Mexico's famed Club America is coming

Cue the Darth Vader theme music. The Evil Empire, resplendent in canary yellow and blue, is marching into Sodo.

It's not the New York Yankees in raincoats, nor will this antagonist be at Safeco Field.

Mexico's version of the team people love to hate — or adore with unbridled passion — makes its first-ever appearance in Seattle Saturday night at Qwest Field. And Mexican soccer fans who call Seattle home are ready to welcome Club America with open arms.

Or open mouths. Those who don't care for Las Aguilas (the Eagles) will be heard loud and clear, so they say, expressing their displeasure at the team labeled the best Mexican professional soccer franchise money can buy.

Club America, a powerhouse south of the border, will play an exhibition match against the Seattle Sounders.

This team is to Mexican sports what George Steinbrenner and the Yankees are to U.S. fans. Club America has rich owners, a rich tradition of championships, a legacy of star players and a current star who perhaps can be best described as the Terrell Owens of Mexico.

His name is regal — Cuauhtémoc Blanco — the first name being that of the last Aztec emperor from the 1500s. Blanco, who will make the trip to Seattle but might not play because of an injury, is widely viewed as an impetuous, overconfident, controversial superstar who America fans say is the nation's best player.

"He's more than just a crybaby," said Miguel Lopez of Renton. "He doesn't respect his opponents. He likes to laugh at the other teams."

Raul Sandoval, known as "El Rulas" on the daily sports radio talk show he hosts on Seattle's KXPA-AM, talks plenty of Mexican soccer with his audience. Like Lopez, Sandoval roots against Club America and is ready for Saturday.

"I'm going to boo them," he said. "This is the chance we have to boo that team. All the [Club] America fans, they brag about everything."

Sandoval, a fan of rival Cruz Azul, once had to sport a Club America jersey in public, to his utter disgust, after losing a wager on a game between the two teams.

Club America, which calls Mexico City and the vast Azteca Stadium home, has won 10 Mexican first division titles. So have the Aguilas' biggest rivals, the Chivas of Guadalajara.

Think Yankees-Red Sox or Cowboys-Washington, with the Chivas as the "good guys."

It's a year-by-year battle for supremacy between Club America, which imports some of its stars from soccer-mighty countries such as Brazil and Argentina; and the Chivas, beloved for their exclusive employment of homegrown Mexican talent.

"America is one of the teams that you love or hate, there is no middle points," said Alexandro Cortes Gutierrez of Mexico City, a Club America fan who also cheers for the Seahawks from abroad. "Everybody wants to beat America, so all Aguilas' games are sold out, it doesn't matter where the game is."

Club America is so reviled by fans of other Mexican clubs including Morelia, Atlante and Pachuca that plastic bags filled with urine have been lobbed at visiting Eagles players. And then there is the constant verbal bashing at the stadium — or anywhere else.

Cortes described social gatherings in his hometown when soccer is the topic of conversation, where fans of other teams join together to debate America fans.

But most agree that the anti-Eagles sentiment is just as much a product of the jealousy that other teams' fans feel because of America's history and success and ability to attract top players.

"I feel like I'm home," said Gustavo Garcia of Seattle, an Eagles fan and a native of Mexico. "It's like my family is here. It's like my religion."

Garcia and his friends and family have 50 tickets for what is essentially an exhibition tune-up match for America. But it's America. In Seattle.

"This will be the first time I see America play," the 35-year-old Garcia said.

America, the Sounders say, is expected to field its "A" team to start the match. It was a stipulation in the agreement the Sounders and America reached in order for the Eagles to come to Seattle, which sources indicated also included a hefty price tag of perhaps $100,000 or more paid by the Seattle team.

The Sounders have placed a heavy emphasis on the local Latino community in publicizing the match. And the fans hope to see the stars in action.

Two players who were with the Mexican national team in the World Cup — Guillermo Ochoa and José Antonio "Gringo" Castro — were given two weeks off after the end of Mexico's run in the World Cup and will be in uniform Saturday.

The Aguilas also feature former national-team player Duilio Davino and striker Claudio "Piojo" López, a native of Argentina.

Qwest Field will be America's first stop on a long U.S. tour, which will serve as its exhibition season before the Mexican regular season begins in August.

"They'd never been here. They had been to other [U.S.] cities and they thought, 'Let's go to the Northwest,' " said Bart Wiley, Sounders assistant general manager. "You'll see as many Chivas jerseys as Club America jerseys [in the crowd]."

This match, more than likely, won't come close to the 65,000 that saw Manchester United play Celtic at the stadium in 2003. But it should outdraw the crowds of 8,500 and 5,600 the Sounders drew for exhibitions against Sunderland FC of Europe last year and Chivas USA of the Major League Soccer earlier this year.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com