Thousands of Colombians are making their colorful, loud and jovial presence felt in Mexico City ahead of their national soccer team’s debut at the FIFA men’s World Cup in Mexico City Stadium (Estadio Azteca) on Wednesday night.
Colombia, ranked 13th in FIFA’s world rankings, will take on Uzbekistan, ranked 50th, in the 24th match of the World Cup. Kickoff is at 8 p.m.
On the eve of the game, a multitude of Colombians — most wearing the bright yellow shirts of the national team or the yellow, red and blue colors of the Colombian flag — gathered around the Angel of Independence monument on Paseo de la Reforma, the stately avenue that leads into Mexico City’s Historic Center.
“Colombia takeover,” MND writer Bethany Platanella wrote in a message to colleagues above a video she filmed at El Ángel, as the Angel of Independence is commonly called. “… My neighborhood is a sea of yellow.”
ESPN reported that close to 10,000 soccer fans — including some 7,000 Colombians as well as Mexican fans of the Colombian team — descended on Paseo de la Reforma to party around the Angel of Independence, where they interrupted traffic. Mexico City “heard the chant of ‘¡Colombia! ¡Colombia!” along the emblematic boulevard, the news outlet wrote.
The El País newspaper reported that the large crowd included Colombian residents of Mexico as well as visitors from the South American nation, whose best World Cup performance is a quarterfinal appearance in Brazil in 2014. El País also reported that a lot of the Colombian fans don’t have tickets for tonight’s match, but are nevertheless “living the experience” of being in Mexico City during the World Cup.
“We have the best impression of Mexico, which has welcomed us very warmly on our first visit here,” Patricia, a Colombian national, told El País at El Ángel.
Patricia, who traveled to Mexico with seven other members of her family, said: “We’re going to the opener to support our team and on the 20th we’re going to Guadalajara for the match against the Democratic Republic of Congo [on June 23].
The Colombian fan said she and her family would also be supporting Mexico, which plays its second match against South Korea in Guadalajara on Thursday night.
Another Colombian fan among the singing, dancing and flag-waving crowd at El Ángel was Mariana, who spoke to the El Financiero newspaper.
“We’re super fans, we always support our country, we hope this time we do something more,” she said, expressing her hope that the Colombian team — which received a warm welcome from fans when arriving at a Mexico City hotel earlier this week — will reach the latter stages of the quadrennial tournament.
Mariana told El Financiero that there is “una hermandad” (a brotherhood, sisterhood or fraternity) between Colombians, Mexicans and other Latinos.
The Los Angeles Times reported that visiting Colombians feel at home in Mexico, where the Colombian football team will play two of its three World Cup group matches. Apart from the soccer, the Colombian fans are enjoying the sounds, sights and tastes of the country.
Juan Ortiz, a Colombian fan from Cali who is currently in Mexico City, told The Los Angeles Times that tacos al pastor and quesadillas are the foods he has liked the most during his visit. He also said he likes “el chile que pica” — chilis (or salsa) with a spicy kick.
“We’ve found ourselves in an incredible country,” Ortiz said. “Wherever we go, we feel the love from Mexicans to Colombians and we feel at home.”
Silvia López, a visitor from Baranquilla, expressed a similar sentiment.
“[Mexico] is a marvelous place,” she told the L.A. Times.
“I came to the World Cup thinking we would be rivals, but Mexicans surprised me making me feel part of their lives,” López said. “I’m extremely grateful for the expressions of affection.”
Arístides Guzmán, who traveled to Mexico with his wife and 14-year-old son from the Colombian city of Neiva, told El País that the cost of the trip was completely worth it. He also said that the World Cup in Mexico has been well organized.
“We know that there are some [protest] rallies, but nothing that hinders the World Cup environment,” Guzmán said.
Needless to say, the Colombian football team will have plenty of support at Mexico City Stadium on Thursday night when it takes on Uzbekistan, which is playing in the FIFA World Cup for the first time.
It remains to be seen how much support the Central Asian country will have at “El Azteca,” as the stadium is colloquially known, but whatever number of Uzbek fans are present, it appears certain they will be outnumbered by cheering, singing and dancing colombianos, who may well head back to El Ángel to celebrate should their team prevail tonight.
With reports from El País, Los Angeles Times, El Financiero and ESPN
