It sounded like rush-hour traffic for more than two hours late Thursday night, but no one inside Invesco Field at Mile High seemed eager to go anywhere.
Not with Club America in town for the first time. Not with a chance to see Mexico City’s darlings, who also happen to be members of perhaps the most prestigious soccer club north of the Panama Canal.
The horns bleated throughout the exhibition match against an overmatched San Luis. America and its yellow-and-blue clad supporters flooded the stands and filled the late-night air with chants, whistles and applause that went far beyond the play on the field.
America, winner of 14 domestic championships in Mexico, certainly didn’t let down its faithful. Playing at nearly the same altitude as their home city, the Eagles flew all over the field, wowing the crowd with their individual skills and recording a 3-0 victory.
It was an experience worthy of goose bumps for Pedro Perez, who has supported America since he was a child.
“It means a lot to me,” Perez said. “To come here to Denver, that’s pretty much the most exciting…I don’t know if I can explain it.”
Words were hardly necessary, not with the sweet rendition of the world’s sport being played by a string of players desperate to impress before Mexico’s fall season.
The crowd of 28,215 was still arriving as the game kicked off.
Those who did show in time to watch the Colorado Rapids’ 3-3 tie against Chivas USA couldn’t seem to bear the thought of cheering for a team fashioned after Chivas Guadalajara – America’s biggest rival in Mexico.
When Chivas USA scored to go up 3-2 in stoppage time, the fans wearing the now-dominant yellow jerseys of America were stoic. When the Rapids scored deeper into stoppage time to force the tie, the America supporters didn’t miss the chance to celebrate at the expense of anyone wearing the red-and-white stripes of Chivas.
But that noise was a golf-clap compared to the frenzy America produced when it took the field to warm up, or when Argentine maestro Claudio Lopez scored in the 13th minute with a deft flick of his left foot.
Duilio Davino made it 2-0 in the 61st minute with a glancing header, and Salvador Cabañas made it 3-0 five minutes later with a smashing header.
The chance to see the Rapids and America suited Edie De Leon, who brought both jerseys to the game. Standing behind De Leon was a child quietly eating a bright blue snow cone, unaware of his only offense – wearing a Chivas jersey.
“He’s a lost kid,” De Leon joked.
Said De Leon’s Guatemalan companion, Jose Ovalle: “Bringing a team from Mexico and mixing it with the Rapids … it’s very good.”
Perhaps the loneliest fans, if any were there, were those supporting tiny San Luis – a smaller club on the rise since being purchased in 2001 by media giant Televisa (which also owns America). San Luis, called the Tuneros in reference to the local prickly pear farmers around the city of San Luis Potosi, ascended from the Mexican first division with a Cinderella run earlier this year.
