Cancún: The Unexpected Capital of CONCACAF Club Football

I always thought of Cancun as a city full of beaches and bikinis. A place where girls in two-piece strings toss their long hair while facing the Mexican caribbean sunset. A city where Spring Breaks happen, and smiles are commonplace.

I thought of it as the cash cow of the state of Quintana Roo.

But I never thought that Cancun would have a football club that is capable of taking on the world.

Sure, Cancun can hold its own against the world's best resort towns, but did you know that is the home of the Atlante Futbol Club? I did.

It's been that way since 2007.

Before that year, no one would have thought that Cancun would have a soccer team that is championship-caliber.

I watched the club rub shoulders with the Montreal Impact in group play. In the knockout stages, the Impact submitted to Santos Laguna, a team that Jose Cruz's Iron Colts prevailed over in the semis on their way to becoming the best club in North America, Central American, and the Caribbean. 

Atlante's roots begin in the Mexico City neighborhood of La Condesa, where Refugio Martinez and a group of other young footballers founded the club on April 18, 1916.

After going by club names like Sinaloa, Lusitania, and U-53, they chose the name Atlante as a tribute to the theater in the Atlantic Ocean during World War I.

Players such as the Rosas brothers and international phenom Juan Carreño made Atlante one of the most popular teams in the 1920's, leading to its nickname of "El Equipo del Pueblo," The People's Team.

The Mexican Football Federation, or FEMEXFUT (Federacion Mexicana de Futbol), was not impressed with Atlante's early success, and needed to prove itself against the Eagles of Club América and the Red Devils of Deportivo Toluca.

Victories over those two opponents (7-2 and 2-1) gave Atlante admission to the Liga Mayor, where it began a rivalry with Club Necaxa.

The 1930's marked the first Golden Age for Atlante, who became world beaters. The best teams in the world fell to Atlante: from European powerhouses Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, AS Nancy, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, VfB Stuttgart, FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, Ferencvárosi TC, and SK Slovan Bratislava; to South American clubs like C.A. Independiente, Gremio, Racing, and C.A. Bella Vista of Uruguay.

Because of this success, Mexico's leading filmmakers paid tribute to the dominant play of these teams, led by El Tri player Horacio Casarín.

1942 saw Atlante become the first team to win the Champion of Champions cup as the best overall team in Mexico with a 5-4 victory over Club España. In 1945, the Iron Colts set a Latin American record for most goals in a season with 121 goals in 30 matches.

The 1960's and 1970's, however, would be a different story. Atlante's new ownership saw the Iron Colts relegated to the Segunda División (second division) in 1976. After being promoted back to the Primera División in 1978, the Mexican Social Security Institute took over ownership of the club.

Through the heroics of Evanivaldo Castro Cabinho in the 1981-82 season, a second-place finish to Tigers UANL gave way to a CONCACAF Champions Cup victory over SV Robinhood of Suriname in 1983.

A second attempt at private ownership in the late 1980's failed with the club's move to Querataro, and again they were relegated.

The following season, they bounced back with a move back to their original stadium Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes-also known as Estadio Azulgrana-and a 9-8 victory on penalty kicks over Los Tuzos of CF Pachuca.

Manager Ricardo Lavolpe was instrumental in the Iron Colts' 1992-93 championship run. However, the club went through a state of flux.

A move to Estadio Azteca, numeroud coaching changes and a lack of chemistry from the players that played for Atlante was complicated further by dwindling attendance, diminishing profitability, and once again, the threat of relegation.

The threat of relegation was spared as Atlante defeated Veracruz in 2001 to become one of the Primera División's two expansion teams.

But the issue of Mexico City becoming a viable venue for Atlante had to be addressed.

On May 14, 2007, Atlante Futbol Club—now owned by Grupo Pegasus and owner Alejandro Burillo Azcárraga—officially made its decision to move to Quintana Roo and build a stadium there for its home matches.

It was a solid investment. In the Apertura 2007 tournament, Atlante defeated Pumas UNAM 2-1 at Estadio Andrés Quintana Roo in Cancún.

The victory placed Atlante in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2008 (where Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa eliminated them in the quarterfinals), SuperLiga 2008 (where they were eliminated in the semifinals by the New England Revolution), and the CONCACAF Champions League 2009 along with Pumas, Santos, and Cruz Azul.

The third time is the charm, so the saying goes.

Atlante began their quest for the title with group play matches against the Impact, Club Deportivo Olimpia of Honduras, and Trinidad & Tobago's Joe Public FC.

Atlante finished first in the group by winning the head-to-head over Montreal, and began the knockout stages with a quarterfinal series with the Houston Dynamo. A 1-1 draw at Robertson Stadium in Houston and a 3-0 shutout in Cancún saw the Iron Colts advance on aggregate. 

The semifinal series with Santos Laguna saw the intensity raised, as if this was the playoffs (or liguilla as they are called in Mexico) of the Apertura or Clausura. Santos's Carlos Quintero made it 2-1 heading into the second leg, but El Tri captain Rafael Marquez scored a decisive penalty in the 94th minute to secure a 4-3 victory on aggregate.

The win in Cancún set up a showdown with Club Deportivo Social y Cultural Cruz Azul for all the marbles.

In the first leg, first half goals from Fernando Navarro and Christian Bermudez (with assists on both goals from Marquez) at Estadio Azul in Mexico City was all they needed to hoist the CONCACAF Champions League trophy.

Or was it?

An outbreak of Influenza A (also known to all you whippersnappers as the Swine Flu) delayed the second leg of the contest, which was witnessed by a standing-room only crowd of 13,000 on May 12.

It was not exactly the most entertaining of contests in Cancún-a city known for entertainment and fun-with the 2nd leg ending in a scoreless draw.

But as the players in red and blue lifted that shiny golden ball on a pedestal in the air, Cancún transformed from a resort town to Titletown.

Atlante won the 2009 CONCACAF Champions League, and an opportunity in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to take on some of the best in the world.

As I reflect on the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, I get the sense that with Atlante FC based in Quintana Roo, stability will prevail to go with the glory of being the best in the region.

The club already has a reserve team in the state capital of Chetumal, and the youth teams at Atlante have been a main focus in the club's player development program.

The future for Atlante Futbol Club, managed by José Guadalupe Cruz, is bright.

Just like the sun rising and setting over the beaches in this city, this championship city in the Mexican Caribbean.