'We're excited': Mexican soccer fans gather to cheer Mexican team, in Utah to play Switzerland

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Mexico's national soccer team plays Switzerland at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday.
The Mexican coach and players, speaking at a press conference Friday, noted the strong fanbase for the team in Utah and the United States.
Mexican fans outside the stadium, where the team practiced, banged drums and waved Mexican flags as a show of support.

SALT LAKE CITY — Outside Rice-Eccles Stadium on Friday, a portion of Pancho Villa's Army stood vigil, cheering for Mexico.

"After 10 years, for sure we're excited to see it," said Carlos Dominguez. He's the self-proclaimed leader of Pancho Villa's Army, the raucous group of fans named after the Mexican revolutionary leader that'll help lead the cheering for Mexico inside the stadium on Saturday, when the country's national soccer team takes on Switzerland.

Dominguez flew a giant oversized Mexican flag, while Edgar Romero, sporting the black jersey of the Mexican team, banged on a big bass drum. Elly Nazario, wearing an older green Mexican team jersey, was also with the group, hoping, like the others, to get a peek at the Mexican players practicing inside the University of Utah stadium.

The Mexican team last played in Utah in 2015, 10 years ago.

"We're from Mexico and we want our team to feel the support they have here in Salt Lake. There are a lot of us Mexicans and more will come tomorrow. This helps us win, play better," said Nazario, originally from the Mexican state of Guerrero but now living in Salt Lake City.

The Mexican team, on its annual MexTour, when it plays a handful of games in the United States for its U.S. fanbase, tied Trinidad and Tobago 3-3 in that game 10 years ago, held at Real Salt Lake's stadium in Sandy. This go-round Mexico takes on Switzerland, with the Gold Cup, the tournament featuring Caribbean and North American teams, and the 2026 World Cup looming.

Saturday's game at Rice-Eccles Stadium starts at 2 p.m., preceded by a "fan festival" starting at 9:30 a.m. in the stadium parking lot.

Carlos Dominguez stands outside Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City with a handful of other fans of the Mexican national soccer team on Friday. Mexico plays Switzerland in the stadium on Saturday. (Photo: Tim Vandenack, KSL.com)

Javier Aguirre, the coach of the Mexican team, alluded to the fanbase in Utah. "We don't come that often to Utah, and everyone's eager to see their national team. ... We'll try to please them, we'll try to make them feel proud of their team," he said at a press conference Friday at Rice-Eccles.

Ángel Sepúleveda, a forward for the Mexican team, offered similar comments, also in a gathering with the media. He hopes to provide fans with "a little bit of what they probably miss about Mexico."

Mexico national soccer team defender Julian Araujo talks to members of the media ahead of a game against Switzerland at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Julian Araujo, a defender for the team, offered thanks to the U.S. fanbase and put a focus on the World Cup next year, to be played in Mexico, the United States and Canada. "We're very ambitious about growing. We want to make it the best World Cup that we've had," he said.

Back outside the stadium, meantime, the small gathering of Mexican fans variously waved the red, white and green Mexican flag, beat on drums and hoped for a glimpse of the team from behind a metal barrier.

Raul Jimenez warms up with the Mexico national soccer team during practice one day before a game against Switzerland at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Friday. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

"Mexico has a ton of teams, América, Cruz Azul, Chivas," said Melody Romero, alluding to some of the more popular Mexican League professional soccer teams. "But when it comes to the Mexican team, all us Mexicans come and get together and we are one."

Edgar Romero, no relation to Melody and originally from the Mexican state of Veracruz, expressed hope that the passion for the Mexican team from the fanbase here would propel them to victory on Saturday. "When you support them, the players feel the emotion and they feel the support of the fans. It's something extra for them," he said.

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.