Like any game involving the Mexican national team, Sunday night’s match at Soldier Field was a memorable event, and not always for the right reasons.
The predominantly pro-Mexico crowd saw their team beat the United States 1-0 to win the Gold Cup. The fans were loud and raucous and created a boisterous atmosphere for a championship match between two arch-rivals.
Despite the game’s location, Sunday night’s match sounded like a home game for Mexico.
The green, white and red of the Mexican flag was everywhere. The tailgating scene outside the stadium was its usual vibrant self, and the music was loud enough to hear all over the Soldier Field campus.
Once the game started, Mexico’s fans cheered for every attack and booed when the U.S. controlled the ball. A MEXICO!-MEXICO! chant was heard frequently. Jonathan Dos Santos’ game-winning goal in the 73rd minute ignited the crowd, and The Wave was its strongest after the strike.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Jonathan Alcala, of San Antonio. “They’re always filling up the stadiums. Wherever they go, there’s always going to be the Mexican fans there supporting them.”
Sunday’s match, played in front of a sold-out crowd of 62,493, also showed the drawing power of the Mexican national team.
Mexico’s five Gold Cup dates before Sunday drew an average of 62,520. Alcala, who followed the Mexican team to last year’s World Cup in Russia, saw fellow fans of the team travel halfway across the planet to root for El Tri.
“Just hearing that national anthem gives you goosebumps,” Alcala said.
The atmosphere was noticed by the United States, which played in a hostile environment despite being just blocks from the headquarters of U.S. Soccer. Not that they minded the atmosphere.
“Big games have crazy atmospheres,” defender Aaron Long said. “It’s a good thing. You want it like that.”
Unfortunately, not all of the atmosphere was a good thing.
During the match, a chant directed to goalkeepers that can be interpreted as a homophobic slur was used whenever United States goalie Zack Steffen kicked the ball. Mexico has been admonished for its use in the past, and it was limited during last year’s World Cup, but the slur was clearly audible throughout the match and during El Tri’s run through the Gold Cup.
”The goal-kick chant from Mexican fans is offensive, has no place in football, and must be stopped,” CONCACAF said in a statement to ESPN earlier this month. “PA announcements have been made at the games, urging fans to refrain from using this chant and to consider the impact of their behavior on those around them.”
Those words went unheeded.
