SAN JOSE — The Bay Area’s newest professional soccer team made its San Jose debut Wednesday in handing the Earthquakes their first defeat of the preseason.

The San Francisco Deltas of the North American Soccer League turned a first-half goal by former Real Salt Lake forward Devon Sandoval into a 1-0 victory at the Quakes’ practice field.

Sandoval scored off a set piece in the first goal the Quakes have allowed during training camp. They scored an own goal last week in a 1-1 draw against Real Salt Lake.

Related Articles Top German team to play San Jose Earthquakes in July

San Jose Earthquakes hire former EPL striker as assistant coach

Earthquakes to add Albanian midfielder to improved roster The game saw debuts from Quakes winger Simon Dawkins and central midfielder Anibal Godoy. But four newcomers who have infused San Jose with optimism weren’t in the country. Coach Dominic Kinnear said Danny Hoesen (Holland), Jahmir Hyka (Albania), Florian Jungwirth (Germany) and Marco Urena (Costa Rica) have visa issues.

“Getting them into the country is taking a little more time than usual,” he said. “It’s beyond me. We’ve had guys in and they’re going back out.”

The other newcomer — Panamanian defender Harold Cummings — is recovering from a sports hernia surgery. The powerful center back could be ready by the opener March 4 at Avaya Stadium against the Montreal Impact.

Hoesen and Jungwirth played last weekend in Las Vegas before departing. Jungwirth, in particular, is getting rave reviews for his quality on the backline.

“The guys accepted them,” Kinnear said of the Europeans. Jungwirth “does a lot of the basic things correctly. One thing I like about him, he’s a talker. He’s only been here a week or two but he’s is trying to tell guys where the go and how he sees the game.”

— Stanford’s Graduate School of Business now has two alums who are shaping Bay Area soccer. Deltas founder and chief executive Brian Andres Helmick joins Earthquakes president Dave Kaval as Stanford graduates using their entrepreneurship know-how to promote soccer regionally.

Andres Helmick said the game Wednesday came about after he spoke last year to Kaval’s Stanford class.

The Deltas open NASL play March 25 at revamped Kezar Stadium against the Indy Eleven and have an April 29 showdown at home against the New York Cosmos. The Deltas’ regular season ends Oct. 28. The NASL is a respected league one division below Major League Soccer.

The upgrades at 10,000-seat Kezar include almost 4,000 seats from Candlestick Park, better lighting and improved locker rooms. The team and city have invested $1 million in improvements.

The Deltas feature three Canadian national team players — defenders Karl W. Ouimette and Nana Attakora (a former Quakes center back) and striker Kyle Bekker, who also played in MLS for FC Dallas, the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC. Brazilian winger Jackson also played for Dallas and Toronto.

— Top rookies Nick Lima (Cal) and Jackson Yueill (UCLA) have impressed Quakes coaches in the preseason to add to an already crowded competition for roster spots. Kinnear isn’t sure if the players will be sent to the team’s minor league affiliate in Reno this season to gain experience.

Lima, a quick and feisty fullback from Castro Valley, became San Jose’s second Homegrown player in December.

“I’ve learned so much in the last month compared to college soccer,” he said.

Such as?

College coaches “can’t teach the speed of the game, they can’t teach you the physicality,” Lima said.

Yueill, who is expected to compete for time in the central midfield with Fatai Alashe and Marc Pelosi, also has grown in the month since becoming a pro.

“Every time you step on the field it is a competition,” he said. “Only one or two of us are going to play. One thing I’ve learned there are no days off even when you don’t have practice.”