Who says that soccer struggles to find its way among fans in the U.S. sporting landscape? Truth is, its foothold has been here for quite some time.
The latest evidence of this fact -- 92,650 people packed the Los Angeles Coliseum to witness the pageantry and aura that surrounds FC Barcelona, the magic of Ronaldinho and CD Guadalajara (Chivas), arguably the best-supported professional sports team in southern California, play to a 1-1 draw as part of a doubleheader that saw Chivas USA and the New England Revolution finish 90 minutes by the same scoreline in the opener.
92,650! The most fans ever to watch a club soccer match in the United States. The most people to watch a soccer match in the Coliseum. More fans than USC football games regularly gather. Flashing bulbs, lighted flares, fireworks, streamers, fans doing the wave, Kobe Bryant, L.A. mayor Antonio Villaragosa and all.
"I think it's wonderful to play in an atmosphere like this," said Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, the former Dutch international. "It certainly helps the players. I think you have a lot of soccer fans over here.
"It was important for us to play this game in a good ambience with a lot of people. In an ambience like this, you can't talk about it like a friendly anymore. The ambience helps to add intensity. That's a good thing."
Soccer fans certainly got a good thing Sunday afternoon in reigning European Cup champion Barcelona and reigning European Player of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho. Barcelona's first stop on its three-match U.S. tour, which continues in Houston on Wednesday vs. Club America and concludes Saturday vs. New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium, amused and mesmerized the pro-Chivas crowd.
Interestingly enough, Chivas fans reserved their loudest ovations for two Barcelona players -- Ronaldinho and Rafael Marquez, the Mexico captain. Marquez played the first half, Ronaldinho the second. Giovanni Dos Santos, star of Mexico's U-17 world champion team, also came on for Barca in the 62nd minute to the pleasure of the Chivas fans, whom were seen roaming the streets adjacent to the Coliseum streets and tailgating in the parking lot as early as five hours before kickoff to Sunday's main event. Parking fees cost as much as $60.
Not all was perfect. The dry, patchwork field left much to be desired in hosting teams of this caliber. Barcelona no-shows on the pitch included Argentine prodigy Lionel Messi, Portuguese maestro Deco and both new signings from the sinking ship of Juventus, Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta, who only joined the team in the last couple of days. This was to be expected given Barcelona has just begun their preseason training for the upcoming club season and is no way close to being match-fit.
However, Barca's top-five world striker Samuel Eto'o showed a few flashes of individual brilliance in playing the opening half. Left back Carlos Puyol captained the side before being removed in the 42nd minute. Holland international Mark van Bommel and French World Cup finalist Ludovic Giuly started. Spain's Andres Iniesta and Holland's Giovanni van Bronckhorst came on in the final half.
The match rose to a new level of excitement and elevated the crowd by a few decibel levels with Ronaldinho's inclusion to begin the second half. Flashbulbs provided a strobe-light sensation inside the Coliseum from the minute he jogged onto the pitch out of the tunnel and continued for at least the first five minutes of the final period. Obviously, memories of his substandard World Cup for Brazil had been forgotten.
"It was great to play in the United States," Ronaldinho said. "The reception from the crowd was exceptional."
Ronaldinho did not disappoint, showcasing many of the tricks he possess. There were backheels, no-look passes, stepovers and taking on two and three defenders in tight space.
Yet, the 74th-minute breakthrough that alleviated fears of a scoreless match was a simple pass from Ronaldinho between Chivas defenders that fell onto the foot of the Chelsea castoff Eidur Gudjohnsen, who hit the left goalpost with his initial shot but secured the rebound with a left-foot shot into an open net.
Chivas fans cheered the vision and imagination of Ronaldinho in setting up the goal but, true to their colors, cheered much louder for Chivas' 83rd-minute equalizer. Adolfo Bautista struck a perfect curling cross from the right that Diego Martinez buried with a header. Chivas played with a chippy edge from the start, as evidenced by a few late tackles, in order to let Barca know it was motivated to get a result and not be part of any dog-and-pony show.
"It's not all the time that you can have two teams like this that bring so many fans to the stadium. We tried to do the best we could to give it the seriousness it deserved," Chivas coach Jose Manuel de la Torre said.
It was an interesting day for Chivas and de la Torre. Chivas opened its Apertura season Sunday against Toluca but was unable to reschedule the match, being that the friendly with Barcelona was locked down months ago. Chivas brought most of its first team to L.A., leaving a mostly reserve squad behind to suffer a 1-0 defeat away. After the match in Mexico, de la Torre hopped on a private plane arranged by the club and found his seat on the bench at the Coliseum midway through the first half.
"We had to divide the team up a little bit," de la Torre said. "I'd like to thank the owners of Guadalajara for giving me the opportunity to let me coach both games."
Although only a friendly, it was a can't-miss spectacle of soccer in the U.S. A concept not as far-fetched as some would like you to believe.
Damian Secore is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
