First we visited a ticket agent, who told us that official tickets were at least 1300 pesos, but that the prices were set so poorly that they had sent 90% of theirs back unsold. He advised us to visit the stadium before game time & see of they had reduced their prices.
We did. They hadn't.
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| Scalpers near the ticket booths, inside the security zone |
But...
There were several scalpers selling tickets at a loss (unless they had acquired tickets at below face-value, because their cousin eduardo is a local cop who had the good fortune to pull over a ticket agent for speeding). In any case, we were offered tickets "right behind the players" in a section one better than VIP, for 1500 pesos each. Not bad, especially if you wanted to heckle or kiss some soccer players. Or cut their hair to sell on ebay.
Still, as much as being arrested at a futbol match would make for a great post (!), we decided to save our money & head home. We had also neglected to bring cash (assuming we'd be paying for legitimate tickets with a credit card), which, it seems, Mexican scalpers tend to require in exchange for tickets. Tho we joked about offering, say, 16 of the football chocolates I had brought along for a pair of $100 tickets, we didn't actually have the.. oh, wait, I guess we did!
Slightly dejected by the thought of going home, we sat for a while in the parking lot to drink in the ambience and the excitement, tho there wasn't as much of that as you'd expect, maybe because Mexico hasn't fielded a world class soccer team since I was wearing diapers (no wise cracks, please).
We checked our phones. It was 7:07 (7 minutes past the official start time), but many fans with tickets were still lining up to get in. I guess they were early by Mexican standards.
Anyway, we found another use for my soccer ball chocolates: we played a high-energy "match" on a concrete bench (from which the first photo above was taken).
As we were leaving, Jen spotted a couple of people watching the game from the bleachers of a shuttered stadium next door (see the dark specks atop the blue tower, & their blurry white ladder in the photo below?)...
Hmmm. Maybe we could join them.
We cycled around the estadio, looking for a way in. We asked a man guarding the shuttered stadium if we could enter. No luck. He pointed in a nonsensical direction & said something unintelligible in Spanish. Of course we nodded, thanked him, & continued on. We considered sneaking past the man (who was, no joke, watching the game on a small TV) but, much as being arrested at a futbol match would make for a great post (!), we decided to save our money & head home, where we watched the second half over dinner, exulting in the announcers' absurdly excited cries of "Gooooooooooaaaaaal!"
I have to admit, it was a better game than I expected. Too much Messi & not enough messy (what is soccer without illegal tackles, red cards, melodramatic diving, & fake tears!), but lots of goals & lots of action...
Viva America! Viva Mexico! Viva Fuuuuuutbol!
But...
There were several scalpers selling tickets at a loss (unless they had acquired tickets at below face-value, because their cousin eduardo is a local cop who had the good fortune to pull over a ticket agent for speeding). In any case, we were offered tickets "right behind the players" in a section one better than VIP, for 1500 pesos each. Not bad, especially if you wanted to heckle or kiss some soccer players. Or cut their hair to sell on ebay.
Still, as much as being arrested at a futbol match would make for a great post (!), we decided to save our money & head home. We had also neglected to bring cash (assuming we'd be paying for legitimate tickets with a credit card), which, it seems, Mexican scalpers tend to require in exchange for tickets. Tho we joked about offering, say, 16 of the football chocolates I had brought along for a pair of $100 tickets, we didn't actually have the.. oh, wait, I guess we did!
 |
| Don't joke about my chocolate balls! |
Slightly dejected by the thought of going home, we sat for a while in the parking lot to drink in the ambience and the excitement, tho there wasn't as much of that as you'd expect, maybe because Mexico hasn't fielded a world class soccer team since I was wearing diapers (no wise cracks, please).
 |
| Mexico's finest... |
We checked our phones. It was 7:07 (7 minutes past the official start time), but many fans with tickets were still lining up to get in. I guess they were early by Mexican standards.
Anyway, we found another use for my soccer ball chocolates: we played a high-energy "match" on a concrete bench (from which the first photo above was taken).
 |
| Payne (22) making a diving tackle in an intense chocoball match! |
As we were leaving, Jen spotted a couple of people watching the game from the bleachers of a shuttered stadium next door (see the dark specks atop the blue tower, & their blurry white ladder in the photo below?)...
Hmmm. Maybe we could join them.
We cycled around the estadio, looking for a way in. We asked a man guarding the shuttered stadium if we could enter. No luck. He pointed in a nonsensical direction & said something unintelligible in Spanish. Of course we nodded, thanked him, & continued on. We considered sneaking past the man (who was, no joke, watching the game on a small TV) but, much as being arrested at a futbol match would make for a great post (!), we decided to save our money & head home, where we watched the second half over dinner, exulting in the announcers' absurdly excited cries of "Gooooooooooaaaaaal!"
I have to admit, it was a better game than I expected. Too much Messi & not enough messy (what is soccer without illegal tackles, red cards, melodramatic diving, & fake tears!), but lots of goals & lots of action...
Viva America! Viva Mexico! Viva Fuuuuuutbol!
 |
| Viva Fuuuuuutbol! |
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