Chivas USA Out-Kicks Mexico’s Club America
One day, possibly soon, Major League Soccer might find itself with a rivalry on its hands such as the one that was on display at the Home Depot Center on Sunday afternoon.
With Club America in town for a friendly against Chivas USA of MLS, it was a chance for fans of the Mexican league powerhouse to scream, show their passion, toss a few smoke bombs onto the field, set off firecrackers and give a taste of what things are like in places where soccer means everything.
Not to mention that Club America’s hated rival, Chivas de Guadalajara, is Chivas USA’s parent club.
It all added up to an entertaining and colorful display with Chivas USA beating America, 5-4, on penalty kicks after the teams tied, 1-1, following 90 minutes of regulation in front of 22,586 on a hot, muggy day. The game, dubbed the “Interclasico,” did not have overtime.
“The atmosphere was great,” Chivas USA Coach Bob Bradley said. “Any time Chivas and America get together you know it brings tremendous excitement and passion. Obviously, there was a lot of yellow today and still a lot of red and white, so the stadium, I thought, was great.”
The yellow belonged to the fans of America. “Las Aguilas,” as the team is known, certainly took the game seriously as it brought all of its top players, except injured forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco, and had the majority of support in the stadium.
America Coach Luis Fernando Tena has grown to be an admirer of MLS and had nothing but compliments afterward for Chivas USA.
“They were a very organized team and were very strong physically,” Tena said in Spanish. “We all know that MLS is continuing to grow and we’re confident that in a short time America will have a team here as well.”
For some time, America has been investigating the possibility of investing in MLS. Should that happen, it probably would create a rivalry beyond what MLS has in Chivas USA and the Galaxy.
“I like this kind of environment, everybody screaming,” said forward Juan Francisco “Paco” Palencia, who scored for Chivas on a penalty kick in the 18th minute. “That team, they hate me a little bit because I always score goals against them. There’s a lot of passion out there and you can feel it.”
America played a man down after Palencia drew a foul, and subsequent red card, from Diego Cervantes to set up his penalty kick after getting behind the defense on a nifty pass from Ante Razov.
The Mexican team tied the score in the 81st minute on a 25-yard shot by Carlos Infante.
During the penalty kicks, Chivas’ Brad Guzan clinched it when he stopped a shot by America’s sixth penalty-kick taker, Armando Sanchez. Guzan earlier had stopped one by Ignacio Torres.
