Photo by ISIphotos.com
The Mexican Football Federation has announced that the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier in Mexico City on Aug. 12th will start at 4pm (ET). No word yet on what led to that decision, which is odd for a Wednesday game.
The 3 p.m. local time kickoff should mean that the game will be played in hot and humid conditions at Estadio Azteca. When Mexico defeated the United States in Mexico City in 2005, the match was played at noon, which led to very hot and muggy conditions. (Okay, so maybe I'm not a weatherman. A quick check of The Weather Channel tells me that the average high temperature in Mexico City in mid-August is mid-70s. The 2005 qualifier was played in March). So why is this game being played so early? To better manage crowd violence if the United States actually wins?
What do you think of this news? Think Mexico is getting desperate? Does that start time make you more likely to make the trip to Mexico City? Will you be skipping work to watch this crucial World Cup qualifier? What's your best excuse for missing work to watch a mid-day soccer game?
Share your thoughts below.
okay come on on the comment of mexico being desperate?? seriously?? like they just beat USA 5-0. luckily i have wednesday off and of course i’ll be watching
Y’all do know that NBC/Telemundo has exclusive Spanish language broadcast rights in the US for the Mexican national team and Univisión has exclusive Spanish language broadcast rights in the US for the US national team, right?
This is why the USMNT isn’t currently profiting from a bunch of Mexican fans filling the coffers for a sold out friendly every six months.
Competitions like the Gold Cup and Confederations Cup are separate deals, which allows Univisión to profit from, for example, the Mexico games in the Gold cup.
I assumed that the Columbus game would be Univisión’s and Azteca would be Telemundo’s.
I speak Spanish now, but there were many years I didn’t and watched soccer here and there on Spanish language television because it was so much more available. I lived through the days when “Soccer Made in Germany” on PBS was nearly all there was.
Still wish I could have understood what the announcers were saying about the ?penalty? that got Spain out of group in 1982…
I still think that if this team puts together a game like they did against Spain and don’t get to crazy they can come through with a victory.
Which means a lot of one touch passing, no tricks, and a lot defense.
Who are all you people wondering if ESPN is going to air this match? Of course they’re going to air the match. Do any of you actually follow football?
give me a break.. did anyone actually not expect that mexico will pull something like this? these r desperate times for them. right now ther pissing in ther pants.. they know were better than they are now.. they need to utilize every advantage they can. apparently the 100,000 classless screaming el tri fans rn’t enough.. so y not scorch r players to death during the game. realisticly i still expect mexico to win. but our boys sure as hell proved me wrong against spain 🙂 and im hoping they do so once again.
The USA has been rattled by hostle crouds. Just ask the Costa Ricans. I think it will be a tough game but the USA will pull through 2-1. IF so, maybe they will make the FIFA top ten.
What are you talking about?
It is not the only reason but the MAIN reason!
And speaking of corruption, who delivers the drugs to the doors of the American consumers? Why aren’t those criminals being stopped!
YOU CAN”T KNOW…BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS!
Good Night, moving on!
Boo the man on the right! Hooray for the man on the left!
It’s their home game and they can, ans should do whatever is to their advantage as long as it fits within FIFA rules.
A) The reasons the cartels have so much power is not ONLY due to the drug market in america…GROSS incompetence and corruption in the mexican government has much more to do with it.
B) If it ain’t per capita, the data are useless.
In all honesty Mexico was playing soccer while Panama was playing Rugby, until the MSN lost it!