Earning Their Stripes
Here in the state of Jalisco, soccer allegiances go this way: Chivas, Club America, Atlas.
Mexican fans typically look down their noses at American soccer. The MLS, they say, is too predictable, too stuffy. So it was no surprise many Mexicans raised a collective eyebrow in 2003 when Jorge Vergara, one of their own, announced his intention to own a professional soccer franchise in the United States.
Vergara, considered bombastic by some, had taken over Chivas of Guadalajara -- the most storied franchise in Mexican soccer -- in November 2002, after making his fortune in the fast-growing market of health products. The idea that he would try to take the Chivas brand to the U.S. was greeted with a healthy dose of skepticism.
But when Club Deportivo Chivas USA visited the tiny pueblo of Cocula recently for a midweek exhibition against a Mexican second-division team called Los Cachorros, the proof was on the pitch. All of a sudden, Vergara was considered a shrewd businessman with a clear vision for taking the Chivas name north of the border.
In a little more than a month, Chivas USA will open its inaugural season at the Home Depot Center in Carson, against defending MLS Cup champion D.C. United. And the countdown has begun in two countries.
The enthusiastic welcome the MLS expansion team received in dusty Cocula was evident at halftime of a Copa Libertadores qualifying game between Chivas of Guadalajara and visiting Cienciano of Peru at Jalisco Stadium.
The lights were dimmed and, one by one, the players and coaches from Chivas USA were introduced to as much noise as a crowd of 15,000 fans in a 70,000-seat stadium could make.
“The way the fans reacted, that made us realize that this is for real,” said Arturo Torres, who joined Chivas USA as its first expansion pick after two seasons with the Galaxy. “This isn’t just a project; it’s happening.”
The cheering became loudest when Ramon Ramirez was presented a captain’s armband by Chivas of Guadalajara’s Oswaldo Sanchez, the starting goalkeeper for the Mexican national team.
It marked, in a way, the symbolic passing of a torch as Sanchez seemed to be telling Ramirez, “You did it here. Now go show the U.S. how it’s done.”
Ramirez, 35, is a living legend to Chivas fans as the defensive midfielder on the last Chivas team to win a title. Indeed, he is the rare Chivas player beloved in all of Mexico. Chivas is to Mexican soccer what the Yankees are to American baseball -- as hated as they are loved. Ramirez has twice represented Los Tricolores in the World Cup, in 1994 and 1998, and has played in Copa America tournaments in 1993, 1995 and 1999.
He will also keep the Mexican fans abreast of his Chivas USA adventure by writing twice a week for the Mexican sports daily, Record.
“There are many Latino people in Los Angeles, many Mexicans, so those fans know what we are trying to accomplish in the MLS,” Ramirez said. “Our last championship was in 1997 so we are all hungry for another ... [even] in MLS.”
Ramirez and goalkeeper Martin Zuniga are the most recognizable players moving from the parent Chivas club to Chivas USA, as evidenced by the homemade sign that read, in English, “See you later! Goodluck! Thank you for all!”
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Chivas of Guadalajara prides itself on using only Mexican players. Under the roster rules of MLS, no such position can be taken by Chivas USA. And that’s OK with the Chivas fans.
At the exhibition in Cocula, the birthplace of mariachi, the fan turnout was more than music to the fledgling club’s ears.
Many in the cramped crowd at the Estadio de Cocula wore Chivas jerseys. One, decked out in a jester cap emblazoned with the Chivas colors, stripes and logo, and toting what appeared to be a Chucky doll dressed in the Chivas uniform, made his way through the concrete stands, imploring everyone to join him in Spanish song.
Chivas was in town -- and the fact that it wasn’t the Chivas mattered little to the gathered fans and journalists.
Still, the distinction between the clubs was obvious.
“You hear some things about [Chivas USA], but not a lot,” said Cesar Valtierra, a fan from Cocula. “Everyone here is more concerned with the main Chivas team.
“But if they win a [MLS] championship, people would be proud.”
Probably none more than Antonio Reyes, who was wearing both a Dodger cap and a Chivas jersey, the prototypical fan Chivas USA hopes to attract in the Southland. He brought his three young daughters to the exhibition, just to catch a glimpse of the newest addition to the Chivas family.
“Chivas a el corazon,” he said softly, pointing to his girls with one hand and covering his chest with the other -- Chivas to the heart.
Said Ruben Ortiz, 13: “Chivas is a team for all Mexicans, but Chivas USA represents all people. I think that’s a good thing.”
His friend, Fabian Vasquez, 14, agreed. “Now, all Mexicans in the United States get to see them and other fans get to see what the Chivas [brand] of soccer is about,” Vazquez said. “It’s good that other countries will be represented by this team.”
Chivas USA boasts such Mexican veterans as Ramirez and Zuniga, Mexican up-and-comers such as forwards Isaac Romo and Alonso Sandoval, Mexican-Americans Torres, a forward, and midfielder Francisco Gomez, plus American-as-apple-pie guys Matt Taylor, a forward, goalkeeper Brad Guzan, and former Galaxy fan favorite Ezra Hendrickson, a defender from St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Because the younger Mexican players have signed contracts with MLS, they cannot be plucked from the Chivas USA roster and be “called up” by Guadalajara.
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The record book will show that Sandoval scored the first goal in Chivas USA history, a blast from the left wing at the 42-minute mark against Los Cachorros, set up by cross-field passes from Romo and Torres.
“Growing up [in Wilmington], Cruz Azul and America were the two favorite teams in my house,” Torres said. “So this is a big adjustment for my family.
“When we play the Galaxy, that will be the new clasico.”
Sandoval scored in front of Vasquez and Ortiz, both of whom were seated on the other side of the fence behind the net.
And both were among the throng of youngsters who flooded the field at the final whistle with jerseys, balls, T-shirts, anything for the players to sign.
As Coach Thomas Rongen gave a post-match briefing, children formed a semicircle around the club, clutching any writing utensil they could find. Minutes later, as Armando Bejines received a post-match massage, he signed autographs.
Chivas USA officials hope for a similar scene today at the Home Depot Center when the club is officially presented to the Southland’s fan base in festivities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Armando Alonzo, a fan from Cocula, seemed sorely out of place that day, though, as he proudly sported an Atlas jersey.
“My children are Chivas fans, not me,” he said.
“It took a lot of negotiating for me to bring them here to see Chivas.”
The negotiating for Mexican hearts and minds by Chivas USA is already well underway.
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A CHIVAS USA PRIMER
A collection of Chivas USA firsts:
* First crossover: Ramon Ramirez, the revered Chivas and Mexican national team defensive midfielder, who became the first “name” player assigned to Chivas USA.
* First expansion draft pick: Arturo Torres, a forward who became the first former Galaxy player on the Chivas USA roster.
* First college draft pick: Brad Guzan, a 6-foot-4 goalkeeper from South Carolina, who will push veteran Martin Zuniga for playing time.
* First MLS game: April 2 against defending league champion D.C. United at the Home Depot Center.
