When we booked our trip to Mexico City a couple of months ago, the World Cup was the last thing that was on our minds. We just thought it would be a great stop-over on our way back to the United States for the summer where we could get a little culture, and enjoy some great food. What we found was a little bit more than that. It was a celebration of a sporting event that brings the world together to see which nation has the best football team for the next four years.
There has been an electric vibe to the whole city ever since we have arrived. I have seen many different jerseys as we have walked around from Columbia to the Netherlands to Ecuador, but the one that is most prevalent has been the green jersey of the Mexican national team. Everywhere we have gone we have seen street vendors selling this jersey, and I have been told that it is easier to find the knock-off version rather than the official version as a symbolic middle finger to FIFA has overcharged for anything concerning this event for the fans that truly buy into all of the hype.
Things built up to a crazy amount of enthusiasm on Tuesday night as Mexico played in their first knock-out game of the tournament. People starting filing out onto the streets around four o’clock to find their special spot where they could watch the game. The bars had all of their seats taken and vendors started popping out from all corners of the city to sell jerseys, horns, drinks, and flags. Everybody was excited to see Mexico move on to the next round for the first time in decades.
It got so crazy last night that there were places where you could not even more except for the way that the crowd pushed you to go. Cars could no longer travel on some of the major thoroughfares because they were packed with people. And the whole crowd cheered their team onto a victory that could be felt throughout the whole city. I have been around the World Cup before, but never like this, and it showed me for the first time how much people love this event.
Congratulations to Mexico for winning the game and moving on, and I wish them the best in the next round.
John Collings 