| Posted: 02 March 2010 at 4:26pm | IP Logged
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from the herald.
A hostile crowd of 60,000 is expected to engulf the All Whites at Los Angeles's massive Rose Bowl Stadium when they face Mexico's national soccer team this week.
The All Whites will play Mexico - ranked 17th, against New Zealand's 79 - in a World Cup preparation match on Thursday, New Zealand time.
The projected attendance was 60,000, Rose Bowl Stadium organisers told nzherald.co.nz.
In a city home to 4.7 million Hispanics, and California to more than 8 million Mexicans, the overwhelming majority will be Mexico supporters.
It is likely to be one of the biggest crowds most All Whites players would have faced.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the crowd in last week's match against Bolivia, played in San Francisco, was "pro-Mexico".
Before 34,244 supporters Mexico thrashed Bolivia - who did not qualify for the World Cup but ranks 23 places higher than New Zealand in FIFA's world rankings - five to zero.
That game was at San Francisco's Candlestick Park, which has 30,000 fewer seats than Los Angeles' Rose Bowl Stadium.
The Rose Bowl Stadium is home to one of the United States' biggest american football games between university teams every year, played on New Years Day.
The 1973 Rose Bowl drew a record attendance of 106,869.
The All Whites' New Zealand-based players and management flew out of Auckland last night.
They will be without captain Ryan Nelsen, out for up to six weeks with a hyperextended knee.
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Topic: 60 thousand screaming mexicans
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