Why are Mexico's Fans Rowdy?

As I sit here looking over the field of play, the game long over, the green grass still in my cleats, with grass stains on my uniform. I look over at my opponents who are very good in themselves. They look impressive in their green uniforms. They have dominated us in the past, beaten us at every turn. But this year was different, we beat Mexico a month ago in Denver and the fans of Mexico didn't like it so they threw items at us, one of our players was hit in the side of the head with a frozen bottle of water.

Today, the past doesn't matter because we have won, we have beaten the big green machine. This is quite the achievement since we didn't even qualify for the World Cup Tournament the last time. The last time we really had a good run was when we ended up in the quarter finals and lost to the Netherlands in overtime. America has come a long way in soccer (futbal). The MLS has done a wonderful job at developing our youth players, but they need international experience. Some international clubs are starting to watch our developmental program and inviting some of our players over to play internationally.

How will we do for World Cup qualifying in 2022? Good question I hope we go far. I share this story for several reasons, one being that I am disappointed in the behavior of the fan that threw the frozen water bottle. He hit one of the players from The United States in the after we scored the winning goal. The coach of Mexico wasn't happy with the fans behavior either. The match was stopped for several minutes for fan misconduct. Folks as a former coach and referee the coach can be sent off with a red card for fan misconduct. The coach of Mexico implored his fans to stop doing this or Mexico won't be allowed to participate internationally any more. That would be a shame as they are pretty damn good.

I fell in love with the sport when stationed in Germany, and I see this event as tragic. But why did I fall in love with the sport? Here is a video as to why I fell in love with soccer. It is of an international clubs under 14 boys after they won the championship. They show exactly how to behave, this is so classy by the winners. https://youtu.be/tbvlM4Higy4

I also fell in love with the game of soccer for various other reasons as well. Kicking the ball out of bounds when a plyer is injured, then the team with the injured player throws the ball back into the team that kicked it out. I love the kids coming out onto the field with the teams and players, what a concept. What a thrill for those kids to be able to be on the field with maybe their favorite player. I also found the exchanging of team crests and jerseys worn by your opponent as such a tradition. What a great sport this soccer. Pele tried to introduce soccer to the United States in the 1970's but it didn't take off, America learned from Germany, teach them from age five on up. This will give you more of a fan base and it's worked.

The sportsmanship aspect of the game is the most important to me. Remember there are children in attendance, one just might be yours. Would you want them to witness a player being hit in the head with a frozen water bottle after a well played match?