10/11/07 San Luis Potosi 2:2 Santos

Gladiators fighting back

In my fourth and last game on my trip to Mexico the Gladiators faced Santos the actual head of the table.

View inside (1)

Paintings in front of the stadium

Santos came on the pitch and was burning down a fireworks from the first second on. The team of San Luis Potosi seemed not to be present at any moment. The defense was just playing horrible lousy and the offense was far too slow.




In the first 15 minutes Santos scored twice and left dozens of opportuities unused. Luckily the home team received a penalty at the end of the first half which was put in the net my Moreno so Santos finished the first half only with a one goal lead.

View inside (2)

No idea what coach Rosas told the players in the half time but they put down the visor and started fighting like real Gladiators. At the end Moreno scored an other penalty and the game ended in a tie.

Colorful night

With 18 goals in 17 games scored Moreno is the best scorer of this tournament (Aperatura 2007) and the squad of San Luis Potosi got directly qualified for the playoffs.

Friends (1)

Friends (2)

Friends (3)

Friends (4)

03/11/07 Queretaro 4:2 Coatzacoalcos

After our work for the week was done we decided to travel to Queretaro to attend to the second tier game (Primera A) Queretaro vs. Coatzacoalcos (Veracruz).

View outside

Happy to get a ticket

After relegation in the past season Los Gallos de Queretaro are playing now in Mexicos second tier. This league does not receive much attention in Mexico at all. Sometimes it seemed to me that this league is not existing for the media at all.

Fans om the main stand

"La Porra"

But anyway the stadium got quite a story to tell. It was one of the grounds where the World Cup in 1986 took place. Even more interesting because the German team played all three group matches in the stadium "La Corregidora". I was told that some squad members still come every year to support a children`s home.

Hungry?

Vendor inside the "La Corregidora"

The squad coached by Franz Beckenbauer played in the first game tie against Uruguay and was able to win the second game against Scotland but lost the third game against Denmark. Later in the round of the last 16 with Denmark vs. Spain the last match took place.

Historic ground

Coming back to recent days the stadium with a capacity for 42.000 supporters was only filled with around 8.000 fans. With 6 goals in total and a final score of 4:2 the game was not too bad. But it has to be said that Red Sharks from Mexico's Atlantic coast scored very luckily and that the White Cocks this night was the only playing team.

Empty ground

31/10/07 San Luis Potosi 2:1 Morelia

The Gladiators

Back in San Luis Potosi we watched the second game. During my stay from 2005 to 2007 in San Luis Potosi I attended too a dozens of games. But this game was the first one after the change too the new identity. The new name of the team is "Los Gladiadores".

Meeting friends in the Alfonso Lastras

Still under construction

The gladiators play in the Alfonso Lastras Ramirez stadium which has space for around 30.0000 supporters. One of the biggest events that took place at this ground was the qualifying match for the World Cup 2006 against Guatemala in the year 2005. Another highlight was the final of the Mexican championship against Pachuca in 2006.

The arena of the Gladiators (1)

The arena of the Gladiators (2)

In 2007 the stadium is still under construction. I have to say that it was already under construction in 2003 when I made my first visit. The only progress that was made during the recent years is the complete installation of the plastic seats and the massive construction of the balcony section.

Me and my friends celebrating the victory

During this tournament (Aperatura 2007) the Gladiators were fighting well. In the past they always had to watch out for relegation. But this time they are part of the top flight of the table. So our expectations were quiet high. But the team from Morelia scored the lead in the first half. The local team from the northern highlands of Mexico played very poor with many individual mistakes. The second half started better with fighting Gladiators. Moreno scored the equalizer in minute 79. An Valdez scored the winning goal in the overtime.

28/10/07 Pumas 1:2 Cruz Azul

Goya Goya or a trip to the Olímpico Universitario

After the trip to the Azul on Saturday we chose the game Pumas vs. Cruz Azul for our Sunday game. After a two hours ride to the stadium we arrived just in time.

Olímpico Universitario (view outside)

Olímpico Universitario (view main entrance)

Olímpico Universitario (view inside)

The stadium Olímpico Universitario was build in 1952 and has a total capacity of 73.000 seats. In those times it was the biggest stadium in Mexico. In 1968 it host the Olympic Games and for this event the capacity was increased to more than 80.000 seats.

Main tribune

Wide oval

In 1986 the World Cup also took part in the stadium. Two games of group A: Argentina vs Corea and and Bulgaria vs. Corea took place. In the round of the last 16 France won against Italy by by score of 2:0. I my opinion this place is one of the most historic arenas in Mexico. You almost can feel this special atmosphere of those past events when you enter it.

"La porra"

"La porra 2"

"La porra 3"

Currently the Olímpico Universitario is the home of the Pumas, one of the very popular teams of Mexico. The supporters made their name as being extremely fanatic. I experienced this on my own when I attend to away game of the Pumas and saw the fireworks flying on the ground during warm up. Due to this there was a massive police force around the stadium this day.

Unique atmosphere in a historic arena

Snack??

With an attendance of only 30.000 fans the atmosphere was not that great as I awaited it but it was still very thrilling when the Pumas fans shouted their GOYA GOYA into the wide oval. Coming to the game both teams didn´t play very well and so there wasn´t a lot to see in the first half. The second half got much better when Azul`s striker Sabah scored the penalty when he was fouled (49). Only seven minutes later Pumas equalized with a fine goal by the Argentinian striker Solari. The game caught up more speed with opportunities for both teams. Shortly before ending Sabah defined the final score of 1:2 for Cruz Azul with his second goal this afternoon.

Penalty for Cruz Azul

27/10/07 Estdio Azul

Sangre Azul

Once more I had to travel to Mexico for work. What a great possibility to add some more stadiums to my already existing portfolio. Starting on Saturday the 27.10.07 with a four hours drive from San Luis Potosi to Mexico's capital. After our arrival in Mexico City it cost me some work to convince my friends that traveled with me, to visit the home of Cruz Azul the Azul Stadium on a non match day. The busy traffic on a Saturday didn´t make it any easier.

Stadium Azul

The stadium was opened back in 1947 under the name Estadio Ciuidad de los deportes. When the small club FC Atlante moved in the name was changed according the club colors too Estadio Azulgrana. Later in 1996 when Atlante started playing in the Azteca stadium and with the team of Cruz Azul moving in the name changed to its current name Estadio Azul. Until those days Cruz Azul played in a much smaller stadium called Estadio 10. de Deciembre.

The stadium is based in the middle of the city center

The stadium with space for 35.000 spectators did not host any games during the two world cups. Like the Estadio Azteca the ground of the stadium is below street level which makes it looking very steep.

In front of the gate

No tickets available today

Nice view