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PACHUCA — South Africa’s World Cup squad arrived in central Mexico this week expecting a smooth training camp and instead discovered a city that appears to have been designed specifically to discourage the formation of vacation thoughts.
The team’s delayed trip to Mexico was already complicated by visa issues, but the deeper adjustment came on arrival in Pachuca, where the air is cooler, the altitude is higher and the nearest beach is still stubbornly absent from the horizon.
Players and staff were reportedly briefed on local conditions after landing, including the inconvenient fact that Pachuca is not a resort town, does not operate on a coastal schedule and has no obligation to provide the warm, palm-lined atmosphere many foreign visitors seem to assume comes standard with the word “Mexico.”
The city’s hillside setting, mining history and brisk climate came as a shock to a team that was ready for sun, surf and Mexico’s world famous beaches. Hoping to settle into pre-World Cup rhythm, the adjustment has included jackets, dry air and the sudden realization that not every Mexican host city is built around sunbathing.
One official said the squad had prepared for an international tournament, but not for “a place where the weather reminds you to stretch before breakfast.” Another was said to have asked whether the training base was near the ocean.
By the time training began, South Africa had adapted to the altitude, if not entirely to the discovery that its first opponent in Mexico was not the host nation but the weather.
It should be of no surprise that Pachuca was primarily settled by the British.
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