In September, the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) unveiled a plan to stamp out the use of the homophobic “puto” chant. Scared of further punishment from FIFA — from fines to forfeiting World Cup qualifiers — the FMF finally decided to do the right thing.
The fans? Not so much.
UANL defeated Veracruz 3-1 on Friday night in Liga MX. Veracruz vs Tigres 2019 was anything but a normal match.
Veracruz protested unpaid wages — some players having gone five or six months without pay — by refusing to play the opening four minutes, standing still as Tigres players scored two uncontested goals, which proved to be the difference in the match.
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) finally seems to be taking its fans’ homophobic chanting seriously. Finally.
The FMF held a press conference on Friday detailing concrete steps it will take to eradicate the goalkeeper chant that FIFA has branded as discriminatory and unacceptable in football.
Whatever you do, don’t show this to Joe Buck. Yesterday, Guadalajara registered a 1-0 victory over Atlas at Estadio Akron thanks to a 63rd-minute crack from Alexis Vega, who then exposed his crack. The 21-year-old Mexican boofed one from over 25 yards out to keep Chivas in the thick of the liguilla race, and then he fought off a strong desire to strip nude before settling for half-naked.
It's been a while since MLS fans have heard the name Erick "Cubo" Torres. Once the lone bright spot for failing Chivas USA, a 20-year-old Cubo Torres scored 22 goals in 44 appearances for the now-defunct club. He was hailed as one of the young guns that was going to make a huge impact in MLS and eventually with the Mexico national team.
It has not been a stellar start to the 2019 Apertura campaign for Club Puebla. The Liga MX side has yet to win in five matches while being outscored 13-4. Only Veracruz has had a worse start; considering neither side has even reached three points this season, that’s not much consolation.
But there is some consolation coming for fans of Puebla: free beer.
Puebla has promised fans a free beer if the team fails to win Thursday’s home match against FC Juárez at Estadio Cuauhtémoc.
There is a catch.
León striker José Juan Macías was the story of the 2019 Liga MX Clausura season after leading all Mexican goal scorers with eight in 14 appearances. That he accomplished it at the age of 19 while on loan after being cast off by Chivas only strengthened the narrative.
Guadalajara vs. Club América, Chivas vs. Las Águilas, El Súper Clásico — because that tame El Clásico over in Spain isn’t super enough.
Two of Mexico’s biggest clubs are also two of Liga MX’s biggest rivals, not just because they’re constantly going head-to-head on the pitch but because they have two distinct styles of going about their business. One’s called the Millionaires, the other the Goat Gang.
You don’t need me to tell you that global transfer fees are escalating faster than a grenade at a knife fight. There’s not a whole lot of sense to be made over the stratospheric numbers, except it must be nice to be a footballer’s agent. But who is the most expensive Mexican soccer player in today’s world of wheeling, dealing and making a killing in the oil field? Here are the 25 most expensive Mexican transfer fees ever.
Last night in Lima, Peru, Honduras upset Mexico after a penalty shootout to advance to the final of the 2019 Pan American Games. It’s a largely meaningless U-22 competition with understrength youth teams, so the Mexican Football Federation won’t be overly bothered by the result, but manager Jaime Lozano will be irked that his side couldn’t hold on to a 1-0 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Especially since that 1-0 lead was built on one of the finest goals of the summer.