Hirving Lozano is a man with two faces.
There’s the snarling look, the one he shows defenders after darting past them and drawing a foul – the one he used to scare his youth teammates back in Pachuca, leaping out from under the covers or behind a door and earning the "Chucky" nickname that has stuck with him as he prepares for his 30th birthday this year.
Then, there’s the warm, grinning face San Diego FC fans are learning to love early in the expansion club's inaugural season.
"He's got a smile that lights up the room," CEO Tom Penn said ahead of their home opener at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night against St. Louis CITY SC (10:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+).
"He loves his fans and people. Our supporters came to a training one day; he came out and surprised the fans at the training ground. Chucky hugged every single one of them!"
WATCH: Chucky Lozano on Breakaway
Mexican connection
That beaming face is the face of Major League Soccer's newest club, one carefully selected to help the team score goals and earn points, but also appeal to a unique market.
San Diego bumps against the border with Mexico, and thousands of people cross from Tijuana to San Diego daily to work or visit family. Many more live in the U.S., whether they were born in Mexico or are Mexican-American. While some of those fans have supported teams like the indoor San Diego Sockers or NWSL's San Diego Wave, many have long been waiting for a men's first-division team like those south of the border in Tijuana or a few hours north in Los Angeles.
Adriene Delgado is one of those fans. A leader in the Chavos Frontera Ultras, one of seven supporters’ groups under the new team’s Union umbrella, he started playing soccer when he was young, began supporting local teams soon after and has been in the local soccer scene ever since. When meeting Lozano at a team event this year, Delgado found himself a bit over-awed by the smile, presence and simple fact that an El Tri star like Lozano is here to be SDFC's foundational player.
"We got to visit the training facility. It was crazy. I didn't know what to say. I fangirled out a little bit and think I said something super generic like, 'Welcome to San Diego,'" Delgado said.
"But I remember as he came down the stairs, I could feel everyone around me getting excited like if The Beatles or Elvis were about to walk out. The guy's a rock star, but he’s been right here, super approachable, shaking hands."
Family matters
That meeting at the club’s Sharp HealthCare Performance Center wasn’t an isolated incident. It’s exactly what SDFC leaders found as they began the recruitment process and got to know Lozano and his family.
"What struck me straight off the bat was just how compassionate he is as a person," said Tyler Heaps, SDFC’s sporting director. "He's accomplished a lot in his career, but when you talk to him he's the most normal guy in the world."
Family played a big part in leading Lozano to leave the Netherlands and return to North America, where he joined Pachuca at a young age and eventually led the team to a Concacaf Champions Cup crown. Lozano's children adapted to Europe – and now are multilingual – but there were initial struggles. In San Diego, they'll be minutes away from Mexico and much closer to their extended family in central Mexico.
Lozano also was intrigued by the Right to Dream mission, seeing himself in many of the young players who will join the free residential academy program.
"I experienced part of my career in Pachuca in a similar way, so the possibility to help young kids be able to achieve their dream, and for me to be the motivator for them to come to San Diego, is part of my choice," Lozano, the club's first-ever Designated Player signing, said in his Breakaway episode.
"I want to leave a legacy, a footprint for future generations."
Vela vision
Penn knows how important the right big star can be for an expansion club, not only in building culture and matching the club’s mission, but in performing on the field. Penn was LAFC president when the team signed Lozano’s Mexico teammate, Carlos Vela, as their first player. That move worked out, to put it mildly. Vela was the 2019 Landon Donovan MLS MVP and lifted MLS Cup 2022, as well as two Supporters' Shields.
There are clear parallels between Lozano and Vela’s decisions to return to North America, but they’re not identical cases. The Pachuca product easily could have stayed in Europe after leaving PSV Eindhoven, Penn said, and was in a different career moment than when Vela was approached about leaving Real Sociedad to be LAFC's first player.
"The situations were somewhat similar. In each case, it was a signature player chosen for a new expansion club in Southern California," Penn said.
"The players are quite different in their personality, their approach. So for me, there was a familiarity, but it wasn't copy and paste."
Still, Lozano met all the criteria the SDFC leadership was looking for. Soon, fans will see the big smile that has greeted them at events and around town fade as Lozano gets back to dribbling past defenders, scoring goals and roaring in celebration.
"This league is won and lost by difference-makers, and we think he can be one of the best in this league at that," Heaps said of the reported $12 million signing.
"If you look at some of his goal contributions across many different leagues, he's proven that he can do it not only with the final shot, but also the final pass. That’s something that I think can be very productive, and he can be very productive in this league. We want to set ourselves up to put Hirving in positions to be successful."
Inspirational addition
That's precisely what Lozano's new fans are hoping for as well.
Delgado recalls watching the winger's goal at the 2018 World Cup against Germany and dreaming – not necessarily of Lozano suiting up for San Diego, since the city didn’t even have an MLS team at that point – but of seeing Lozano up close more often. He now wonders if Lozano can insert himself into the conversation among the city's great sports figures, including beloved legends from baseball and American football.
"It felt like I was watching something across the globe, someone larger than life. Now, that’s our guy," Delgado said.
"In San Diego, there are different sports figures people think about like Tony Gwynn and Junior Seau. And with success and hard work, it’s crazy to think Chucky Lozano might be a part of that San Diego Mount Rushmore one day."
As San Diego look to inspire young players and begin their Right to Dream project, there's also an expectation to win. And for his part, Lozano has done exactly that at each previous stop after lifting league titles with Pachuca, Napoli and PSV.
Becoming a club legend? That's only added motivation.
"You can only be the foundational player once, right? Properly executed, there’ll be a statue of him out here someday. That’s the goal, is to come here and do what he’s done at other places: That’s win trophies," Penn said.
"This is a remarkable and amazing city. They’re going to love him once he’s scoring goals and everybody sees him wearing San Diego across his chest."
And they’re going to love seeing Lozano's face light up after a victory with a grin once again, applauding the fans and smiling, hoping he’s leading the way for those who will come after.
WATCH: Chucky Lozano on Breakaway
