ESPN Deportes Fútbol - México

MEXICO -- The Last Week of 2009 Apertura was marked by Antonio de Nigris' death. We send our condolences to his family. But the show must go on.

The playoffs are now already set, even though not all the qualifiers have the same level. Fortunately, most of them deserve to be here, like leader Toluca, American, Monterrey, Santos, Cruz Azul and Morelia. But we cannot say the same about San Luis and Puebla, the ugly ducks of these playoffs. Both did not look well on the field, qualify after a loss, and got the ticket after being the least bad teams.

They have nothing to do with the black horses we had last season; Puebla and Indios from Ciudad Juarez; those two teams did enough merits, avoiding relegation and getting in the big party. And both eliminated important teams like the Rayados and the Devils, respectively.

Hopefully they can turn this criticism into praises, but they'll need to fare well in the quarterfinals first leg next weekend. If they cannot battle in the first 90 minutes, then they'll be eliminated soon.

EASY JOB?
While we cannot rule out upsets, Toluca (the leader) and Cruz Azul (2º) seem to have easy matchups or at least easier than the rest.

Jose Manuel de la Torre's team will face the Gladiators, which come from a 4-0 loss against the White Cocks in Week 14. They played a poor game, defensive and offensively.

We cannot say less about La Franja that arrives with two consecutive losses and only a couple weeks ago lost to Cruz Azul 4-0.

The baby blues will face the country men. While the team from the capital arrives in its best shape, Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, Chelis' team have left many doubts. They lost its combative spirit, their main virtue. If they cannot recover it, then they'll have nothing to do with Enrique Meza's team.

They are the weaker links of this competition, but San Luis, coach by Zurdo Lopez, seems to be the worst team of all. They qualify on the rebound, after several ups and downs. They got lucky in the worst group of the league. But these are the rules in Mexico and we cannot say anything about it.

EVEN DUELS
The other two brackets in the playoffs seem pretty much even, disputed; thus very hard to forecast a result. Santo-Morelia and Monterrey-América, which will you chose?

The team from Laguna seems to be less strong than the Monarchs, because they have not won in five weeks. The team coach by Jefe Boy got two wins in the same period. But we cannot take for granted Santos' quality and the good players they have in the roster. They must show that they can play better on the road, but it's never too late to do it.

Maybe the duel between America and Monterrey is the most disputed one. Both reached the playoffs with 30 points, with nice but irregular performances, some lapses of nice soccer and similar soccer styles. We all know that Jesus Ramirez and Victor Vucetich are defensive minded coaches. So we can expect a tight game, with only a few scoring opportunities.

There we have the main characters of these colorful playoffs. We shall not cry for the missing ones, like Chivas. From these eight teams we'll find our champion. Make your bets!

Graciela Reséndiz es reportera de futbol mexicano y colaboradora de ESPNdeportes.com. Consulta su archivo de columnas.