Hirving Lozano wants to build something that will last in San Diego, after they have joined as their very first designated player after signing the Dutch club PSV in January.
San Diego will play their inaugural home game against St. Louis City this weekend in Snapdragon Stadium.
The newest expansion team from MLS defeated De La Galaxy 2-0 on the road in their opening match.
Lozano enjoyed success in the Netherlands and Italy, but the Mexican said that the move to California was more than just playing football.
“I experienced a part of my career in Pachuca in a similar way, so the opportunity to help young children reach their dream, and for me to be the motivator for them to come to San Diego, is part of my choice,” he said.
“I want to leave a legacy, a footprint for future generations.”
Lozano has already contributed to the victory of San Diego in the Galaxy, but Club -Ceo Tom Penn is happy with the impact that the winger made at a human level.
“He has a smile that lights up the room,” said Penn about Lozano. “He loves his fans and people. One day our supporters came to a training; he came out and surprised the fans on the training field. Chucky hugged each of them!
“You can only be the fundamental player once, right? Well executed, there will someday be a statue of him. That is the goal, is to get here and do what he has done in other places: that's Win Trophies.
“This is a remarkable and great city. They will love him as soon as he scores goals and everyone sees him wearing San Diego over his chest.”
The biggest. Crowd. Ever.
We anticipate the largest audience in the history of Snapdragon Stadium for the historic inaugural home game of the club on Saturday, presented by @directv
Limited tickets still available …
1/2 pic.twitter.com/0eze1yibyq
– San Diego FC (@Sandiegofc) 26 February 2025
Players to watch
San Diego – Hirving Lozano
Otherwise Lozano offered Dreyer an assist for what the first MLS goal was from San Diego in their history.
He also had four goals and two assists for PSV before switching to the new team in January, so he is in sharp form in the last third part.
St. Louis City – Marcel Hartel
Hartel contributed eight target contributions in just nine games for St. Louis in the 2024 season.
The German signed from St. Pauli in the summer of 2024 and ended the campaign with more assists than any other St. Louis player for the season (five).
Match -Forecast: Draw
Only two of the last seven MLS extension teams have lost their inaugural home game (W4 D1), while 14 of the 16 expansion teams have scored in their home opener – only Austin FC (2021) and Charlotte FC (2022) did not have this done.
But having said that, only four expansion teams have ever won their first two games in MLS: Chicago Fire in 1998, Seattle Sounders in 2009, Los Angeles FC in 2018 and St. Louis City SC in 2023.
St. Louis City won only one of the 18 road races in all competitions in 2024 (D8 L9), with that victory that came over League-strict San Jose. After winning his first three road races such as MLS club, St. Louis has won only four of 35 on the road in all competitions since (D11 L20).
However, the visitors were confronted with only two shots in the first game of the season, a 0-0 draw with Colorado. That is the least shots that a team confronted in a seasonal opening match, because the trade union only had two shots against Colorado to start the 2015 campaign.
Opta wins probability
San Diego – 34.3%
Drawing – 25.8%
St. Louis City – 39.9%
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