For many gathering for a watch party of the World Cup game featuring Mexico, it was a moment four decades in the making, while for others just joining the party was reason enough.
A crowd of at least 1,000 crammed the area near and in Zócalo Food Park in Walkers Point on July 5 with one overriding purpose in mind: to mingle among other avid fans and share Team Mexico’s effort to return to the international soccer event’s quarterfinals for the first time since 1986. And to keep the party going, if the team satiated that goal.
Or perhaps it was just community pride from those who have roots in Mexico but now live thousands of miles from Estadio Azteca, the Mexico City stadium where the July 5 match had been scheduled to take place live at 7 p.m. CDT. (Inclement weather at the stadium delayed the start an hour.)
Standing among a trio of friends dressed in the Mexico national team’s green jerseys, with red and white highlights, Jairo Trujillo of Milwaukee called his team’s deep push into the World Cup “a pretty big deal.”
Notably, Mexico’s Sunday match against England – itself facing a decades-long hunt for a World Cup trophy and tasked with facing a challenging opponent blessed with a rare homefield advantage by luck of the draw – itself carried intrigue.
“The past couple of years, we kept coming up short,” Trujillo said. Adding he was unaware of England ever succeeding at Azteca against Mexico, he hoped history remains on his team’s side. “We can’t break that streak now.”
While the crowd began filtering in hours before the Sunday night event, the watch party, strictly speaking, was just a continuation of a collective festive gathering for previous games featuring the Mexican team. The event on June 18 and June 24 drew hundreds of fans and loyalists, as well, according to Zócalo event officials.
In addition to the Mexico-related matches, Zócalo has also hosted matches for other World Cup contests since June 11. They are expected to continue through July 19. The turnout on July 5 was expected to be the biggest yet.
“The first couple of weeks, we were getting busy, but the more we got into the final weeks of FIFA and World Cup, we’ve been seeing a lot more attendance,” Rudy Montoya, a Zócalo general manager, said as he stood behind the indoor bar as the crowd built steadily outside. “I feel like a lot of people are getting into soccer because of the World Cup, and they’re excited about their team.”
Mexico earned its way to the last 16 with wins over South Africa, South Korea, the Czech Republic and Ecuador, the latter marking Mexico’s first World Cup knockout round victory since since the last time Mexico enjoyed a home tournament, in 1986.
Tavo Flores, who made the trip from Waukesha, appreciated the runup to this point. “It’s an exciting experience that Mexico is even winning all these games,” he said. “We’re already making history.”
The July 5 watch party got a boost from another source, purely by coincidence, Montoya said. Zócalo’s monthly flea market, which is held the first Sunday of the month on 6th Street directly in front of the business, drew its own crowd. Some of those filed the seats and tables inside the gated-off watch party area as the match approached and multiple Mexican bands played live music.
One of those was Mara Kelly.
“I was here for the flea market, and it was actually way insane having the flea market and the World Cup going on at the same time,” Kelly said, adding she decided to stick around. “It’s a nice environment, and everyone is just hanging out here. When the game starts I might watch, or I might just hang out with the other folks.”
Those folks began lining up for entry well before 5 p.m., when the queue along 6th Street already stretched nearly two blocks. By 6 p.m., an hour before the match, the enclosed area was already at full capacity, roughly 800 people, with the resting their elbows on the fence outside the lot.
It’s not just the Mexican loyalists who have driven the attendance. Montoya said he has seen Norwegian and Brazilian contingents turn out for the watch parties, especially for the match between those two teams in which Norway prevailed.
Montoya expects more of the same. But, for everyone, it’s still just a party, a piece of sporting entertainment. “You know, we dance, we laugh, we throw beer when we score. But it’s all in fun.”
Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at james.riccioli@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mexico’s World Cup match fills Zócalo’s food park with fun seekers
