Watching two goals within the first 30 minutes of the game between Mexico and Ecuador on Tuesday night had a packed-to-the-brim Estadio Azteca (aka Estadio Banorte, aka "Mexico City Stadium" as FIFA is temporarily calling it for legal reasons) chanting the fanbase’s latest rallying cry:
“¿Y si sí?” (And if we do?)
The chant is the latest three-word phrase that defines the World Cup as experienced by the fans. In 2014, fans cried out “NO ERA PENAL” in anguish over Mexico being knocked out in dramatic fashion by The Netherlands.
In 2018, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez invited fans to “imaginémonos cosas chingonas,” but reality, and Brazil, had other plans.
Everyone has memory-holed 2022.
Suffice it to say that pessimism is a way of life for Mexicans and the diaspora who follow the (mis)adventures of 26 men in green uniform running around on a field. It has been this way for-basically-ever with two exceptions: the World Cups of 1970 and 1986, when the fellas won a direct elimination game at home.
“Our battle cry, ‘Sí Se Puede,’ is a reminder that our team has almost never done it,” wrote Mexican soccer scribe and legend Juan Villoro in his 2014 book “Balón Dividido.”
The path from the World Cup in 2022 to 2026 was a stark reminder of that reality. In what looked and felt like a desperate attempt to correct course after disastrous results in the 2022 World Cup, CONCACAF Nations Leagues (yes, multiple!), CONCACAF Gold Cup, and Copa América, Mexico’s Football Federation (FMF) brought in Javier “El Vasco” Aguirre.
Aguirre, the silver-haired wise-cracker, had already coached and failed at previous World Cups, each time in heartbreaking fashion: a 2 – 0 loss to the USA in 2002 and a 3 – 1 loss to Argentina, complete with an infamous offside goal, in 2010.
Talk about reigniting a toxic relationship . . .
Aguirre started off on the right foot as the team’s new coach. He won the team’s first Nations League title, which eluded them for three tournaments in a row, and won the Gold Cup months later.
The honeymoon didn’t last long, thanks to a string of defeats last year as Vasco began tinkering and planning for the World Cup. The team, however, eventually improved in positive fashion. They didn’t lose a game and were only scored on twice this year in the months before the tournament.
¿Y sí sí?
The fans aren’t wrong to hope and believe that this time may actually be the time to, not only make history, but continue making history as the team did on Tuesday night: they are the first squad in 40 years to have won a direct-elimination game in a World Cup.
Furthermore, out of four games so far, the team commandeered by Aguirre and his coaching staff, which includes former player and future national team coach Rafa Márquez, already made history multiple times thanks to their balanced combination of possession, attack, and defense.
Mexico have scored eight goals and have yet to be scored on by any rival thus far. They are only the sixth team in World Cup history to complete the group stage with a perfect record, and they did so as a host nation.
More importantly: they look damn good and confident while doing it.
¿Y si sí?
After Tuesday’s game, over a million (yes, million!) people swarmed the Paseo de la Reforma and El Ángel – Monumento a la Independencia to celebrate their team’s historic victory. Some people have criticized Mexican fans for their over-the-top celebrations after each of the team’s victories thus far. But those haters are saltier than a box of Saladitas Gamesa.
Think about it: Mexico has played every game in CDMX, with the only exception being a game in Guadalajara. They have won every game, and provided unforgettable moments in each game.
They gave Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa a beautiful sendoff on his sixth and final World Cup tournament at the stadium, where he professionally debuted 22 years ago. The team is finally playing a “quinto partido,” the fifth game of the tournament that has eluded them for decades.
Worth celebrating? Hell yeah!
Villoro, once again, reminds us: “In Mexico, we’re not sure that the future exists: every bit of joy can be the last.”
If the joy that shook the world on Tuesday night was the last for the team and fans in this tournament, then the celebrations were completely on point.
But . . .
¿Y si sí?
Mexico will face England on Sunday, July 5 at 5 p.m.
