EL CAJON — Hirving “Chucky” Lozano has already experienced the exuberance of thousands of fans eager for Major League Soccer to finally come to San Diego.
That was on stage at the Rady Shell 8 1/2 months ago, when the Mexican star was officially introduced as San Diego FC’s first-ever designated player.
Just wait until he and the rest of SDFC step onto the pitch at Snapdragon Stadium for their inaugural home match Saturday night against St. Louis City SC — especially after the expansion club stunned the defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy 2-0 in its debut on Sunday.
“I think it will be even more special than that event because of what we showed on the pitch and it being our first home game with our people, with our fans, so it will definitely be more exciting,” Lozano said through an interpreter on Thursday. “I think the game itself will be very thrilling for us mentally and also physically.”
SDFC is expecting the largest crowd ever at 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium, which opened in 2022 for San Diego State football and is also home to the San Diego Wave.
Right wing Anders Dreyer scored both goals in the memorable first match in club history. He’d like to make Saturday night memorable for the fans.
Asked about the expectations, he said: “I don’t want to put them too high, but hopefully it’s going to be nice. I’m looking forward to that. Hopefully it’s going to be a magical night and we want to make it a magical Saturday for the fans and for the city and for this place.”
SDFC’s players noticed the estimated 1,000 SDFC ers who chanted and sang in the upper deck at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday.
“Playing at home, it will be a lovely experience like it was at the Galaxy, where our ers were. We’ll keep the same workflow with the same objective we had last game,” Lozano said after the team’s training session on a steamy East County morning at the Sharp HealthCare Performance Center at Singing Hills.
The players know they elevated expectations by winning the club’s inaugural match.
“Obviously we set the standard high. We know that. We’re prepared for that,” forward Tomás Ángel said. “Obviously we’re going to go out and try to win.”
Ángel said it will be an honor to put on the home kit for the first time.
“It’s very rare, a situation like this, in this kind of sport,” he said. “Not every time are you going to see a new team to write those first pages, to write those first chapters. Everything you do, and do well, it’s going to be there forever and nobody’s going to erase it. It’s very exciting.”
Dreyer received numerous messages of congratulations after his big performance.
“Now, of course, I want to continue and do well on Saturday. Most important is that we as a team go out, first home game for San Diego Football Club, and we want to make that as a good history also.”
Coach Mikey Varas has sensed the fans’ excitement.
“It’s pretty obvious when you meet the fans and are around them,” Varas said. “We’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of events where we’ve had really close interactions with the fans. I recognize most of their faces now and I know a lot of their names, which for me is something quite special.”
