Fans Have Classic Day at Coliseum
Within half an hour of the end of Sunday’s Mexican soccer doubleheader at the Coliseum, all that was left in the stadium were the sea gulls, swooping and diving in the twilight for whatever scraps they could find.
But there weren’t many leftovers.
The crowd of 47,197 had gobbled up all the goals that Monterrey and Necaxa could provide--eight in all--and the fans had also taken a large handful of memories home from the Club America and Chivas of Guadalajara classic that followed and ended in a 1-1 tie.
So the gulls were out of luck.
Not so Abdul Thompson, a quicksilver forward from Sierra Leone in West Africa who netted a superb hat trick for Monterrey as it crushed Mexican league champion Necaxa, 5-3, in the opening game.
Thompson scored twice in the first eight minutes, tearing Necaxa’s defense to shreds with sheer speed and deft footwork. Monterrey was ahead, 4-1 by the half, with Antonio Mohamed assisting three times.
The best was yet to come. Twenty-one minutes into the second half, Thompson latched onto the ball at midfield and set off on a powerful 40-yard run down the left flank, outpacing four Necaxa defenders and then calmly slotting the ball past goalkeeper Raul Orvanos from a sharp angle.
The fans rose to applaud the feat.
Those who were in the stadium, that is.
Outside, the usual bedlam prevailed as thousands of latecomers clogged the streets around the Coliseum, providing the atmosphere so often missing at Major League Soccer games.
The America-Guadalajara rivalry dates back more than 70 years, pitting the Aguilas (Eagles) of Mexico City against the Chivas (Goats) of Guadalajara in a game always referred to by Mexican fans as the “Super Classico.”
Sunday’s edition showed why.
The scene outside the stadium was colorful, to say the least. With cars jammed bumper-to-bumper sticker, fans in the red and white vertical striped jerseys of Chivas jostled with those wearing the yellow and blue of Club America as both tried to weave their way on foot through the stalled traffic.
A rattletrap bus packed with fans from Oxnard and Ventura spewed out noxious exhaust fumes that mingled with the aroma of equally noxious nachos.
A gleaming black stretch limousine adorned with those floppy felt fool hats in Chivas colors tried an improbable maneuver and cut across two lanes.
The racket of headache-causing plastic horns vied with the shouts of fast-food vendors and the angry yells of frustrated motorcycle cops.
Banner- and flag-waving fans, young and old, men and women, many with with painted faces or home-made signs, crowded up the turnstiles, drawn by the buzz from within the stadium.
The game they had come to see--not the opener, even though the Galaxy’s Carlos Hermosillo scored on a header for Necaxa, which made the final score more respectable with two late goals--did not disappoint.
Club America is owned by the media giant Televisa and the club can afford just about anything it wants. What it has wanted of late is to sign the entire Mexican national team, and it has almost succeeded. Nine of its starters Sunday have played for Mexico.
The two exceptions are from Paraguay, brought in by new Coach Carlos Kiese, who--to no surprise--is also from Paraguay.
One of them, midfielder Javier Espinola, scored Club America’s lone goal.
It came in the 16th minute after forward German Villa, recently returned from an unhappy stint with Espanyol in the Spanish league, had deflected a corner kick by team captain Cuauhtemoc Blanco into Espinola’s path.
His blistering shot, from about 18 yards, gave Guadalajara goalkeeper Martin Zuniga no chance.
Chivas responded by attacking with more intensity and this was rewarded in the 43rd minute when striker Luis Garcia, star of Mexico’s 1994 World Cup team, scored on a penalty kick after a foul.
It was one of 16 fouls in a game well-handled by referee Kevin Stott, of Rancho Cucamonga, who this year was elevated to the FIFA list, making him one of only seven Americans allowed to referee international matches.
All in all, it was a fine game and an auspicious start to another soccer season in Los Angeles.
The sea gulls, of course, might disagree.
