Miller Park draws rave reviews from soccer contingent

For 90 minutes, the overwhelmingly pro-Chivas crowd at Miller Park cheered and chanted and sang and screamed, positively delighted to be watching the first professional soccer game in the Milwaukee Brewers' ballpark, despite its team's 1-0 deficit to Swansea F.C and the overall lacking quality of play.

Then, finally, in the last minute of regular time, Chivas -- or at least referee Andres Pfefferkorn -- gave their already overjoyed supporters something to actually celebrate on the field.

After Swansea was called for a foul in the box in the 90th minute, Chivas midfielder Giovani Hernandez coolly converted a penalty kick, tying the score at 1 and securing a draw in the teams' Wednesday friendly that surely felt like a triumph for many of the 31,237 fans wearing the historic Mexican side's red-and-white striped jersey.

"The environment was fantastic," Chivas coach Carlos Bustos said after the match.

In the first soccer game ever played at Miller Park, the story of the night was the passion of the fans, most of which supported Club Deportivo Guadalajara, otherwise known as Chivas. Supporters packed the open-roofed stadium, hoisting banners, waving flags, rattling noisemakers, blowing horns and proudly displaying "Vamos Chivas" signs. It made for a buzzing, fiesta-like atmosphere decidedly different from the baseball games normally played at the park.

"It was spectacular to see this many Mexicans out here," Bustos said. "We were just amazed by this. We thought it was beautiful and it really helped our team."

If a mellow, unremarkable first half on the field boiled down to a battle between Swansea star midfielder Jonjo Shelvey -- who twice nearly scored on scorching free kicks -- and Chivas goalkeeper Antonio Rodriquez, the second half was an open, fluid, rousing affair.

And the rambunctious crowd never died down -- not when Swansea's Nathan Dyer scored on a deflected shot in the 57th minute to put the English Premier League side up 1-0, and not as the lead held into the final moments of the match. A skirmish between Jesus Sanchez and Neil Taylor in the 80th minute that resulted in both players receiving red cards and being ejected even seemed to spur the crowd's rapture. When all was said and done, four yellow cards -- two to each team -- and two red cards had been shown in what turned out to be a physical match.

"I certainly don't like things to be chippy, and I think the chippiness just happened because the other team is more physical -- they play in a very physical league in the EPL," Bustos said. "We're certainly trying to ease things off since we start playing this weekend in our regular season."

After a flurry of Chivas chances on corner kicks and crosses in the final five minutes failed to net a tying goal, the crowd continued to sing and chant and happily hurl its customary explicit jeer at the Swansea goalkeeper every time he kicked the ball. Fans even reintroduced Miller Park to the wave, sending it round and around the stadium, whipping themselves further into frenzy.

"It was a very beautiful environment and I think that this environment gave an incentive to both teams to play as well as they could, even as it was a preseason game," Bustos said.

Swansea defender Leon Britton agreed about the ambiance, offering Miller Park and Milwaukee soccer fans the ultimate compliment in the process.

"The atmosphere was very good," he said. "The way the opposing fans treated us tonight, it was very much like an away game in the English Premier League."

When forward Carlos Fierro was pulled down in the box -- a foul that Swansea supporters could have considered a gift from the referee to the crowd that had made the exhibition seem like a Chivas home game -- everyone in the stadium rose to their feet. Hernandez then rewarded his team's fans with the tying goal, and the Chivas supporters erupted.

It was a fitting result as the Mexicans outshot the Welsh side nine to seven and took five corner kicks to Swansea's two.

"We kept pushing up and were working up to it and got our goal by circumstance," Bustos said of his team finally scoring following multiple late opportunities.

Afterward, players and coaches from both teams said the field, which was slightly narrower than a normal soccer pitch and was played atop the infield diamond and left-field grass, was in excellent condition. Bustos said despite the different dimensions, the width of the field didn't lead to any tactical decisions.

"I found the pitch to be good; I found the stadium very nice," Bustos said. "I hope it was a great spectacle for people and I hope they enjoyed it. Both Chivas and Swansea came out and tried to play a good game, and we thought we did, and it was a great, enjoyable experience."

Britton, a 31-year-old who's played in England since 1998, said he found the crowd, the field and Miller Park to be well-adapted for soccer.

"It's a fantastic stadium," he said. "It's a great venue."