For the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup final at Soldier Field in Chicago, soccer fans turned out by the thousands decked out in red, white and blue to watch the U.S. Men's National team notch a 1-0 win over Panama.
According to the U.S. Soccer Federation, Sunday's official attendance for the match was 57,920 (Soldier Field's capacity is 63,000 including suites).
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Fans Cheer Gold Cup Win In Chicago
After Panama upset six-time Gold Cup winner Mexico in the semifinals, many took to social media speculating the finals game would suffer attendance-wise with Mexico out of the running (the Chicago area is home to the nation's fourth-largest Mexican population according to the 2010 Census).
Jamie Trecker of Fox Soccer said "hours" before the game, the area around Soldier Field was a veritable ghost town. Closer to kickoff, photos and reports from the around the field told a different story.
A little more than an hour before kickoff, U.S. National Team supporters group American Outlaws tweeted (sarcastically) "Soccer will never be big in this country" accompanied by a photo (embedded below) showing throngs of fans on their way to the match.
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