Mexican-Salvadoran soccer rivalry
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There are various theories about the origin of the Mexican - Salvadoran football rivalry . The only thing that is certain is that the football rivalry is an important part of the general rivalry between the two countries and their respective populations, the origin of which, however, cannot be determined with absolute certainty. The Mexican commentator Gerardo Velazquez de León once said that the encounter between El Salvador and Mexico has become a classic for the Salvadorans and a nightmare for the Mexicans. Because this encounter often crosses the boundaries of a soccer game and literally turns into a "war".
Origins of the rivalry
An essential aspect for the origin or the consolidation of the rivalry is likely to be the official opinion-making by the ultra-right government in El Salvador at the time, after Mexico supported the opposition FMLN in the Salvadoran civil war and was thus on the other side than that supported by the United States Government .
Exactly at this time, the national soccer teams of Mexico and El Salvador were playing in Honduras for the 1982 World Cup qualification . The combination of these two events led to an uproar against Mexico in El Salvador and a hostility towards football built up by the media, in which the hatred of the Salvadorans was palpable. In Mexico, fuel was poured into the fire when the Mexican journalist Ignacio Matus, considering the minor role that El Salvador plays in world football, mocked the opponent for playing with a "square ball". Up to this point in time, both teams had met a total of five times in official tournaments and Mexico had emerged as the winner of every confrontation. But on November 6, 1981, El Salvador won for the first time against the seemingly overpowering rival; “The unsympathetic giants of CONCACAF, ” as columnist Rodrigo Arias of the Salvadoran sports newspaper El Gráfico once put it. Ever "La Gacela" Hernández scored the goal for the 1-0 victory for the Salvadorans in the 82nd minute. But the main part of this goal had Salvador's superstar Jorge “Mágico” González , who, after a poorly executed free kick by the Mexicans, had penetrated into the Mexican penalty area with a solo run from his own half. There he fired a shot that Mexico goalkeeper Prudencio “El Pajarito” Cortés was able to hold off, but was powerless against Hernández's margin. On the last day of the qualifying round, the leaders and hosts Honduras defied the Mexicans 0-0, which caused the Mexicans to drop to third place in the final table . As a result, El Salvador traveled to Spain for the 1982 World Cup in addition to Honduras , while Mexico failed to qualify for the third time . Hondurans and Salvadorans then celebrated their joint World Cup qualification and forgot their old hostility from the football war of 1969.
After a few friendlies, all of which were won by Mexico, the two teams faced each other again on April 4, 1993 as part of a World Cup qualification (this time for 1994) . El Salvador again retained the upper hand with a 2-1 win at their home Estadio Cuscatlán , although in the end Mexico (including a 3-1 second leg win at their home Aztec Stadium ) qualified for the 1994 World Cup in the United States and El Salvador missed qualification. But in El Salvador the slogan was born in this qualifying round: "Aunque al Mundial no vayamos, pero a México le ganamos" (Eng. "We are not going to the World Cup, but we are beating Mexico").
After the Mexicans won 1-0 and 5-0 against El Salvador in the 1998 World Cup qualification , they again suffered a 2-1 defeat in San Salvador in the 2010 qualifying round . Days before, the Mexican journalist David Faitelson, who was born in Israel , had drawn the displeasure of the Salvadorans when he said that nobody knew Salvadoran players and that the country did not exist on the football map. The Mexican national team felt the displeasure when they performed on June 6, 2009 in San Salvador. The Estadio Cuscatlán was literally on fire with hatred that went way beyond the heat of football, for example when a banner read: "We want to see you dead, you bloody assholes." Because the H1N1 virus was also rampant in Mexico at the time some Salvadoran fans took appropriate protective masks and mocked their opponents. The capital San Salvador was in a state of emergency in those days and players, fans and journalists who were identified as Mexicans were attacked. Among other things, the Barra Azul had called for the Hotel Internacional, in which the Mexican selection had stayed, to be besieged and for a hell of a racket to be made that should not let the players rest. Because when Mexico plays in El Salvador, the locals are always looking for ways to make it more difficult for the Mexicans to stay. The Mexican goalkeeper Joel Almeida , who plays for the Salvadoran club Santa Tecla FC , even says that the Salvadorans were driven not so much by the motivation to cheer on their own team, but rather by the hatred they wanted to shout against the Mexicans. Almeida sees the reason for the hatred that many Salvadorans feel for the Mexicans in the fact that the Mexicans look down on the Salvadorans just as the Americans look down on the Mexicans. In his opinion, Mexico has a completely wrong image of El Salvador. On the one hand, they consider the country to be extremely criminal and very dangerous. On the other hand, many Mexicans considered Salvadoran football to be inferior.
World Cup 1970
There is another aspect that highlights the encounter between Mexico and El Salvador. Because this was the only preliminary round meeting of two teams from CONCACAF at a soccer world championship. When Mexico hosted the Football World Cup in 1970 , "El Tri" was automatically qualified for the tournament held in its own country and CONCACAF received a second starting place, which the Salvadorans were able to secure. The lot ensured that both teams played in the same group. On the second match day, the teams faced each other, both of which needed a win to advance. Until shortly before half-time, no goals had been scored in the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City and the hosts were under enormous pressure to meet the expectations of their fans. Just before half-time, the Egyptian referee Ali Hussein Kandil awarded the Salvadorans a free kick. However, this was carried out by the Mexicans, who took advantage of the confusion of the Salvadorans and scored the opening goal through Javier Valdivia . As much as the Salvadoran players protested, they failed to get the irregular goal withdrawn. Kandil never again whistled an international match organized by FIFA . With another goal from Valdivia immediately after the break, as well as two goals from Javier Fragoso and Juan Ignacio Basaguren , Mexico ultimately won the game 4-0, their highest ever victory at a football World Cup. The Mexican defender Gustavo Peña and the Salvadoran attacker Juan Ramón Martínez had a particularly bitter duel . After the game, Peña approached Martínez, who had injured his eyelid with an elbow check, and jokingly said: "Because of this game, our countries will not start a war." It was a reference to the football war that was one year ago had previously given as part of the World Cup qualification between the neighboring countries El Salvador and Honduras.
List of all international matches
The list below shows all the international matches between Mexico and El Salvador. The results are presented from the perspective of Mexico. The victories of Mexico are highlighted in green and the victories of El Salvador in red. The only draw is shown on a white background.
| date | Result | occasion | venue | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | March 27, 1935 | 8: 1 | Central America and Caribbean Games | San Salvador ( SLV ) | Highest official international win for Mexico against El Salvador |
| 2. | February 18, 1938 | 6-0 | Central America and Caribbean Games | Panama City ( PAN ) | |
| 3. | March 28, 1965 | 2-0 | CONCACAF Nations Cup 1965 | Guatemala City ( GUA ) | |
| 4th | June 7, 1970 | 4-0 | World Cup preliminary round 1970 | Mexico City ( MEX ) | |
| 5. | October 12, 1977 | 3: 1 | World Cup qualification 1978 | Mexico City (MEX) | At the same time finals of the CONCACAF Nations Cup 1977 |
| 6th | February 15, 1978 | 5: 1 | Friendly match | San Salvador (SLV) | |
| 7th | 4th December 1979 | 2-0 | Friendly match | San Salvador (SLV) | |
| 8th. | 18th December 1979 | 1: 1 | Friendly match | Texcoco (MEX) | The game played at the Estadio Municipal de Texcoco was the only one in which both teams shared the points. |
| 9. | November 6, 1981 | 0: 1 | CONCACAF Nations Cup 1981 | Tegucigalpa ( HON ) | Simultaneously World Cup qualification 1982 . First victory of the Salvadorans against Mexico, who also qualified for the 1982 World Cup instead of Mexico . |
| 10. | October 25, 1983 | 5-0 | Friendly match | Los Angeles ( USA ) | |
| 11. | October 11, 1984 | 1-0 | Friendly match | Los Angeles (USA) | |
| 12. | January 13, 1987 | 3: 1 | Friendly match | Los Angeles (USA) | |
| March 29, 1988 | 8-0 | Friendly match | Mexico City (MEX) | not an official FIFA international match | |
| 13. | February 23, 1989 | 2-0 | Friendship Cup | Los Angeles (USA) | |
| July 26, 1992 | 2: 1 | Friendly match | San Salvador (SLV) | not an official FIFA international match | |
| 14th | October 7, 1992 | 2-0 | Friendly match | Los Angeles (USA) | |
| 15th | April 4, 1993 | 1: 2 | World Cup qualification 1994 | San Salvador (SLV) | The second World Cup qualifier in a row that El Salvador won against Mexico. |
| 16. | April 18, 1993 | 3: 1 | World Cup qualification 1994 | Mexico City (MEX) | |
| 17th | November 20, 1996 | 3: 1 | Friendly match | Los Angeles (USA) | |
| 18th | June 8, 1997 | 1-0 | World Cup qualification 1998 | San Salvador (SLV) | |
| 19th | October 5, 1997 | 5-0 | World Cup qualification 1998 | Mexico City (MEX) | |
| 20th | November 17, 1998 | 2-0 | Friendly match | Los Angeles (USA) | |
| 21st | July 1, 2000 | 3-0 | Friendly match | San Francisco (USA) | |
| 22nd | October 31, 2001 | 4: 1 | Friendly match | Puebla (MEX) | |
| 23. | January 19, 2002 | 1-0 | Gold Cup preliminary round 2002 | Pasadena (USA) | |
| 24. | July 6, 2003 | 1: 2 | Friendly match | Carson (USA) | |
| 25th | June 6, 2009 | 1: 2 | World Cup qualification 2010 | San Salvador (SLV) | |
| 26th | October 10, 2009 | 4: 1 | World Cup qualification 2010 | Mexico City (MEX) | |
| 27. | June 5, 2011 | 5-0 | Gold Cup preliminary round 2011 | Arlington (USA) | |
| 28. | June 12, 2012 | 2: 1 | World Cup qualification 2014 | San Salvador (SLV) | |
| 29 | October 16, 2012 | 2-0 | World Cup qualification 2014 | Torreón (MEX) | |
| 30th | November 13, 2015 | 3-0 | World Cup qualification 2018 | Mexico City (MEX) | |
| 31. | 2nd September 2016 | 3: 1 | World Cup qualification 2018 | San Salvador (SLV) | |
| 32. | July 9, 2017 | 3: 1 | Gold Cup preliminary round 2017 | San Diego (USA) |
International match record
Overall balance
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Balance by venue
| competition | Games | MEX | SEM | SLV | Goals MEX | Goals SLV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official tournament games in Mexico | 7th | 7th | 0 | 0 | 24 | 3 |
| Official tournament games in El Salvador | 6th | 4th | 0 | 2 | 16 | 7th |
| Official tournament games on a neutral place | 6th | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17th | 2 |
| ALL TOURNAMENT GAMES | 19th | 16 | 0 | 3 | 57 | 12 |
| From the FIFA -recognized test matches in Mexico | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| FIFA-recognized test matches in El Salvador | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7th | 1 |
| Test matches recognized by FIFA on a neutral pitch | 9 | 8th | 0 | 1 | 22nd | 4th |
| OFFICIAL GAMES | 32 | 27 | 1 | 4th | 91 | 19th |
| Test matches in Mexico not recognized by FIFA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8th | 0 |
| Test matches not recognized by FIFA in El Salvador | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Unofficial test matches | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| OVERALL BALANCE SHEET (in Mexico) | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 5 |
| OVERALL BALANCE SHEET (in El Salvador) | 9 | 7th | 0 | 2 | 25th | 9 |
| OVERALL BALANCE SHEET (in neutral place) | 15th | 13 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 6th |
| OVERALL BALANCE SHEET | 34 | 29 | 1 | 4th | 101 | 20th |
See also
Web links
- Salvadoreños demuestran Odio hacia los Mexicanos (Salvadorans show their hatred of Mexicans) on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ^ El Salvador versus México. ¿Deporte o guerra? (Spanish; article dated June 12, 2012)
- ↑ Cirkem Comunicación: El Salvador-México, la rivalidad que sobrepasa los límites (Spanish; article from June 11, 2012)
- ↑ a b ¿De donde viene la supuesta rivalidad México y El Salvador? (Spanish; article dated June 12, 2012)
- ↑ a b c Llanely Rangel: El origen del odio salvadoreno a México
- ↑ a b c Benjamín López: La eterna rivalidad futbolística entre El Salvador y México (Spanish; article from March 1, 2017)
- ↑ Rafael Cárcamo: Hace 34 años El Salvador humilló a México (Spanish; article from November 6, 2015)
- ↑ The game El Salvador - Mexico (1-0) in full length on YouTube (goal from 1:26 hours)
- ↑ Zeltzin Zamora Meza: México-El Salvador, una rivalidad más allá de la cancha (Spanish; article from September 2, 2016)
- ↑ Iván Cañada: Portero mexicano en El Salvador explica cómo odian a los mexicanos (Spanish; article from September 1, 2016)
- ^ Dustin Parks: What happened at the 1970 World Cup? (English; article from May 27, 2014)
- ↑ Omar Gisler: The big book of football records: superlatives, curiosities, sensations . Copress Verlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-7679-1080-5 , p. 261.
- ^ Omar Carrillo: La Historia de las Copas del Mundo: Crónicas de la Selección Mexicana, El Tri en cada mundial . Editorial Televisa, Mexico City 2006, p. 50.