By Ivan Orozco
ARLINGTON, Texas -What was supposed to be the end of another ordinary team Mexico training session quickly changed when one of the wealthiest men in North American sports showed up.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones took some of his time to pay Mexico a visit Wednesday after the team's first training session inside the impressive new National Football League stadium.
A herd of reporters quickly mobbed Jones as he walked on to the field to meet with the Mexicans.
Jones posed for photographs while shaking the star-struck player's hands.
Players smiled and thanked Jones for hosting the team in the new building estimated to have cost at least $1.1 billion to build.
The second set of Gold Cup quarterfinals Sunday will be the first sporting event held in the stadium. The Guadeloupe-Costa Rica and Mexico-Haiti matches will also serve as a trial run for stadium organizers prior to the inaugural American pro football season.
"I wish that this team could play here every week," Jones said of Mexico. "We are so proud of all our fans that we have in Mexico and all of our Mexican fans that are here in the U.S. We couldn't do without them. They're that important to us. So it's really great."
It was also a memorable moment for Mexico coach Javier Aguirre.
He said he's a life-long Cowboys fan during a news conference featuring all four coaches for Sunday's games and CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer.
"It's an honor to know that," Jones said.
Aguirre met with Jones on the field surrounded by television and still cameras as they shook hands.
Jones welcomed Aguirre and said he was honored to have his team in Dallas and wished the Mexicans good luck.
As a token of his appreciation, Jones let Aguirre wear one of his Super Bowl rings.
"It's to bring the Cowboys good luck and to give Mexico good luck," Jones said.
Jones then paused for a few more minutes to take questions from the Mexican media.
Questions varied from what Jones thought about the Mexican national team to asking if he was a soccer fan.
"Oh, yes," Jones said with a smile. "My children, my family, my sons coach it, all of my grandchildren play soccer."
Jones and his family are hoping their new stadium can attract other soccer events in the future.
English club Chelsea will face Mexican side Club America July 26 in a friendly match.
That is one of a handful of other entertainment events happening at the stadium before the Cowboys open play in September.
The team's chief operating officer and Jones son, Stephen Jones, is hoping the Gold Cup can attract other soccer events to the venue.
"We cross our fingers and believe and hope that someday we'll have a World Cup. That's our goal," Stephen Jones said. "Hopefully this will be a great place where people are going to want and come play soccer."
Event organizers are expecting between 30,000 and 40,000 fans Sunday.
"When we first started thinking about this building, we wanted it to be more than just a home for the Dallas Cowboys," Stephen Jones said. "We wanted it to be for other sports and big crowds and for big sporting events and obviously soccer, were right there on top of the list in wanting to accommodate not only great soccer games but great soccer crowds."
