But there was one Xolos player who appeared to draw more attention from the crowd.

That would be midfielder and Sweetwater High alum Joe Corona.

"It's amazing, the impact that you have on a lot of kids," Corona said as he walked to his car in the parking lot. "How the look up to you, that is something that is very nice for a professional soccer player. When I was a little kid I always dreamed, looked up to another player. It feels good to make other people feel good."

And the Xolos might have a good feeling about training in Chula Vista.

The last time they trained here was prior to its final preseason match against Dorados de Sinaloa, a Second Division team. Tijuana went on to win the match, convincingly.

But there might be something more about training at the Olympic Center. Corona said it is somewhat ironic that he was training at an Olympic facility on the day the men's soccer semifinals were played at the London Olympic Games. That included a Mexico win against Japan. El Tri has secured its first soccer Olympic medal when it faces Brazil in the gold medal match Saturday.

Corona briefly wore Mexico's uniform last summer when he was called up to be part of a pool of players Mexico coach Luis Fernando Tena would take to the Panamerican games and ultimately to London. Corona was not called for either tournament, eventually being summoned by the United States.

"I have a lot of friends on that team," Corona said. "So, I wish them well. Hopefully they will get that gold medal."

Corona was part of the United States Under-23 squad that fell seconds short of qualifying to the Olympics after giving up a last minute goal against El Salvador in the qualifying tournament in March.

"I would have loved to be in London right now," Corona said. "I'm here with Tijuana training. We didn't qualify. That's how things are. We got to keep our head up. I'm concentrating here with the club and that's all I'm looking up to."

Youth players were looking up to Xolos players Friday night. Even Tijuana's backups and the younger ones on the roster posed for pictures.

That included Esteban "Stevie" Rodriguez, a member of the U.S. Under-17 national team that competed in the U-17 FIFA World Cup last summer. There also was Mater Dei High alum Alejandro Guido, who was also part of the World Cup team and part of the U.S. Residency Program.

"This is something else, to be received like this," Rodriguez said of the hospitality at the Olympic Center. "It can be overwhelming."

Guido, part of the Xolos' Under-20 squad, said he could get used to it.

After all he is trying for a slot in the senior team and join Rodriguez, who was moved up to the first squad last season after signing a professional contract to play with Tijuana's U-20s in February.

Cornejo, the Xolos' assistant manager hopes to see Rodriguez and Guido on the senior team in the near future.

And he hopes the club continues to train at the Olympic Center.

"We come here because the facilities are top-notch," Cornejo said. "We'll do this hoping that we are training some future U.S. Soccer stars that will play in the 2016 Brazil Olympics.

ivan.orozco@sandiegored.com