Marlene Santos Alejo: Summary of the day

▲ Grupo Caliente robbed Club Querétaro. They took away Colombian Raúl Pantera Zúñiga (right), who was introduced yesterday at América as a new signing. Photo @ClubAmerica

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The fans are on tenterhooks of the Gallos Blancos after the announcement of the team's sale to Innovatio Capital. There's a lot of anticipation about what's next for the feathered team. The only certainty the public has for now is that Grupo Caliente made an excellent deal, having acquired a franchise for $28 million, moved its best players to Xolos and other clubs (Jordi Cortizo, Adonis Preciado, Raúl Pantera Zúñiga, etc.), and, taking advantage of the fact that there's no relegation, let it founder tournament after tournament. It was the unloved son. Of course, it sucked as much money as it could from the Querétaro treasury, and lottery! Now it's selling it for $120 million.

For the Mexican Football Federation, the Hank family was a hero by retaining the team that was in the process of being sold when the pitched battle occurred on March 5, 2022, at Corregidora Stadium, whose horrific images went around the world. That administration (Adolfo Ríos, Gabriel Solares, Greg Taylor, and Manuel Velarde) was disqualified for five years; it's only been three, and it turns out that Solares is very active in the block of Mexican investors associated with Innovatio... For the federations, Grupo Caliente was already their savior since the COVID-19 pandemic, because in those dark hours it bought advertising on almost everyone's shirts, so they turned a blind eye when it failed to meet the deadline to sell the franchise before the end of 2022 ... Today everyone looks happy and content.

The Xolos are not lacking in desire to join the G-8 as seen at the Summit event last March, but it turns out that they move at their convenience, are committed and, in reality, at ease with the current management of the television networks... to such an extent that they decided to cancel a previous attempt to sell the Gallos to Fox Sports, because a duopoly exists, whatever happens, people have already gotten used to it, but a ménage à trois !... is already too degenerate, a little worse since the Hanks have aspirations in that branch, there they go with CalienteTv, winning broadcasts: Xolos, Gallos, Juárez, Tuzos, León, Tigres... In addition, they continue to venture into baseball, basketball, El Tri on the road to the World Cup, and they have their sights set on everything that could be related to the underworld of betting.

Queretanos should take a seat, because since there's no relegation, there's no pressure on the new owners to invest in players or polish their talent; in fact, that was the main attraction. No pressure. The home fans are already accustomed to remaining mere spectators. They've seen fleeting businessmen of all stripes pass through, such as José Luis Barba, Kléber Mayer, Jorge Vázquez Mellado, Caja Libertad, Amado Yáñez Osuna, Olegario Vázquez… It's not idle to say that the building is cursed, bewitched; no one has been able to build old bones in that place… Every cloud has a silver lining, and no doubt Grupo Orlegi, Pachuca, and TvAzteca will be putting their money where their mouths are, because the timeshare is no longer viable… They're dreaming of much more than $120 million.

The Xolos also won on the field – 1-0 against Querétaro – in the lackluster start of the 2025 Apertura. A lackluster day, in which only champion Toluca lived up to the predictions. América was disappointing, not to mention Cruz Azul, which grabbed headlines in the preseason for the reinforcements it acquired and on Saturday reaped whistles, rejection, and people demanding Vicente Sánchez back at the helm… Pumas offers more of the same, pure shame… Here everything is done at the last minute and Chivas, which is fixing its turf, postponed the match against Tigres… But let no one burn brain cells, the predictions are the usual ones, few contenders for the crown: Toluca, América, Cruz Azul, Monterrey, Tigres and some other that stands out, and the rest are swimming dead!

The good news is that Toluca midfielder Marcel Ruiz has caught the attention of European scouts and has a good chance of emigrating to the old continent. The bad news is that the federation and the owners of the ball are furious with the rebels of the Expansion League and, like bosses, are delving into the past, present, and future of José Luis Higuera of Morelia, to remove him from the game by any means necessary and at any cost… The Liga MX Femenil is catching the virus, having started very poorly, with too many draws.