Henry Martin wins 2023 Clausura scoring title

With 14 goals scored, Henry Martin finishes as the leading scorer of the Clausura 2023. Martin becomes the first Mexican to win a scoring title in Liga MX since Alan Pulido did in the Apertura 2019, when he along with Mauro Quiroga won it with 12 goals scored. Martin was able to hold on a late surge from Atlas’ Julian Quiñones to win the title and also become Club America’s first scoring title winner in 10 years (Christian “Chucho” Benitez being the last winner in 2013).

Born in Merida in the state of Yucatan, Henry Martin has become one of the top players in Liga MX. After a career that started with local Merida team, Venados (who currently are in Liga de Expansion), Martin made the jump to Liga MX with Xolos of Tijuana. After a number of successful seasons with the club, he would make the jump to Club America, where his ex-Xolos coach Miguel Herrera was now coaching. Martin has been a regular from the start and even made the jump to the national team where he shined in the 2020 Olympic Games as an overage player, scoring three goals in the competition. During the Gerardo Martino era, he became a regular with the senior NT and even made the 2022 World Cup team, where he scored against Saudi Arabia. With America he came close to winning a scoring title, ending one goal away from getting it in the 2022 Apertura season. Now Martin joins a select group of Mexican players to win a scoring title in Liga MX.

While once a constant, Mexican players winning a scoring title in Liga MX are now an extremely rare breed. After Jared Borgetti won consecutive scoring titles in 2000 and 2001, a Mexican wouldn’t win one until 2007, when Omar Bravo won the 2007 Clausura scoring title. It would then take three years until a Mexican repeated as champion when as part of three way tie, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez became the leading scorer in the Bicentenario 2010. It would only take two seasons to repeat, as Angel Reyna was the sole leading scorer in the 2011 Clausura season but then it would take eight long years for a Mexican to repeat when Alan Pulido did it in the Apertura 2019. Martin thus becomes only the fifth Mexican to win the scoring title since 2001. With two seasons played every year, this means that it a terribly low record in only having five players. Still the way that America is playing and the level Martin has shown, there is a strong chance that Martin becomes the first Mexican since Borgetti to repeat as scoring champion in Mexican football.