SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com/AP) — A friendly game in Orange County between former players of two professional Mexican soccer clubs turned violent during halftime when dozens of fans rushed the field and brawled.
The “game of legends” between former Club America and Pumas players Sunday was intended to benefit Santa Ana-based United Soccer Talents Foundation, which supports soccer players, according to the Orange County Register.
Santa Ana police Cmdr. Jeffrey Smith says about 50 fans descended from the stands after the first half ended and began fighting. Police officers cleared the field and stands.
Video from Congragolpe.net, a Spanish-language sports news site, shows fans punching and kicking at each other, then dropping onto the field from the stands to join the fray. Security guards were later seen running around some of the fighting, spraying pepper spray.
Smith says five suspects were detained and the rest of the game was canceled. Video showed some fans repeatedly kicking one man who was down on the field.
Better known players at the game included former Mexican national team members Luis Roberto “Zague” Alves and Alberto Garcia Aspe, Paraguay’s Salvador Cabanas, Chile’s Fabian Estay and Colombia’s Andres Chitiva.
Club America led 2-1 at the half.
The rivalry between the two teams is intense in Mexico.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
