Returning home with new experiences, perspectives and relationships
A week in Mexico with the IU men's soccer team gave four sports media students new experiences and unprecedented access, writes senior Eddie Cotton.
We sat in a largely empty Estadio Azteca, and our tour guide told us to yell “goal” for three seconds.
Once we were done yelling, the 90,000-seat stadium spoke our word back to us with about a three-second echo. Our tour of the Mexican fútbol mecca consisted of access to the locker rooms, press area, the pitch and the stands.
“This place is massive,” Josh Eastern said. “Just the vastness of it. We were down on the pitch and looking up, looking at the stands — it’s just a massive, massive stadium.”
After the tour and taking in a Club America match, the first full day in Mexico City is in the books.
It started early on Saturday with a trip to the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the first training session for the Indiana men’s soccer team. Then it ended late with a full afternoon and evening at Estadio Azteca and taking in a Liga MX game between Club America and Puebla.
“Just getting an understanding of how seriously they take, not only Club America here, but the sport as a whole,” Eddie Cotton said. “You compare this to anything in the United States soccer-wise, and there is absolutely no comparison.”
And of course before we could send it in for the day, we had to get some more tacos for dinner (something that might become a nightly occasion). But all in all, it was a long, but fun day with plenty of fútbol to go around.
Estadio Azteca was a sight to behold. It is a stadium that seats more than 90,000, and it should be on any soccer fan’s bucket list. Our media group went early for the stadium tour, and we met up with the team when it arrived for the game.
At the end of the tour and the match, we knew we had just experienced something special.
“A lot of adrenaline came in when we came out of the tunnel from the locker room into the field and we got to see the goal where Maradona scored two goals, also Pele scored a goal,” Juan Diego Alvarado said. “My favorite part was sitting in the stands up there and seeing how big the stadium was and how peaceful it was without people.”
Even before we went to Estadio Azteca, we were able to shoot footage and document the team’s first training session in Mexico City. Seeing how they reacted to their new surroundings, especially the altitude, was interesting to see.
Sunday should be another full day as we will get out and see more of Mexico City.
