We finished our sightseeing on Saturday, because Easter Sunday was the day of the game. The U.S.-Mexico World Cup Qualifier was held at Azteca, where Peter and I joined ~400 American fans (including a number of fellow DC United fans I know) sitting in a police-cordoned section among ~100,000 Mexican fans.
It was hot, and I drank plenty of water (it was easy enough to skip the Mexican beer). Our seats (to be more accurate, the place where we stood for the entire match) were shaded the second half of the game, for which I was grateful. The U.S. lost 2-1, and the result was more than fair -- the way the team played a 2- or 3-goal loss would have been reasonable. They didn't attack much, and when the Mexicans figured out how to attack our defense, they scored two goals in rapid succession.
The only time I had stuff thrown on me was when the U.S. scored, when I received a splash of beer (and a bit of silly string). Chants were given in both directions, and most of it was clean fun. Once the game ended, we got some jeers thrown our way, to which I responded by applauding, something more than a few of us did -- theirs was the better team that day, and deserved the congratulations. Some appreciated that, some were still assholes. Then again, there were several ungracious losers among the Americans. After the game some Americans and Mexicans traded shirts &/or flags over the fence that separated us from Mexican fans on one side of our section. I can only wonder if the fairly kind treatment we received would have happened had the U.S. tied or won.
It was an exhilerating experience to attend the match. The passion on display was fantastic, and my being part of the badly-outnumbered visiting contingent of fans did nothing to curb my enjoyment. I hope I can do something like this again.
A tangent on my fandom is that I find it a bit odd that my patriotism seems limited to U.S. soccer matches -- at other times I'm indifferent (or less) about being an American.
After the game, Peter and I cooled down while waiting for Kathy to return (Kathy felt intimidated by the conditions for the game, and instead opted to visit John and his family in the afternoon, after watching movies at Peter's in the morning). When Kathy got back, we walked to a neighborhood restaurant, then hung out for the rest of the evening.
Early the next morning, we went to the airport for our return to DC. And so ended our first trip to Mexico.
1 comment:
Look at it this way, Aaron, the people who consider themselves to be the most patriotic are most often the ones who care the least about soccer. It's a damn furner sport, after all...
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