Mexico Will Be Left Out in the Cold

You almost expected Mexico to cry foul.

The weather in Los Angeles is usually nice in late February, as it is in San Diego, Dallas and Miami, all soccer-friendly American cities with sizable Latino populations.

But Columbus, Ohio, in the last throes of winter?

You couldn’t have blamed Mexico, had it been upset about the United States, with the home-field advantage, selecting Columbus’ Crew Stadium as the site of the World Cup qualifier against Mexico on Feb. 28.

After all, matches between Mexico and the U.S. in the Southland always seem to take on a Mexican feel.

But the Mexicans are taking it all in stride as they prepare for tonight’s “friendly” exhibition game against Argentina at the Coliseum.

“They have all of the advantages,” Mexican national team Coach Enrique Meza said Monday at a news conference at the Torrance Marriott. “The information is hard to come by and we can’t find tickets. But once we get on the field, it will all be the same.

“The dimensions of the field are the same for both teams.”

Galaxy forward Luis Hernandez, who will play for Mexico against both the U.S. and Argentina, recently told La Jornada, a Mexican media outlet, “We will have to bring busloads of Mexicans so that they can support us. [Crew Stadium] is a small stadium and there are practically no Latin Americans in the area.”

Indeed, only 0.73% of Columbus’ metropolitan area population was Latino, according to the last census.

And tickets for the match are at a premium, what with Crew Stadium’s seating capacity a mere 22,555. Plus, Crew season-ticket holders who have already renewed their seats for the 2001 Major League Soccer season, as well as a “select few” associated with the Crew and/or U.S. Soccer, have the first opportunity to buy tickets. Whatever is left will be made available to the public, but not until Jan. 19.

Imagine the hand wringing going on in Mexico over tickets for the first game of final-round qualifying for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea.

The Crew ticket office has already heard from a Mexican fan offering $1,000 for four tickets. The most expensive ticket will sell for $45.

The Americans have used intimate Crew Stadium, the first major league stadium built specifically for soccer in the U.S., to their advantage in the CONCACAF semifinal qualifying round, playing to a 0-0 draw with Costa Rica on Oct. 11 in front of a beyond-capacity, pro-American crowd of 24,430.

“Every national team should utilize its weapons,” Mexico midfielder Ramon Ramirez said. “We make them play [at Mexico City] in Azteca [Stadium] and there is no team that likes the altitude and pollution. So everything is fair.”

What seemingly won’t be fair, however, will be tonight’s exhibition at the Coliseum.

Mexico, ranked 11th in the latest FIFA world poll, is bringing a front-line club that includes Hernandez, former Galaxy goalkeeper Jorge Campos, defender Claudio Suarez and forward Jose Manuel Abundis.

Argentina’s squad more resembles a J.V. team.

The only noticeable Mexican absentees are forward Cuauhtenoc Blanco, still recovering from a career-threatening knee injury, and Ramirez, who was involved in a car accident last week in Guadalajara as he was on his way to join the Mexican team. All four people in the other vehicle died in the wreck and Ramirez suffered an ankle injury.

Argentina, ranked third in the world, did not recall many of its top players from their club commitments in Europe.

“They’re dangerous,” Argentina Coach Marcelo Bielsa said of Mexico.

And although Mexico will be facing what many say is a second- or third-string club, Meza, who took over as coach of the Mexican national team in mid-September, sees tonight’s game as a confidence builder.

Before Meza took over, heavily favored Mexico lost in the CONCACAF Gold Cup last February and failed to qualify for the Olympics, signaling the end of Manuel Lapuente’s reign as coach.

“It’s a new day and a test,” Meza said. “It’s been a year of complications for Mexican soccer. I’d rather be home, but there is a lot of respect and a responsibility [in playing Argentina].”