COMMERCE CITY — Ivan Robles was ecstatic when he heard the Mexican national team was coming to Colorado for an international friendly against Bolivia, giving him an opportunity to see “El Tri” play in person for the first time.
“I nearly jumped out of a chair,” Robles said with a wide smile Tuesday night before Mexico defeated Bolivia 1-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in front of thousands of fans clad in the green, white and red colors of Mexico. “We got tickets right away. I’m pretty excited to see people from my family’s country play here.”
Robles, 12, was with several family members, including his aunt, Esther Bracamontes, and her two sons, ages 7 and 4.
“They’re pretty excited right now,” she said. “We’re happy. We’ve got front-row tickets, too.”
While her little ones entertained themselves blowing on horns, ESPN’s Spanish-language channel (Deportes) was setting up nearby to interview Rapids star Vicente Sanchez in front of the stadium. Sanchez is from Uruguay but has a large and passionate following in Mexico because of his many years as a star there. After his ESPN interview, he was off to sign autographs for adoring fans.
“Today I’m happy for the Mexicans here,” Sanchez said after chatting with Deportes.
Mexico is a team in transition after nearly failing to qualify for the World Cup. Three coaches were fired in a span of six weeks in the fall of 2013.
Miguel Herrera took over, guided the team through a two-game playoff with New Zealand — which Mexico won — and coached the team at the World Cup with sideline histrionics that made him a star on television networks and the Internet around the globe.
Mexico finished second in its group and nearly knocked off the Netherlands in the first game of the knockout stage.
Now Herrera is shaping his team for Copa America 2015 and the World Cup in 2018. He started three players against Bolivia who were on the World Cup squad and six “new generation” players.
Mexico’s goal came in the 18th minute by defender Miguel Layún off a rebound.
With 18,136 in attendance, the game turned a little ragged in the second half. Bolivia, which largely sat back and absorbed pressure in the first half, got more assertive but never really threatened Mexico goalkeeper Moises Muñoz.
Playing with the lead, Mexico seemed content to play for counterattacks after intermission. Both teams hit the post in the game’s waning moments — Andres Guardado for Mexico, Ronald Eguino for Bolivia.
John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnmeyer
