Mexican teams continue their Libertadores success

	Striker Salvador Cabañas has been electric for América in Copa Libertadores play. He has scored eight goals in seven matches. Luis Acosta/Getty Images
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MLS clubs, take note.

Desperately needing a win against a club it already had lost to at home 4-0, Club América went into Paraguay and defeated the nation's best side 2-1 in Copa Libertadores play on Wednesday.

Necaxa slipped 2-1 at Audax Italiano but Libertadores glory is very much alive for los Rayos.

Toluca left Bolivia with a convincing 2-0 win against Bolívar to keep its own Libertadores chances strong.

All three Mexican clubs need only results at home to make it a clean three-for-three to advance into the knockout stages of this hemisphere's most important club tournament.

While MLS points to potential after its near-misses in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, Mexico's clubs have results to fall back on. These ongoing Copa Libertadores successes only add to the league's superiority, not only in CONCACAF, but among most of the Western Hemisphere.

Pachuca laid the groundwork for international triumph when los Tuzos beat Colo-Colo in the Copa Sudamericana final last December. Until then, Mexican clubs had only two failed penalty-kick shootouts to point to as both Cruz Azul (Libertadores '01) and Pumas UNAM (Sudamericana '05) lost to Boca Juniors in respective finals.

Still, the overall level of play between Mexican teams and their South American counterparts is high. In fact, Mexico pretty much hit the ground running in the tournament. In '98 -- the first year Mexican clubs participated in the Copa Libertadores -- Chivas and América were drawn in the same group but neither made it past the group stage (though América surely enjoyed beating Chivas twice). Monterrey was one-and-done in '99.

But from 2000 to '06, of the 15 clubs that have participated in the tournament, only last year's Pumas side failed to reach the knockout rounds. Legendary Mexican clubs such as Chivas, América and Cruz Azul have been a part of the knockout rounds on multiple occasions while less-glamorous clubs such as Morelia and Atlas have also made their own Libertadores rampages.

This year, América, Necaxa and Toluca could make it another sweep of Mexican clubs in the knockout rounds. América's win over Libertad on Wednesday might be the shining point of the entire '07 Libertadores campaign.

Granted, América is playing some of the best soccer in Mexico -- las Águilas are flying high with 24 points, good for first place in Group 3 and fourth overall in the league. But only two of the starters who played against Pumas on Sunday saw action in Paraguay. América beat Libertad without Guillermo Ochoa, Cuauhtémoc Blanco or José Antonio "Gringo" Castro. The only regulars who played against Libertad were Salvador Cabañas and Nelson "Pipino" Cuevas, both native Paraguayans.

Talent, depth and a winning mentality was the reason behind América's triumph in Paraguay, not midseason form or dodgy refereeing.

"We showed character," backup goalkeeper Armando Navarette said after the match. "From the beginning we were focused on winning and we showed that we are capable of great things."

In fact, had midseason form held, only América would be threatening to crash the South American party. Necaxa and Toluca are each hopelessly out of contention for Mexico's playoffs, la liguilla. InterLiga winner Necaxa and Apertura '06 runner-up Toluca have a combined 28 points through the 14th week in the Mexican Clausura, while Pachuca leads the league with 30 points.