The drumming started early.
Nearly 90 minutes before the start of Saturday night’s match between San Diego FC and St. Louis City SC, fans lumbered down the supporters’ section to their seats behind Snapdragon Stadium’s north goal, drums in hand, and started thumping.
Pretty soon, they were joined by supporters with tambourines and flags, men in lucha libre masks, women in scarves and fans from San Diego, Tijuana and beyond wearing chrome, azul, orange, yellow and red. Songs, written and practiced long before much of San Diego FC’s roster arrived here, echoed through Mission Valley for the next two hours.
San Diego FC’s supporters were in midseason form. The rest of Saturday’s Snapdragon-record crowd of 34,506 will have to catch up.
There’s nuance to soccer at the highest levels.
And while Saturday’s match ended in a scoreless tie, it felt both like a win and a loss.
A victory, because Saturday marked a celebration after years — decades? — of longing by San Diego soccer fans for both a Major League Soccer team an a stadium to play in.
A defeat, because a one-word homophobic chant marred the final minutes of the Snapdragon Stadium soccer celebration. And also because Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, the face of the expansion franchise, is hurt.
SDFC coach Mike Varas began his postgame news conference with statements — first in Spanish and then in English — decrying the chant, which both FIFA and MLS have been trying to eradicate from the game for years. His disgust toward what he called “palabras discriminatorias” hardly needed translation.
“I want to make really clear that it has no place here,” Varas said. “If (fans are) going to continue to come to the game and make that chant, it’s better that they do not come.”
Lozano exited the match in the 28th minute after appearing to grab his left hamstring. The Mexican star walked off the field with trainers and then retreated into the home tunnel by himself. He was replaced by Emamnuel Boateng, a nine-year MLS veteran.
“I thought he started the game really well,” defender Paddy McNair said. “He’s a top player. Anytime you lose one of the best players, it’s obviously tough. But it’s a squad game, and we obviously need to move on.”
Sporting director Tyler Heaps said Lozano suffered a lower-body injury. San Diego has built its team — and marketing efforts — around Lozano, a 29-year-old Mexico City native who is the first designated player in club history. A serious hamstring issue could sideline the explosive winger for weeks, if not longer.
“It’s something we would like to do more scans on, and that will obviously happen tomorrow,” Heaps said. “He’s in a positive mood now, and we hope to get him back as quicky as possible.”
San Diego, which introduced itself to MLS with a 2-0 win over defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy last weekend, had its chances.
SDFC controlled possession for 67% of Saturday’s game. Anibal Godoy had a point-blank look at the goal in the 40th minute that went wide. SDFC outshot St. Louis 16-2 on the night, though St. Louis had more shots on goal (two) than SDFC (one).
SDFC’s Marcus Ingvartsen’s header went over the crossbar in the 74th minute. A free kick in the 77th minute was deflected by SDFC and caught by a leaping St. Louis goalie. And in the 86th minute, Willy Kumado popped a shot off a corner kick that looped high over the crossbar.
“Scoring goals in football is the hardest thing to do, especially against a team that doesn’t want you to score,” Varas said. “Ultimately, what was missing is a little bit of detail in the final pass and the final action.”
The homophobic chant started late, with some fans screaming a one-word epithet just as the St. Louis goalkeeper struck his goal kicks. A message asking fans to stop was posted to the Snapdragon Stadium video board three times; ultimately, the public-address announcer warned that future use would result in the match being suspended. Stoppage time ran out moments later, and the match ended in a 0-0 tie.
Varas was quick to point out that SDFC’s supporters groups were not behind the chant. Rather, he said, it appeared to come from fans in other parts of the stadium.
“We’re a community full of love and support, and we believe in the power of diversity,” Varas said. “I want to make sure that everybody knows it was not from our main supporter group, La Frontera. They match the same values as us. They believe the same as us. They are our teammates. This came from more of the general population in the seats, and it wasn’t everybody. …”
Said Heaps: “It is totally against our values as a club and also who we are as people. One of our core values is ‘Be a good person,’ and that’s what we will continue to stand behind. It’s totally unacceptable. As a club, we’ll make sure it will not continue into the future.”
Varas said he was proud of the way his team played, both with and without Lozano. Through two matches, SDFC is 1-0-1 and has yet to allow a goal.
“They look like a well-oiled machine already,” Heaps said.
In that way, Saturday felt a little more like a win.
“The stadium was electric, the boys were electric,” Varas said. “Considering that we’ve been together for six weeks and we’re very disappointed with a tie, it shows a lot.”
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