Soundoff: Will USA Fans Root For or Against Mexico?

June 27th, 2010 | by: Ian Rose |

We know a lot of our readers are USA soccer fans. Most of us here are too, and if you woke up this morning severely disappointed, with all the hangover and not enough of the party, we feel your pain. We all thought, and hoped, that there was just one more comeback on the cards, but as Landon Donovan himself said after the match, there are only so many times you can do that. Eventually you have to pay for giving up early leads. Anyway, the US is out and our neighbor to the south, Mexico, is playing a huge match today against Maradona, Messi and Argentina. The question to USA fans is, who will you support?

Obviously, fans with pre-existing ties to either Mexico or Argentina get off easy on this question – you’ll support the same side you would have before. For the rest, it could be a complicated question. On one hand, Mexico is the USA’s biggest local rival, with the Gold Cup passing between us just about every time. There have been some bitter words (and hand gestures) both ways. There are Yanks with no particular love for Mexico football, and vice versa. But there are also a huge number of Americans who either have family in Mexico or visit there on a somewhat regular basis. And lets face it – US soccer has and will always have a somewhat Mexican flavor, both due to the heritage of players and the fact that the Mexican Primera is filling with more and more US players.

For me personally, I’ve never been on the Mexico-hating side of US supporters. How about you?

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http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Levi/3620493 David Levi

My parents are Mexican. I was born and grew up in California. All of my family is in Mexico, and we visit each other often. I grew up naturally rooting for El Tri. But some time ago, I started to follow the USA men's team as well, and I consider them my team too; after all, I'm American. I like the way the USA Men's team plays. It was terrible to see them lose today; I was rooting hard for them. Now I'll root for Mexico too, tomorrow.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6000073 Jaclyn Le

I'm an American of Vietnamese ethnicity residing in Germany, and I'm definitely cheering on El Tri (and of course die deutsche Mannschaft) as I have been throughout the group stage:)
Geoffrey72

Most USA fans I know root for Mexico when they're not playing the US. The Mexico hating was always foolish, for countless reasons sports and non-sports related. But it was a product of a time when the US team wasn't yet so good and fans felt the team was disrespected. These days, when the US and Mexico are both respected as world-class teams, I see a lot less hate on both sides.
WorldCupBlog

That's a very good point. I definitely still know some USA fans who are anti-Mexico, but I agree that there are a lot less.
http://sevilla.theoffside.com/ SevillaOffside_Joshua

I will be pulling for Mexico now that the US are out. I have always been supportive of our neighbors to the South when they are not playing against the US.
TewDollars

As a US fan living in San Diego, I have many friends from Mexico. It's a fun rivalry but I normally root for our national team.

As mentioned by Geoffrey, I too will root for El Tri, when not normally facing the US.

However, and it's my own qualification, is that my support is directed towards certain players I respect and then the nation as a whole. Really and severely dislike certain players on their team and glad many aren't playing anymore for Mexico. Goalkeeper Sánchez as an example.
JoseJosue

I'll be rooting for Mexico (though would not be too bummed out by an Argentine victory), and many American fans I know will be doing the same. The rivalry gets overblown sometimes, in the end we need the camaraderie in our small region (football-wise) to move things forward.
Jay1389

I will NEVER root for Mexico unless their result benefits the USA.
Hana

Absolutely rooting for Mexico. It's a natural choice, the way I see it. Sure, we're out, sure we have a rivalry…but I see no reason why to not support the only other CONCACAF team left. I have a lot of Mexican buds, so as long as they're not playing the States, I'm fond of the team.
Rolandzebub

For Mexico. Argentina is an arrogant squad, but then, they have reason to be, don't they? Mostly, 'though, I hope for an epic match.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Fairfax/1314950546 Michael Fairfax

There is no circumstance, EVER, under which I would root for Mexico