All eyes will be on the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara on Sunday as fans return to watch Mexico´s two most popular and successful soccer teams renew their historic rivalry.

Even though the stadium will only be a quarter full, and the boisterous and noisy barra brava (the fanatical group of fans that throng one end of the stadium) cannot congregate as usual, a festive atmosphere is guaranteed as Chivas take on America, the game that goes under the moniker “El Clásico Nacional.”

Founded in 1906 by a Belgian entrepreneur, Chivas (full name Club Deportivo Guadalajara) may not be Mexico’s oldest soccer (futbol) team — that honor belongs to Pachuca, formed by Cornish tin miners in 1901 — but is certainly the one with the most colorful history.

The most successful amateur team in Mexico in its early years, the Chivas continued its success in the post World War II professional era, winning 12 championship titles, eight of them in a remarkable spell between 1956 and 1969, a period that has come to be known as “El Campeonísimo.”

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