NEW YORK -- Chilean Football Federation President Harold Mayne-Nicholls has been coming to the United States since 1983. His most recent visit impressed him more than most of the others.

He was one of the latest to experience the seductive charms of Red Bull Arena, taking in the club's 2-1 victory over FC Dallas on Saturday to witness America's latest evidence on the growth of the sport.

"You can see the game is growing in the U.S.," Mayne-Nicholls said. "It's a wonderful new stadium. And although there were only 13,000, it was a lively game, very physical, good speed…you can see the quality."

The 25,000-seat Red Bull Arena opened a month ago, and has received rave reviews from several corners. Mayne-Nicholls was given his first look at the facility as the guest of CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer and added his voice to the chorus on a trip to the secretariat's New York headquarters on Monday.

"We're heard to learn the processes and have other meetings," he said explaining his trip. "We're interested in new propositions."

While fellow South American nations Ecuador and Colombia have frequently played in the New York area, Chile has mostly confined itself to the Miami and Los Angeles when coming to the United States.

"We've played Honduras in Miami (January 2009) and Mexico in Los Angeles (September 2008), and if we came to New York, I'm sure it would be a big party, too," Mayne-Nicholls said.

Like all qualified nations, Mayne-Nicholls is reticent to make World Cup predictions, but was hopeful after "La Roja" (the red one) finished one point behind South American qualifying leader Brazil and for the first time since 1998.

"The World Cup is so different than qualifying," he said. "To have high expectations…Everybody wants to go as far as possible. We would like to play as we did in qualification. If we show that, then we'll be very happy."