Nate and I headed over to Qwest Field this evening to watch Mexico battle China in a friendly soccer match. And this has to be the best match I have ever seen in America. Generally, games here are kind of anti-climactic. However, even though this was a meaningless friendly, you would never have known it!! The 56,416 fans in attendance roared in a way that was reminiscent of Seahawk fans in that stadium (If you don’t think they weren’t a 12th man à la the Seahawks, check out what the coach of China said: “For us it was very difficult…I think the public for Mexico is like a 12th player.”) The atmosphere was so electric, I thought I was back in Paris in 2000 watching Paris Saint-Germain take on Bayern München all over again. In the end, Mexico topped China 1-0, as 19-year-old Cesar Villaluz scored in the 14th minute. By the end of the game, the entire stands had devolved into one giant party, with the fans barely paying attention to the play on the pitch. All in all, this made me very excited for the upcoming MLS team here in Seattle.
Before I get to the pictures from the match, I do want to comment on one absolutely appalling thing I saw outside the stadium, at the Fútbol Fiesta (an outdoor area where all sorts of booths were set up). At the Home Depot booth they had a game where you could win a prize if you won a race they had set up. I wish I had taken a picture of this, because just thinking about it, it is almost unbelievable they would do this…they had two astro turf grass strips set up, and you were supposed to race a mini lawn mower (like a toddler would play with…even made out of the same kind of plastic as a big wheel) around cones to one end of the area and back to the start. Somehow, this seemed really racist…but maybe it was just me (which it wasn’t, because Nate was equally uncomfortable).
Let me know what you think of the pictures…
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