You know what the announced crowd of 49,617 at SDCCU Stadium was thinking:

Seven-nil.

Mexico finally broke through in its exhibition against Chile on Friday night when Carlos Salcedo drew a penalty in the box and Raul Jimenez, who had hit the post a minute earlier, converted it in the 52nd minute. In the 63rd minute, Mexico scored again. In the 65th minute, a third.

In the 66th minute, nearly a fourth.


There’s probably nothing El Tri can do to erase the embarrassment, the pit-of-the-stomach humiliation, of the historic 7-0 loss against Chile in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Copa America Centenario that elicited the headline, “Tridiculo,” in Mexico City newspaper Record. But Friday’s 3-1 win, convincing and comprehensive as it was, is at least a start.

It was also a start for new coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who was greeted with lukewarm applause when he was introduced before kickoff that grew into thunderous elation as his team launched wave after wave of attacks in the second half.

Playing Chile, the architect of so much angst for El Tri, represented a risk in his debut. Playing Chile in San Diego did not, though.

Over the last seven years, Mexico is 2-0 against Chile in this stadium … and 0-3-2 against La Roja everywhere else.


“I don’t think people should go crazy for a good win in a friendly in my first game,” Martino said in Spanish. “It is you guys (in the media) who can help keep this from getting out of hand. I said yesterday that I had high hopes about the team. As a coach, when a team takes what you do in three days of practice and you show it in a game, then you definitely will continue with high hopes.”

Martino called a veteran roster of 28 and offered no real surprises in his starting 11. Eight played in the 2018 World Cup and five currently are based in Europe: goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (Belgium), defender Hector Moreno (Spain), winger Hirving Lozano (Netherlands), midfielder Andres Guardado (Spain) and Jimenez (England). Five played in the fateful 2016 game against Chile.

The only newbie was Carlos Rodriguez, a 22-year-old midfielder from Mexican club Tigres who received his first cap.

Martino aligned them in his preferred 4-3-3 formation, which meant there was room for only one center forward and either Jimenez or Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez would be relegated to the bench.


Martino has said they conceivably could partner up top but conceded that was unlikely, and Friday he chose Jimenez, who is in superb form with Wolverhampton Wolves (scoring in the 2-1 upset of Manchester United in the F.A. Cup last weekend). Hernandez was a 74th-minute substitute for him.

Martino, notably, didn’t sub before that.

Despite a lackluster first half that required a spectacular save by Ochoa (making his 100th career appearance for Mexico) to keep it 0-0, Martino didn’t send in a legion of subs, as you regularly see in friendlies. He made some tactical adjustments in the locker room, then gave his starters extra leash to figure things out.

And they did. Moreno made it 2-0 on a header off a corner kick that was deftly placed in the far corner. Chile kicked off and promptly lost the ball, and El Tri was on the break again – Rodolfo Pizarro finding Lozano on the right side for an easy finish and a 3-0 lead that sent what little beer was left in the cups of fans flying through the night air.


A minute later, it would have been 4-nil had Chile’s Arturo Vidal not raced back from his central midfield position to avert what appeared to be a certain goal.

Chile forward Nicolas Castillo, who plays for Mexico’s Club America, made it 3-1 in the 69th minute. Hernandez appeared to have made it 4-1 in injury time, only for it to be ruled offside.

Martino has been mostly diplomatic in his answers with the Mexican media, but he did not hold back when discussing the state of the SDCCU Stadium field. Teams typically are allowed to train in the stadium the day before a game, but neither did so more areas could be re-sodded after the Alliance of American Football’s San Diego Fleet played home games there on four of the past five weekends.

“The field is bad,” Martino said at a news conference Thursday night. “They’re working on it. I hope they represent the interests of the Mexican national team. With the value of this team, they should have good conditions, especially when they knew about this game months ago.”


The final product: A long strip of grass down the middle of the field, maybe 15 yards wide, was replaced. So were both end zones, along with some sideline sections where the teams stood during Fleet games. The football lines from a game five days earlier were barely visible.

The concern: If the seams between rolls of sod don’t have time to properly bond, players could catch a cleat in the gaps and twist an ankle or knee. And the value of the roster Martino brought is worth north of $200 million on the international transfer market.

But while the field didn’t look as pristine as past games at the SDCCU stadium, it played reasonably well and there were no major injuries.

One thing that didn’t change from past El Tri games here is the four-letter Spanish word that fans have chanted for years during goal kicks by the opposing team. A campaign by Mexico’s soccer federation to eradicate the chant has worked in some places, but certainly not in San Diego – where it seems to be getting more robust.


Aztecs × On Now Video: Aztecs make history with upset over No. 6 Nevada On Now Aztecs prepare for Fresno State On Now Aztecs beat New Mexico, 97-77 On Now Dutcher, Aztecs prepare for Air Force On Now Aztecs beat Wyoming, 84-54 On Now Aztecs prepare for conference game against Boise On Now Aztecs beat Texas Southern, 103-64 On Now Rocky Long: "This team has overachieved" On Now SDSU West bests SoccerCity as voters embrace a new vision for Mission Valley stadium site On Now Aztecs win season opener, 76-60


mark.zeigler@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutzeigler