By Jon Arnold
Puebla is not a club without a history of international success, but you have to be a certain age to recall it. So, when La Franja goes into Wednesdayâs quarterfinal against the Seattle Sounders, it will do so trying to prove to many fans that it can compete on the international level.
Puebla lifted the 1991 Concacaf Champions Cup. But that was a different time for soccer in the region. Because of teams pulling out of the competition, Puebla played just three games in the tournament, two of them in a two-legged final with Police FC of Trinidad and Tobago. A 3-1 win at the Estadio Cuahtemoc was more than enough to fuel them to an international trophy.
More recently, Puebla took part in the 2016 Copa Libertadores, falling just short of a First Stage result against Racing that wouldâve pushed them into the group stage.
Nearly a decade later, a strong Phase One in Leagues Cup put Puebla in the top four Liga MX teams, meaning it is into the quarterfinals and two results away from a return to international play. They did it thanks to a comprehensive victory over New York City FC on the opening night of the tournament and with a 2-1 rally past CF Montreal.
âItâs not easy, first, to win games and second in the way we did it. It makes me really happy. I think weâve had a good Leagues Cup against opponents like Columbus and New York City FC who were better than us on paper,â said Pablo Guede, who led Puebla in the three Phase One matches. âWe did our job. Iâm proud of the guys.â
While Leagues Cup was plenty fruitful for the Camoteros, they havenât been able to replicate that form in Liga MX play. After following up a 7-0 defeat to fellow Leagues Cup quarterfinalist Tigres with a 2-0 home loss to AtlĂ©tico San Luis, in which Guede made three changes including the goalkeeper at halftime but couldnât reverse the result. After the defeat, he announced he would be leaving his post.
âResults are everything, and I wasnât able to get the results I wanted, that I worked 24/7 at almost all times to be able to turn around the situation,â Guede said. âSoccer is like that.â
That means an interesting welcome for MartĂn Bravo, the Pumas legend who will take Puebla into Wednesdayâs quarterfinal and will want to keep Puebla in the mix for one of the CCC spots awarded to the top three finishers in Leagues Cup.
Bravo will try to build on what Puebla showed in Phase One of the Leagues Cup, leaving behind a frustrating couple of weeks in Liga MX play. Emiliano Gomez was in a groove when the team was facing MLS competition, scoring Pueblaâs second against NYCFC and CF Montreal but missed the AtlĂ©tico San Luis contest with an injury suffered in the defeat to Tigres.
Whether or not the Uruguayan is fit, however, the players on the field want to send a message to those who doubt Pueblaâs abilities to return to the biggest international stages.
âQualifying to the final phase in a tournament, an international one at that, has been a tough step for the team to take,â forward Ricardo Marin told reporters in Puebla. âWeâre hopeful and have the desire for the match to be here already so we can show why weâre there.â
That will be the goal, no matter who is at the helm, who is on the field and what the Sounders do to counter it: Puebla wants to prove that the Phase One results were no fluke and press on for more and more international competitions, putting this once proud club back on the global soccer map.
