COMMERCE CITY — Vicente Sanchez is Colorado’s most invisible superstar.

The Rapids’ most entertaining player has a huge following in Mexico, and Mexicans in Denver recognize him at the grocery store. Otherwise he goes mostly unnoticed, and that’s fine with him.

“Yeah, that’s nice — it’s different,” Sanchez said. “My family is very relaxed and very calm, and I’m also very calm. They’re both beautiful things — being recognized, not being recognized. It’s nice either way.”

In his native Uruguay, he played for the country’s most prestigious team, Nacional, and he spent two seasons in the German Bundesliga. But it is in Mexico where he is adored, having played for Toluca (2001-07) and Club America (2010-12). Club America is Mexico’s most successful team, with 11 league titles, and Toluca is right behind (10).

“In Mexico, I had a long career, and it was successful,” said Sanchez, a friendly and humble man. “They gave me a lot, and everybody is very nice, very thankful. It’s beautiful when a child says hello to you and says you’re their idol or something like that.”

Sanchez is a clever player with mesmerizing ball skills. Despite missing seven of Colorado’s 19 games because of a knee injury and two more because of an MLS disciplinary suspension for a dangerous tackle on a Columbus player, he is one behind team scoring leader Deshorn Brown with six goals. When he has the ball, he is apt to draw two defenders, and Rapids fans expect something exciting to happen.

“He brings an element of surprise,” said coach Pablo Mastroeni. “He brings an element that puts fear in the opponents before the game starts. They know they’re going to have their hands full with Vicente. He puts himself in situations where he’s either goal-dangerous or he’s creating chances for his teammates. He’s been a very important piece of this team.”

Playing on an asphalt street Sanchez grew up with four siblings in Montevideo, the capital and largest city of Uruguay, the son of a bus driver and a seamstress. His parents worked those jobs for 40 years.

“They always tried to give us everything that we needed,” Sanchez said. “But when you’re growing up, you see how hard it would be to have five children. Because of that, today I am so thankful every day of my life for their work.”

Sanchez had two older brothers who got him involved in soccer when he was young. They would play games on an asphalt street in the neighborhood, rocks marking the goals. One day when he was 13, a scout from a professional team (River Plate) saw him and invited him to try out, and that’s where his career began.

“My family was really happy, but it was hard,” Sanchez said. “We didn’t have a car, so my brothers took me on their motor- cycles to training. Sometimes my brothers weren’t there, and I had to ride my bike to training, 40 minutes by bike.”

Sanchez played for three Uruguayan teams, reaching Nacional when he was 20.

“That’s the biggest team in Uruguay, and everybody always dreams of playing for Nacional,” Sanchez said. “I was playing with really well-known players. One guy had played with Inter Milan. I’m 19, and I’m playing with him?

“They taught me a lot, and I understood that soccer is beautiful and you have to train a lot. After that I went alone to Mexico, which was tough.”

He was 21 when he went to Toluca, a long way from home, but Toluca won league championships with Sanchez and a CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2003. His play there earned him a spot on Uruguay’s national team.

In 2008 he went to Schalke 04 in Germany, where he played on a team with Jermaine Jones — one of the best players on the current U.S. national team — as well as Manuel Neuer, the goalkeeper of the German team that won the World Cup. After two seasons there, Sanchez returned to Mexico, where he played two seasons for Club America. After another season back in Uruguay with Nacional, the Rapids signed him last August.

Dazzling footwork on display Sanchez lives here with his wife and 3-month-old daughter, Mia Valentina.

“I am very happy in Colorado,” Sanchez said. “The people at this club, they’ve made me feel like I can be relaxed. I never thought I would be able to encounter people this good in another country.”

Sanchez plays with dazzling footwork that make him a Rapids crowd favorite. He believes creativity is a gift that cannot be taught, and he is grateful he was born with it.

“When I was really young, there were four friends of mine, three were better than I was,” Sanchez said. “Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Why did those guys not become professionals?’ It’s because football is tough. Not everybody gets to that top level, to have a career in the game. I was born with that. When I was young, I played with that creativity, and the only thing that got better was physical strength. Today with the results of 34 years, I keep running the same as I did when I was 20, but the technique, I’ve had since I was little.”

John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnmeyer