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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2005 
Heated US-Mexico Rivalry Becoming Another 'Clasico'
 Jonathan Clark - The Herald Mexico
| As the US-Mexico soccer rivalry has grown in intensity, the stadium environment during the games played here has also grown testier.
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At recent US-Mexico soccer matches on U.S. soil, members of Sam's Army a fanatical corps of Team U.S.A. supporters have been known to hoist "Remember the Alamo!" banners in an effort to inspire their side.
Fans of Team Mexico may start to opt for a similar rallying cry of their own "Remember Jeonju!" to inspire their players with the memory of a 2-0 loss to the United States at the 2002 World Cup semifinals in Jeonju, Korea.
"After the World Cup loss in 2002, the United States has definitely become the team to beat," says Alejandro Asmitia, sports editor at EL UNIVERSAL. "And because of that loss, it's not just a win that the fans are looking for on Sunday they want humiliation, total destruction. They want revenge."
This Sunday at noon, Team U.S.A and Team Mexico known here as "El Tri" for the tricolors of the Mexican flag will lock horns in a CONCACAF regional World Cup qualifying round game in Mexico City. Unlike 2002, this match between the two rival squads is not a do-or-die situation for either side it's still early in the qualifiers, and regardless of the outcome of this game, both teams are expected to be among the three from their group to advance to the 2006 World Cup.
Yet because of the bitter taste left in Mexican soccer fans' mouths after Jeonju, not to mention the long-standing historical bitterness that Mexico in general has felt towards its neighbor to the north, Sunday's match is shaping up to be another "clasico" a term used here for only the most highly anticipated soccer rivalries.
"The 2002 loss was a major blow for Mexico," says Asmitia. "Before that, it was really the only sport where we could always beat the United States they were almost an obsolete opponent. But now the fans view them with more respect. And of course, the U.S. team knows that Mexico is the team they have to beat as well." In addition to losing its regional dominance in the sport, Asmitia says that there was another factor that made the World Cup loss so difficult for soccerobsessed Mexico to swallow. "It's also that we know that soccer doesn't matter that much to Americans. They didn't even care that they had a team in the World Cup. But in Mexico, it means everything. So to lose to the United States … I mean, for years, they didn't even have a professional soccer league."
So now, with Team Mexico ready to take on the U.S. senior men's squad in fabled soccer shrine Estadio Azteca for the first time since the loss in Korea, fans here are ready for payback to begin.
"We're feeling very confident about the game," says Salvador Vidal, a clerk at the Marti soccer apparel store on Juárez Avenue in downtown Mexico City. "We've got our top stars like (forward) Jared Borgetti and (midfielder) Cuauhtémoc Blanco playing, and so it's going to be revenge."
As evidence of the high levels of anticipation for the match, the cheapest tickets at Estadio Azteca, which usually run 80 pesos, have sold for 200, and mid-week newspaper reports had scalpers already getting 100 percent mark-ups on re-sales. "Of all the qualifying games that will be played here, this is the only one that will sell out," says Asmitia. And at the Juárez Avenue Martí store, Salvador Vidal reports that Team Mexico jerseys have been selling like hot cakes in anticipation of the match.
At the Martí branch on Venustiano Carranza Avenue in the historic center, clerk Carlos García says that his store has also been selling Team Mexico jerseys this week at noticeably higher volume than usual. "We've even been selling them to people from the United States who are looking for a souvenir," he says.
But while his shirt racks are also stocked with jerseys from other countries like Brazil, Argentina, England and even Belgium, García points out the conspicuous lack of Team U.S.A. tops for sale. "We're missing out on a lot of sales, I think, because those would really be popular," he says. "But as a matter of principle, the owner doesn't want us to carry them."
Bordering on Uncomfortable
As the US-Mexico soccer rivalry has grown in intensity, the stadium environment during the games played here has also grown testier. In the most extreme example, fans in Guadalajara chanted "Osama! Osama!" and hurled urine-filled baggies at the U.S. players during a contest last year between the two nations' Under-23.
Tom Buckley is a U.S. citizen who has lived in Mexico since 1993. He is also a big soccer fan who has become a loyal supporter of Team Mexico. Yet despite his love for the sport, in the weeks leading up to Sunday's match, Tom was wavering on whether or not he would attend. "The U.S.Mexico games have become increasingly hostile," he said.
Buckley has seen several U.S.Mexico matchups in person, including qualifiers at Estadio Azteca in 1997 and 2001 and a "friendly" in Houston in 2003. "At the '97 game (a 0-0 tie), there was a lot of jocularity, friendly taunting and exchanges," he says, at least partly because both teams had already secured spots at the 1998 World Cup in France.
He says that the 2001 U.S.Mexico contest (a 1-0 Mexico win) was "much more tense," however, in large part because it was the first qualifying match for El Tri after a disappointing home loss to Costa Rica the only qualifying round match that the team has ever lost at home. "Don't get me wrong," says Buckley of the experience, "I never felt threatened. But it did border on the uncomfortable." He is quick to add that he still thinks that Mexican soccer crowds are exceedingly civilized compared to other places in the world. And he says he expects Team Mexico to win Sunday's game, which would ease potential tensions in the stands.
And so, despite his initial uncertainty, Buckley bought himself a ticket for the match and plans to be in Estadio Azteca on Sunday, decked out in green and red and cheering on his adopted home team. |
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