Just as the World Cup fever is dying down, the season begins for Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles, a premiere Mexican soccer — er, futbol — club.
The Xolos open their season at 7 p.m.tomorrow against their rivals, the Guadalajara Chivas at Estadio Caliente. And for the first time, the match will also be aired in English in San Diego and the Southern California region.
In a deal with Liga MX, the league the Xolos play in, all nine Xolos matches will be aired on Prime Ticket/FOX Sports West and FOX Sports San Diego. The deal is in recognition that the Xolos is the only binational team in the league.
Mark Rogondino will serve as play-by-play announcer alongside analyst, Jovan Kirovski. Fox Sports San Diego will also air a special one-hour documentary, Xolos: Tijuana’s Team, following the match.
The Xolos are coming off a historic run in the Liga MX last season, making it to the league’s semifinals. Since then there have some shuffling of players.
Gone are the three starters that played in the final matches, including Gustavo Bou, Damian Perez, Damian Musto and Pablo Aguilar. In their place are Erick ‘Cubo’ Torres, Luis Fuentes, Diego Rodriguez, Diego Gonzalez and Julian Velasquez.
For the past month, Tijuana has been prepping for the season with out-of-town training camps and preseason matches to integrate the new teammates and iron out any kinks.
“We completed intense work,” Midfielder Ignacio Rivero said Tuesday. “We polished those final details this week. The new teammates that came in are doing things well. They integrated well into the group.”
Here’s the Xolos’ schedule:
- July 21, Tijuana vs. Guadalajara, 7 p.m. Fox Sports San Diego
- Aug. 5, Tijuana vs. León, 6 p.m. Fox Sports San Diego
- Aug. 12, Tijuana vs. Cruz Azul, 6 p.m. Fox Sports San Diego
- Aug. 23, Tijuana vs. Santas Laguna, 7 p.m. Fox Sports San Diego
- Aug. 31, Tijuana vs. Necaza, 11 p.m. (tape delay) Fox Sports San Diego
- Sept. 22, Tijuana vs. Pachuca, 10 p.m. (tape delay) Fox Sports San Diego
- Oct. 6, Tijuana vs. Gallos Blancos de Querétaro, 7 p.m. Fox Sports San Diego
- Oct. 27, Tijuana vs. Universidad Nacional, 7 p.m. Fox Sports San Diego
- Nov. 10, Tijuana vs. Monarcas Morelia, 7 p.m. Fox Sports San Diego
