bienvenidos aficionados, originally uploaded by gmterry.
“Welcome Fans” is how the scoreboards greeted us last night in Oakland. It was our first international friendly soccer match, between Mexico and Ecuador, and it was an amazing experience!
First, it seemed we’d gone to a party with nearly 50,000 other people…the sounds of celebration were so loud, that there were only a few moments during the entire evening in which we were able to hear the p.a. system. Cheering. Singing. Horns blaring. Drums beating.
Also, we were there supporting Bay Area soccer. The San Jose Earthquakes ceased to be at the end of the 2005 season. The fans weren’t happy about that, and soccer is very popular here in northern California; the Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolfe purchased the option to re-develop the Earthquakes franchise, and are moving closer to making that a reality, with a potential new stadium in San Jose.
At any rate, this event was hosted by Earthquakes LLC, the re-development company began by Wolfe. As a result, those fans interested in supporting the Quakes and soccer were given a block of tickets to the game. We were able to meet some Quakes fans.
The game was great…the atmosphere as charged as it was, so many people there to enjoy soccer. I’ve been to lots of sporting events, but never anything like this!
Mexico started out very strong, scoring theor first goal within 45 seconds of kick-off. Ecuador scored an equalizer near the end of the frirst half.
The second half was more Ecuador’s…they scored a second goal early in the half. Mexico brought the game level in the in the 74th minute, then went on to score two more goals, winning the game 4-2.
