# 2002–03 Cruz Azul season

The 2002–03 season was Deportivo Cruz Azul's 76th season in existence and their 38th consecutive season in the top flight of Mexican football. The club participated in the Apertura and Clausura tournaments of the Mexican Primera División and in the 2003 Copa Libertadores.
Cruz Azul started the season under José Luis Trejo as manager, but he was sacked at the end of the Apertura tournament; club chairman Guillermo Álvarez cited the "lack of adequate results" as the main reason for firing Trejo. Mario Carrillo was chosen as Trejo's replacement. Trejo had managed to lead Cruz Azul into the playoffs, but were eliminated in quarterfinals by UNAM.
On 12 March 2003, in an unusual situation, chairman Guillermo Álvarez fired Mario Carrillo and the whole squad due to the bad results. Cruz Azul had not won a single match in the first nine rounds and had managed to get only six points; besides, the team had recently suffered a disgraceful 6–1 loss against Uruguayan club Fénix in the Copa Libertadores. After Álvarez terminated the entire first team squad contracts, the players were allowed to return but were given a new contract only for the remaining ten games; this new contract was subject to the team's results during the rest of the season. That same day, Enrique Meza was appointed manager of Cruz Azul.
Despite the mediocre season, Meza managed to lead the team into repechage, a playoff between Guadalajara and Cruz Azul; the winner would qualify to the championship playoffs. Despite winning the first leg 4–1, Cruz Azul lost 1–4 on the second leg and due to Guadalajara finishing ahead of Cruz Azul on the regular phase of the tournament, Cruz Azul was not able to enter the playoffs.
Internationally, Cruz Azul beat the Copa Pre Libertadores and qualified to the 2003 Copa Libertadores group stage. Despite losing on its inaugural match against Corinthians 0–1 and the 1–6 loss against Fénix, Cruz Azul advanced to the knockout stage as second best team in the group.

## Players
### Apertura

| No. | Pos. | Name | Date of birth (Age) | Since |
| 1 | GK | Óscar Pérez | (1973-02-01)1 February 1973 (aged 29) | 1993 |
| 2 | DF | Melvin Brown | (1989-01-28)28 January 1989 (aged 13) | 1998 |
| 3 | DF | Norberto Ángeles | (1977-06-06)6 June 1977 (aged 25) | 2000 |
| 4 | MF | Cristian Leiva | (1977-09-26)26 September 1977 (aged 24) | 2002 |
| 5 | DF | Víctor Gutiérrez | (1978-01-27)27 January 1978 (aged 24) | 1999 |
| 6 | MF | José Alberto Hernández | (1977-01-06)6 January 1977 (aged 25) | 1999 |
| 7 | DF | Sergio Almaguer | (1969-05-16)16 May 1969 (aged 33) | 2001 |
| 8 | MF | Tomás Campos | (1975-09-14)14 September 1975 (aged 26) | 2000 |
| 10 | MF | Mariano Messera | (1978-02-23)23 February 1978 (aged 24) | 2002 |
| 11 | MF | Julio César Pinheiro | (1976-08-22)22 August 1976 (aged 25) | 2000 |
| 12 | GK | Emmanuel González | (1972-12-25)25 December 1972 (aged 29) | 2002 |
| 13 | FW | Sebastián Abreu | (1976-10-17)17 October 1976 (aged 25) | 2002 |
| 14 | MF | Marvin Cabrera | (1980-05-01)1 May 1980 (aged 22) | 2000 |
| 15 | FW | Francisco Palencia (Captain) | (1973-04-28)28 April 1973 (aged 29) | 2002 |
| 16 | MF | Miguel Gómez Palapa | (1974-09-06)6 September 1974 (aged 27) | 2000 |
| 17 | MF | Alejandro Corona | (1976-06-26)26 June 1976 (aged 26) | 2000 |
| 18 | MF | Miguel Zepeda | (1976-05-25)25 May 1976 (aged 26) | 2001 |
| 19 | MF | Marinho Ledesma | (1977-04-23)23 April 1977 (aged 25) | 2000 |
| 20 | MF | Flavio Davino | (1974-08-15)15 August 1974 (aged 27) | 2002 |
| 21 | FW | Juan Carlos Cacho | (1982-05-03)3 May 1982 (aged 20) | 2001 |
| 26 | FW | Mario Ortiz | (1983-06-04)4 June 1983 (aged 19) | 2000 |
| 29 | DF | Aarón Galindo | (1982-05-08)8 May 1982 (aged 20) | 2002 |
| 31 | DF | Ricardo Osorio | (1980-03-30)30 March 1980 (aged 22) | 2001 |
| 35 | DF | Pablo Campos | (1980-04-23)23 April 1980 (aged 22) | 2002 |
| 45 | MF | Gerardo Blanco | (1979-06-06)6 June 1979 (aged 23) | 2002 |

### Clausura

| No. | Pos. | Name | Date of birth (Age) | Since |
| 1 | GK | Óscar Pérez | (1973-02-01)1 February 1973 (aged 29) | 1993 |
| 2 | DF | Melvin Brown | (1989-01-28)28 January 1989 (aged 13) | 1998 |
| 3 | DF | Norberto Ángeles | (1977-06-06)6 June 1977 (aged 25) | 2000 |
| 4 | DF | Gilberto Jiménez | (1973-02-04)4 February 1973 (aged 29) | 2003 |
| 5 | DF | Víctor Gutiérrez | (1978-01-27)27 January 1978 (aged 24) | 1999 |
| 6 | MF | José Alberto Hernández | (1977-01-06)6 January 1977 (aged 26) | 1999 |
| 7 | DF | Sergio Almaguer | (1969-05-16)16 May 1969 (aged 33) | 2001 |
| 8 | MF | Tomás Campos | (1975-09-14)14 September 1975 (aged 27) | 2000 |
| 9 | FW | Daniel Baldi | (1981-11-23)23 November 1981 (aged 21) | 2003 |
| 11 | MF | Julio César Pinheiro | (1976-08-22)22 August 1976 (aged 26) | 2000 |
| 12 | GK | Emmanuel González | (1972-12-25)25 December 1972 (aged 30) | 2002 |
| 13 | FW | Sebastián Abreu | (1976-10-17)17 October 1976 (aged 26) | 2002 |
| 14 | MF | Marvin Cabrera | (1980-05-01)1 May 1980 (aged 22) | 2000 |
| 15 | FW | Francisco Palencia (Captain) | (1973-04-28)28 April 1973 (aged 29) | 2002 |
| 16 | MF | Miguel Gómez Palapa | (1974-09-06)6 September 1974 (aged 28) | 2000 |
| 17 | MF | Alejandro Corona | (1976-06-26)26 June 1976 (aged 26) | 2000 |
| 18 | MF | Miguel Zepeda | (1976-05-25)25 May 1976 (aged 26) | 2001 |
| 19 | MF | Marinho Ledesma | (1977-04-23)23 April 1977 (aged 25) | 2000 |
| 20 | MF | Flavio Davino | (1974-08-15)15 August 1974 (aged 28) | 2002 |
| 21 | FW | Juan Carlos Cacho | (1982-05-03)3 May 1982 (aged 20) | 2001 |
| 22 | MF | Pablo Galdames | (1974-06-26)26 June 1974 (aged 28) | 2003 |
| 26 | FW | Mario Ortiz | (1983-06-04)4 June 1983 (aged 19) | 2000 |
| 28 | MF | Alan Guadarrama | (1975-09-22)22 September 1975 (aged 27) | 2002 |
| 29 | DF | Aarón Galindo | (1982-05-08)8 May 1982 (aged 20) | 2002 |
| 30 | DF | Adrián Cortés | (1983-11-19)19 November 1983 (aged 19) | 2003 |
| 31 | DF | Ricardo Osorio | (1980-03-30)30 March 1980 (aged 22) | 2001 |
| 35 | DF | Pablo Campos | (1980-04-23)23 April 1980 (aged 22) | 2002 |
| 45 | MF | Gerardo Blanco | (1979-06-06)6 June 1979 (aged 23) | 2002 |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos. | Player | Moving from | Type | Transfer window |
| 12 | GK | Emmanuel González | Celaya | Transfer | Summer |
| 15 | FW | Francisco Palencia | Espanyol | Loan return | Summer |
| 20 | MF | Flavio Davino | Morelia | Transfer | Summer |
| 29 | DF | Aarón Galindo | Academy | Promotion | Summer |
| 4 | DF | Gilberto Jiménez | Puebla | Loan | Winter |
| 9 | FW | Daniel Baldi | Plaza Colonia | Loan | Winter |
| 22 | MF | Pablo Galdames | Veracruz | Loan return | Winter |
| 30 | DF | Adrián Cortés | Academy | Promotion | Winter |
| 7 | MF | Andrés Chitiva | Pachuca | Loan | Special |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Player | Moving to | Type | Transfer window |
| – | MF | Cesáreo Victorino | Pachuca | Loan | Summer |
| 4 | MF | Cristian Leiva | Gimnasia y Esgrima | Transfer | Winter |
| 10 | MF | Mariano Messera | Rosario Central | Transfer | Winter |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Apertura | 3 August 2002 | 8 December 2002 | Matchday 1 | Quarterfinals (6th) | 21 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 033.33 |
| Clausura | 12 January 2003 | 25 May 2003 | Matchday 1 | 11th | 21 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 29 | 29 | +0 | 028.57 |
| Copa Libertadores | 29 October 2002 | 28 May 2003 | Pre Libertadores | Quarterfinals | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 25 | 21 | +4 | 037.50 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 58 | 19 | 22 | 17 | 86 | 79 | +7 | 032.76 |
Source: Mediotiempo.com

### Torneo Apertura
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 4 | Morelia | 19 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 32 | Directly qualified to the Liguilla (Playoffs) |
| 5 | UAG | 19 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 26 | 29 | −3 | 29 | Directly qualified to the Liguilla (Playoffs) |
| 6 | Cruz Azul | 19 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 30 | 26 | +4 | 28 | Directly qualified to the Liguilla (Playoffs) |
| 7 | Guadalajara | 19 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 28 | 29 | −1 | 27 | Directly qualified to the Liguilla (Playoffs) |
| 8 | Santos Laguna | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 30 | 28 | +2 | 26 | Directly qualified to the Liguilla (Playoffs) |

#### Playoffs
##### Quarterfinals
### Torneo Clausura
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 9 | Santos Laguna | 19 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 30 | 24 | +6 | 30 | |
| 10 | América | 19 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 20 | +9 | 29 | |
| 11 | Cruz Azul | 19 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 24 | Qualified for the Repechage |
| 12 | Necaxa | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 23 | |
| 13 | Cuernavaca | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 27 | −3 | 23 | |

#### Repechage
### Copa Libertadores
#### Pre Pre Liberators 2002

The Pre Pre Libertadores 2002 is the last edition of the tournament which distributes the two tickets to the Mexican teams for the 2003 Copa Libertadores. The tournament was won by Club Universidad Nacional by obtaining the first place of group with 6 points and thus obtained the place of Mexico 1, while cruz Azul achieved second place with 6 points by goal difference with which they managed to qualify as Mexico 2 to the Pre-Libertadores 2003 against Venezuelan clubs for two places to the Copa Libertadores 2003.

##### Group A

| Position | Teams | Games | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals scored | Goals conceded | Goal difference | Points |
| 1 | UNAM | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Cruz Azul | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Morelia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 3 |
More info on the games is here:Games

##### Second round

| Position | Teams | Games | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals scored | Goals conceded | Goal difference | Points |
| 1 | UNAM | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Cruz Azul | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 3 | Toluca | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 0 |
| 4 | Pachuca | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 0 |
More info on the games is here:Games

#### Pre Libertadores

From 1998 to 2002, Mexican and Venezuelan clubs played a mini tournament known as Copa Pre Libertadores to determine two teams that would qualify to the next year's Copa Libertadores group stage. In 2002 UNAM participated in the Pre Libertadores trying to earn a spot in the 2003 edition of the tournament.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | UNAM | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 13 | Advance to group stage |
| 2 | Cruz Azul | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 11 | Advance to group stage |
| 3 | Estudiantes de Mérida | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 7 | |
| 4 | Nacional Táchira | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 16 | −10 | 3 | |

#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Corinthians | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 15 |
| 2 | Cruz Azul | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 9 |
| 3 | Fénix | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 14 | −4 | 6 |
| 4 | The Strongest | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 6 |

#### Knockout phase
##### Quarterfinals
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos. | Player | Total | Total | Apertura | Apertura | Clausura | Clausura | Copa Libertadores (including pre libertadores) | Copa Libertadores (including pre libertadores) | Pre Pre Libertadores | Pre Pre Libertadores |
| No. | Pos. | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | Óscar Pérez | 50 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 0 | - | - |
| 2 | DF | Melvin Brown | 51 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 0 | - | - |
| 3 | DF | Norberto Ángeles | 29 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 0 | - | - |
| 4 | DF | Gilberto Jiménez | 25 | 1 | – | – | 16 | 0 | 9 | 1 | - | - |
| 5 | DF | Víctor Gutiérrez | 50 | 2 | 18 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 14 | 1 | - | - |
| 6 | MF | José Alberto Hernández | 40 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 0 | - | - |
| 7 | DF | Sergio Almaguer | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - |
| 7 | MF | Andrés Chitiva | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 4 | 0 | - | - |
| 8 | MF | Tomás Campos | 50 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 15 | 1 | - | - |
| 9 | FW | Daniel Baldi | 8 | 1 | – | – | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | - | - |
| 11 | MF | Julio César Pinheiro | 29 | 5 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 2 | - | - |
| 12 | GK | Emmanuel González | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | - | - |
| 13 | FW | Sebastián Abreu | 32 | 25 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| 14 | MF | Marvin Cabrera | 24 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 0 | - | - |
| 15 | FW | Francisco Palencia | 47 | 11 | 16 | 3 | 17 | 4 | 14 | 4 | - | - |
| 16 | MF | Miguel Gómez Palapa | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - |
| 17 | MF | Alejandro Corona | 20 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 0 | - | - |
| 18 | MF | Miguel Zepeda | 40 | 9 | 17 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 3 | - | - |
| 19 | MF | Marinho Ledesma | 30 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 1 | - | - |
| 20 | MF | Flavio Davino | 24 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 0 | - | - |
| 21 | FW | Juan Carlos Cacho | 39 | 18 | 15 | 6 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 2 | - | - |
| 22 | MF | Pablo Galdames | 11 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - |
| 26 | FW | Mario Ortiz | 20 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 1 | - | - |
| 28 | MF | Alan Guadarrama | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| 29 | DF | Aarón Galindo | 37 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 0 | - | - |
| 30 | DF | Adrián Cortés | 3 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| 31 | DF | Ricardo Osorio | 46 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 0 | - | - |
| 35 | DF | Pablo Campos | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - |
| 37 | FW | Luis Alberto Orozco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| 45 | MF | Gerardo Blanco | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - |
| 48 | FW | Iván Moreno [es] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| Players that left the club during the season |||||||||||||
| 4 | MF | Cristian Leiva | 22 | 0 | 18 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 0 | - | - |
| 10 | MF | Mariano Messera | 22 | 2 | 16 | 1 | – | – | 6 | 1 | - | - |

### Goalscorers

| Rank | Pos. | Player | Apertura | Clausura | Copa Libertadores (including pre libertadores) | Pre Pre Libertadores | Total |
| 1 | FW | Sebastián Abreu | 8 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 25 |
| 2 | FW | Juan Carlos Cacho | 6 | 10 | 2 | - | 18 |
| 3 | FW | Francisco Palencia | 3 | 4 | 4 | - | 11 |
| 4 | MF | Miguel Zepeda | 5 | 1 | 3 | - | 9 |
| 5 | MF | Julio César Pinheiro | 3 | 0 | 2 | - | 5 |
| 6 | MF | Alejandro Corona | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | 3 |
| 7 | MF | Marvin Cabrera | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | 2 |
| 7 | DF | Víctor Gutiérrez | 1 | 0 | - | - | 2 |
| 7 | MF | Mariano Messera | 1 | – | - | - | 2 |
| 7 | FW | Mario Ortiz | 0 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| 11 | DF | Sergio Almaguer | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 1 |
| 11 | FW | Daniel Baldi | – | 0 | 1 | - | 1 |
| 11 | DF | Melvin Brown | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 |
| 11 | MF | Tomás Campos | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | 1 |
| 11 | MF | Flavio Davino | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 1 |
| 11 | MF | José Alberto Hernández | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 |
| 11 | DF | Gilberto Jiménez | – | 0 | 1 | - | 1 |
| 11 | MF | Marinho Ledesma | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | 32 | 29 | 25 | 2+ | 88+ |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Against | Result | Date | Competition | Ref. |
| Sebastián Abreu | Nacional Táchira | 4–0 (H) | 21 November 2002 | Copa Libertadores | |
| Sebastián Abreu | Guadalajara | 3–3 (H) | 1 February 2003 | Primera División | |

### Own goals

| Player | Against | Result | Date | Competition |
| Pablo Campos | UNAM | 1–1 (A) | 6 November 2002 | Copa Libertadores |
| Melvin Brown | UNAM | 2–3 (A) | 8 December 2002 | Primera División |
| Pablo Galdames | UANL | 1–3 (H) | 18 January 2003 | Primera División |
| Norberto Ángeles | Atlante | 1–3 (H) | 1 March 2003 | Primera División |