Levi’s Stadium—It was the 68th minute of the opening game in Group B of the second annual Leagues Cup. Cade Cowell, now with Club Deportivo Guadalajara, picked up the ball on the left-hand side and started cutting in with his preferred right foot.
His trademark speed and strength — which convinced the Liga MX giants to pay a $4 million transfer fee for him in January and bend their long-standing policy of fielding only Mexican players — was fully on display. In just a split second, Cowell was able to blow past three San Jose Earthquakes players and created an overload.
But then, his power betrayed him. What should’ve been a simple pass to start the attack on the opposite flank instead ended in a rocket that flew out of bounds a whole 10 yards behind his nearest teammate.
Fast forward to the penalty shootout after regulation, with the game tied 1-1. Cowell was the fourth Chivas player to walk up to the spot, with a chance to redeem himself and play hero in front of 50,675 fans in attendance — most of whom were supporting the Mexican side. Instead, he skied it over the bar and his team ultimately lost two kicks later.
It was a cruel day for the prodigal Bay Area son who returned to the place where he starred in 114 appearances across four seasons. For up until last night, he had thought he left that part of his game behind.
In the opening month of this Liga MX season, Cowell has not only started to cement his place in Chivas’ starting lineup, but he was also leading the team in scoring, demonstrating the sort of clinical finishing touch that had disappeared toward the end of his stint with the Quakes last year.
On paper, playing against his former team — who have been languishing at the bottom of the league table ever since he left — should have been another feather to add to his cap. But alas, it became a reminder of how much ground the 20 year old youngster still has to make up.
Without fellow star forwards Javier “Chicharito” Hernández and Roberto Alvarado to draw attention away, the Quakes defense was able to focus on Cowell for much of the game, ensuring he always saw two or three bodies by the time he started making his signature cuts inside.
Still, the talented forward had his chances in front of goal. After falling behind 1-0 in the sixth minute courtesy of a Jeremy Ebobisse header, Chivas enjoyed the majority of the possession on the night and managed to outshoot San Jose 22 to 7.
The Quakes were fortunate in this regard. Despite their dismal league record, they were in much better match shape than their opponents, who were only four games into their own season. On top of that, playing in front of a record-setting crowd for a Leagues Cup game added more wind to their sails than it did for Chivas, who regularly draw those kinds of numbers every week.
“We wish we could play in that kind of atmosphere every week,” Quakes interim coach Ian Russell said after the game. “Even if it’s negative towards us, we can still feed off of that.”
Up until this game against Chivas, the Quakes’ campaign had reached dangerous levels of apathy, to the point where team officials even stopped reporting the attendance figures at PayPal Park. With only four wins to their name this year, the team is still nine points adrift from the next worst team in the standings.
Behind the scenes, the Quakes players say they’re treating this month-long tournament like a “clean slate.” Remember last year, when league-worst Inter Miami managed to salvage some joy in their season by winning the Leagues Cup with Lionel Messi?
And for 98 minutes, before Alvarado scored while the Quakes were unfairly down a man, they almost grinded out the kind of result that has eluded them all year—an ugly win. For now, they’ll have to settle for two points, as tournament rules stipulate that all tie games must end in a shootout since each group only has three teams in it.
But short of a deep run, any talks of a turnaround will fall on deaf ears. The fact that every win this year has been followed by a losing streak speaks to a deeper existential crisis at the club.
Here’s what Cowell told The Athletic after his move away from San Jose:
“It’s really easy to be comfortable (in San Jose), you know?” Cowell said. “Playing in your hometown for so long, you know everyone at the club. It’s a happy place to be. You’re not uncomfortable. What I really wanted to do was be uncomfortable.”
Knowing that, perhaps home was the last place he wanted to be last night. After the game, Cowell, with his cowboy hat in hand, walked right past his former teammates and the media row without so much as saying a word.
Notebook Dump
- Speaking to people around the club in recent weeks, one theme that kept emerging from this dismal year was the lack of leadership. After sitting out the past four months because of a hamstring injury, Quakes starting goalkeeper Daniel made a surprise return to the lineup and made several big saves, including one in the penalty shootout. Russell said the Brazilian’s energy and leadership was missed. “He’s got a great aura to him,” Russell told me after the game. “He’s bordering on cocky. But the guys really rally around that.” Of note towards the end of the game—Daniel couldn’t take goal kicks anymore and had to hand the ball to his centerbacks each time to clear it.
- Cowell might have stolen all the headlines, but quietly there are two other players on the Chivas roster with Bay Area ties. Forward Isaác Brizuela, who did not feature at Levi’s Stadium, was actually born in San Jose. His new 18 year old teammate, Fidel Barajas, who signed from Real Salt Lake earlier this year was born in Sacramento and played in the Quakes youth teams before signing a professional contract.
- By my count, the infamous homophobic chant was sung a total of six times throughout last night’s game. Stadium officials issued two PSA warnings and tried to play music before each goal kick, but neither appeared to deter fans. Something else has got to give. Couldn’t say, Chicharito, take the mic before kickoff to level with the crowd? Whatever they’re doing now is not working.
About the Author: Kevin V. Nguyen is a business and sports journalist. He has covered soccer for The Guardian, The Sacramento Bee, and The San Francisco Standard. Follow him on X/Twitter @KevinNguyen_89
