People wonder why soccer continues to have trouble gaining traction in this country. One indicator may be the crowd at Saturday's Gold Cup match in Pasadena.
Of the 93,000 people at the Rose Bowl to watch Team Mexico beat America in the Gold Cup Final, about 80,000 were cheering for Mexico.
The crowd, the largest for a Gold Cup game in the U.S., greeted the introduction of each American player by shouting "Burro!" -- "Donkey!"
"Obviously, the support that Mexico has on a night like tonight makes it a home game for them," United States coach Bob Bradley said. "It's something that we expected. As a team, we understand that it's part of what we've got to deal with."
Mexican fans didn't have much to cheer about early.
Landon Donovan scored on a pretty left-footed shot to put Team America up 2-0l. Donovan's 13th career Gold Cup goal, that's a record.
But after that Mexico took over.
SportsWrap
The top sports headlines of the day
Pablo Barrera scored a pair of goals. His second put Mexico up 3-2.
Giovani Dos Santos put it way out of reach with a scintillating goal in the 76th minute.
"They're as dynamic as any Mexican team I've played against," said Landon Donovan, who has played for the United States since 2000. "They've got a few guys who can change the game in a heartbeat."
"We just lost concentration on a couple of plays," Donovan said, "and they made us pay."
Mexico wins 4-2, earning a coveted spot in the 2013 Confederations Cup.
