ABU DHABI // While Mexico have a solid World Cup record – they have now qualified for 15 tournaments and played hosts to the event twice – they have never made it further than the quarter-finals.
However, a gold medal won at the London Olympics two year ago has made their fans quietly optimistic.
One of their many avid supporters in the UAE is Dalia Tapia, who teaches at Al Jazeera kindergarten in Abu Dhabi. “I love football, I play every time I have a chance. It is part of Mexican culture, you grow up with it,” she said.
As well as playing football, she also supports many clubs, including Club America in Mexico City, the Chicago Fire in the US, and Abu Dhabi’s Al Jazira.
Ms Tapia was inspired to play football by the US women’s football star Mia Hamm. “Mia Hamm influences a lot of women in the US. She started an initiative to get women in the sport.”
Every member of Ms Tapia’s family is passionate about football.
“My memories of the World Cup involve getting together with the family and watching Mexico play. And then being let down by the team,” she said.
Another fan, Andrea Zepeda, 23, a waitress at Tortuga restaurant in Mina A’Salam hotel in Dubai, also reminisced.
“I remember when I was in elementary and junior high school, the teachers set up a projector and we would sit and watch Mexico play,” she said. “All classes were cancelled until the end of the game.”
Tortuga will be staying open late to show all the World Cup matches, with Spanish commentary.
“I will be working and trying to watch Mexico play, as will most of the staff I think,” said Ms Zepeda.
Ms Tapia wants to experience that stadium feeling. “I plan to go to du Arena to watch the games on the big screen together with my fellow Mexico supporters. We will cheer together, cry together, be there for each other.”
Everyone has a ritual they follow when their team play, she said. “You put on the team colours and T-shirt. But I’m not going to tell you what I do, that is a secret.”
Heritage and culture is very important to the Mexican community. “We have five or six different cultural events a year, mostly in summer,” said Ms Tapia. “They are arranged by a member of the community here to help us keep in touch with our culture, heritage, language and lifestyle. For the children it is very important to know your roots.
“We are all over the UAE, but no matter where you are in the world, Mexican families instil in you these solid foundations so you don’t lose your sense of identity,” she added.
Mexico will kick off their 2014 World Cup campaign against Cameroon, a game many of their supporters were expecting to win.
“Mexico always have a good beginning, but a not a good ending,” said Ms Tapia. “You get so passionate about the game it makes you cry. You wish that ball hadn’t just gone over the crossbar, it could’ve gone in. Mexico are always there in the World Cup – but always lose.
“Being a supporter of Mexico, you have to be prepared to have your emotions used like a yo-yo. But it’s more down than up.”
But the team’s Olympic gold medal – they beat Brazil 2-1 at Wembley in the final – has given them fresh hope.
“We’re counting on the local team players who won the Olympics. Mexico won that, and it was a big international tournament, so why not now? They were able to beat Brazil, so we have a very good chance,” said Ms Tapia, who had planned to go to the World Cup, but could not due to work commitments.
The Mexican embassy in Abu Dhabi is expecting some members of the community to come and watch the team’s games.
But Ms Tapia says she hasn’t yet decided where to watch it. “Wherever it is, we will gather with a big group of Mexicans,” she said. “I just hope they move forward and do better than previous years.
“I will keep praying and hoping for them. Let us cheer for them, let us enjoy the journey, because, after all, it is just a game. Let’s not take it too seriously.”
malkhan@thenational.ae
* Mexico v Cameroon, (Friday, 8pm UAE time; Live on beIN Sport)
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe
Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 204hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
WWE Super ShowDown results
Seth Rollins beat Baron Corbin to retain his WWE Universal title
Finn Balor defeated Andrade to stay WWE Intercontinental Championship
Shane McMahon defeated Roman Reigns
Lars Sullivan won by disqualification against Lucha House Party
Randy Orton beats Triple H
Braun Strowman beats Bobby Lashley
Kofi Kingston wins against Dolph Zigggler to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Mansoor Al Shehail won the 50-man Battle Royal
The Undertaker beat Goldberg
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Wydad 2 Urawa 3
Wydad Nahiri 21’, Hajhouj 90'
Urawa Antonio 18’, 60’, Kashiwagi 26’
South Africa's T20 squad
Duminy (c), Behardien, Dala, De Villiers, Hendricks, Jonker, Klaasen (wkt), Miller, Morris, Paterson, Phangiso, Phehlukwayo, Shamsi, Smuts.
The%C2%A0specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5-litre%2C%20twin-turbo%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E410hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E495Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Estarts%20from%20Dh495%2C000%20(Dh610%2C000%20for%20the%20F-Sport%20launch%20edition%20tested)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Duminy's Test career in numbers
Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein
By Fiona Sampson
Profile
Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
