Welcome back to this Pentagon Pursuit after a brief hiatus for the festive season and as I flew out to New Zealand to begin a new travel adventure! But we’re back with save updates every Monday and Friday.
A victory for the football purists saw Albirex Niigata down dirty Saudi side Al-Ahli to become 2030 Asian champions led by exciting manager Robaato Rasamu. The Japanese boss wasted no time in exploring potential options and, having switched on the North American leagues, he decided to leave Niigata and begin his job search.
Rasamu wanted to add a little extra difficulty to his mission to win every top-tier continental trophy. From hereon in, Rasamu would only apply for roles at clubs that haven’t been been champions of their continents for at least 10 years, with a preference to clubs that have never been continental champions (which might be too difficult).
The South African and Mexican leagues had only just started while Canada and USA didn’t tick over until January 2031, so Rasamu was happy to play the waiting game. Initially, the only job available was Chivas, who were the reigning North American champions and South African jobs emerged but it didn’t take long for more Mexican managers to get the sack. And a fairly big player noticed Rasamu’s availability. Pachuca offered an interview and swiftly gave him the chance to get back into management on his second continent, more than doubling his wage to £12.5k a week. So on 10 October 2030, seven years and three months since starting his career at Kamatamare Sanuki, Rasamu was swapping Japan for México.
Who Are Club de Fútbol Pachuca?
Club de Fútbol Pachuca (C.F. Pachuca) is a professional team based in the city of Pachuca in Hidalgo, about 50 miles north-east of Mexico City. The club is one of the oldest in the Americas having been founded in 1901 by Cornish miners who played football as a hobby outside of working in the mines. It was also one of the founding members of Liga MX (Primera División) in 1907.
Pachuca suffered years of disappointment but promotion to the top tier in 1998 ushered in a period of success. It won seven Mexican titles between 1999 and 2016 and five CONCACAF Champions Cups between 2002 and 2018. It also won South America’s Copa Sudamericana in 2006, making it the only team in the world to have won a continental trophy outside of its own continent, and came third at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2017.
During this save, Pachuca have been starved of success, only winning a Campeones Cup in 2030. It hasn’t won a league title since its fourth Apertura success in 2022 and hasn’t won the CONCACAF Champions Cup (North American Champions League), which is Rasamu’s main focus, since 2017.
Rasamu’s new board want him to avoid finishing bottom of Liga MX Apertura for the next five seasons. Then, slightly ambitiously, they want to become the most reputable team in North America by the end of the 2032/33 season. Pachuca have a bank balance of £13.2m and Rasamu has £6.5m to spend with a wage budget of £456k, of which £447k are being spent. The club has all the infrastructure required for the type of rebuild Rasamu had quickly become renowned for. It plays at the 30,024-capacity Estadio Hidalgo, which was built in 1993, has 17 youth recruitment and training facilities, 16 youth facilities, 15 junior coaching and 3.5-star reputation.
Meet The C.F. Pachuca Squad
The best player at Pachuca is former Sunderland winger Jewison Bennette, who joined on a free transfer this season. Other key players will be centre-backs Sergio Barreto and homegrown Miguel Sánchez and Guillermo Barrera, Rasamu’s first Brazilian player in right-back Fernandinho, goalkeeper Mauricio Seral, holding midfielders Juan José Bolanos and Esteban Martínez, Ecuadorian midfielder Jesús Klinger and former Mexico international midfielder Erick Gutiérrez.
There was a clear lack of current attacking ability but plenty of promise in homegrown striker Vladimir Montaño, who looks like a man to build the team around, and wingers Jorge González and Ángel Rangel. There was even more potential in the youth teams including winger Iván Granados, 6ft 3in centre-back Edson Rosas, midfielders Héctor Navarro and Luis Fernández, winger Roger Quiroz, goalkeeper Rodrigo Juárez and left-back Gabriel Espana.
Straight Into Life In México
Rasamu had very little time to meet the players and get his feet under his considerably larger desk in his considerably more salubrious office at Pachuca. After 11 games of the 17-game Liga MX Apertura campaign, Pachuca sit 17th with just eight points and one win and are only one point off the bottom. However, they are massively underperforming given the bookies have them to finish 8th.
Having assessed the players available to him, Rasamu noted the lack of a left back and right winger but strength at centre back. So he decided to try and implement a fairly unusual looking take on a 4-3-3. His thinking was that Fernandinho would bomb on down the right with Barrera playing as a wide centre-back and Bolanos staying wider in the Anchor role to cover on the left.
Rasamu’s first game in charge gave the Pachuca faithful a chance to meet their first-ever Japanese manager. He began at home to 4th-place Cruz Azul who, a little confusingly for the new manager, were playing in their all-orange away kit. But adorned in his brand new blue and white scarf, he enjoyed watching his new side make a bright start and hit the bar. However, Cruz Azul were awarded a nonsense penalty for “a push” at a corner that swung the game. Pachuca were very unlucky to lose 1-0 but Rasamu saw plenty to be happy with considering they had more shots and possession.
Next up was a tough away day at Atlas, which started well as they hit the bar after five minutes then Bennette ran past a couple of players and fired into the top corner. Atlas came back into it, scored their first real chance, but nothing happened after the break and Pachuca earned the first point of the Rasamu reign. But again, they had more shots and probably should have won.
Another tough match followed as Pachuca entertained league leaders Tigres. Pachuca gagain started well as Martínez got forward for a throw in and finished neatly at the near post and were in dreamland as a smart finish by Bennette doubled the lead then Barreto headed home a corner. Tigres had one shot and 0.04 xG in the first half and got back into it with their first shot on target from a corner. But Pachuca held on with ease for Rasamu’s first win in México and just their second victory of the season.
The fixture list got a little less challenging and they nicked a 0-0 at Puebla and Montaño got his first goal in a comfortable 2-0 win at home to Querétaro. That steered Pachuca well clear of finishing bottom of the league to ensure Rasamu wouldn’t be sacked in his first half season. And they concluded Apertura with a 2-0 defeat at 6th-place Pumas.
Having only amassed eight points in their first 11 games, Pachuca also got eight points from Rasamu’s six games in charge. He trebled their win tally and got two draws to lift the club to a 13th-place finish in Liga MX Apertura.
Rasamu had settled nicely into life in México and was excited about the opportunity to get better acquainted with his new players and introduce a few more of their promising youngsters into the first team. He was also keen to move on a few players ahead of the Clausura stage.
Could Rasamu continue to boost Pachuca’s fortunes and push towards the top half of Liga MX? Join us on Friday to find out!
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