Top 3 Players in Club Tijuana’s History in Honor of 11th Anniversary
Credit: Xolos
Club Tijuana has gone a long way since playing their games at the CREA (Basically Tijuana’s YMCA).
They celebrated their 11th anniversary yesterday.
The Tijuana Xolos have a short, but successful history, gaining promotion to Mexico’s top league in 2011 and winning a Liga MX title shortly after in the 2012 Apertura season.
The border city team has had some great players over the years like Pablo Aguilar, Cristian Pellerano and Aviles Hurtado, but here are my top three players (in order) in the franchise’s history.
3- Dayro Moreno
Moreno is Club Tijuana’s all-time goalscorer in the Liga MX with 46 goals during six total tournaments.
The Colombian striker is arguably one of the most talented players to ever play with the Xolos as he is a complete forward that has a killer instinct for finding the back of the net. The only reason Moreno isn’t higher on the list is that the Xolos never won anything in his time with the club and his impact wasn’t as great as the other players on this list.
2- Javier Gandolfi
Gandolfi was part of all three championships in the team’s history and was known for his leadership and grit. The Argentinian centre-back was excellent defensively, was very good in the air and also was very decent at passing as well.
The eternal captain loved the franchise and his connection to Tijuana and the Xolos’ fans was massive right down to his final minutes in the city, where he was sent off by over 300 fans at the airport. Gandolfi played with Los Xoloitzcuintles from 2010 to 2016 and will be remembered as one of the legendary players at the club.
1- Raul Enriquez
Enriquez is the Xolos all-time goalscorer with 81 goals in over 200 appearances with the team from 2007-2015 and has to be on the top of this list. He was known mostly as a poacher that defenders always had to keep an eye on because of his brilliant positioning.
The Mexican striker had a deadly shot and a great free kick ability, but excelled in being at the right place at the right time and became legendary for Tijuana’s fans. You could even say that the team wouldn’t be where it’s at today if such a talented striker like Enriquez wouldn’t have played with the team in the second division days.
21 years old, born and raised in San Diego, roots from Tlaxcala, Mexico. Casual baseball, football and basketball fan but soccer is my true passion. Excited to bring you coverage of Club Tijuana for EVT!