San Diego Loyal Friendly Provides Important Lessons On And Off The Field

It might have been just 12,207 fans to see Borussia Dortmund beat USL Championship side San Diego Loyal 6-0 thanks to goals by Julien Duranville (2’), Youssoufa Moukoko (27’), Marco Reus (59’), Thomas Meunier (62’), Sébastien Haller (68’), and Paul-Philipp Besong (89’).The match was certainly a stark contrast from the sold-out Wrexham friendly against Manchester United’s reserve side earlier this week.

It is certainly difficult to compete with Ryan Reynold’s Welsh pet project, but there was some sense of disappointment that the two sides were not a bigger draw. Perhaps a match against a Premier
PINC
League side or even a club from Major League Soccer would have been a bigger draw. After all, Bayern Munich last season managed to sell out Audi Field for their friendly against D.C. United. But MLS teams are currently engaged in the Leagues Cup, making such a fixture impossible.

Then there is the fact that although San Diego is an emerging market, Loyal has only been around since 2020. And even though their fan engagement surrounding the match was incredible, the club struggled to move the masses. Then you must add the fact that MLS will soon expand to the market, adding a team in San Diego in 2025.

Different US markets can be difficult to gauge. 2. Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern recently drew a respectable attendance against USL Championship side Louisville City FC, and Bayer Leverkusen sold out their friendly against St. Louis CITY SC in November. But that same month, Stuttgart and Köln played in front of just a few hundred fans in Austin—although that game was impacted by poor weather.

In other words, the US market can be difficult for German clubs, who, unlike Premier League teams—or Wrexham—are not a big draw anywhere. But that does not mean that Dortmund or other Bundesliga teams should not engage in those markets. If anything, it highlights that German clubs have not done enough in recent years when it comes to the US market.

With all that in mind, Dortmund thinks the friendly in San Diego was a success. “Being present internationally, especially at a place where we have our academy is important,” Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic said when asked about the difficulties of travel and holding the camp in the United States. “Just look around the stadium; we have so many fans everywhere and the happiness it brings to people in places like Asia, where we were in the winter, or now in the United States.”

Terzic was also quick to point out the excellent atmosphere at Snapdragon Stadium. “Their fans were engaged throughout the entire match and made a ton of noise,” Terzic said. “But also, whenever one looked up, you could see all the BVB
VB
fans inside the stadium. It was a great experience.”

In fact, engaging with the San Diego market now, which is poised to have both the Loyal and the future MLS franchise, could be a smart move after Bayern Munich cornered the market in Los Angeles after signing an extensive cooperation agreement with LAFC. In fact, soccer could have a similar impact in San Diego than in St. Louis, where the sport pretty much took over after the NFL franchise Rams left for Los Angeles—ironically, San Diego lost the Chargers also to LA.

Those are the off-field lessons from Dortmund’s first match in the United States. On the field, Dortmund was dominant against the Loyal despite showing signs that many players are still playing with heavy legs.

“The legs were certainly heavy after our first few training sessions,” Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic said after the game. “But like it was the case in the first few friendlies in Germany, we still make too many mistakes that make us unhappy, and we need to work on shutting down.”

In fact, Terzic has been working the players hard over the last few days at training camp, and that showed in many of the passes and first touches. But despite the heavy legs, Dortmund’s quality in front of goal quickly made the difference. Where the Loyal produced chance after chance, Dortmund would score pretty much on every opportunity they produced.

“They had too many chances,” Terzic said. Big lessons then on and off the field for Dortmund. Off the field, the game at Snapdragon highlighted that BVB needs to continue to engage communities in the United States, and on the pitch, there is still work to be completed ahead of a Bundesliga season in which the club wants to finally dethrone Bayern Munich.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth and on Threads: @manuveth