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(Photo Credit: Ashley Orellana special for Firebird Soccer)

Club America and Manchester United thrilled 37,766 fans at the University of Phoenix Stadium Thursday night, playing to a 1-1 draw.

Some observations I drew throughout the evening while watching an entertaining match:

• As I walked through the concourse during the pre-game, it was evident that fans were very passionate about their clubs. Fans cheered both teams loudly as they came out for warmups, and fans on both sides were chanting throughout the concourse.
• I was quite surprised at the amount of press that traveled for Manchester United, but most of the press covering Club America were people that mostly seemed to be local.
• Even though Manchester United is traveling with a light squad, the team put up a solid performance. Their biggest concern: striker. They only have one (Anthony Martial) currently on the tip, and if he goes down, Manchester United could be in for a long season ahead with most of its players that played in the World Cup not playing for at least another month or longer.
• Most of the main players that played for Club America played between 45 and 60 minutes, as league play in the Apertura begins this week for the Liga MX club.
• Club America coach Miguel Herrera was of course his animated self on the sideline and as cool as a cucumber in the press room after the match.
• Conversely, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was very subdued both on the sidelines and in press room afterwards.
• The Phoenix metro area can sustain soccer. To get that kind of crowd to a mid-week match for a preseason friendly only shows that soccer can work in this area.