International Friendly Match

Wednesday 1st June 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.37

Mexico 1 Chile 0,  attendance 68,254

86′ 1-0 J. Hernandez

@ Qualcomm Stadium

9449, Friars Road

San Diego, CA 92108

$30 admission + $7.75 fees, Print at home ticket.

No programme.

I had visited the Qualcomm Stadium in October 2015 (see American Football section) for a San Diego Chargers match in the N.F.L. This was my first visit for proper football and despite this only being a friendly, and also taking place midweek, the attendance actually beat that of the Chargers by 2,417. I had flown into Los Angeles late morning before picking up a hire car and heading two hours or so south to my hotel about 15 minutes drive north of the stadium.

With the ground being so full it was noticeable how few of the Mexican fans can read. Endless times people arrived at their seats only to find someone already sat there. The charade then took place of showing their ticket to everyone in the row, before reaching one of them capable of actually being able to read the information and attempting to direct them to the correct area. Of course, once arriving there, the same scenario occurs again.

I actually thought Chile were the better side, in particular Vidal and Sanchez, who were excellent. It was a bit harsh on them when substitute Javier Hernandez headed in at the far post to send the vast hordes of Mexicans home happy. This extends their unbeaten run to 19 matches.