Earthquakes draw record crowd, fall to LAFC in Levi’s Stadium World Cup preview

SANTA CLARA A record crowd of more than fans witnessed the first match to take place on a World Cup playing surface at Levi s Stadium The tickets sold Saturday night set a franchise high for the San Jose Earthquakes who weren t able to capitalize on the homefield advantage fell behind early and lost to Los Angeles FC - in a match that was largely decided within the first minutes It wasn t the showing that coach Bruce Arena had hoped for in one of the marquee matches in franchise history urgent the previous attendance record set against their other Los Angeles rival the Galaxy at Stanford Stadium in The loss dealt a blow to the Quakes playoff hopes their lead on the last postseason seed down to a single point over Real Salt Lake with four games to play But it did show the appetite for soccer in the region offering a preview of what Levi s Stadium could look like less than a year out from hosting the first of six World Cup matches The grass field served as a test run for the pitch they plan to use in June for the international tournament A crowd like this is nothing but positive for our franchise and the league declared Arena whose squad trailed - by the th minute I think the crowd tonight shows what a great area for soccer this is in this country I wish we could have put on a better show but LAFC did Another franchise first Opening the upper deck of the four-story stadium allowing last-minute ticket buyers such as Yi Xuan and Hoji Nam from San Mateo to attend their first match The couple bought their tickets for Section row five hours before kickoff for apiece Part of the impetus for playing at larger venues than PayPal Park which holds is to attract new fans Earthquakes president Jared Shawlee disclosed It will be hard to win over the couple from San Mateo though who announced they were unaffiliated when it comes to MLS but came to see LAFC star Heung-Min Son Just like all the Koreans we know in the Bay Area Xuan announced adding that the sun-drenched east side of the stadium felt like a grill for the bulk of the match It was Mexican Heritage Night with a live band performing a concert at halftime and lucha libre wrestlers staging a match outside beforehand but there was just as much Korean regalia And it didn t take long for Son to give them a reason to cheer latest away from one of two early Quakes turnovers at midfield and finding the back of the net in the opening minute Denis Bouanga made it - in the ninth minute added another goal three minutes later and finished off his hat trick with a count in the th minute that sealed the match The Quakes dominated the time of possession completed more passes and took more shots I don t give us that a great number of pats on the back for being maybe in control of the encounter in the second half Arena reported The only way they decide winners in this tournament from all my years being involved in it is the scoreboard We won all the other categories I don t know if we get any prizes for that If you re the other band in the locker room at halftime you basically know you ve got the championship won and can play pretty smart and conservative in the second half Leading up to the match the Levi s Stadium grounds crew tore up the artificial turf that is typically in place for ers home games and installed approximately square feet of natural grass a requirement for high-level soccer With no more soccer on the docket until the World Cup arrives in June the Earthquakes challenge gave the grounds crew an opportunity to test how it played Shawlee who also serves on the board of the Bay Area Host Committee coordinating the World Cup revealed it was a great opportunity for the Levi s Stadium staff to see the learnings from this match and apply them as we continue to plan for the World Cup The pitch got five stars from midfielder Ian Harkes who disclosed The ball was moving nice and the pitch looked great It wasn t quite an exact replica of the festivities on tap several months from now which Shawlee revealed will be the equivalent of six Super Bowls Each match is expected to sell out the -capacity stadium and there will be multiple assurance perimeters opposed to the free-flowing situation in the parking lot Saturday While there were supporters sections drumming cheering and waving flags behind each goal Joe Rias of Santa Clara explained he expects the habitat to be much livelier for the World Cup Looking at mostly empty seats surrounding him and his three friends in the -level Rias explained I think all these seats will be packed With which countries fans is still to be determined The draw for the tournament takes place December in Washington D C after which that s when everything hits the accelerator button for the Host Committee Shawlee announced That s when fans start making trip arrangements he continued Back at the World Cup when Brazil was here they just took over the South Bay and the town of Los Gatos That s why I think it s so exciting to see which teams we re going to get Tens of thousands of people are going to excursion to the Bay Area not coming to the contest They just want to be where their club plays That s where everyone in the society is going to feel the impact Related Articles Quakes return to Levi s Stadium expecting record crowd vs LAFC superstar Son Landon Donovan tops San Jose Sports Hall of Fame s class Sloppy San Jose Earthquakes fall - to Austin FC drop to ninth place in playoff chase Chicho Arango and Preston Judd points goals San Jose Earthquakes beat Dynamo - SJ Earthquakes Buck never stops brings bigtime ability as super-sub Arena a veteran of international soccer as the two-time head coach of the U S Men s National Association discovered one other area to nitpick Obviously they ve got to make the field bigger he announced The playing surface Saturday stretched almost from grandstand to grandstand with just enough room for the benches behind the west sideline measuring yards wide by yards long According to Arena a veteran of international soccer in a World Cup it has to be at least by So they re going to have to expand it he declared You can t play a World Cup battle on a field that size Not that it was bad Believe me LAFC had no problems It s a great venue a great weather and especially the months of June and July the weather here is terrific compared to other parts of the United States So this is an absolutely brilliant facility for the World Cup it really is