I was in line for maybe 30 minutes but the chaos I think really hit right when I got to the front. The taps blew up, they ran out of pitchers and frankly I mean they only had like six people trying to serve drinks. I even asked the guy there and he said "we weren't prepared for this"
Hilton bar is small and kinda lame. Right next door to the Hilton is 'la cerverceria de barrio' I'll be here until 2:45 if anyone wants to join. and then go next door back to Hilton
Great game. Awesome away support. Time for a new belt. Public transit from Azteca was a breeze. Busted the police line right at the bottom. So many people were sheltering from the rain that there was no wait getting to the light rail station. Easy on first train. A long, unusual 15 minute wait for the metro at Taxquena. No worries. Back to Centro Historico in about an hour.
That was phenomenal. Metro is fine for any person who has ever visited a major city. Props to the fans of Mexico, who made the tailgate at the stadium a fantastic experience. I'd love to return to Mexico City. The only real downside was Azteca not selling beer or water to the US section, which was bullshit. The rain ruined any post-match atmosphere, unfortunately. Just a sprint to try to stow away on some other US group's bus.
Well I was wrong about that! A lot of my friends got their normal belts taken away. Along with scarves, bandanas, and other stuff. We got a lot of our stuff back at the hotel later, but that was total bullshit by the Mexicans.
Yeah clearly different rules for the away section than general. Fortunately they told us before we got off the bus about it.
Best away support ive witnessed, twice the amount of people from last time and we were in incredible spirit from an hour before the game to final whistle. Unbelievable atmosphere, such a great time! Good seeing you guys again.
C'mon, people, more pics & stories. I'm an August 12 2009 WCQ veteran of Azteca, want to compare notes. I plan to be back in 2021 with my son.
Got kicked out of Azteca for sneaking in airport minis, finished them up with fellow US fans and made my way back in. The Mexican policeman was giving me a mean look after finding so many...
Two things to note if you go again. Drink plenty of water before the game as apparently nowhere in the stadium do they serve it. Pregame outside the stadium is prettty fun. I wouldn't go into the away section until the last minute as then you are kinda in prison. The USA section security will be more strict about everything but our section was bigger than many domestic game support sections pre 2012. It was nuts.
Don't wear a belt. The upper deck is reserved seating; not general admission by area as in the past. We easily moved to the US supporters' area once we got to the checkpoint on the alto mezzanine and asked to pass through por nuestra seguridad after a guided detour to our assigned seats (2nd to top row) with an usher who told us we couldn't go to Alto Sur. Estadio Azteca is great.
Well done. Thanks for sharing your beer at our impromptu tailgate (and thanks to whoever posted here about the convenience store just past under the bridge... much appreciated). It was a pleasure riding the metro with you, lilgump, shrutebuck, gveli001, vahldoh and several others. Props to the nearly 7 ft Gigante Americano lilgump for posing in I'd say at least a hundred pics with adoring Mexican fans. What a night. Let's do it again in 4 years.
Wow, what an incredible experience. I've been to World Cup games, USA Qualifiers, and many other soccer games, but can hands down say this was the best atmosphere I've ever watched a soccer game in. Being led in by the Police was certainly memorable, as chants of Estados Unidos echoed throughout our group and were meet with middle fingers, and chants of Mexico from their supporters. Apart from exchanging middle fingers with the Mexican fans throughout the game, I only saw 2-3 cups of beer being thrown near my area. Can anyone else confirm if they were pelted with beer, batteries etc? Micheal Bradley scoring and hearing the stadium fall silent is something I will never forget. Reports by Ives Twitter suggest that our chants were audible throughout the stadium, at least until they were drowned out by the Mexican fans. As other posters have said, they did not sell our section water or beer. As I was marched in with the Sammer's group, I was fortunate enough to find a vendor with 1 12oz bottle of water left right by the women's bathroom. Was it poor communication on Azteca's part, or part of a plan? Because the cokes, apple juices, Dominoes pizza (which were decent), hot dogs, and ice pop vendors just kept coming. With the rain, I think that might have soured any post-game atmosphere. No issues for me getting back to the bus, just completely soaked once I made it. With that being said, I'd highly recommend this trip. Skip out on the AO package and plan it for yourself, you'll save a ton of money, and you'll probably have a better time. Can't say enough about how nice the Mexican people were on the duration of my stay. Mexico City is such an underrated destination.
I definitely entered at the same gate at lilgump as I could see him a full two feet taller than just about anybody in the crowd of a thousand
I never saw anything thrown even remotely in my direction. I also wandered around the general section looking for drinks and had a brief chat with a few Mexican fans waiting to get a beer.