San Diego FC makes its home debut before a sellout crowd in a city hungry for top-level soccer
SAN DIEGO (AP) – A match decades in the making finally happens Saturday night when San Diego FC debuts on its home field in front of a sellout crowd of fans starved for elite professional sports – and particularly hungry for top-level soccer.
San Diego’s first Major League Soccer club began competition as the league’s 30th franchise last week, and made an immediate splash by beating the defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy on their home field.
A week later, San Diego formally christens Snapdragon Stadium, the new arena built on the Mission Valley ground once occupied by the oft-renamed home of MLB’s Padres and the NFL’s Chargers.
The night is a dream come true for generations of San Diego soccer fans, who have watched while products of their extensive youth systems advanced to all levels of the international game. San Diego’s year-round sunshine and location on the border with Mexico make it a soccer haven, but after years of failed attempts to get a serious team in a top North American league, those fans finally have a well-organized, well-funded team to call their own.
Danish winger Anders Dreyer, who scored both goals in San Diego’s 2-0 victory over the Galaxy last week, already has a feeling for his new town’s passion for the sport. He hopes San Diego FC will send a message immediately.
“Hopefully it’s going to be a magical night, and we want to make it that for the fans and for the city,” Dreyer said. “You can really feel the energy from the fans and the passion about now having a football team in San Diego. We need that 12th man at home.”
