Posted on 03/27/2013 1:12:50 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
Nationalism will certainly run deep when Mexico hosts the United States in a World Cup qualifier Tuesday night, but the home teams head coach wants to make sure fans know where to draw the line.
I ask the fans to respect the national anthem of the away team, Mexico coach José Manuel de la Torre said Monday (via MLSsoccer.com). It feels very bad to be in an away stadium in another country and not even hear the anthem, so if there is something I can ask, it is to respect the national anthem of the visitors.
El Tri have been ridiculously efficient at the Estadio Azteca, holding a home record of 37-1-3 in World Cup qualifiers. The team has shown signs of vulnerability on their home field of late, however, dropping a 1-0 friendly to the U.S. in August its first win ever at Azteca and playing Jamaica to a 0-0 tie in the opening game of qualifiers last month.
But the arena, with its capacity crowd of 105,000 and location in smog-ridden Mexico City, still creates one of the greatest home-field advantages in sports one much different than the winter wonderland that played host to the United States controversial win over Costa Rica on Friday.
The [difficulty] of playing at the Azteca is that its hot, the factories have been on all week and the smog just sits on top of you, former U.S. national team member Marcelo Balboa told ESPNFC.com. Theyre used it, youre not. Now youre taking a lot of that out of the equation. Youre playing at night, youre eliminating the heat, youre eliminating a lot of the smog. Its still going to be there, but youre [reducing] a lot of the factors that make Mexico, Mexico.
The US earned a tie in Mexico City last night. Under the circumstances, that was a win.
Wonder how many of Marco Rubio/Barack Obama future Amnesty recipients are going to heed the advice of this Mexican coach? Especially after the 0-0 draw w USA last nite
Breathing the feces filled air of Mexihole City is nasty enough
Why is Mexico City their capital? Because Americans gave it back.
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