COMMERCE CITY - Dick's Sporting Goods Park was built with the belief it would be one of the finest soccer facilities not only in the United States, but in the entire world.

This week, the metro Denver area's newest professional sports venue will provide an interesting experiment to see how far along American soccer fans have progressed compared with fans abroad.

One can only wonder whether David Beckham's much-anticipated first competitive visit to the Mile High City on Sunday will generate the same gushing enthusiasm that was on display Wednesday night during a friendly between the national teams from Mexico and Colombia.

Colombia withstood constant early pressure by Mexico and used a goal by emerging national team star Jaime Castrillon to record a 1-0 victory.

The result sent much of the crowd of 17,737, which was overwhelmingly partisan toward Mexico, home disappointed after a night of constant chanting, horn blowing, whistling, and flag-and-banner waving.

"It's beautiful," Colombia coach Jorge Luis Pinto said of the stadium. "There's a lot of money there that they were able to build something like this. You've got the fans so close that love soccer.

"I think this is incredible work, incredible structure. I congratulate the architects for building something like this. The field is in great condition, and the stands, as well, are perfect."

Castrillon's goal, in the 53rd minute on a nifty give-and-go maneuver with fellow midfielder Macnelly Torres, continued an impressive summer in international play that began during the Copa America tournament.

Though Colombia lost two of three games in that competition, Castrillon made his mark by scoring two of the team's three goals, including the club's only goal in its lone victory, 1-0 against the United States in the tournament finale for both teams.

Mexico and its star striker, Omar Bravo, pressured the Colombian defense throughout the match but was unable to beat goalkeeper Agustin Julio.

Mexico's best chance occurred in the 42nd minute, when a header attempt by Johnny Magallon of a corner kick deflected off the right post.

Bravo spent most of the night being marked closely by Colombian defender Steven Velez.

The Colombians have won their past two matches against Mexico, though the teams had not played against each other since Colombia recorded a 2-1 win in the 2005 Gold Cup.

"It was deserved (for us) to win because we won the back on defense," Pinto said. "They attacked us quickly, but we settled down. We were ready to play. Each team in the end wanted to provide a show to the fans. I think they had one or two chances in the beginning, but then we were able to control their attacks. We were able to control the game in the middle of the field."

Colombia 1, Mexico 0

Colombia......0	1	-	1
Mexico......0	0	-	0

Goals - Col, Castrillon (Torres), 53; Shots on goal - Col, 0-2-2; Mex, 1-0-1. Saves - Col (Julio 1); Mex (Ochoa 1). Corner kicks - Col, 1-0-1; Mex, 3-4-7. A - 17,737.

Back to Top