprised as anybody else at being invited back into the game, Christian Bermúdez and Giancarlo Maldonado fired goals in the last ten minutes to snatch an unlikely draw and force Puebla to fold in their search for a wild card – much to the relief of the Tuzos of Pachuca and the Foxes of Atlas.

Elsewhere, Tigres snatched a meaningless 1-0 home win over a lethargic Necaxa side on Saturday, while cross city rivals Monterrey Rayados had to be satisfied with the top goalscorer crown for Humberto Suazo after a limping 1-0 loss away to América on Sunday. Finally, Friday’s 0-0 draw between the awful UAG Tecos and the miserably relegated Veracruz interested nobody.

Qualified for Playoffs:
Toluca, Jaguares, Santos, Monterrey, Chivas, Cruz Azul.
Wild card games (two legs):
Pachuca vs San Luis
Atlas vs Necaxa