Soccer is the most popular sport in Mexico and an important part of traditional Mexican culture.
During the major soccer match the entire Mexico is paralyzed. This is especially the case when the Mexican national soccer team is playing an important game.
As one Mexican politician said "Our country is most united when Mexican national team is playing against some other national soccer team. This is why whenever we face the danger of being divided among ourselves and thus expose ourselves to our enemies we should organize an international soccer match."
The passion of Mexican men is most obvious when they cheer for their favorite Mexican soccer team, or the Mexican national team. The atmosphere on the soccer stadiums can be so intense that one would think that the war is about to broke out.
Sometimes the soccer stadiums in Mexico are indeed the place of the battlefield where the fans of the opposite soccer teams engage in the vigorous fights. Unfortunately the violence is a part of many sports around the world and Mexican ardent soccer fans are no exception to this rule.
For Mexican men the most important things in their lives are: Family, women, religion and soccer. In other words soccer is very important social institution in Mexico and an inseparable part of everyday life in Mexico.
A good example of the soccer popularity in Mexico is the fact that some of the most popular Mexican celebrities are soccer players.
This is why many Mexican boys and teenagers dream of becoming famous soccer players that would defend the national flag and honor on the international tournaments such as the World Cup.
As you can see soccer in Mexico is much more than a sport. In fact, it is more a phenomenon than a sport, and a force that can unite or divide the Mexican people more than anything else.
The First Division is the premier football (soccer) championship that consists of eighteen teams.
Those eighteen teams are divided into three groups with the top teams from the each group qualifying for playoffs. Playoffs are always exciting and lead to the semifinals and finals which are one of the most important events for Mexican men during the year.
The team with the lower ratio in the First Division is relegated to the next lower division called the "Primera Division A" and at the same time the best team from the "Primera Division A" is promoted to the Firs Division.
A side from the Major Mexican soccer league, The First Division, and the next lower division, Primera Division A, there are many other lower Mexican soccer leagues which is a proof that Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Mexico.
The very first Mexican cup was organized in 1908 in Mexican Capitol, Mexico City. During the long history of the Mexican soccer Cup many Mexican soccer teams fought to win this prestige trophy.
The number of the Mexican soccer teams that are competing in the Mexican Soccer Cup has been changing overtimes, but the importance of its trophy stayed the same.
Of course it is more prestige and important to win the trophy of The First Division but that doesn't make the Mexican Cup trophy irrelevant. On contrary, if the same team wins both trophies in the same year that is considered the biggest soccer success that one team can achieve in Mexico.
Of course the biggest challenges for the Mexican soccer teams are the international soccer tournaments such as: South America Cup, South America Recopa, CONCACAF Champions Cup, etc.
Many Mexican soccer teams have won these prestige international trophies and some of them are: "America", "Deportivo Guadalajara", "Tigres", Pumas UNAM, Panchuca, etc.
Wining the international tournaments is the most important goal for the Mexican soccer clubs and the best gift to their fans.
As one Mexican soccer fan said "When my team wins the international tournament that really makes me proud, and I feel great wearing my team jersey."
Interesting fact is that whenever the Mexican national team wins some important international game the sale of the Mexican soccer Jerseys almost always goes up.
One of the most frequent questions regarding Mexican soccer is "What is the best Mexican soccer team (who is the best team in Mexican soccer league)".
Answering this question is more than difficult and challenging however there are some serious candidates for this prestige and unofficial title. In this article you have a chance to find out more about them and maybe answer the question above, yourself.
This Mexican soccer club, better known as "Las Chivas Ralladas De Guadalajara", is the number one candidate for the title of the "Best Mexican Soccer Team".
The reason for this is that this soccer team is the team with most championships in Mexico, it provided the most players for the Mexico's national team, it has the biggest fan base in the entire American continent and it has second biggest trophy display case in the World, next to the Real Madrid's.
Some of the greatest players that played for this great Mexican soccer club are: Reyes, Lopez, Gomez, Omar Arellano, Hector Hernandez, Carlos Calderon, Sepulveda, Alberto Coyote, Villegas, Paulo Cesar Chavez, Gustavo "El Gusano" Napoles, Sergio Lugo, "Panchito" Flores, etc.
This great Mexican soccer club was founded in 1916 and since then have been inseparable part of the Mexican soccer family. The America's original jersey colors are yellow, blue and red and the alternate jersey colors are blue, yellow and red.
America won many national tournaments and more than few international tournaments, which is why it is one of the most popular soccer teams in Mexico.
Some of the greatest players that were defending America's colors are: Pavel Pardo, Carlos Reinoso, Rafael Garza Gutierrez "Record", Eduardo Palmer, Ernesto Sota, Duilio Davino, etc.
This Mexican soccer club was founded in 1923 and it has won many national and some international tournaments. Its original jersey colors are red and white and the alternate jersey colors are white and red.
Greatest players that played for this team are: Ernesto Pauler, Julio Lores, Luis Hernandez, "Perro" Ortega, Tono Azpiri, Horacio Casarin, Carlos Hermosillio, Nadal, "Calavera" Avila, "Sardina" Lopez, Alex Dario Aguinaga, Ricardo Pelaez, etc.
Other Mexican clubs are: Atlante, Atlas, Cruz Azul, Veracruz, UNAM, Toluca, Morelia, Jaguares, Dorados, Monterrey, UAG, Santos, Puebla, etc.
In Mexico, soccer players can be loved, adored or even worshiped, but they can also be disliked and even hated, depending on what they do and how good, or bad they are on the soccer field.
Make no mistake, the soccer field in Mexico is much more than a field, and a soccer stadium is much more than just a stadium. In Mexico, everything that has to do with soccer is much more than you can imagine.
For example, when there is a major international soccer math the entire Mexico is paralyzed. If Mexico is victorious the entire Mexico celebrates, and those soccer players that are responsible for wining the match became national heroes and everybody loves and praises them.
On the other side if the Mexican national soccer team loses and some Mexican player is responsible for losing the math than he better not come home for some time.
In other words, Mexicans are very passionate and the Mexican men's passion is most obvious when they are in love, or when their favorite soccer team (or national soccer team) is playing a match.
Probably one of the best representative lists of great Mexican soccer players are players that have played, and still play for one of the best, and most successful Mexican soccer team - Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A. ("Chivas Rayadas").
Some of those great soccer players are: Ingacio Vasquez, Omar Arellano, Claudio Suarez, "Cura" Chaires, "Zully" Ledesma, "Tubo" Gomez, Jasso, Carlos Calderon, Gustavo "El Gusano" Napoles, Zarate, Sepulveda, "Cabo" Valdivia, Manuel Martinez, Eduardo de la Torre, Sergio Lugo, Benjamen Galindo, "Panchito" Flores, "Coco" Rodriguez, Jose Gutierrez, Salvador Espinosa, Isidoro Diaz, "Mellone" Gutierrez, "Chepo" de la Torre, and many others.
It is almost impossible to number all soccer players that deserve to be numbered. That is why we provided you with the short representative list above. However, you should know that there are many other soccer players that are Mexican, or play in Mexican soccer league that are great soccer players.