The bus carrying U.S. fans to Estadio Azteca from their Mexico City hotel had traveled about 50 yards when it passed a professional-looking,
middle-aged man in a business suit. Who flipped them the bird.
When they arrived at the stadium last Wednesday, police with helmets and riot shields escorted them to the fenced-in visitors' section tucked into the
upper corner of the 105,000-seat concrete bowl. When the U.S. team took a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute of the crucial World Cup qualifier, they were
pelted with drinks. When Mexico equalized 10 minutes later, they were under assault again.
But Rick Rodriguez, a 42-year-old real estate investor who lives in Pacific Beach, expected all that. What he didn't expect: That it would get worse.
“When Mexico scored the second goal,” Rodriguez said of Miguel Sabah's 82nd-minute strike that gave El Tri a 2-1 win, “it was like they opened up a
huge hose of garbage. We were just getting a barrage of stuff thrown at us — beer, food, coins, half-filled soda bottles, garbage, everything you
could imagine. People were going into the fetal position to protect themselves.
“But what really got me was the anger. The look of pure hatred just blew my mind.” Usually at particularly contentious matches around the world,
visiting fans are kept in the stadium by police — sometimes for an hour or more — until the majority of home spectators disperse. This time,
Rodriguez said, the U.S. contingent of 400 or 500 was escorted out immediately. Police linked arms and formed a corridor maybe 40 yards wide to the
buses.
“It ended up being like a funnel,” Rodriguez said. “Every 10 feet we walked, the corridor started getting narrower and narrower, until it got to the
point where it was maybe 8 feet across. Anything they could find was getting thrown at us, and people were getting hit in the head. That's when it got
sketchy. That's when I started getting really worried.” It probably didn't help that, according to Rodriguez, one U.S. fan “mooned” Mexican
supporters and another spit at them.
After the U.S. fans finally reached the buses, police told them to shut the curtains so folks outside wouldn't know who was inside and try to rock the
bus. A few U.S. fans who bravely rode the subway to the game were put in police paddy wagons and driven to safety — among them a San Francisco
photographer whose blog tells a similar story in words and pictures.
Rodriguez's mother and paternal grandparents are from Mexico, but he was born here and supports the U.S. team because, he said, “I think it's (wrong)
to root for a country other than the one you're born in.” He has visited more than 50 countries and followed the U.S. men's team to two World Cups.
This was his first trip to see it in Mexico City. Was it also his last?
“I would go back again if I felt the security was better,” Rodriguez said. “I would definitely consider it. I love the team that much.”
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Thought it was called soccer?
ebby
No license needed.
.
CHARGERS FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!
