Perspectives on the U.S.-Mexico Soccer Rivalry Passion and Politics in Red, White, Blue, and Green (original) (raw)

Perspectives on the U.S.-Mexico Soccer Rivalry

Passion and Politics in Red, White, Blue, and Green
Edited by
Jeffrey W. Kassing and Lindsey J. Meân

An (Im)penetrable Fortress: The Mythology of Estadio Azteca in the US-Mexico Men’s National Team Soccer Rivalry

Jeffrey W. Kassing

Stadia play a key role in the lives of sports fans. They have been recognized as locales where democratic participation and dissent unfold (Guschwan 2014) and as public symbols that infuse communities and traditions with vitality and sustainability (Borer 2006). As such, sports venues take on significant cultural meaning for supporters (Bale 2000), and act as an agent in the construction of cultural heritage (Ramshaw et al. 2013). According to Gammon (2010), stadia become the “iconic symbol of a place, team, sport and/or event” (p. 116). This is certainly true of Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Put simply, Azteca is a large stadium that sits at comparatively high altitude in a city that struggles with air quality. But the stadium has become a significant character in the US-Mexico rivalry played out on the soccer pitch. Fascinatingly, given that the existence of the venue spans over 45 years, the myth of Azteca has been crafted rather robustly

[1]

1. J.W. Kassing ( ⊠\boxtimes )
   School of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA ↩︎

in a comparatively short timeframe-having taken shape in the past decade and across only a handful of matches. Yet, the mythology is quite powerful and well understood. Indeed, former US defender Alexi Lalas testified in a recent piece that “All the stories about Azteca are true; the coins, the batteries and bags of urine, all the different stuff. It’s not an urban myth” (Carlisle 2015). This analysis illustrates how the narrative of Azteca has been constructed consistently and knowingly to be much more than a simple urban myth.

Across media platforms and sources a resounding chorus of descriptors attesting to the special qualities of Azteca can be unearthed. For example, Longman (2013) asserts “Azteca remains one of the largest and most imposing stadiums in international soccer” whereas Turner (2013) characterizes “the dreaded Azteca” as “a cavernous cell block on the outskirts of Mexico City where altitude sickness meets toxic air pollutants.” Descriptors such as these position Azteca as a foreboding site-“one of the more daunting places to play around the world” (Avi 2012) where “strange things seem to happen” (Longman 2009). Other commentary promotes Azteca as one of soccer’s great venues. FIFA recognizes it as “one of the beautiful game’s truly great gathering places” (“Estadio Azteca, Mexico City”, n.d.) and former USMNT goalkeeper Kasey Keller notes that Azteca is “one of those iconic stadiums” (US Soccer 2012).

The myth of Azteca has two fundamental variants. The first signifies Azteca as a “fortress of results” (“Estadio Azteca, Mexico City”, n.d.) and “the terrifying home” of Mexico’s “national soccer team” (Gordon 2013), while the other acknowledges that Azteca is “the US men’s national team’s house of horrors” (Avi 2012), a place where for many years “US soccer dreams went to die” (Carlisle 2015). The analysis presented here outlines how two overarching themes substantiated by the US media contribute to the myth of Azteca: animation and intimidation.

The Myth of Azteca

To ascertain how the US media has mythologized Azteca, a collection of texts including print articles and video content was acquired. A thematic analysis using constant comparative methodology followed (Glaser and Strauss 1967). This involved reviewing texts multiple times and grouping repetitive content into emergent themes. Media texts were located by conducting a search of popular press that mentioned some

combination of Estadio Azteca, Azteca, rivalry, USA, Mexico, and soccer. Sources examined included 13 articles, seven popular videos available on YouTube, and one website. The popular press articles came from a wide variety of sources that included mainstream news outlets, sporting news venues, soccer specific sites, and other lifestyle and genre specific news sources. US Soccer or KICKTV produced the videos examined, which ranged in length from 2 to 10 min and had logged over 0.5 million views collectively. FIFA constructed the English-language website consulted that celebrated Estadio Azteca, as one page in a series that featured 20 classic stadia. The sources examined spanned from 2009 through 2015, and clustered (with one exception in print and one in video) around three matches played in August of 2009, August of 2012, and March of 2013.

Animating Azteca

In recounting how the match unfolded when the USMNT claimed their first ever win at Azteca, Straus (2012) interjected “But Azteca has a funny way of asserting itself. The 7300 -foot altitude saps the energy, the fans hurl insults and more and the referees rarely do the visitors any favors.” This comment is indicative of how Azteca becomes a key and active component in the US-Mexico rivalry through several themes that repeatedly surface. These include the physical attributes of the stadium, the physical location, a legacy of historical moments, and psychosocial aspects.

The daunting physical attributes of Azteca In the run up to the friendly played in Azteca in 2012, US Soccer produced a video entitled MNT Players Past and Present Reflect on Imposing Azteca (US Soccer 2012). The video begins dramatically with a haunting soundtrack and a series of six different shots of Azteca, which oscillate between wide-angle views that show the size of the venue and close up scenes that show off its particular features (e.g., concrete bearings). The camera lingers on each feature briefly before images switch with quick and clear-cuts. All of which works to create a sense of Azteca as an imposing location.

One design feature of Azteca that has proven effective for mythmaking is the intentional shape of the roof. FIFA suggests that "The bowl’s signature roof traps and amplifies noise from the massive upper level, filling the air with high pitch shrieks and a deafening, cacophonous din

to make the Mexico City landmark…one of the loudest stadiums anywhere" (“Estadio Azteca, Mexico City”, n.d.). Others pick up this theme noting that “The partial roof traps all the sound in the stadium from leaving, creating an intense acoustic experience” (Madden 2012) and that Azteca’s “architecture is such the sound funnels down from the rafters onto the field” (Manfred 2013). Commentary of this sort breathes life into design imperatives that in turn achieve specific objectives.

The same can be said for the grade of the stadium and what this entails for the arrangement of seating and the orientation of fans to the pitch. Madden (2012) writes “Inside the Azteca, the confines are far from friendly. The stadium seating is built at a Himalayan grade” (Madden 2012). Gordon (2013) elaborates “This extreme grade is purposeful: It puts every fan as physically close to the action with as keen of a sight line as possible.” In two separate accounts former USMNT defender Alexi Lalas contributes to this theme. In the first, a piece posted on US Soccer.com that revisits the USMNT’s first success against Mexico at Azteca (a draw in 1997), Lalas states " You walk in and the sky is distant because of the effect of it being straight up … The sky is so far. All you see is people" (“100 Moments” 2013). In the second, Lalas appears on camera as part of the video produced by the US Soccer to showcase former player’s recollections of Azteca (US Soccer 2012). Here he recalls that “When you’re here its very difficult almost to see the, the sky because it goes straight up.”

Another physical feature of Azteca that receives repeated mentions is the barbed wire that sits atop a fence that surrounds the pitch. For example, Madden (2012) acknowledges that “The fans on the lower level are separated from the field by barbed wire, and a moat” (Madden 2012). Similarly, in a video for KICKTV entitled “Exploring AztecaTacos & Barbed Wire” former USMNT player Jimmy Conrad visits Estadio Azteca before the USA versus Mexico friendly in 2012 for an apparent self-guided tour. He begins by saying with clear comedic intention:

First time in Azteca stadium. So not only does this stadium have a lot of history, it has barbed wire around the whole place. And it’s got a trench, so in case you do get over the barbed wire you got like a moat, you got water, you got like alligators keeping you out. Incredible. (KICKTV 2012b)

Footage of Conrad is interspersed with close-up cutaway shots of the barbed wire perimeter that encircles the pitch. There is neither water nor alligators, but it is worth noting that the space separating the stands from the pitch is referred to as a moat in the two examples shared. Terms like moat allude to castles, ramparts, and all manner of defensive structures. Such linguistic choices contribute to the notion that Azteca is a fortress. Taken together these features coalescence into what former USMNT coach Bruce Arena calls “a dislocating place” (Longman 2009).

If the already mentioned attributes were not enough, one needs to consider the added influence of sheer size. Undeniably “the stadium itself is massive. Its trademark concrete support beams that rise from the base to the roof only enhance the imposing gray structure’s mountainous feel” (Madden 2012). FIFA acknowledges that the “cavernous, three-tiered bowl was designed to hold almost 115,000 fans” (“Estadio Azteca, Mexico City”, n.d.). USMNT defender Graham Zusi claims that “You can walk into that stadium when it’s completely empty and it’s just mind-boggling how big it is. It literally feels like the stands go straight up and it’s a wall of people on top of you” (Carlisle 2015). Former coach Bruce Arena adds, “The stadium is massive” (Jones 2009). Not only do these attributes compound to disorient visiting sides, they also add to “The stadium’s mystique-especially its 105,000 spectators and its 7200foot altitude” (Longman 2009). The physical attributes of Azteca serve to animate the stadium as a living entity in the USMNT/Mexico rivalry. Azteca is further animated by the physical location it occupies.

The unforgiving physical location of Azteca A second and equally, if not more, potent theme contributing to the animation of Azteca is the physical location. The altitude (and to a lesser degree smog) of Mexico City is rarely absent from any serious discussion of Azteca. Many noted that altitude contributed considerably to Mexican success as they as a team were acclimatized to playing at such high elevations-with this factor being a differentiator late in games. Conversely, USMNT players have noted how physically demanding it is to start a match at altitude. Defender DaMarcus Beasley said “The first 20 min is always the worst; you can’t breathe” (Longman 2013), whereas fellow defender Graham Zusi claimed “That first 15 min when your lungs are burning, you’re dying to get that second wind. You feel like you’re going to die” (Carlisle 2015). Whether the effects of altitude hit early or late in the

game, it is clear that for those unaccustomed to it, altitude presents a real physiological challenge.

Writing for Outside Magazine, O’Hanlon (2012) called upon an instructor of exercise and sports science who likened playing at Azteca’s altitude to “breathing with a plastic bag on your head.” Given the hardships altitude presents “The Americans sometimes use supplemental oxygen at halftime” (Longman 2009). Use of oxygen is quite prevalent in the US Soccer Behind the Scenes video that recaptures the experience of the team’s 2009 visit to Azteca (US Soccer 2011). Over the course of 10 min viewers observe, along with other footage, the team prepping in the locker before the game and again at halftime. In both instances the camera catches multiple players using oxygen masks and tanks. The caption “Because Azteca Stadium sits at an altitude of over 7200 feet” appears superimposed over a locker room shot before the game. This is followed by a second shot that pans upwards from an oxygen tank positioned on the floor to an unidentified US player sitting on a locker room bench with an oxygen mask attached to his face. The caption reads “Oxygen tanks are used in the locker room.” Subsequent shots interspersed with other content show midfielder Michael Bradley on the training table having his ankles taped while he uses and adjusts the mask on an oxygen tank and Landon Donovan and Brian Ching sitting at their locker room stations connected to oxygen tanks via masks. The footage then follows the team into the tunnel and out onto the pitch for a warm up. After scenes of the warm up conclude, the viewer is transported back into the locker room. And the oxygen makes an even more prominent appearance. In the segment that follows, comprised of a multi-camera selection of locker room scenes that run up until the team completes a pregame chant, five players are shown using oxygen masks and tanks. At the 7th minute of the video footage returns from game action to the locker room for halftime. Coach Bob Bradley speaks, but in the background players can once again be seen with oxygen masks and tanks. Over the span of 44 s capturing halftime footage, eight players appear on camera and only one is shown without oxygen. For most who have played sport, oxygen tanks are an uncommon occurrence in the locker room. Their ubiquitous presence here makes for an otherworldly sporting experience. This is likely due to the foreign idea that one would need supplemental oxygen to play and perform well and to the awkwardness of seeing athletes tethered to apparatus associated with life saving measures.

Undoubtedly, Azteca is a place animated by altitude. Altitude alone though is not the only physiological demand that Azteca imposes. Smog and pollution accompany and complicate the challenges of altitude. Manfred (2013) notes how the two combine writing “The high altitude and poor air quality also contribute to the hostile environment.” Similarly, Carlisle (2015) shares the following quote from Alexi Lalas:

They always talk about the altitude, but back then the air quality and the smog was just absolutely horrendous…I vividly remember going back into a halftime of a game we were playing in the Azteca, and looking over to my right and seeing Cobi Jones hawking up what can only be described as a black globule that had come from the depths of hell.

Smog and altitude combine to form a powerful contaminant that compromises human physiology in a way that demands extraordinary measures. This takes the form of using supplemental oxygen like you would to climb Everest and experiencing extreme physical discomfort that extends beyond normal athletic demands.

The undeniable historical legacy of Azteca Despite the many discomforts, Azteca remains a historic site that has birthed quintessential sporting moments. The animation of Azteca then also entails the soccer history it has captured. Azteca holds the distinction of being the only destination to host two World Cup finals (in 1970 and again in 1986). Accordingly, FIFA posits that Azteca has observed “unforgettable” as well as “electrifying and immortal FIFA World Cup moments of the last 40 years” (“Estadio Azteca, Mexico City”, n.d.). Similarly, Gorden (2013) reminds readers that Azteca is the “ground where the Goal of the Century, the Hand of God Goal, and a host of other landmark events in global soccer occurred.” And USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard recognizes that “There’s a lot of history at Azteca, worldwide history” (Vertelney 2012). A stadium must be significant to be chosen for a World Cup final and of particular importance to be selected more than once. Such a distinction positions Azteca as a pantheon of football-a place where great players achieved supreme heights.

But Azteca also has the history of its geographical location. Several writers noted that the stadium’s name harkened a clear and intentional connection to the mighty pre-Columbian Aztec culture. Gordon (2013)

after a visit to Azteca vividly mobilizes the ancestral underpinnings of the stadium’s name in the following passage:

Azteca was named quite purposefully to remind visitors of the pyramid of Tenochtitlan, the infamous Aztec structure that stood on the same ground as present-day Mexico City. Human sacrificial victims would ascend the massive pyramid before their blood would stain the steps, much to the delight of the Aztecan citizens.

While Gordon’s comments are hyperbolic, they do tap into an ethos that the stadium’s name produces. That is, a place where hostile locals intend to figuratively slaughter interlopers. This orientation manifests in the construction and perpetuation of a hostile fan environment or the psychosocial aspects of Azteca addressed next.

The challenging psychosocial aspects of Azteca The effects of Azteca come not just from the physical structure, specific location, and celebrated history-they also come to life through the occupants. Media sources animate the atmosphere at USA-Mexico games at Azteca through accounts of hostility, noise, and a distinct lack of clear success. The collection of accounts shape Azteca as unparalleled atmosphere where the USMNT and its supporters suffer immensely.

Hostility While there are many incidents that capture the hostility of Mexican fans toward the USMNT team, one has become particularly emblematic. It involves Landon Donovan lining up to take a corner kick late in a game at Azteca after Mexico has taken a 2-1 lead (which will be the eventual score). Mexican police in full riot gear stand at the edge of the pitch with their shields held high to deter projectiles from hitting them and the US player. The incident is captured photographically, on film, and in text.

In a photograph of this scene (Rogers 2009), Donovan stands looking at the pitch from behind the corner flag. Behind him one can identify two police officers with their riot shields raised over head. Two in-flight cups are evident directly above Donovan’s head. He faces the pitch, standing incredulously with his arms outstretched in an effort to query the referee about the unfathomable amount of debris being cast at him. The full scene unfolds in the 10 -min Behind the Scenes video portraying the matchup from 2009 (US Soccer 2011). After viewers observe

Mexico scoring what will be the game winner and the zealous celebration that follows there is an 18 -s shot that captures Donovan lining up and taking the corner kick. This happens with just over 30 s remaining and is the last major action in the film. During this scene Donovan approaches the corner and adjusts the ball several times before taking a position to launch his kick. At the same time no fewer than 20 projectiles end up on the pitch near him. Some are so close that at one point he kicks debris out of his way. He also makes the gesture described above and captured in the photograph 3 separate times.

This same moment resurfaces in a quote from Brian Ching that features in a retrospective piece on the US-Mexico rivalry. Ching recalls “I remember playing the game one time and Landon Donovan was about to take a corner kick and they have the security guards standing right over him basically with the shields protecting him from stuff being thrown” (Carlisle 2015). Clearly, this moment has become emblematic of the fan hostility directed at US players in Azteca. But it is just a part of the larger discourse that constructs fan hostility at Azteca.

Other evidence abounds. Consider the account former USMNT defender and captain Marcelo Balboa shared.

We walked down this long tunnel and you break off to the right. You go up this ramp to go into the stadium. As you walk up this ramp, all you see is fans because it’s so high. All of a sudden you see this white uniform, a U.S. uniform on a mannequin being thrown from the top tier and you see it hanging from a rope as we walk out into the stadium. You’re like, ‘Oh, my God!’ That’s the intimidation factor. (“100 Moments” 2013)

Similarly, hostility manifests clearly in the 10−min13−s10-\mathrm{min} 13-\mathrm{s} video entitled Gringos at Azteca that KICKTV produced in 2013. The short documentary follows the US supporters before, during, and after the USMNT draw at Azteca at the end of March that same year. Once the match begins supporters appear on several occasions high up in the top tier of the stadium in an enclosed area that is fenced in on two sides and guarded by a double line of police in full riot gear on another. In the direct aftermath of the match one observes the supporters exuberantly chanting, cheering, singing, and dancing. They are celebrating a historic outcome, a 0−00-0 draw that marks only the second time the USMNT has earned a point in World Cup qualifying at Azteca. The celebrations are amplified by being juxtaposed against a backdrop of hostility. Shots of

Mexican fans show them shouting and throwing projectiles and menacingly climbing the fences. There are scenes of riot police intervening and US supporters being hit with various fluids. And one fan is escorted from the seats with blood streaming from his forehead down his face.

The apparent bravery of fans willing to enter into such hostile environs is not lost on the team. In fact, shortly after the scenes described above USMNT players acknowledge the fan support. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan makes note of the particular relevance of their presence when he says, “To see so many US supporters come down to a place like Azteca. The fact that we knew they were there, just shows their support to this team and to our country.” Guzman’s comments are about the broader idea of unbridled support for the USMNT, but resonate powerfully because they speak to enduring the hostility evident at Azteca.

Guzman’s comments are followed by an unidentified supporter shown leaving the Azteca who enthusiastically says “I got hit with god knows what”-a simple recollection that cues another key component of Azteca folklore. Projectiles have become a well-trodden line of evidence to establish the hostility that Azteca emits. Claims about players being showered with a host of projectiles are routine. For example, Vertelney (2012) states that “Mexican fans have famously made the environment especially difficult on American players, as insults have been the least of things hurled from the stands, which have also included batteries, coins and even bags of various human waste products.” Similarly, O’Hanlon stipulates that “Azteca’s fans have been know to launch beers, bags of vomit, and ziplocs of urine at players.” And Rogers (2009) devoted a full two paragraphs recounting a colorful projectile incident to open his piece entitled “USA’s South-of-the-Border Inhospitality.” The colorful account produces the following claim from Rogers: “Welcome to the Estadio Azteca, where allegedly projecting bodily fluids at another human being is acceptable in the name of soccer fanaticism.”

Noise Deafening crowd noise is another psychosocial aspect of Azteca that contributes to the hostile environment. As noted earlier the stadium is intentionally designed to amplify sound. And the occupants clearly have exploited this prospect. Fan noise permeates the experience of playing at Azteca for the USMNT. Former forward Brian Ching recollects that “It’s incredibly loud there, so loud that you can’t even hear the national anthem because they’re booing the entire time. It’s crazy” (Carlisle 2015). But the noise does not apparently dissipate. Former

defender and now soccer commentator Alexi Lalas recalls “And a you are immediately hit by this noise, this buzzing, this incessant buzzing, that never stops throughout the game. And the, the sheer decibels while you’re actually playing the game are a ridiculous.” (US Soccer video 2012). Former defender Jeff Agoos shares a similar sentiment when he recounts that there are " 110,000 people so it’s a mass volume of sound. I mean it’s just incredible the amount of noise is just deafening. So you can’t even talk to the player next to you. It’s that loud" (KICKTV 2013a).

A lack of success The final psychosocial attribute is the lopsided rivalry record realized at Azteca, which currently stands at 1 win for the USMNT, 9 losses, and 3 draws. In an effort to have this disparity contribute to the animation of Azteca, media sources often jest about, misrepresent, or misstate the simple facts. For instance, in two video productions released immediately before and after the match in August of 2012 Jimmy Conrad, former USMNT player and host of KICKTV, comments on how unusual it is to win at Azteca. In the first, after speaking to current players training in Mexico he reminds viewers that the “US has never won at Azteca before, ever, since the beginning of time, its never happened” (KICKTV 2012a). In a second, he questions US supporters outside of Azteca about their outwardly confident predictions of US success prior to the game by asking “You understand, I mean, we’ve never won here, ever, since the beginning of time? You understand that?” (KICKTV 2012c). A comedic tone works in these cases to soften the enduring lack of success for the USMNT at Azteca, but highlights it nonetheless.

Additionally, the record at Azteca often gets conflated with the overall record of games played in Mexico, which dates well past the introduction of Azteca but does demonstrate a continuous and long-standing lack of success for the USMNT south of the border. For this reason it is regularly cited in discussions of Azteca. For example, in 2009 Jones noted that “No American national team ever has won in Mexico. A scoreless tie in 1997 is the best the US has achieved in 23 games over 72 years.” It is worth noting that Jones intentionally denotes the tie as scoreless-while coupling it with the best result-which works to suggest ineptitude on the part of the USMNT, as scoring would have at least suggested some offensive output and collective firepower. Roger’s comments landed before two additional ties and a win occurred, which has modestly shifted the overall record.

Furthermore journalists have classified outcomes in order to create a more imbalanced sense of how unlikely winning at Azteca can be. Case in point, Longman (2013) claims that “The United States is 0-13-1 in World Cup qualifying matches in Mexico and 1-23-1 over all in matches south of the border.” These counts include matches played at other venues in Mexico and leaves out the USMNT first-ever (albeit in a friendly match) win over Mexico. Similarly, Manfred (2013) stipulates that “The US has never won an official game in the Azteca (although they won a friendly 1-0 last year).” And while some resort to qualifying games in order to cast a more lopsided record, others simply appear to be swept up in mythmaking and erroneously report the record at Azteca, confusing it with the USMNT records in Mexico generally or in Mexico City specifically. Madden (2012) makes this error in the Huffington Post piece, stating that “The history of US Soccer at the Azteca is one of abject failure- 0 wins, 23 losses and 1 tie.” Here the Azteca record is confused with the overall historical record of matches played in Mexico. No correction is offered explaining this error. Longman (2009) makes a similar mistake in the New York Times. In a correction, the paper clarifies that the record erroneously provided in the original article of 0−18−10-18-1 was for all matches in Mexico City, not specifically those played at Azteca (for which the record at the time was 0−8−10-8-1 ). Such classifications and errors inflate the disparity between sides and helps animate Azteca as a place where the wins as well as the air remain rarefied.

Intimidating Azteca

While there are many ways in which media coverage works to animate Azteca, the result is comparatively uniform: establishing the consistent sense that Azteca is simply intimidating. Embellishing the physical attributes, featuring the physical location, revisiting the historical legacy, or emphasizing the psychosocial aspects of Azteca all prove to be effective devices in constructing how Azteca becomes a place of intimidation. This section looks first at how intimidation manifests specifically in accounts of Azteca. It then moves to consider how this sense of intimidation gets construed as a powerful home-field advantage, as the bedrock that underpins a rite of passage for USMNT players, and as the backdrop in which the USMNT’s modest success takes on significant historical implications.

Evidence of intimidation Pundits and players alike recognize and refer to the intimidation that Azteca provokes. “Azteca is all about intimidation, even before the players enter the field” (“100 Moments” 2013). It is “one of the most intimidating soccer venues in the world” (Jones 2009), where a combination of innumerable factors have influence"add all that up and it creates an intimidating environment for sure" (O’Hanlon 2012).

Being on the symbolic front lines it is predictable that firsthand accounts from players would infuse media reports that characterize Azteca. With regard to the question of intimidation, former USMNT midfielder John Harkes told USA TODAY Sports: “Intimidation? Certainly. It was a cauldron of heat, loud noise. We talk about pollution, it was sound pollution. You couldn’t hear yourself speak. I feared for my life at times” (Foss and Schwartz 2013). Former forward Brian Ching offered a similar response, noting that “with the pride that they play with at that stadium, it’s probably one of the most difficult places I’ve ever had to play considering the opponent and the environment” (Carlisle 2015). Goalkeeper Tim Howard adds to this narrative, sharing “This is an intimidating place for teams to come” (Rogers 2009) and that “If you feel fear, you certainly don’t express it, you keep it inside” (Madden 2012). Former defender Jeff Agoos completes the refrain by acknowledging that “It’s always, always a tough place to play” (KICKTV 2013a). Marcelo Balboa encapsulates the entirety of the experience of playing at Azteca and dealing with the intimidation it produces in the follow passage:

It’s everything. It’s not just one thing. You walk out there in Mexico and it’s hot. The field is huge, the grass is long, the smog starts kicking in and you’re coughing all the time. Intimidation of playing in such a huge stadium with so many people and the whole stadium is in green. Everything comes together with Azteca. And 12 o’clock on a Saturday or a Sunday, it is very intimidating. (“100 Moments” 2013)

The intimidation and attendant hype that accompanies it also garner the attention of former and present players. For example, former USMNT goalkeeper Casey Keller advances an incongruous position when he admits “The one thing I remember most about Azteca is it wasn’t as intimidating as I thought it was going to be” (Carlisle 2015). In a related opinion, USMNT defender Graham Zusi claims "You can take it

one of two ways: You can be intimidated by it, or you can feed off that energy" (Carlisle 2015). These positions demonstrate that while players have contributed to the myth of Azteca they also recognize it as such and adjust their interface with the place accordingly.

Effects of intimidation The effects of intimidation appear in three substantial ways: a clear home-field advantage for Mexico, a US player and fan rite of passage, and making the limited success of the USMNT significant.

Home-field advantage Journalists writing about Azteca are quick to point out that it provides “the most unfair home advantage in international soccer” (Rogers 2009), what former USMNT coach Bruce Arena proclaims is “an awesome home-field advantage” (Jones 2009). Rogers (2009) advances a particularly strident critique of Mexico’s use (or abuse) of Azteca to leverage a home-field advantage. Stipulating that:

Already with the advantage of playing at altitude, the Mexicans can schedule games in the afternoon heat of a summer day and their fans can behave like animals without fear of sanction. Throw in a terrible referee and it becomes almost impossible to beat Mexico on home soil.

Jones (2009) continues the argument adding that Mexico uses Azteca “to great advantage” because “The stadium’s 7400 -foot altitude, combined with the heat and smog and noise, can be unnerving”. The familiar themes (altitude, smog, fan hostility) are paraded out here to craft a sense that Azteca creates a clear home-field advantage that Mexico often exploits.

Rite of passage Given the myth of Azteca that has infused the USMexico soccer rivalry, playing there has become a patent rite of passage for USMNT players. Goalkeeper Tim Howard stipulates this quite directly, suggesting that “It’s almost like a rite of passage for a US national team player” (Jones 2009). Vertelney (2012) refers to an impending match as “an opportunity that every American player will particularly relish: a meeting with Mexico at the famed Azteca Stadium.” In the same piece, Howard confirms the significance of playing at Azteca claiming that “Coming down to Azteca is a special feeling for us.” And defender DaMarcus Beasley alludes to the

significance of playing at Azteca when speaking about the squad’s match readiness by asserting that “They know it’s Mexico; they know it’s Azteca” (Avi 2012). Former USMNT defender Marcelo Balboa takes a more nostalgic tact when he suggests that “When you dream as a kid of playing in a stadium you, you dream of playin’ in something like that” (KICKTV 2013a). Alexi Lalas enhances the rite of passage narrative after offering a long testimonial about the difficulties of playing at Azteca. He stipulates:

That’s why it’s so important that when young players get the opportunity to do it that they take it. Because after that 90 minutes you are changed. And I believe that if you can withstand that 90 minutes you can be a better player. (U.S. Soccer 2012)

Curiously, with the aforementioned video of US supporters traveling to Azteca, one can glimpse how the myth of Azteca now has become a rite of passage for supporters as well (KICKTV 2013b). In the video viewers are introduced to several US supporters who speak directly to the camera. For example, Nick Bodmer from California discusses having doubts about wearing white to a venue where he will likely depart covered in stains. He describes though how he countered those doubts when he realized that wearing stained clothes from Azteca back in the USA at subsequent games would allow him, when asked about the stains, to assert “I was at Azteca, where were you?” Fellow supporter Donald Wine from DC shares that “When it comes to international pride there’s nothing more than walking into an Azteca … and cheering for the United States against Mexico.” And Dale Houdek from Arizona can barely be heard saying amidst the pregame backdrop of noise “I feel like we’re in the last place on earth right now”. Taken together these comments reveal how supporters experience a rite of passage and contribute to the intimidation narrative that shapes Azteca.

Social significance of success The final effect of intimidation is providing a backdrop from which comparatively modest results of the USMNT can be socially construed as success and progress. Alexi Lalas, on the team that earned the first point at Azteca, retrospectively refers to that draw by proclaiming “Oh my God! That was a win. That was a point in Azteca.” He adds: “When we got back into the locker room, we knew we had done something historic”. Graham Zusi recounts a similar

experience after the USMNT won their first game at Azteca. He recalls that “The first time we won at the Azteca, it was incredible. Back in the locker room I remember the guys taking pictures because we were the first team to do that” (Carlisle 2015). Ironically in such a competitive rivalry the first win came in a friendly match. Yet, the relevance of the win was not so easily dismissed. Straus (2012) cleverly denotes “what surely is the most meaningful meaningless game in US national team history”. And later references the USMNT team coach Jurgen Klinsmann reaction shared with ESPN: “It’s huge. It’s huge for American fans. It’s huge for the team. It’s history.”

Prior to the win, players had publicly acknowledged the significance of achieving it. In a KICKTV video, Goalkeeper Tim Howard shares:

Think the cool thing whenever you get a chance to play at Azteca, is to to be the first team you know. That, that always kind of resonates with everyone, that, that if we do things right and we win you know we make history. (KICKTV 2012a)

At about the same time, defender Maurice Edu hinted at the significance of an Azteca win in a pregame quote, saying “If we get a win here, it’s a big deal for us” (Avi 2012). O’Hanlon (2012) picks up on this theme by stipulating that “winning a game in Azteca is a rare thing for any team that isn’t Mexico…by definition, it is impressive, whatever the circumstances.” These comments serve to inoculate those who would dismiss the forthcoming victory as irrelevant and the result of a mere friendly. Those who wrote about it afterwards were therefore clear and resolute about its significance. “The victory is historic, the streak is broken, and the Mexican fans are forced to leave the stadium deflated, some angry” (Madden 2012).

For some the growing success of the USMNT of late-with a win and 2 draws in their last three visits-belies the unconquerable façade of Azteca. Longman (2013) writes “And yet, Beasley added, Azteca does not seem to be the same impenetrable fortress it once was”. There may be some truth to this as other sides have seen success at Azteca as well. In fact, Mexico struggled through the 2014 World Cup qualifying rounds. During this span they drew 3 matches and lost another at Azteca. However, Azteca produced wins in the final game of qualifying and the necessary playoff game that resulted from the side’s run of poor form. As a result, Mexico made an appearance in Brazil for the World Cup finals. Whether or not the myth of Azteca remains

as potent will be revealed in the coverage that follows future exploits. Time will tell if the nascent narrative of vulnerability will take hold and proliferate or if the time-honored tradition of animation and intimidation will persist.

ConCLUSION

In one of the few pieces that did not correspond with a USMNT/Mexico match, Gordon (2013) writes a tribute of sorts to Azteca. Within the piece he laments how US stadia have modernized with accouterments that actually distance spectators from the games they have come to enjoy. And in recognizing the mythology surrounding Azteca he notes that “For Estadio Azteca, ‘myth’ might just be the perfect word”. Early in the piece Gordon provides perhaps the most comprehensive and succinct treatment of how fact and folklore mix to create the myth of Azteca. He writes:

Imagine if America had only one major sport and we built a single stadium for all the games we played against other countries in that sport. Now, imagine we built that stadium on a de facto burial ground, infamously known as a cultural epicenter of grotesque human suffering, and named the stadium after the perpetrators. Now pretend this stadium was also built in an area with a globally recognized smog problem and at altitudes approaching 1.5 miles above sea level, so all visitors essentially contract instantaneous asthma, and people who actually have asthma are lucky to breathe successfully. For the au jus, each and every fan attending games at this stadium is intricately familiar with the aforementioned details-and torments every visitor with appalling epithets and insufferable noise. There are more than 100,000 of these angry people. And the two most famous players in the history of this sport had their two most fabled games in this stadium.

In the end, Azteca occupies a unique place as historic and monumental. It is a place that deservedly triggers a powerful mythology.

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