Tigres UANL

Tigres UANL
	UANL Tigres
Full name	Tigres de la Universidad; Autónoma de Nuevo León
Nickname(s)	Tigres; (Tigers)
Founded	1960
Ground	Estadio Universitario; San Nicolás de los Garza,; Nuevo León, Mexico
Capacity	45,000
Chairman	Fernando Urdiales
Manager	Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti
League	Primera División de México
Apertura 2005	Semifinals
Home colours	Away colours

Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, also known as Tigres UANL or simply Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club, who play in the Primera División de México. It is the youngest and most succesful professional team from the state of Nuevo León. The side plays home games at the Estadio Universitario, located in San Nicolás de los Garza, a municipality in the metropolitan area of Monterrey. The UANL Tigres are the official team of the state-owned university, the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León (UANL, or Autonomous University of Nuevo León).

Their chief rival is Club de Fútbol Monterrey or Rayados, with whom they play a derby called the Clásico Regiomontano.

Honours

Professional Era

League Championships: 2
- 1977-78, and 1981-82
League Runner-Up: 3
- 1979-80, Apertura 2001, Apertura 2003
Interliga: 2
- 2005, 2006
Mexico Cup Championships: 2
- 1975-76, 1995-96
Primera "A" League Championship: 2
- Invierno 1996, Verano 1997
Second Division Championship: 1
- 1973-74

Derby Matches

There are a number of matches which the media, or the rivals, regard as special matches for Tigres. However, the only real derby for Tigres is the Clásico Regiomontano. Following, is a list of matches that are called "special" or "classic" by the media:

Tigres vs. Monterrey
- This is the authentic Clásico Regiomontano derby. In the Clásico, Tigres have gotten the better of it, beating Monterrey on 29 ocassions, against 28 wins of Rayados. Both teams have tied on 23 ocassions.
Tigres vs. Cruz Azul
- Some media outlets call this a derby, because Cruz Azul represents a cement company, and Tigres are administered by CEMEX, the second largest cement company in the world. It is called by some media outlets the "Cement Derby", or "Clasico del Cemento."
Tigres vs. Pumas UNAM
- Because Tigres represent the UANL, University of Nuevo León, and Pumas represent the UNAM, National University of Mexico, this is game is sometimes called the "University Derby", or "Clásico Universitario". Without a doubt, UANL and UNAM are the two most prestigious public universities in the country.
Tigres vs. Santos
- The people of the city of Torreon (and actually, of the state of Coahuila) have a rivalry with the state of Nuevo León, in which Tigres play. So, for Santos Laguna, who play in Torreon, and their fans, this match is a derby, and so it is when they play against CF Monterrey. However, neither Monterrey-based teams take this match as a derby.

History

UANL Tigres were born as Jabatos, and later changed their name to "Tigres" (Tigers) in 1960.

In 1967, their home, the Estadio Universitario was built.

In 1974, they ascended to the Mexican First Division.

In 1975, they became the first team in the state of Nuevo León to win an official First Division Cup Championship, and in 1978, they became the first team in the state to win the League. This was only after a few years of their ascenscion.

In 1982, they won their second First Division League Championship

In 1986, during the

the stadium held several matches, including Mexico vs West Germany, which ended in a 4-1 victory for the Europeans

In 1996, after years of corrupt management by the state-controlled university, the team descends to Primera "A", and the administration of the team is given for 10 years to Sinergia Deportiva, a trust-holder run by Cemex.

In 1997, after two consecutive Primera "A" championships, the team returns to first division, or "Primera División de México".

In 2001 and 2003, the team reached the final, both times against Pachuca, and both times defeated in their stadium.

In October 2004, the team purchased the rights to a franchise in the MISL called the Monterrey Tigres. However, due to conflicts with the previous MISL franchise the Monterrey Fury, the team elected not to complete its purchase of the team, and the MISL terminated the indoor franchise in December 2004.

In January of 2005, Tigres UANL qualified for their first Copa Libertadores de América. In Jaunuary of 2006, Tigres defeated their arch-rival Club de Futbol Monterrey, to win their second Interliga, and qualify again to Copa Libertadores.

Copa Libertadores

2005

In January 2005, the team won the Interliga Championship in Houston, Texas. With this, they qualified for the prestigious Copa Libertadores de América. This was the first time the team qualified to any international tournament.

The Tigres adventure in the Libertadores included their first ever game in that tournament against Alianza Lima in Peru on February 15, 2005 (away, score: 0-0) and May 3, 2005 (home, score: 0-0). Their first ever win on the tournament, on February 23, 2005, against Caracas FC, from Venezuela (home, score: 3-1), and on April 13, 2005 (away, score: 2-5). This last game was the biggest-scoring game the team had on the tournament.

In the same group was also the Club Atlético Banfield. They confronted themselves in March 15 (home, score: 2-2) and in April 6, 2005 (away, score: 0-3).

The Tigres qualifyied (along with Banfield) into the next stage, where they met against previous year champion colombian team Once Caldas. On May 19, 2005, both teams tied (away, score: 1-1) and then, Tigres won on the second game on May 26, 2005 (home, score: 2-1) thus qualifying to quarterfinals against Sao Paulo, who later went on to become champion, and who only lost a match in this tournament against this team.

On Quarterfinals, the first game on June 1, 2005 was lost (away, score: 4-0) and the next game on June 15, 2005 was won (home, score: 2-1). The aggregate score was 5-2 against, and the team was eliminated from the championship.

In summary, UANL Tigres won 5 games, tied 4 and lost one, and ended 5th.

With Tigres, Hugo Sánchez became the first person born in Monterrey to ever score in the tournament.

2006

After defeating their arch-rival, Club de Fútbol Monterrey, at the Home Depot Center in California, Tigres won their second consecutive Interliga and became the first Mexican team to qualify to two consecutive Copa Libertadores de América.

In this edition, Tigres faced the Universidad Católica from Chile, the Corinthians, from Brazil, and Deportivo Cali, of Colombia.

This was a tougher group stage than they had last year, and was one of the toughest in the tournament. However, Tigres qualifyied for the next round, but only by goal-difference advantage.

Because of its intensity, this group staged produced a lot of memorable games: a 3-2 defeat in Chile, a 5-4 win at home, and a 1-0 home win against Universidad Católica to eliminate the Chileans and qualify for next round!

Tigres lost its first match against Universidad Católica in Chile 3-2. The game was tight, and by the 7th minute the score was already 2-1 for the locals. Universidad Católica was the most special rival because Tigres qualifyied against them, and star-striker "Chamagol", who started his career in Chilean team Colo-Colo, arch rival of U. Católica, declared repeatedly to Chilean and Mexican press that he wanted to win against them to upset a life-long rival. In the last game, Tigres faced Universidad Católica with the possibility of qualifying by eliminating the Chileans, for a win would tie them in points, but give Tigres a better goal difference. This last game at home was also tight, but a last-minute goal by Carlos Ramirez defined the match and Tigres was able to qualify.

The other rivals in the group stage also produce emotive games. Tigres won a very tight 5-4 match against Deportivo Cali at home, after starting with an adverse scoreline, Tigres players were able to come from behind and win. At the death, when the match was 5-3 for Tigres, Cali scored from the penalty spot and the game was over. In the return leg, Tigres managed to only tie 2-2, with two goals from "Chamagol". The last rival, Corinthians, was also the most formidable. However, Tigres managed to control their game and, with a bit of good luck, managed to defeat them 2-0 at home, but the intensive injuries had a squad full of younger players against the Timao at their home, and so TIgres lost 1-0.

At the end of the group stage, Tigres was second with 10 points and a +2 goal difference (Universidad Católica was third because, even though they also had 10 points, their goal difference was only a +1).

In their second Copa Libertadores, Tigres qualify for playoffs for the second time.

Now, they will face Libertad of Paraguay in the round of sixteen.