WEBVTT - Eternal Soccer Rivals: USA v. Mexico 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.479 If there's one shared truth in the world of soccer 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.000 and sports as a whole, really is that there's nothing 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:18.720 quite as invigorating as playing a game on your home turf. 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:25.320 This is your field, your town, your city. Most of 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.760 the people in the stadium are there for you, and 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:33.040 all that heckling and booing that's all directed towards your rivals. 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:36.160 I feel like maybe the closest thing to that would 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.040 be performing as a rock star in front of tens 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.920 of thousands of adoring fans, belting out your greatest hits. 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.200 Everyone is there just because they love you. It must 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:52.280 feel freaking amazing, And teams research has shown do seem 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.720 to win more when they're playing a home game. Maybe 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:58.160 it's the good vibes or the more forgiving calls by 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:02.120 the rests. The cause is are still hotly debated. Still, 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:08.280 there don't seem to be many downsides. That is, unless 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:14.760 you're the US men's team playing soccer against Mexico, Because 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:18.360 even if you're playing in your own country, pretty much 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:22.280 everything I just described doesn't really apply here because that 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:25.880 stadium where the US men's team is playing Mexico is 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:29.160 most likely going to be a sea of green jerseys. 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:34.199 Not red, white, and blue. The loudest national anthem will 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:41.119 probably be in Spanish. It will look, sound and feel 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:45.959 like you're playing an away game. This is one of 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:49.760 the many hallmarks in an international rivalry that spans decades 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:53.760 between two countries that share much more than a border. 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:59.080 From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernande Chavarri. This is American Football 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.560 show about soccer culture in the US and it's under 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:09.840 dog roots. We're going to delve into the history of 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.800 the rivalry between the US and Mexico, including an infamous 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:18.800 World Cup that traumatized generations of Mexicans and that solidified 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:22.320 the US as a worthy rival. And we're going to 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.880 look at why the Mexican team and the Mexican League 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:28.760 are so popular on this side of the border. It 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.280 turns out, for Mexican Americans, this is about so much 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:36.160 more than just soccer. It's about culture, it's about belonging, 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:46.639 it's about identity. So for all of that, I'm going 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:49.640 to bring my colleague Rebecca Berra, senior editor for the show. 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.760 I want to start this story not in the world 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:58.040 of sports, but in the world of culture and politics. 0:02:58.320 --> 0:02:59.320 In the nineties and the. 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.720 Early two th that's what I love most. 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.240 So, Fernanda, you and I have a few things in common. 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:10.120 We are both born and raised in Mexico, and we 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.920 are both millennials. I would say elder millennials, but I 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.240 know that you have a problem with that word. 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:18.760 I don't like the world elder for anything. 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:21.639 So I'll just say that we're millennials of a certain age, 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.560 which means that we grew up in a time in 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:30.920 Mexico when the pop culture influence of the US on 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.120 the country was just really strong. 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:37.920 Totally, totally and in a different way. Because it wasn't 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:41.880 coming through Instagram or the Internet connecting us all instantly. 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:46.000 It felt very organic, but very crescent like. It had 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:48.160 to travel a long way to get there, and it 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:48.960 made its mark. 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:53.240 A lot of it got there through TV through radio 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:56.640 like Obviously, I would assume that you, like me, grew 0:03:56.720 --> 0:04:01.840 up watching telenoelas and eating spicy candy. But if you 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:04.840 were a teenager like me living in the outskirts of 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:09.560 Mexico City, you were also probably watching Beverly Hills nine 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:12.400 O two one zero or The Fresh Prince of val Air, 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:22.200 which I knew as. 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:20.280 A which is the Prince of Rap. 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:26.080 And on top of that, US culture was cool, kind 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:31.800 of aspirational totally. But in the United States Mexican influence 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:36.160 was lived and perceived differently. And the reason for that 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.799 is because the US wasn't just dealing with Mexican culture. 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:45.400 It was dealing with Mexican people, because millions of Mexicans, 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:49.120 both with and without papers, were coming to the United 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:55.120 States during those decades. If you look at a graph 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:59.279 of the number of Mexican immigrants in the US, wholds 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.880 steady in the hundreds of thousands for most of last century, 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.200 and then in the eighties and nineties and two thousands, 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:09.960 it just like shoots up and it's two million, four million, 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:10.960 ten million. 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.920 All Americans, not only in the States most heavily affected, 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:17.400 but in every place in this country are rightly disturbed 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:22.120 by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:25.560 The jobs they home might otherwise be held by citizens 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.159 or legal immigrants, the public service they use impose burdens 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:30.320 on our tax players. 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.760 It's a small example of the dynamic between these two countries. 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:38.520 The US seeing Mexico and Mexicans as this country and 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:42.719 these people that they need for trade and for labor 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:44.880 and stuff like that, but they're also kind of this 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:50.600 inconvenience right, and in Mexico you're under this incessant cultural 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:54.839 and political influence of the US. But they're also this 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.400 kind of popular school bully and they're like good at everything, 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:02.000 including the sports. And yet yes, this is a soccer podcast, 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:03.600 so we are going to talk about sports. 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:04.920 We're getting to the sports. We're getting there. 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.120 The one thing that Mexicans do not have a complicated 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:14.760 relationship with is soccer, or they're standing in soccer when 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:18.120 it comes to the United States. Like if you were 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.400 in Mexico, you know that the United States has the 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:24.400 good economy, they have Hollywood, they have Doctor Pepper, But 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:27.880 we have soccer. Our local teams are better than the 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.640 US local teams, and our national team is better than 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:38.120 the US national team that we knew. But then in 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:42.279 the mid nineties towards the early two thousands, that all changes, 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:47.159 and that power dynamic changes as well, And that is 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.560 where we get to the beginning of this rivalry. In 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:51.320 terms of soccer. 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:59.200 It becomes a rivalry when the other team wins. Also, 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:01.800 not when just one team is winning. 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.599 This is Edward Kawich. He is a sports reporter for 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:08.520 the La Times, where he's covered boxing and soccer for 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.040 fifteen years, and he says both teams have played each 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:14.000 other at different points in history, like starting in the 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:18.120 nineteen thirties, and for most of that history, Mexico was 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:19.320 the dominant team. 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:21.840 If you look at the stats, Mexico has more wins 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:22.520 than the US. 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.040 But that started changing. 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:29.680 The key component here is that the US started winning 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:31.720 and started winning in finals. 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:35.720 Okay, so what changes what happens in the US or 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:37.920 with the US team or with players coaches. 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.800 I mean the big change we've already covered in several 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.960 episodes of this podcast, which is the US actually starts 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:48.120 taking soccer seriously at the beginning of the nineties, towards 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.480 that nineteen ninety four World Cup in the US and 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.760 then past that. They start getting better players, they start 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:57.400 recruiting coaches, including coaches from Mexico, right, and they just 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:01.800 start playing better and they start being good kind of 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.800 early on. Again, they're not winning decisively, but in the 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:09.320 very first CONCAKV Gold Cup in nineteen ninety one, the 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:13.320 US knocks out Mexico four to zero, unbelievable at the 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.480 Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:16.240 Unbelievable. 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.560 And the US goes on to win that tournament Hollywood style, 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:21.360 ending the very first Gold Cup. 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:26.720 The United States in penalties secure their first major trophy. 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.200 And you know what that kind of starts getting to 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:30.960 the Mexicans. 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:33.880 They have that mentality of yeah, you're better than us 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:38.080 in many things, but not in soccer. So for Mexicans, 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:41.520 they feel more when they lose to the US. Their 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:46.079 pride gets damaged also, but even more than US soccer fans. 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:50.079 Makes sense, this was the one thing that Mexico was better. 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:56.000 At exactly, And granted, Edward says that Mexico is still 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:58.120 the better team early on. 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:03.640 But that change in the nineteen nineties, late nineteen nineties especially, 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.960 and I think the climax of that rivalry came in 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:12.960 two thousand and two when the US face Mexico in 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.160 the knockout phase in the World Cup. 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:16.560 Oh that game. 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.560 That's how it's known officially as that game. 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:30.400 After the break, those I said, oh, you knew that 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:33.920 was coming. We're going to revisit a collective Mexican trauma 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:58.920 and talk about that game. It's American football and Fernanda Charai. 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.840 Before or the break, our senior editor Rebecca Ebra was 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:05.680 telling me about how the rivalry between Mexico and the 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:09.600 United States didn't become real until the US started winning 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.680 in the nineties, and the climax of it all came 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.360 in two thousand and two during the World Cup. 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.240 For Nanda, What do you know about the game between 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.319 the US and Mexico in the two thousand and two 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:22.080 Korea Japan World Cup. 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:25.559 Wow, Well, I'm not going to give you a stats. 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:27.679 I'm going to give you the feeling. And the feeling 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:30.360 was a holy shit. 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.280 So what you need to know is that this game 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:37.560 happened in the knockout phase, which is also known as 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.480 around to sixteen I call it. Oh that was a final, yeah, 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:43.439 and if you win this game, you make it to 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.400 the quarterfinals. And again, the US was doing good, but 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:50.160 Mexico was still mostly winning. So the US team is 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:55.320 solidly the underdog going into this game. They had big players, 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.760 Don't get me wrong. They had Landon Donovan, who is 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.160 probably one of the best players the US has ever known, 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.160 but they were still a rookie team from a rookie 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:08.680 soccer country. Meanwhile, you have Mexico and they were the favorite, 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:12.640 and they had some amazing players right in their prime. 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:16.000 They had quote Demo Blanco, they had Luis Hernandez, they 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:20.240 had Rafa Marquez, and all these players were pretty cocky 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:24.040 going into this. So the website MLS Soccer did an 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.320 oral history of the game and they interviewed a bunch 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:30.160 of the players at the time. For example, Mexico goalkeeper 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:34.080 Osualdo Sanchez said, quote, we had all the intentions to win, 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:38.880 and we expected to win. MLST also interviewed this midfielder 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:43.120 called Pablo Mastroeni from the US and he said, quote, 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:45.880 once we got to the location, we got a call 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.280 from President Bush and he told us that he had 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:51.959 a bet with Mexican President visent the folks on the game. 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.760 It just kind of put things in perspective. Whatever happened 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:57.880 prior to that point was irrelevant. 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:01.920 Ooh, that ship, this reserve their sporting rivalry on the 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:03.160 global stage. 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:06.320 So you guys to that game. It is in Junju, 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:08.720 June seventeen, two thousand. 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:11.319 And two, eight quarter final place against Germany at this 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.079 fee for World Cup. Is the prize for Mexico or 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:15.960 the United States in Junju. 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:18.360 And to set a little bit more of a scene, 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:22.640 there was a US military base in South Korea, so 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:27.319 there were actually a lot of US fans in the stadium, 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:30.840 and that kind of sets the tone for things. This 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:32.960 is also I mean and aside, but it's less than 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:35.360 a year from the September eleventh attack, so like there's 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:40.400 the sense of American pride and that is felt immediately 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:44.200 because only eight minutes in, the US scores a goal and. 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:48.320 The finish it's for Bride McBride the fire of the 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.240 United States into an early Lander. 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:52.720 And then the US scores another goal. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.400 London don't have center middle to score the second goal 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:00.280 for the USA and double that lead with twin even 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:01.280 it to the second. 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.880 Half, play huge golf, and what basically happens is that 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:06.120 Mexico loses her mind. 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:10.199 Tensions rising here was beginning to boil. 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:15.440 You have yellow cards flying everywhere. According to Landon Donovan, 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:17.599 Luisa Nandez goes to him at one point and he 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:23.200 tells him in Spanish vo contre to, I'm gonna find 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:26.679 your mom and I'm gonna kill her now. Luis Hernandez 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:29.480 has denied that, but it kind of gives you an 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.480 idea of the stakes in the game. At one point, 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:36.200 Rafa Marquez headbuts will be Jones super hard and Rafa 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:38.200 gets expelled, Marcus. 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.679 Leading with his head and losing his head and a 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.520 painful imminence. Exit for Mexico is soured further. 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:46.760 They were just losing their minds and the end result 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:49.120 is that Mexico is eliminated from the World Cup by 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:50.199 the US. 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.880 It's the United States through to the quarter finals to 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:55.800 face the free time champions Germany. 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:58.960 And this is still the only game that the US 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:01.880 has won in the knock of the World Cup ever ever, 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:04.280 and it is the only time that the US and 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:08.839 Mexico have faced each other in a World Cup. Just 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:10.560 to kind of give you an example of the told 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.360 this had on the Mexican psyche Fernanda. In doing research 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:16.920 for this episode, I did what all professional journalists do. 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:21.520 I asked my dad about, of course the game. Of 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:25.320 course I message him on WhatsApp. He's in Mexico, and 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:30.240 what he told me is that he remembers that game clearly, 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:32.480 even twenty four years later. 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:35.360 When it happened, I would try to tell myself, well, 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:37.240 you know, it's just a game. It doesn't matter what 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:40.080 you know. The next few days, the next few nights, 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:41.920 I mean I would be waking over like a two 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.840 or three in the morning thinking about the game, and 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.800 it just bothered me for like a week, and then 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.240 for the next couple of months it would just bother 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.120 me to think about that stupid game. 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:55.720 Oh my god, I love hearing this because this is 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:58.640 this is a regular person. Because is your dad like 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.600 a sports commented? Does he make money out of soccer? 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:03.160 Like he's just a regular guy? 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:03.400 Right? 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:08.480 Okay, But to be feeling this, it speaks to how 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:10.080 it felt for the people. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:14.200 Exactly, and that dosa became a meme. It was everywhere 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:16.520 and the US fans were chanted at games. 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:23.400 Even non Spanish speakers can be like dosa sero and 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:24.200 it stings. 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:28.840 It also just really solidified this as a true rivalry, 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:33.000 and it also meant that Mexico could no longer claim 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:37.000 authority over soccer. It wasn't just our sport anymore, which 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:41.680 was set But Fernanda, I'm gonna make you feel a little. 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:42.160 Bit better, please do. 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:46.800 There was one place where Mexico remained victorious and one 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:50.800 place where Mexico continues to dominate. Do you have an 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:52.040 idea where that may be? 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.560 It's got to be the that pride that people have. 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:57.680 The love I don't is it the fans. 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:02.720 Yes, it's the fan base. And that fan base exists 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.440 not only with people like my dad back in Mexico, 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:10.320 it is also dominant in the United States. I'm going 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.359 to play you a clip from the three part documentary 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:18.320 Good Arrivals. It's on Prime. This is soccer player Alexi Lawless. 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:20.520 He played for the US in the nineties and early 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:21.240 two thousands. 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:22.120 For me and my. 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:26.000 Generation playing against Mexico, it didn't matter whether we were 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:33.440 in Mexico City or Guadalajara, or in Los Angeles or Foxboro, Massachusetts. 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:37.600 It was an away game and we came to grips 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:42.960 with that very early. You recognize that when you are 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.200 playing against Mexico, at the very least it's going to 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.120 be fifty to fifty, but more often than not, it 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:49.440 is going to be an away game. 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:55.480 And you know who is feeling those stands in Los 0:16:55.520 --> 0:17:01.440 Angeles and in Texas and in Illinois. It's those Mexican 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.960 immigrants that are moving to the United States in the millions, 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:09.240 the ones Bill Clinton was so stressed about and everyone 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:13.080 has been so stressed about, and they are proclaiming and 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:18.360 celebrating their Mexican pride, and on top of that their 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:22.760 US born children are also rooting for the Mexican team. 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.040 I'm going to bring back Edward ka, which he is 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.919 the sports reporter for the La Times, and. 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.600 Why do they root for Mexico Like an American will 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.639 ask if you were born here. It doesn't have to 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.000 do with the Mexican national team being good. It doesn't 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:42.080 have to be at all. That's what people don't get it. 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:44.600 It has to do with identity. 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:46.080 It's about the culture. 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.840 When you attenn a soccer game is a festival. It's 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.240 not just a game. You go there because you tailgate. 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:57.920 Were your buddies where you're at the Mexico game. 0:17:58.320 --> 0:17:59.320 We're just showing you how. 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:01.160 The same. 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:02.240 Let's go take a look. 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:06.560 You listen to the Santa Fernandez because it reminds you 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:11.200 of your dad, your grandpa, your music, your food, your karasaya, 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:13.439 your cook before the game, and. 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.040 Edward says, this isn't just for the Mexican national team. 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:18.760 The same goes for the local teams in the Mexican 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:20.359 league La Liga Emegis. 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:25.000 I've seen games here when Chivas is playing and they're 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.840 playing with their backup team and the Rose Bowl Stadium 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:35.400 gets filled with ninety thousand people, and that's a very 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:40.120 clear picture why Mexican fans go to stadiums, because they 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:42.959 go for their identity. 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:50.960 After the break. What it means as a fan when 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:53.359 you're not just picking a team, but you're picking an 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:59.120 identity and call a Mexican American superstar safe soccer, We'll 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:17.160 be right back. It's American football and Fernande Chavarri back 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:21.360 with Rebecca talking about how soccer keeps many Mexican Americans 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:22.760 in touch with their roots. 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:26.400 I spoke to a few people who are Mexican American. 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:30.000 One of them is Cesa Ernandez. Cessad was born and 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:32.320 raised in Los Angeles, but his parents are from Mexico, 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:37.440 and he says soccer has been key in his life 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:41.600 to keeping that connection to the home of his ancestors. 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:44.119 And it's something that I'm a little self conscious about sometimes. 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:48.119 But if you're to strip away soccer from me, I 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.480 think my personal would be quite frankly, I guess it 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.600 would be very Americanized in comparison to my family and 0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:56.960 my theos Anthias, my mom and my grandparents. But like, 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.720 by bringing that soccer element into me, that's kind of 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:05.520 what makes me feel. I don't know, incredibly proud of 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:06.600 my Mexican heritage. 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:08.440 It goes back to what we were talking about in 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:13.280 the beginning of our conversation, because outside of soccer, the 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:17.680 radio station he listens to, his Spotify playlist, his watch 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:22.080 list on Netflix is probably very sort of American culture, 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:25.440 as he's saying. So it's the sport that keeps that 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:28.320 connection and that sort of Mexican ness alive. 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:33.040 For him exactly, and Sasad has made that sport a 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:34.080 really huge part. 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:34.360 Of his life. 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:38.200 I'm a soccer writer for ESPN. I cover Mexican soccer, 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:39.439 American soccer, and. 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:41.520 It's a constant presence in his life. 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:44.000 It's never not been there in the background to this day. 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:46.840 I mean, I'm not paying attention to it. There's a 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:48.280 soccer game in the background, like down. 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:49.119 The wall right now. 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:51.080 Yeah, yeah, I'm not watching it. I promise you. I 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:52.840 promise you. I'm not watching it. I promise you, I'm 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:53.240 not watching it. 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:53.800 I love this. 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:57.560 Isn't it your dream as a journalist to be interviewing 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:01.640 someone and them having a soccer game in the background. 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:04.520 Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure It's not distracting at all. 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:09.840 But a perfect example of Cisad's cultural connection to soccer 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:13.360 is the very first professional soccer game he ever attended 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:16.560 in nineteen ninety six in Los Angeles. 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:21.560 It was the first year for the La Galaxy, the 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:24.679 first year for MLS Back in nineteen ninety six, the. 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:31.480 MLS Galaxy prosus the New York metron Stars, and the 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.919 reason why my dad and tens of thousands of us 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:38.280 were there were to see Mexican goalkeeping legend hord Ca 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:39.919 Campos Campos. 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:43.800 This is the first ever game for the La Galaxy, 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:47.200 which is an American team, and Sasad is there to 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:50.199 see a Mexican player. Do we need to explain who 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:51.439 Horte compos is now right? 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:55.679 I would love to say no, but maybe we should. 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:59.760 And my explainer of Horte Campos is, let me try 0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:04.479 and do it in a few words. Goalie Mexico nineties tiny, 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:08.760 incredibly talented neon outfits. 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:12.199 The La Galaxy knew that the fandom, many of them 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:16.400 Mexican and Mexican Americans, would show up, and they continue 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:19.720 to show up, not just for the Mexican national team, 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:21.960 but as I mentioned before, they show up for teams 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:24.000 that play in the Mexican soccer league, which is called 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:28.400 La Liga Emeki's, and a lot of those fans born 0:22:28.480 --> 0:22:30.840 in the US follow those local teams for the same 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:36.720 reason that they might follow the national team, which is tradition. 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:41.440 And Major League Soccer doesn't really have that. I think 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:46.159 there is a recognition from MLS teams and owners that 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:51.600 they have yet to really win over a number of 0:22:51.880 --> 0:22:56.240 Liga Mechi's fans, and I think that when we're talking 0:22:56.280 --> 0:23:01.080 about connections that Latinos have and Mexican Americans have to 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:04.520 those teams back home, that's just something that MLS doesn't 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:09.160 have just yet and doesn't have that kind of generational support. 0:23:09.600 --> 0:23:14.159 Even though LaLiga Mecke's hasn't done much to cater to 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:17.359 those Mexican American fans other than just exist. 0:23:17.840 --> 0:23:18.399 They don't have to. 0:23:18.680 --> 0:23:21.040 They don't have to, but a lot of those Mexican 0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:24.800 American fans speak English as their first language, and for 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:27.920 the past couple of decades, those fans have taken it 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:34.040 upon themselves to cover the league in English, whether through podcasts. 0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:35.720 Borrow hard things than Chivas playing through a third of 0:23:35.760 --> 0:23:37.800 the Liga mex season, or social media. 0:23:38.280 --> 0:23:41.240 LFC is going to be playing today against Micrusasul and yes, 0:23:41.320 --> 0:23:44.520 my Makina needs to do a big rebonda because they're 0:23:44.560 --> 0:23:45.400 down three. 0:23:45.400 --> 0:23:49.160 Zero or through groups on discord, I spoke to one 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:52.360