Mexican Skipper Javier Aguirre Blooded After Defeat
Mexico takes an upset loss to Honduras. Fans respond in 'unkind.'
While the world is still trying to make sense of that Jake Paul/Mike Tyson match, (not me though, Netflix wouldn’t let me in after the second prelim) something equally as bizarre happened in the world of sports.
So it’s Concacaf Nations League time, and if you like soccer you’ll enjoy Nations League “just enough.” Every team in the North America, Central America, and the Caribbean has a good ol’ battle royale to see who is the top dog of the region. The winners qualify for another regional tournament called the Gold Cup and with that comes World Cup implications…or at least I think (It doesn’t). Teams on this side of the world are a hoot because they are a mix of squads that can’t win the big one on the global stage (USA, MEX), teams that always surprise (Costa Rica, Canada), and a bunch of teams that have terrible pitches and facilities that make their games dangerously intriguing to watch (Too many to name). The long and short of it is that the United States and Mexico are perpetual favorites. For the sake of brevity, here’s a vid on the format.
In THIS tournament, Mexico wowed their doubters by finishing the top seed in group play. Their reward? Playing the last team to qualify in Honduras in a two-leg (e.g. match) quarterfinal. Sounds like easy peasy time for “El Tri” right? Well,
Damn, “Dos a cero’d”? Anyway, it’s what happened after the match that made headlines. Mexican football coach, Javier Aguirre was pelted with objects coming from the stands, taking a gnarly gash on the head. Oddly though, he tried playing it off like a G, which led to some of the most bizarre footage I’ve seen in a while.
Or click here.
The Mexican team was away in Honduras, so it presented an odd environment where everyone in the stadium could’ve been the culprit of throwing that beer. Was it frustrated Mexican fans? Was it Honduran fans having the last laugh? Was it the president of the Javier Aguirre fan club handing in their resignation? In all seriousness, the event could’ve been much worse and is a cautionary tale about how some fans and their cavalier attitude toward athletes and coaches.
If anyone tried throwing a beer can at that guy above, he would hop the barricade QUICK FAST. In either event, the Honduran Football Federation responded to the event:
"The Honduran Football Federation (FFH) regrets and strongly condemns the isolated actions of a small group of fans that do not represent the respectful behaviour of our fans as a whole. These incidents, which are absolutely reprehensible, do not define the conduct of the majority of those attending the stadium, and we therefore censure the acts against the coach of the Mexican national team that occurred at the end of the match." -Goal.com
This sounds awfully like when I complain to a hotel or restaurant for subpar service and basically tell me everything except making it right. “Sorry that happened. Hopefully, next time it won’t” is the vibe I’m getting here. Reinaldo Rueda, the head coach of the Honduran National Soccer team had this tone-deaf response.
"This cannot happen again, not here, not in any stadium in Honduras, nor in any stadium in the world. I am sad because he [Aguirre] is a human being, because just as they hit the coach, they could have hit me; he was coming to greet me at that moment," - Goal.com
“This cannot happen because what if it affected me?” is a line straight out of “The Hunger Games.” Aguirre does seem to be okay from the injury and is going to recover, so that’s the good news in all of this.
Anyway, here’s a supercut of fans throwing things at WCW wrestlers just because.