If someone said you could only love one parent and made you choose between your mom and your dad, who would you pick?
You deeply love both and feel they are a big part of your life. How can you just turn your back on someone that means so much to you? This is the dilemma I faced when it came to choosing my allegiances between the men’s national soccer teams of Mexico and the United States.
On the one hand, I had Mexico, my “mother” country. I was born and raised there, learning to love everything about it. It molded me into the person I am today.
Yet, I have lived in the United States for 13 years now. It has given me more opportunities than I would have had in Mexico. Like a true father would, it has taken me in and provided more than I could ever wish for.
I am loyal to both, as most children are to their parents, and want both to succeed in whatever it is they are doing.
As avid fans know, though, this is unacceptable when it comes to soccer. You’re either for the U.S. or you’re for Mexico. Dual alliances are equal to treason in this rivalry.
After all, it was Mexican fans that chanted Osama Bin Laden’s name during a game between the two in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2002. And it was American fans that brought green cards to a 2007 Gold Cup game in Chicago and pulled them out against Mexican fans during the game telling them to get out of their country. (And you thought the Duke and North Carolina rivalry was bad.)
Both acts are despicable but go to show the deep seated hatred that lies behind the rivalry. There is no wiggle room on either side. You are either for us, or against us.
Believe me, I have tried to cheer for both of my parent nations. In the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, I would wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. whenever Mexico or the U.S. would play. Fittingly enough, they ended up playing each other in the knockout round of 16.
I was a wreck. If you have ever witnessed your parents fight, I mean the "I'm about to throw the hairdryer at your face" fight, you know what I'm talking about. This was a fight to the death. There would literally be only one still around after the final whistle.
The U.S. came out victorious in what will forever be known as the dos a cero (2 to 0) game. Strangely enough, instead of climbing onto the U.S. bandwagon full force after the W, I stepped off of it. I have no idea why either, all I know is that since that game, my allegiances have been primarily to "Los Verdes.
That is not to say I don't root for the U.S. though. I cheer for them, I know all about them, and I want them to keep improving to keep growing the sport here. My dream scenario would be to have both teams playing in the World Cup Final, with Mexico winning, of course.
While many fans on both sides will see this as an easy way out, a politician's stance in a sense by rooting for both teams, it is the honest truth. I love both my mother and my father. Why should I have to pick between them?
I love me some green, red, white and blue.
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