On Wednesday at 7 p.m., Sacramento Republic FC will welcome Club Guadalajara, commonly referred to as Chivas, to Bonney Field for an international friendly . For Republic FC, friendlies like Wednesday’s match not only provide a chance to showcase the club and city to soccer fans from around the world, they also give Republic FC players the opportunity to play against some of the most storied clubs and players in the modern era of the beautiful game.
For some players, like Republic FC midfielder Agustin Cazarez, playing Chivas is unique to other friendlies due to the stature of the club in Mexican soccer. The club has one of the largest fan bases in Mexico and also the largest number of Twitter followers in Liga MX with 2.69 million fans that follow the club.
“Liga MX was the first soccer league I started watching because my parents are Mexican. My favorite team growing up was actually Chivas,” said Cazarez. “My godfather is a huge Chivas fan so that’s why I got in them. For me this is a huge match because I grew up watching them play so it’s kind of like a dream come true getting to play them.”
Chivas are one of the most storied clubs in the Mexican first division. Founded in 1906, Chivas is one of the founding clubs of the Liga Mayor, the first version of Liga MX and the first professional league in Mexico.
Club Guadalajara have collected numerous awards through their professional history. Chivas hold the second largest number of Liga MX titles at 11, although the last one came in 2006. The club’s two most recent trophies came at the end of last year: the Copa MX title in November 2015 and the Supercopa MX this past July. Guadalajara is one of only two teams in the Mexican top flight that has never been relegated, alongside rivals Club America.
Throughout their existence, the club has been the home of many Mexican international greats. Some of these include Mexico legends such as Salvador “Chava” Reyes, who helped lead the club to its first league title, and kicked off the club’s “Campeonisimo” period during which the club won eight league titles.
Chivas is also one of two professional clubs in the world—the other being Athletic Bilbao in La Liga—to feature a unique roster eligibility rule. In order to be eligible to play for Chivas, a player must be Mexican born or have parents or grandparents that were born in Mexico. Similarly, Athletic Bilbao only admits players born or trained within the borders of what is considered the greater Basque Country.
This is the fourth Liga MX club to play at Bonney Field. In 2014, Republic FC hosted a friendly against Atlas FC, and again in 2015. Last year CF Pachuca and Pumas also played friendlies at Bonney Field.
“It’s huge because they are one of the biggest and most popular clubs in Mexico and even worldwide they are very popular,” said Cazarez. “I would compare Chivas to a Real Madrid or Barcelona type of stature in Mexico. They are that kind of status within the country. It’s a big deal for us to play a high caliber team from a country that is known for good soccer.”
Tickets for Wednesday’s friendly between Republic FC and Chivas are on sale at Ticketmaster.com. Fans will also be able to purchase tickets at the gates, which open at 4 p.m. There will be no live stream of the match, but live updates in both English and Spanish will be available on Twitter via @SacRepublicFC.
On Wednesday at 7 p.m., Sacramento Republic FC will welcome Club Guadalajara, commonly referred to as Chivas, to Bonney Field for an international friendly . For Republic FC, friendlies like Wednesday’s match not only provide a chance to showcase the club and city to soccer fans from around the world, they also give Republic FC players the opportunity to play against some of the most storied clubs and players in the modern era of the beautiful game.
For some players, like Republic FC midfielder Agustin Cazarez, playing Chivas is unique to other friendlies due to the stature of the club in Mexican soccer. The club has one of the largest fan bases in Mexico and also the largest number of Twitter followers in Liga MX with 2.69 million fans that follow the club.
“Liga MX was the first soccer league I started watching because my parents are Mexican. My favorite team growing up was actually Chivas,” said Cazarez. “My godfather is a huge Chivas fan so that’s why I got in them. For me this is a huge match because I grew up watching them play so it’s kind of like a dream come true getting to play them.”
Chivas are one of the most storied clubs in the Mexican first division. Founded in 1906, Chivas is one of the founding clubs of the Liga Mayor, the first version of Liga MX and the first professional league in Mexico.
Club Guadalajara have collected numerous awards through their professional history. Chivas hold the second largest number of Liga MX titles at 11, although the last one came in 2006. The club’s two most recent trophies came at the end of last year: the Copa MX title in November 2015 and the Supercopa MX this past July. Guadalajara is one of only two teams in the Mexican top flight that has never been relegated, alongside rivals Club America.
Throughout their existence, the club has been the home of many Mexican international greats. Some of these include Mexico legends such as Salvador “Chava” Reyes, who helped lead the club to its first league title, and kicked off the club’s “Campeonisimo” period during which the club won eight league titles.
Chivas is also one of two professional clubs in the world—the other being Athletic Bilbao in La Liga—to feature a unique roster eligibility rule. In order to be eligible to play for Chivas, a player must be Mexican born or have parents or grandparents that were born in Mexico. Similarly, Athletic Bilbao only admits players born or trained within the borders of what is considered the greater Basque Country.
This is the fourth Liga MX club to play at Bonney Field. In 2014, Republic FC hosted a friendly against Atlas FC, and again in 2015. Last year CF Pachuca and Pumas also played friendlies at Bonney Field.
“It’s huge because they are one of the biggest and most popular clubs in Mexico and even worldwide they are very popular,” said Cazarez. “I would compare Chivas to a Real Madrid or Barcelona type of stature in Mexico. They are that kind of status within the country. It’s a big deal for us to play a high caliber team from a country that is known for good soccer.”
Tickets for Wednesday’s friendly between Republic FC and Chivas are on sale at Ticketmaster.com. Fans will also be able to purchase tickets at the gates, which open at 4 p.m. There will be no live stream of the match, but live updates in both English and Spanish will be available on Twitter via @SacRepublicFC.
