Children’s Mercy Park will host a friendly between storied Mexican clubs C.F. Pachuca and Santos Laguna on June 21, Sporting KC announced Thursday in conjunction with Univision Kansas City, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City and the Consulate of Mexico in Kansas City.
Tickets for the match, presented by KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN, will go on sale to the general public on May 13 at 10 a.m. CT via Ticketmaster.com. That same day, fans can also purchase tickets at the Children's Mercy Park box office from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. CT.
Sporting KC Season Ticket Members will have access to an exclusive ticket presale for the friendly beginning Tuesday at 10 a.m. CT. Individuals who have placed deposits for season tickets or group tickets for the 2016 season will also receive priority consideration for obtaining tickets to the match.
Two of Mexico’s most successful teams will square off next month as Pachuca and Santos Laguna begin preseason preparations for the 2016-17 Liga MX campaign. The sides have combined to win 10 first division championships since 1996 while also achieving success on the international stage.
Pachuca has been one of Mexico’s most dominant clubs since the late 1990s, winning five national championships, four CONCACAF Champions Leagues, the 2007 SuperLiga and the 2006 Copa Sudamericana. Pachuca’s current roster includes Mexican internationals Rodolfo Pizarro, Hirving Lozano and Erick Gutierrez, each of whom are under 23 and considered bright prospects for the national team. Also on Los Tuzos’ squad is U.S. international defender Omar Gonzalez, who won three MLS Cups with LA Galaxy before joining Pachuca in December.
Santos Laguna is also a five-time champion in Mexico’s top flight, most recently winning Liga MX’s 2012 Clausura and 2015 Clausura, and also defeated Club America to be crowned “Campeon de Campeones” in July 2015. Los Guerreros finished runners-up in the CONCACAF Champions League in 2012 and 2013 before lifting Copa MX in November 2014. Five players on Santos Laguna’s current squad have earned senior team caps for Mexico, namely Adrian Aldrete, Nestor Araujo, Nestor Calderon, Jesus Molina and Javier Orozco. American defender Jorge Villafana signed for the club in December after winning the 2015 MLS Cup with Portland Timbers.
Children’s Mercy Park has hosted a Mexican club once previously, when Sporting KC played Club Deportivo Guadalajara to a 2-2 draw in October 2011. In 2009, Kansas City welcomed Club Deportivo Guadalajara and Club America for a friendly at Arrowhead Stadium where 26,119 fans witnessed El Super Clasico rivalry match between Mexico’s two most popular teams.
Since the state-of-the-art venue opened in 2011, Children’s Mercy Park has hosted several high-profile club and international matches, including Olympic and World Cup qualifiers, the 2013 MLS All-Star Game against AS Roma, 2013 MLS Cup and club friendlies featuring Manchester City FC and Montpellier HSC, recent champions of the English and French first divisions, respectively.
