San Jose’s clash with Mexican powerhouse Chivas expected to draw record crowd

SANTA CLARA, CA – MAY 13: Chris Wondolowski #8 of the San Jose Earthquakes heads the ball into the net past James Riley #7 of the Chivas USA at Buck Shaw Stadium on May 13, 2012 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

SANTA CLARA — One of Mexico’s most legendary soccer teams could play in front of more than 50,000 spectators Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

And a familiar face in Cade Cowell will show visitors the way.

Club Deportivo Guadalajara, better known as Chivas, will take on the San Jose Earthquakes in a Leagues Cup match.

The Cup is an annual tournament between teams from Major League Soccer, such as San Jose and Liga MX, from the top Mexican league.

Saturday’s game will be the first time the teams have met since Oct. 14, 2003 at San Jose State, the day Cowell was born and current Quakes coach Ian Russell started in midfield for San Jose.

“Packed stadium, very loud crowd, very pro-Chivas,” Russell recalled during Friday’s press conference. “We were definitely not the home team in that game, but we were playing against the crowd.”

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup last year. The Earthquakes announced on Thursday that ticket sales for the match against Chivas set a new record at 41,108, with an expected attendance of around 50,000.

Most are expected to be cheering for Chivas, who reached the semi-finals of Clausura 2024 but were eliminated by rivals Club America.

After four games in the second half of the season, the Mexico City giants are seventh in the 18-team standings.

“It’s going to be a special game and I imagine the atmosphere will be great,” San Jose forward Cristian Espinoza said. “I think we’re mentally prepared to face these kinds of teams.”

Chivas’ leader is none other than Cowell, who has scored three goals and provided one assist in four games.

The 20-year-old, born in Ceres and coming out of the Earthquakes academy, played in 104 games for San Jose from 2020 to 2024.

Cowell left for Chivas in February, circumventing the club’s policy of only signing Mexican players by applying for Mexican citizenship through his mother.

“We’ve followed Cade in the games we’ve been able to see,” Espinoza said. “We always miss those types of players, but we’re here and we don’t live or think in the past. His present and future are with Chivas, which is a different club, and our focus now is on San Jose.”

While things have gone well for Cowell and Chivas, the same cannot be said for the home side, who are a far cry from MLS champions San Jose when the clubs last met in 2003.

Since the firing of coach Luchi Gonzalez in late June, the Quakes have shown little sign of improvement under interim coach Russell.

San Jose has won just one of six games and now sits at the bottom of the standings with a dismal 4-19-2 record and nine points ahead of the next-worst team.

In a team where there is little reason to celebrate, 29-year-old Argentine forward Espinoza has shown good statistics despite the instability in the squad.

The former MLS all-star has 10 assists and three goals this season, adding to the attack of forwards Amahl Pellegrino and Jeremy Ebobisse, who have combined for nine goals.

Espinoza’s compatriot Hernan Lopez has also made a solid contribution, scoring four goals and providing two assists in 15 games since joining the team midway through the season.

The Quakes will need all their attacking options to survive the Leagues Cup group stage, with San Jose taking on MLS leaders Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday.

Russell described the brutal schedule as a “clean slate” for the team. San Jose’s MLS season is all but lost, but that doesn’t stop the coach from believing San Jose can find success in the midseason tournament

“The season hasn’t been great for us, so the next two games we want to get out of our group and get through,” Russell said. “That can help our season a lot and put us on a good path.”