I doubt that there have been many football coaches that have had the luck of clinching a Championship title in their debut year on the bench.

Those that have can understand my overwhelming pleasure as my club Veracruz won the title in the 20-club Mexican second division of El-Campeonato

This is coming some ten months after begining my coaching career as an assistant at the club.

We drew 2-2 with San Luis in the first leg of the Championship final play-off.

Four days later, we played the sceond leg at home in front of our 45,000 enthusiastic fans and won 2-0 for a 4-2 triumph.

The win was particularly special for everyone at Veracruz because it is the club's first Championship title victory at any level since 1948.

Promotion

Everyone at Veracruz broke into a festive mood and we were treated a big parade on the streets.

We all had cause to be joyful because it means we're 180 minutes away from promotion to the first division.

There are two seasons in one league year here, so the title winners from both seasons then play over two legs to determine who goes up.

So Veracruz, champions of the "Invierno" (winter) season will now face winners of the "Verano" (summer) season next May for the promotion berth.

If we had won the "Verano" season as well, we'd have gained promotion automatically.

I personally feel very blessed to be part of this succes at Veracruz, working alongside coach Pablo Centrone.

Marvellous achievement

There many people, good coaches for that matter, who've been in this business for a long time and are still waiting for this special moment.

It also feels good because one plays a significant role in every aspect of the team - from assembling a strong squad to aspiring for the title.

When the season kicked off in July, we had a terrific start. But we ended in fourth place with eight wins, six draws and five loses.

However, we stepped up the gear again during the play-offs.

It is a marvelous achievement on the part of the players.

We have a good mixture of young and experienced players, with an average age of 24.

We have only four foreign players - all from Argentina.