The Mexicans I’ve been privileged to meet are wonderful people. However, Mexico’s World Cup fans are singing the wrong tune at the World Cup. They are off-key with their chants and off-kilter in their deportment. So now they are going home.
“Your highnesses, your excellences, ladies and gentlemen: please rise, if you can, for the playing of the national anthem of Mexico.” The stadium announcer might then utter, “And I hope you’re steady on your feet because it goes on and on….”
Himno Naciónal Mexicano reverberates for approximately 1 minute 42 seconds. Still, it seems unending at the World Cup and is far longer than the Stars and Stripes (1 m, 18 s), or God Save the King (1 m, 3 s). But, unfortunately, that’s not all the Mexican fans were signing during games.
As the Mexican national anthem drones on, I realize the proud fans are singing the wrong melody. It seems reasonable that they belt out America the Beautiful. After all, many of their relatives flood our lands and allow passage to others further south who are yearning for our amber waves of grain. They now seem to appreciate our stewardship of the majestic mountain majesties and, understandably, want to enjoy our fruited plains. America is beautiful. They might be singing.
Their jingoistic anthem is not all the Mexican fans are signing. Always keen to exude national pride, they sometimes chant, “You can see that we’re the home team once again.” That’s a taunting reference to the fact that the Mexican fans often outnumber opposing fans at otherwise neutral venues (but not Saudi Arabia at their last game in Qatar). It makes me wonder if they get their money for the tickets and accommodations from remittances from workers abroad because their economy is floundering.
Even worse, for those who appreciate some sportsmanship, the Mexican fans have been hurling distasteful insults during World Cup games, to the point that even FIFA is investigating the sickening overtones.
Even England fans are better behaved this time (so far…), though they wish the beer would flow unconstrained – the sale of beer at stadia in Qatar is banned before the World Cup matches. Some even wore Sherlock Holmes costumes to avoid offending in Crusader outfits.
Some of the Mexico soccer fans become emotionally overwrought after signing the militaristic Himno Naciónal Mexicano before matches. The “hymn,” which also goes by the name “Mexicans, at the shout of war,” induces a war-like trance. Although officially adopted in 1943, its origins can be traced to Santa Ana, who hosted a contest to create a symbol of national pride.
The prideful hymn stirs the masses in the soccer cauldron, then descends into national fanaticism, including insult-hurling, punch-throwing, and hooliganism. That’s a shame because those who legally joined our brotherhood – from sea to shining sea – are wonderful, colorful, hardworking folk with wholesome, family-oriented values.
Soccer may be a beautiful game, but when supporters are overwhelmed with inappropriate nationalistic fervor instigated by an anthem whose chorus includes, “And may the earth shake to its core at the resounding roar of the cannon,” it tends to elicit unenlightened instincts in fans. The mass hysteria then riles up the players, who cynically commit a raft of fouls at the shout of a soccer game-cum-war.
They like to taunt about being the home team. Of course, that will be true because they are going home, having been knocked out of the World Cup at the group stage. By their high standards, that’s inglorious indeed.
