As World Cup approaches,USAs favourite team are Mexico

But when the game arrived,they were overwhelmed. Traffic heading north from the border on Interstate 805 was backed up for miles,and as kickoff approached,people began to park on the side of the road. They walked down embankments and through a creek and dashed across streets to reach Jack Murphy Stadium. Once there,long lines snaked from ticket windows.

When the crowd finally settled in,shortly after halftime,nearly 50,000 people filled the stadium.

That game,in a way,opened the eyes of the Mexican national team and promoters of what was possible if you took risks, said Paul Mendes,who has been involved with organising Mexicos games in the United States for much of the last two decades. It set off a wave.

That wave is growing. Mexicos trips to the United States,including Friday nights sold-out exhibition against Ecuador at the new 75,000-seat stadium in the Meadowlands in New Jersey,are big business.

Mexico will play Senegal at Soldier Field in Chicago on Monday and Angola at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Thursday. By the end of the tour,which is to prepare Mexicos players for the World Cup,the team known as El Tricolor will have played six games in the United States in less than three months,almost all before capacity crowds.

When Mexico played New Zealand at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena,California,in March,the only game in which European-based players performed,90,000 packed the Rose Bowl on a Wednesday night. It was easy to see what brings Mexico back.

Not just the sheer numbers of fans,many of whom paid more than $40 for tickets about double what tickets would cost in Mexico but also in the hours leading up to the game,the bustling fiesta that surrounded the stadium had the air of a carnival with face painting,lucha libre acts,bands and games.

It was a far different atmosphere a decade ago,when Mexicos games drew a typically young and overwhelmingly male crowd. The crowd now is dotted with women and families,and loutish behavior has waned. It was a quintessential American scene except that the language of choice was Spanish.

Its a nation within a nation, said Doug Logan,the chief executive of USA Track and Field and a former Major League Soccer commissioner. The crowd is more affluent now and the normal tipoff is that there are more women. When it becomes more affluent,it is safer for them to come.

Although some wonder why MLS would be in business with a competitor,Commissioner Don Garber said it fit with the leagues plan. Our goal is to create a soccer nation in our country, he said. We dont care who they root for,who they watch on TV,who drives their passion. These exhibition games create big moments,but ultimately real fans connect with their local clubs.