Video: Seattle getting soccer preview

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SEATTLE - A huge crowd gathered at Qwest Field Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of a high profile soccer match between Mexico and China.

By 5 p.m., two hours before the official start of the game, more than 55,000 tickets had been sold.

Soccer enthusiasts say it's a taste of what's to come. This time next year, Seattle will be home to its own professional soccer team – the newly minted Seattle Sounders FC.

"I think the whole world has gotten smaller, and I think once people get exposed to the sport, it really gets into your veins and I think that's what's happened," said Gary Wright, Senior Vice President of the Seattle Sounders FC.

Both lifelong soccer fans and some newly minted ones trekked from all over the Pacific Northwest for the match between Mexico and China. The Arguello family drove eight hours from Idaho.

"I think cause all of our family enjoy it," said Maribel Arguello. "Our kids are in soccer, I mean me and my husband play soccer. My sister-in-law, my father-in-law we always are really into it. It's just, we really love the game."

It's that intergenerational passion that has the owners of Seattle's newly minted soccer team so enthusiastic about the team they're in the process of fielding. They hope to start signing on players within weeks.

That's got fans excited.

"I think you're going to get a whole different group of people, you know. Instead of basketball fans, you're going to get soccer fans," said Auburn resident Lori Anderson.