Mexican soccer fans did their best to give Ecuador a sleepless night ahead of their World Cup match in the round of 32 later Tuesday.
From midnight until the early hours of the morning, dozens of fans gathered outside the Westin Hotel in Santa Fe, an upscale area on the outskirts of the capital, using loudspeakers, horns and motorcycles to disturb the visiting team’s rest.
Team hotel serenades are a deeply entrenched, highly polarizing tradition in Latin American soccer. While they began as a passionate way for fans to rally behind the home team, they have increasingly evolved into a psychological weapon designed to rob visiting players of a good night’s sleep.
After the incidents in Mexico City, the Ecuadorian soccer federation said Tuesday it has filed a formal complaint with organizers.
“Such conduct stands in stark contrast to the principles of fair play, equity, and unity that a World Cup should embody,” the federation, known as FEF, said in a statement. “The FEF respectfully calls upon the competent authorities to pay greater attention to these events and to adopt the necessary measures to safeguard the safety of our players, coaching staff, and fans.”
The fan ambush, organized on social media, added to a chaotic arrival for Ecuador. The disruption capped off a grueling logistical nightmare for the South American team, which had deliberately planned a last-minute Monday night arrival to mitigate the effects of Mexico City’s 2,200-meter (7,300-foot) altitude.
To combat the physiological toll of thin air, sports scientists generally recommend two contrasting approaches: an extended acclimatization period of at least two weeks, or the “fly-in, fly-out” method — arriving as close to kick off as possible before acute symptoms set in.
That is the route that teams in the major sports leagues in the United States use when they come to play in Mexico City.
But Ecuador’s journey from Columbus, Ohio, was plagued by delays from the start. Ecuador coach Sebastián Beccacece complained that their flight was delayed by more than three hours, though he did not specify whether he had factored in the two-hour time difference between the cities.
“A flight delay, then the transfer to the hotel — it ended up being a nine-hour journey; we took three hours longer than scheduled,” Beccacece said. “But the team is doing well and is excited — obviously facing an opponent that posted good results in the group stage.”
Additionally, the team landed at Felipe Ángeles International Airport, located 65 kilometers (41 miles) from their hotel. The squad was forced to navigate the trek to Santa Fe through Mexico City’s notoriously heavy traffic, which was further paralyzed on Monday by heavy night rain.
Reporting by the Associated Press.
