Henry Martín, one step away from becoming the 10th top scorer in new Liga MX format
The América striker is on 14 goals - two goals ahead of Atlas’ Julián Quiñones in the ranking.
If nothing strange happens in the final matchday of the Clausura 2023 and providing that Colombian striker Julián Quiñones doesn’t have an afternoon to remember in Saturday’s Week 17 clash with Atlético San Luis, it seems certain that the América’s Henry Martín will become the 10th Mexican scoring champion in the history of short tournaments.
It would be a fitting way to end the regular season for the Yucatecan striker - as it would put his name alongside the best scorers in Mexican soccer history. But above all, he would also form part of a select list of ten Mexican scoring champions since the 1996 winter tournament with a huge number of foreign forwards having dominated the ranking over the past 27 years.
Clausura 2023 top scorers
- 14 - Henry Martín (América)
- 12 - Julián Quiñones (Atlas)
- 9 - Rogelio Funes Mori (Monterrey)
- 8 - Juan Ignacio Dinenno (Pumas)
- 7 - Carlos González (Toluca)
Martín would place his name alongside those of Alan Pulido, Ángel Reyna, Javier Hernández, Omar Bravo, Jared Borgetti, Everaldo Begines, Jesús Olalde, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Luis García - the Mexicans who have put a face to the national league, fending off competition from foreign forwards who have practically monopolized the top goal scorer distinction in Aztec football.
The most recent Mexican scoring champion was Chivas striker Alan Pulido who managed to score 12 goals in the 2019 Apertura tournament.
After Pulido, América’s Ángel Reyna achieved that distinction with 13 goals in the 2011 Clausura; Javier “Chicharito’ Hernández did likewise with Chivas in the 2010 Bicentennial where he finished on 10 goals.
Omar Bravo, also from Chivas, featured top of the ranking in the Clausura 2007 with 11 goals, while Jared Borgetti achieved this significant achievement in two consecutive tournaments with Santos, the first in the winter 2000 competition with 17 goals followed by 13 goals in the summer 2001 tournament.
In the summer 2000 Everaldo Begines ended as top scorer for León and as the Mexican striker with the best figures, scoring 14 goals. Prior to that, Pumas’ Jesús Olalde topped the goals chart, scoring 15 in the winter 1999 tournament.
Finally, the last two Mexican scorers who won the goal scoring crown in short tournaments were Cuauhtémoc Blanco from América, who scored 16 goals in the winter 1998 tournament, and Luis García with Atlante in the winter 1997 event, when he ended on 12 goals.