Guillermo Sepúlveda was one of the greatest exponents and defenders of what it means to be from Chivas and on the day of his birth we remember the famous 'Tigre', who has undoubtedly been one of the best Center Backs in the history of our club.
Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, on November 29, 1934, the defender distinguished himself for his great physical strength, for being hard and strong in his marking, dedicated and never 'wrinkling' in the dispute for the ball. He was part of the group of players that emerged from Sutaj, a team that in amateur soccer distinguished itself for being one of the best breeding grounds for talent.
He carried out his training process with 2 other historic Red and White players: Crescencio 'Mellone' Gutiérrez and Salvador Reyes, with whom he performed in the Special Youth and in the second edition of the Revolution Games he caught the attention of Jorge Agnesi, who finally added him to the Guadalajara.
The 'Tigre' debuted no more, no less than in a El Clásico de México, that of the 1953-54 Season, and began his career on the right foot, since El Rebaño won by the smallest difference. The following year he got the starting job in the second round and played 10 games. He was a key player in Chivas' first title, in 1956-57, a competition in which he only missed 2 games.
With Arturo 'Cura' Chaires and José 'Jamaicón' Villegas as regular teammates, Sepúlveda formed an defensive “Era”, which helped build the legacy of the true and only 'Campeonísimo' of Mexico, as he won 15 official titles with El Rebaño Sagrado: 7 in the League, 1 Mexico Cup, 6 Champion of Champions and 1 in Concacaf.
With the National Team he debuted on April 28, 1957 in the 7-2 victory against the United States and played in the World Cups in Sweden '58 and Chile '62, while England '66 was left out due to off-field situations.
Guillermo Sepúlveda Rodríguez
Place of birth: Guadalajara, Jalisco
Date of birth: November 29, 1934
Debut: Guadalajara 1-0 América (January 17, 1954)
His numbers with Chivas in the League:
Tournament / Matches / Goals
1953-54 / 1 / 0
1954-55 / 11 / 0
1955-56 / 18 / 0
1956-57 / 22 / 0
1957-58 / 21 / 0
1959-60 / 21 / 1
1960-61 / 25 / 0
1961-62 / 14 / 2
1962-63 / 18 / 0
1963-64 / 21 / 0
1964-65 / 21 / 0
1965-66 / 8 / 0
Totals / 201 / 3
The day the legend of the 'Tigre' Sepúlveda was born...
-The Final of the 1964 Champion of Champions Cup, between the League Champion for the sixth time, Guadalajara, and the Champion of the Mexican Cup, América, concluded with the triumph of the Sacred Flock by 0-2 at the Stadium University Olympic; That day, Guillermo Sepúlveda was sent off after an altercation with Alfonso Portugal and before leaving the field he took off his shirt, threw it on the grass right in front of the Azulcremas bench and left a message for everyone who was occupying it: " con esta tienen...", meaning that Red and White jersey in itself was enough for the opponent, which heated the spirits between both teams to a red hot pitch.
Such an iconic expression from El 'Tigre' accentuated to the highest degree the antagonism of El Clásico de México, since it was a magnificent reference to the extensive dominance that the Tapatíos had established on the residents from the Capital during the 'Campeonísimo' era.
Did you know that..?
Guillermo Sepúlveda was part of the seventh generation of elements inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame, located in Pachuca; The ceremony took place on November 7, 2017.
