Filed under: MLS, Chivas USA, Los Angeles Galaxy
We can only hope that Chivas USA took a small but symbolic step toward independence late Tuesday night when it edged Mexican power and Copa Libertadores runner-up Chivas de Guadalajara on penalty kicks before more than 22,000 fans at Petco Park.
The home of the San Diego Padres was a fitting setting for the MLS club’s little rebellion. Chivas de Guadalajara has been its Daddy in more ways than one. Owner Jorge Vergara (along with partner Antonio Cué) launched the Los Angeles-based club in 2004 in an effort to extend the Chivas brand to the millions of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans living in Southern California.
Initially, that was about all they cared about. Supplied with third-rate players, Chivas USA stumbled to one of the worst seasons in MLS history (4-22-6) in its inaugural campaign. Coach/sacrificial lamb Thomas Rongen told me a couple of years ago that he “should have put my foot down” regarding the players he was supplied. He called it a “group I didn’t think was very talented but that clearly represented the Mexican community quite well.”
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