Fiesta Méxicana - Celebrating World Cup Victories the Mexican Way
Do you watch the world cup?
Do you celebrate when your country wins?
Do these celebrations get a bit wild sometimes?
Still, I believe your celebrations don't come even close to the way Mexicans go crazy when they win a world cup game. No, I don't mean the final, winning the cup and becoming world champions. That still has to happen, and it's anyone's guess if it ever will. No, I mean a simple match in the Group Phase.
I can't believe it: WE WON!!!
When Mexico won its first game against South Africa, I was somewhere out in the wilderness. But when they beat South Korea on June 18th, I was in the small town of San José del Cabo. And let me tell you, there was an instant party in the streets. Cars lined up in slow roll, honking their horns, people jumping and dancing, screaming and laughing, celebrating like there was no tomorrow. Throwing candy from the balconies. Hanging red-white-green streamers everywhere. A complete stranger could just walk up to you and give you a kiss, and it was all right. We just won. All of us just dissolved in the spirit of being one entity, one that had just accomplished something phenomenal. Winning their second game in the Group Phase! Viva México, Cabrones! This way we're certain to win the cup!
I remember a neighbor of mine telling me a few years ago, that she was right there in Italy in 2006 when they won the World Cup. Though the games took place in Germany, Italians were celebrating in the streets very passionately. Her description came very close to what I saw in San José. But then, last Tuesday I saw the Mexican exuberance here in the capital after beating Ecuador, and getting into the 8th finals. And let me tell you, it surpassed my wildest expectations...
Let's Go to the Angel!
Though Mexicans will celebrate their victories wherever they are, in Mexico City it is most customary to go to the Angel of Independence on Paseo de la Reforma. That's where football fans can meet up and share their their passion of the game and their joy of having just won. Except for... most people are football fans, particularly during the world cup. And everyone is up for celebrating anyway, not to mention after a victorious match. In other words, you are likely to see they whole city meet up at the Angel, if not the whole country...!
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The result? Oceanic multitudes, all letting their hair down and shaking their bodies in celebratory craze. And more and more people arriving from all sides, everyone wanting to share, to come closer, to show their full emotion of how amazing it is to be Mexican at such a faithful moment. Naturally, the streets are closed for traffic, but even the metro can't move, for being too many people going too crazy, all around and everywhere. The chaos is complete, as much as everyone is enjoying themselves. After the Ecuador game last Tuesday, four people died at the Angel from asphyxiation.
In this case you clearly can't blame any one person. Those standing immediately next to the one who got asphyxiated, precisely from their bodies, could not resist the force of the gigantic crowd pressing against them from all sides. Of course, those who were pressing probably didn't do it on purpose either, trying to cut of the air from anyone. It just simply happened, due to the force of the mass.
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What Happens Next?
In their history Mexico has reached the Round of 8 a.k.a. Quarter Finals only twice: in 1970 and 1986, both times when they were hosts. If they win against England, they would reach that same achievement, which is only appropriate, since this time they are at least co-hosts. But what kind of street party could top the one from last Tuesday? And then what...? What if they do what's never been done before, and advance into the Semifinals? Sure, they would have to beat (most probably) Brazil for that, but then again, this World Cup has been weird on so many levels, so why not? What kind of spontaneous festivities can we expect if that happens?
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I'm telling you, they may easily burn the whole city down. Not out of destructive vandalism. But simply because they are SOOOOOO very happy.