Attendance at an all-time high

By Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff  |  September 13, 2007

FOXBOROUGH - The 67,584 spectators for Brazil's 3-1 victory over Mexico last night topped the Boston-area high (61,316) for a soccer game, set for the 2002 MLS Cup at Gillette Stadium. Mexico has played twice in the area, performing before 57,407 in a 2-2 tie with the United States in a World Cup qualifier April 20, 1997, the largest soccer crowd in Foxboro Stadium history.

The Boston area has a high concentration of Brazilian immigrants, possibly the greatest in the United States.

Thousands of fans arrived from Brazilian population centers such as Fairfield County, Conn., New York-Newark, and South Florida.

Census figures indicate there are about 34,000 Brazilians residing in the Boston area. But unofficial figures are much higher.

The atmosphere for the match last night was similar to that of the 1994 World Cup, when six matches were sold out at Foxboro Stadium in a 19-day period, the largest crowd at 54,456 for a Bolivia-South Korea scoreless tie.

Grass stains

Mexican players and coach Hugo Sanchez were critical of the grass surface that was installed on top of the stadium's artificial turf Monday.

The game was played on a grass surface, which was laid down over the FieldTurf Monday at a cost of more than $100,000.

Sanchez said the go-ahead goal, scored by Kaka in the 80th minute, resulted from an unexpected bounce that caused a poor clearance by Rafa Marquez.

"[Marquez] was impeccable," Sanchez said. "Impeccable. Except for one error and that was caused by the field."

Marquez was not expected to perform for Mexico but was a last-minute addition to the squad after having been suspended for a match with Barcelona.

Colorful result

Brazilian stars Kaka and Ronaldinho seldom receive yellow cards for tackles, since they are usually concentrating on creating offense, but both were cautioned last night, Ronaldinho for a tackle on Marquez, his Barcelona teammate, in the 14th minute.

"The players love to play a technical game but it's all about getting the results," Kaka said. "For everyone, playing beautiful is legal."

Brazil, which took a 4-2 win over the US Sunday in Chicago, meets Colombia in Bogota in a World Cup qualifier Oct. 14.

"We were motivated by seeing so many Brazilians in the stands," Ronaldinho said. "Now we have qualifying games and we hope to have two good games."