The scoreline reads 3. 2 to the Three Lions, a result that on paper suggests a classic, end to end thriller at the Estadio Azteca. And it was. But for...
The scoreline reads 3. 2 to the Three Lions, a result that on paper suggests a classic, end to end thriller at the Estadio Azteca. And it was. But for the faithful gathered in Chelsea, on the Hispanic outskirts of Boston, the mathematics of this World Cup qualifier carried a different weight. This was not just a football match. It was a diaspora communion, a chance to feel the pulse of Mexico City across an ocean, played out in the sticky heat of a New England bar.The Mexican community turned out in force, draped in the green of their nation, knowing full well the emotional tax of hosting England in that cauldron. For eighty or so minutes, they watched their side play with a certain swagger, a low block broken by moments of sharp transitional play that had the English backline scrambling. But football, in its cruelest form, often punishes the brave who cannot finish. England, as they so often do under the bright lights, found a way. Their clinical finishing, two goals snatched in a five minute spell of second half pressure, turned the tide. The final whistle, a 3. 2 victory for the visitors, left the Boston bar in a strange, hollow silence. The roar of the actual Azteca was a world away.What strikes me, as a columnist for GoalZaza, is the raw geography of support. Here was a game played in a volcanic bowl in Mexico City, yet its emotional epicentre for thousands was a strip mall in Massachusetts. The pubs in Chelsea did not bottle it. They roared for every tackle, every lung bursting run. They felt the sting of defeat as acutely as if they had been spit roasted in the stands. This is the beautiful game's true power. It does not care for borders. It simply demands loyalty. And in that corner of Boston, under the flickering TV lights, Mexico got it in spades, even as England took the points. The tactical flexibility of Southgate's side was impressive, but the spirit of the exiled support was, for this reporter, the real story of the night.
