In preparation for joining Tuesdayas World Cup qualifier between Mexico and the Usa, I was ordered to be subtle. The game had been played in Mexico City, at Estadio Azteca, in front of higher than a hundred thousand Mexican basketball fans, therefore I shouldnat wear red, white, and blue. So she advised a cap, my haircut, I was told by a Mexican friend, was also American. Walking in to the stadium we found a coach of American fans being protected with a line of police. Because straps weren't allowed inside, my pants were hanging low. aThat way you canat hit some one with it, and your fists are busy hiking your pants up,a a British expat living in Mexico City speculated. Despite a on the JumboTron to set geopolitics aside, a sizable portion of the arena booed aThe Star Spangled Bannera; the booing just grew louder as the Americans, clearly the poor squad, were able to stifle each attack by the Mexican staff. Tensions reached a peak midway through the next half, when a penalty kick could have been granted to Mexico but wasnat. As imagined by Hollywood, except the shower of arrows was replaced by glasses of kernels and beer of popcorn, covered with warm sauce, being cast from the top of deck, I turned around and looked as much as find myself in the center of a Medieval stress. By nightas end, the U.S. had acquired, 0a'0. Thatas how it felt, at least. In substantial matches at Estadio Azteca, the Americans have never won. They certainly were successful a year ago, for the very first time ever, however the fit was an amiable game, with neither staff using its most useful players, and the ground was half full. This time, Azteca was offered out: the only clear pieces established an L-shaped stream of unsold seats around the lines in the upper deck reserved for the traveling corps of American football fans who call themselves the Outlaws. (Their other flank was protected by a wall, and police.) Azteca is big and loud, and found at this type of lung-challenging altitude, that the knowledge is unparalleled for visiting teams in regards to unpleasantness. The Americans have not been the only ones to challenge there: in the significantly more than seventy World Cup qualifiers played at Azteca, Mexico has lost only once. That history is owed at the very least in some portion to Mexicoas fanbase. I sat with several regional fans; they were friends, and, I thought, mild-mannered, which made the fact that they yelled aPuto!aa'a word whose particular English interpretation no-one can totally agree on, but it isnat kinda'as each American person walked out of the canal for warmups somewhat alarming. Combined with remaining portion of the ground, together, they yelled aPuto!a each time the American goalie knocked the ball, all through every place kick, and at some other time that seemed appropriate. When they got bored with aputo,a they switched to aculero,a which everybody agreed equals aasshole.a (In more optimistic times, they chanted, aSi, se puede.a) The fans only grew louder throughout the game, having been well lubricated: our seats were in-front of a beer seller, who allowed our group to open a tab, and passed us a statement on a of cardboard at the end of the game. There were, I was informed, four thousand police officers at the overall game, one for every twenty-five fansa'or, maybe more accurately, eight or nine for every American. I felt somewhat nervous, sitting in the reduced deck, ten rows behind a wall topped with barbed wire. During corners, several policemen stood close to the kicker and organized riot guards to help keep any projectiles from increasing. Some body in the ground had a particularly strong laser pointer, that they might direct toward the field any moment the Mexican fans were fallen to the ground in agony, something by an American player immediately presumed to be phony. Earlier in your day, once we were maneuvering to the match, an friendas landlord had told us an account concerning the aftermath of a game by which Argentina had beaten Mexico. Two Argentinian fans started enjoying boisterously nearby, and a few Mexican fans approached and started beating them up. The Argentines discovered many police and called to them for help. The other way was looked by the officers. On Tuesday evening, American lovers seated in the supportersa part described thrown beers and, in one or more case, injury. The Americans were likely far from innocent, and there are possibly classes in humility, or, at the very least, warning, to be learned. Wherever I sat, surrounded on all sides by Mexican supporters but wearing beige and gray in place of draped in an American flag, there is no difficulty. The match was vastly discouraging for Mexico, which now faces a difficult road to World Cup qualification, but the only commentary I got afterward was from a Mexican lover who tapped me on the neck and, before I could raise my arms to guard myself, said, aGood match.a I mustered most of the Spanish I could to tell him his equipo was mejor, and that the Americans had simply gotten luckya'which they'd, having been outplayed for much of the match and preserved at least one time with a whistle, or lack thereof. And yet, the U.S. now finds itself in a powerful position to be eligible for its seventh straight World Cup, an accomplishment whose problem American fans usually donat recognize. But itas anything theyave arrive at assume, and with great reason: lacking next yearas Cup, in Brazil, when the games will undoubtedly be performed more or less in American prime time, could be disastrous for American soccer, despite all of the development itas made recently. American fans aren't as significant as their competitors, and playing matches at the Rose Bowl isn't as difficult for competitors as visiting Azteca, but actions are being made. The teamas success in that hostile environment was remarkable, but games like this are a prerequisite for success in international soccer. With limited blood poured, Tuesday was still another step on the trail to getting the basketball worldas respect. Basketball fans at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City throughout a fit involving the U.S. and Mexico on Tuesday. Picture by Hector Vivas/LatinContent/Getty Photos.
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