América unbeaten streak: Despite far from record, nothing short of impressive

After a difficult start to the season due to a combination of both an earlier than usual start in order to finish in time for the World Cup, and a flurry of international friendlies that affected their attention and physical form, América found themselves under intense pressure, with fans and critics even calling for ‘Tano’ Ortiz’s job. That’s right. Through their first 5 matches, the yellow and blue were in the last third of the league table with a mere 1W, 1D, 3L record. Far from acceptable for a club with this stature.

But since then, things have been far from. They won their next 9 matches in a row and 11 out of their final 12, with the only non-win a 3-3 draw against Santos. On top of that, you can add the 6-1 thrashing of Puebla on Wednesday night, and with that have now extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games, out of which they’ve won 12. As if that’s not enough, let’s not forget that during this 13-game stretch, they’ve scored a total of 39 goals while only receiving 10, giving them a whopping +29 goal differential in that span. To say this is “extraordinary” is an understatement.

But just what is the all-time Liga MX unbeaten streak record? It’s 28 straight games without defeat (22 regular season, 6 postseason). If you’re wondering, the record is held by América themselves, set all the way back in 2005, when Mario Carrillo was their manager. Seems like ages ago.

During the Clausura 2005, a Matchday 6 loss to Rayados was the starting point. The following week, on February 27, 2005, América defeated Necaxa 2-0 and wouldn’t lose again that season in their remaining 11 regular season games as well as their 6 postseason matches, including their 7-4 on aggregate thrashing of Tecos UAG to be crowned champs.

The Apertura 2005 continued with the same narrative as Capello and his players avoided a loss in their first 11 matches. It wasn’t until Matchday 12, on October 15, 2005, with América visiting the now extinct Jaguares de Chiapas that their streak ended with a 4-3 loss. They were down 4-1 at one point, and came storming all the way back, nearly tying the score and extending their streak. And just so you grasp what era we’re talking about, ‘Gato’ Ortiz and ‘Memo’ Ochoa were the keepers for Chiapas and América, respectively. Oh, and both Salvador Cabañas and Carlos Ochoa scored for Jaguares that day. Go figure.

But there is one important difference in América’s current streak compared to the one back in 2005: the win total. Take a look:

• 2005 streak: 16 wins, 12 draws, 0 losses
• 2022 streak (current): 12 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses

Now, in no way am I discrediting that Mario Carrillo team. 28 games unbeaten is impressive no matter how you look at it. But ‘Tano’ Ortiz’s squad winning 12 out of 13 games is much more difficult than tying nearly half of the games. So much so that they’re only 4 wins away from reaching the 2005 streak win total. Therefore, the current streak is by definition a higher accomplishment up until this point. With that being said however, it’s important we’re aware of the fact the current América streak isn’t even halfway there in comparison to the 2005 one. Once they approach that point, then we can really start the conversation.

América will put its 13-game unbeaten streak on the line tomorrow when they host Puebla in the second leg of the QF at 8:06 pm local Mexico City time. It’s important to note their 5-goal lead will force Puebla to open up and attack early, opening more lanes than usual for them and possibly facilitating yet another victory.