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15-Year Political Struggle Taken to the Field
By Andrew Kennis
In Mexico, soccer is more than just a game. It has been better described as a secular religion and, when it comes to games against the United States, it is nothing less than a matter of national honor. Mexico City newspaper seller Anselmo Cazares, 58, explained it this way: “It's a question of honor, a question of history. We should always beat them, we should always try to humiliate the gringos.
The backdrop for this heated one-way rivalry (in the US, national team soccer games against Mexico often times draw more Mexicans than Americans) is the strained, often violent relationship the United States has had with Mexico. US armed forces have entered Mexican territory a dozen times, beginning in 1836 when General Gaines occupied Nacogdoches, Texas.
The tense relations culminated in all out war in 1846, when the US invaded Mexico again, this time annexing more than half of its territory by the war’s end in 1848.
The climax of the war for the US was when troops commanded by General Winfield Scott raised the US flag on September 14, 1847 in Mexico City over the famed building, the “Halls of the Montezumas.” This building served as General Winfield Scott’s headquarters during the 1847-1848 occupation of the Mexican capital.
Even to this day that image is etched into the historical memory of Mexicans, who have over 20 million relatives residing in the United States, the majority of them undocumented immigrants. The latter population has long struggled for immigrant justice against exploitation, from the famous campaign of César Chavez in the 1960s to the present day campaign against Taco Bell and its use of a subcontractor who engages in exploitative labor practices of mostly Mexican immigrants.
US players only exacerbate rough feelings when they make comments such as that made by defender Chris Wingert, “It's a shame it comes to [them treating us so badly at games], especially when so many people from this country are dying to get into our country, literally. We support them, buy a ton of their products, keep their businesses going; we buy, I think, more products from them than the rest of the world combined. It's kind of a shame they're going to do that.”
On top of the strained political history and present struggles of Mexicans is the fact that the US senior men’s national team has gone undefeated against Mexico’s national team in their last seven matches (in only one of them, did Mexico manage to tie the US). Considering that the US had previously not managed to beat Mexico in over 40 years of match play, the recent US domination over Mexico in soccer strikes many Mexicans as almost unbelievable.
Perhaps the worst moment for Mexico was when the US beat them in the first round of the second phase of the 2002 World Cup. Neither team had ever advanced so far in the World Cup. After defeating Mexico, the US team advanced to the semi-finals.
“They eliminated us from the World Cup, so for us, [the Olympic semi-final qualifier is] revenge and what better way to take it then pushing them out of the Olympics,” said Luís Alonso Sandoval, one of Mexico's forwards.
Between the recent victory of the US over Mexico and its long-time political and economic repression of Mexicans, it is not surprising to hear Robert Contiguglia, the president of the United States Soccer Federation, say, “To quote my host, ‘We are the small guys and you are the big guys.’” Diego Gonzales, 23, a graphic designer, told The New York Times that it is important for the collective Mexican self-image to defeat the bigger, richer country to the north.
“This game is a way to show them that we can win,” Gonzales said.Antics Highlight Animosity
In the days leading up to the Mexico-US match, journalists and fans alike tried to show their support. In an attempt to pump up the players and fans, the Mexican local media in Guadalajara (the site of the game and Mexico’s second largest city) reported that Landon Donovan, the United States star forward, had urinated on the field during practice the day before the game.
“It's completely false. No way Donovan would be that disrespectful,” responded Bryan Chenault, a spokesman for the United States team.
Donovan had already told The Associated Press in Guadalajara that Mexican fans, “hate us. I sometimes wish I didn't know Spanish, but I think everybody understands what they are saying.”
Surely the young American soccer players understood what the fans were saying when they screamed “Osama, Osama, Osama!” repeatedly, before and during the game, and also booing the national anthem.
To sports writer George Vecsey, however, this is the expected fare, “normal soccer antics from a nation that still remembers General Winfield Scott’s incursions during the 1840’s.” Besides, reasoned Vecsey, it was “only a smattering of knuckleheads,” who were actually chanting “O-sa-ma,” anyhow.
Nevertheless, it is unlikely that this charged atmosphere in the packed 60,000 plus stadium in the state of Jalisco did not jumble the nerves of the young US soccer players, at least not in light of their performance.
By the 27th minute of the game, everything had fallen apart from the US’s notoriously weak back line of defenders. In an impressive attack of five consecutive passes, Rafael Marquez Rugo scored a point-blank “header” between the crossbars after the team’s captain, Diego Martinez, delivered a perfect cross (kick into the middle of the goal box). Martinez delivered an even more perfectly-placed cross that landed neatly in the upper left corner of the net. In the 55th minute of the game, Marquez Rugo scored again on a rebound and Ismael Iniguez closed out the scoring in additional time when the game was long all but over and the Americans actually had only 10 men on the field (one of the defenders had been expelled with a second yellow card). Mexico won the game by the landslide score of 4-0.
Before its match against Mexico on February 10, the Americans conceded 10 goals in four matches. It is rare for any team to see long-term success in international play when they are as weak at the current US team in their back line.Mexicans in Queens Celebrate
Fans who wanted to view the game here in New York City were in for a challenge, as it was only available on a pay-per-view basis and the cost was so high that only a few bars could afford to foot the bill.
As a result, the scene at the Abuelo Gazon in Jackson Heights, Queens was chaotic. Over 50 people, mostly Mexicans, crowded outside the bar begging (and sometimes screaming) at the doormen to let them in before the game had even started. The efforts were in vain, however: hundreds of people had already crowded into the small space inside.
Unsurprisingly, most viewers were from Mexico. Nevertheless, there were at least a couple dozen diehard American soccer fans. Throughout most of the game, they had to contend with watching their team get badly defeated while listening to the cheers of Mexicans celebrating their team’s domination of the American team.
Occasionally, Mexicans in the bar would chant “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!”, mimicking what may have been the very chant the Americans would have shouted had they performed better. Few Mexicans were able to withhold their enthusiasm and also their relief at the conclusion of the game. “To have lost to the gringos, would have been a nightmare,” said Diego Soriano, 23, from Puebla and a worker in a pizzeria. “This base, this sub-23 team, will be the future of Mexico, so to see them play like this is very encouraging,” added Soriano.Andrew Kennis is a student in the PhD program in Political Science.