Wednesday, September 7, 2005, our national team will face one of its most difficult contests in World Cup Qualifying when we play Guatemala at Estadeo Mateo Flores in Guatemala City. http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/middle_america/guatemala/guatemala_flores.shtml Guatemala City is not a wildly attractive place. I usually recommend that people stay in Antigua, about 90 minutes away by bus and not that far from the airport, but that will not work with an 8 PM kickoff. I have stayed on two occasions at the Residencia Suiza in Guatemala City. It is very popular place with backpackers. Most rooms face an interior courtyard and have shared bath. It is spotlessly clean and friendly. I hope people chip in with questions and personal wit and wisdom. We may qualify for Germany that night!
1st week of september, right at the height of hurricane season... make sure you bring your waterproof rain pancho!!
We could get bad weather then, but we might also get fine weather. I was in Costa Rica for the qualifier September 5, 2001, heading up to Nicaragua for a couple of days and then back for the game. I saw some rain but it was pretty decent weather. Of course, coming from Chicago, I may have forgotten what decent weather is....
I will be living in Honduras during that time and am thinking of making the trip to Guatemala for the game. Any suggestions on how to get tickets for the US section if there is one? Thanks for any help
I think US Soccer will offer tickets. Register at ussoccerfan on the USSF website. Soccer Travel may also offer ground packages. I heard that the game will NOT be in Guatemala City, but the lovely town of Mazetenango, site of the outrage in 2000. If so, that will put it closer to the Honduran border. Where in Honduras do you live?
I'll be in San Pedro Sula. I would be keen on meeting up with a few people before the game as well. I have a few friends in Guatemala City that I can crash with but I guess that won't be much of a help if the game is moved. I'll have to keep an eye out on the USSF site for ticket info. Thanks for the info.
me and my 2 brothers will be attending the game and are looking for a usa section too. one of my brothers lives in guate in the peace corp so if anybody wants to make a week trip out of it we will be staying sept 6 through the 12 i think. as far as tickets i dont know my brother said they are not up for sale yet but he knows somebody that knows somebody so hopefully we can find some. take care derek
You will be able to get tickets, either through some kind of land package with Soccer vacations, in front of the stadium, or perhaps from the USSF. In the past, if we bugged the USSF enough they would sell tickets to fans for away games. No guarantees but try events@ussf.com. Guatemala will be fighting for its life in this game. Since it is on a Wednesday night people who are in a position to take 4 days off plus Labor Day could see a fair bit of this fascinating country.
I've been living in Guatemala for two years and will be going to this game. Staying in Antigua is a possibility and I would recommend doing so instead of the Capital. There are a lot of cheap ($4-10)hostels and hotels to stay at in Antigua and it is much more pleasant and much safer than the city. There are some nice areas with nice hotels in Guatemala City but the are all Radisson/Sheraton type places and you will be paying rates comprable to the US ($80-100) The trip to the city from Antigua takes about 35 minutes if you aren't in rush hour. I am renting a shuttle van with some friends. The shuttle costs $30 to the city and back (if anybody stays in Antigua and needs a lift let me know). We'll be leaving around 3pm to beat traffic and have time for a few drinks. Hopefully we'll be in our seats before 6:30. If any US fan cares to join us for pre and post game festivities PM me. I'd be happy to provide any advice or try to answer any questions. Ohh, if those bastards from FedeFut move the game to Mazatenango, that will complicate things because there isn't a Hooters in Mazatanengo.
Thank you for posting mnthunder. I hope I can get you to tell us more. Staying in Antigua is the way to go. The traffic after the game will be bad so it could take nearly 2 hours total time to get back but it is worth considering. Antigua is a beautiful little city. Guatemala City is charmless. I think we had a Guatemala thread here one year ago. A good place to stay in Guatemala City is Residencia Suiza. It has spotless rooms and spotless shared baths overlooking an interior court. I think it is about 30 dollars for a double room. It is in a very nice old building and you can walk to the main bus station, about 5 minutes away. I just checked back and I saw that I said some of the same things in the first post in this thread. So sorry!
The city certainly does have advantages for convinience but for safety and entertainment I would still recommend Antigua. Where exactly is Residencia Suiza located? Sounds like a good place. At any rate, I'm really looking forward to this game. Hopefully there will be a good crowd of Americans. I've been to a couple games at Mateo Flores and the visiting fans are given very good security. So I'm worried about that.
Mnthunder, sorry for the delay. I could not find this anywhere but finally looked at the totally disorganized travel library in my basement. There I found my copy of Glassman's Guatemala Guide and in there is a little brochure I saved from the Hotel Chalet Suiza, which is located at 14 Calle 6-82 zona 1 Guatemala City. It is near the historic center, the bus station and the National Library. The stadium is located about 3 miles to the south, with plenty of bus connections on the Avenida de la Reforma which is almost a straight shot from the stadium to the vicinity of the the Suiza. In Antigua, we stayed at the Hotel Merced, 12 dollars a night for a double room with bath. We also stayed one night only at the most expensive hotel in town, which I think is called Hotel Angitua on Calle Oriente. It was about $100 per night, but not really worth it. The rooms are a bit gloomy.