CARSON, Calif. - During his 14-year run with the Mexican national team, Chivas USA defender Claudio Suarez made quite a name for himself.
Dubbed "El Emperador" or "The Emperor," Suarez played every minute of the 1994 and 1998 World Cups and was on El Tricolor's 2006 World Cup squad as well. In all, Suarez appeared in 178 international matches, most ever amongst any Mexican and second-most among men in the world.
Last Sunday, Suarez was honored in Monterrey for his storied career. Before Mexico's friendly against Paraguay, Suarez was presented with a plaque commemorating his status as one of El Tri's most important figures. Mexican national team players - including former Chivas USA star Francisco "Paco" Palencia - carried Suarez around. Suarez even posed with the team for pictures and stood between young goalkeeper Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa and Rafael Marquez, Suarez's successor along Mexico's backline.
Despite his calm demeanor, Suarez said he was flattered by the experience.
"It was touching and very emotional. I did not expect it to be like that," Suarez said after training on Tuesday. "I just thought they were simply going to give me some sort of plaque."
That the ceremony was held in Monterrey was especially meaningful to Suarez.
"I had gone more than a year without visiting Monterrey, where I spent my last year in Mexico with Tigres," Suarez said. "The fact that I went to Monterrey where I lived for five years was very impressive. Even at the airport many people looked happy to see me, and many people greeted me."
Still, not everybody had kept up to speed with Suarez since he departed Mexico for Major League Soccer.
"They don't really follow the league here and don't even really know what's going on up here. Not everybody is well informed," Suarez said. "Some people thought I had retired and commented to me that I looked like I was in pretty good shape. They asked me if I was exercising regularly and I just told them that I was."
With the reception he received, from the swarms of soccer fans and regular folks at the airport and hotel to the current national team players, fans and media at the stadium, Suarez said he was astonished and humbled that his memory remained strong in Mexico.
"In some ways, you think that without being in Mexico you are forgotten but it's not like that at all," Suarez said. "You still are very much in the fans' minds and that was proven true by everything that happened."
Suarez, though, is not Chivas USA's only former Mexican national team star that will be honored by El Tri. Ramon Ramirez is slated to receive a similar honor before Wednesday's Mexico-Ecuador match in Oakland, Calif.
Luis Bueno is a contriburor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
