Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - Episode 155: How one proud Mexican-American became a USMNT fan

Episode Date: January 15, 2021

This is a conversation with Beto Lopez, a good friend on Twitter. The story of his conversion from apathy to serious USMNT fandom in 2002 was fun for me to hear. We also discussed Eddie Guerrero, the original Selena and Oscar de la Hoya. I'd been meaning to post this for a while. Finally got around to it. Enjoy! Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the scuffed podcast. I'm Adam Bells in Georgia. With me is Greg Velasquez in Iowa. We talk about U.S. men's soccer. My full name is Alberto Lopez Jr. But I go by Beto or Albert. I'm 41 years old. And I'm Houston, Texas, born and raised. And I'm a valve inspector at a valve company. That's Beto Lopez, and this is the story of how he became a fan of the U.S. men's national team. his parents were born in Mexico and were not massive soccer fans but they were casual soccer fans in the sense like if Mexico

had a big game they would watch it and so I pass by I see them watching a soccer game I'm like that's boring I don't want to watch it whatever and if the U.S. and Mexico played

I just tell my father I hope USA wins and you just laugh so honestly I grew up not so much cheering for the U.S. but just trolling my father. I hope USA, you know, because, yeah, my father's a prankster at heart, and so I'm just like him just pranking.

And so if he'd be watching Mexico, hope they lose and be quiet, whatever. But it all changed in 2002, the World Cup. Like I said, they were excited for, you know, to watch Mexico in the World Cup. And my father mentioned me one time, he's like, they USA in Mexico are going to play.

I'm like, are you serious? Like, I hope USA wins. And my father's like, no, no, no, no. And he would taunt me by seeing the U.S. national anthem, butchering it on purpose. He would just say, oh, oh, say can you see, oh, say can you see? And I'm like, Dad, I hope USA just trances Mexico. I really do.

and he'd laugh or whatever. Now, I guess you'll remember the O2 World Cup was in South Korea and Japan. So the games were like at 3.30 in the morning. I remember, I was like, you know what? I'm going to stay up and watch this game. And I told my father, I'm like, I'm going to do something just to make fun of you when you less wins. And my father, whatever. Well, sure enough, I'm watching the game.

It's like at 3 in the morning. I'm watching it, watching it. And at the time, my brother was studying for a huge test. So he was pulling in all-nighters at the time. And he goes up to me, he's like, hey, what are you doing awake? I'm like, I'm watching the U.S. Mexico. Like, are you serious? And I tell him, if USA wins, I'm going to sing the national anthem,

the dad in the morning, first thing in the morning. And he's laughing or whatever. So I'm watching the game and sure. Now, granted, I didn't know. any of the players, I didn't care for it, whatever. Like I said, I just wanted to troll my father. You were committed. You were committed to the prank.

I was committed, absolutely committed to the prank. And so all of a sudden, McBride scored. And so I'm like, oh, random guy scores. Good. McBride takes quickly. This is Clowdy Arena. Terrific run by Raina. It's Wolf.

It's McBride. It's a goal. Against the run of play. USA have the lead. All of a sudden, my brother opens the door. He's like, hey, mom and dad are awake. They're watching the game. I'm like, come on. So I go sneak over to their room and the glare on the TV. You can see it's on. I'm like, they're watching the game. Cool. And so I go back. I don't say anything. I'm just waiting. Half time passes and the second half or whatever. And all of a sudden, Donovan scores the second goal.

It's a terrific ball to pick out Eddie Lewis. Bonovan's arriving here. It's 2-0. And the USA can dream of reaching the quarterfinals. I hear in the background, damn it, in Spanish, like a yell. And I'm like, oh, my brother busted door open. He's like, what happened? What happened?

Oh, they're up to nothing. And he's like, is the game over? I'm like, I think so. They're going to win. Let's go right now. I'm like, no, dude, we can't do it. Got to wait for the morning. He looks at me.

Like, your country needs you. We need to stand up for our country. No, let's go. So I follow him. He'd make our way to our parents' bedroom or whatever. Knock on the door. You guys awake? And they're like, no.

And we're like, they're awake. We bust the door open and we start singing the national anthem. Just the way my father does it. Like, oh, say, can he? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This is the proper way to sing it. And we start singing it properly or whatever. And my mother, who was not part of the prank,

didn't know anything about this, but she really wanted Mexico to win. It's just furious, just yelling at us. Get out! Get out! And my mother's the sweetest person in the world, but just furious, just furious. And my father, he's got his face down on the pillow

because he stopped. He's trying not to laugh, because he knows what's about that, you know, he knows what's happening or whatever. So we're singing, we're singing. And my mother's like, get out. The neighbors are going to call the cops. And so we're like, okay, point made as we're leaving,

my brother just sticks his head out again, opens the door and just screams. And the home of the brave slams the door and starts screaming, New USA! USA! I start slapping the kitchen table. We're making as much,

noise as possible. And my mom's just screaming, the cops, the neighbors are going to call the cops, go to sleep. And we just run back and we just, we made our point or whatever. And it's something that me and my brother still laugh about to this very day. And it's a memory that, that, you know, I hold dear. Now, the thing is, is, as I made my way back to the TV, panic, you know, overcame me because, oh, crap, what if Mexico comes back? So for the first time in my life, I was emotionally invested in a soccer game. I'm nervous, whatever. And at that point is when Rasa Marquez pulled what, you know, we all remember,

where he pretty much headbutted Kobe Jones, was it, right? Was it him when he got the red card? Stewart. But Marquez was in terribly late there on Kirby Jones. And it's a straight red for the Mexican captain. He'd no attempt to play the ball. The point is, is Marquez wanted no part of that field. He just pretty much, he knew they were done.

He didn't want to be on the field. And I remember seeing that, like, wow, the guy quit. He's quitting on his team. And the image I remembered that I just associated with. with El 3 from then on was when Marquez took up his, uh, the captain's band and just chunked it like it was a piece of rag. And I was like, wow. And, you know, that image stuck in my head. And from that point on, I, I associated El 3 with that. The rest of the game, the other players were just fouling, fouling. They knew it was the game was over. And I just remember thinking,

wow. And, uh, actually a couple of weeks later, I took a trip to Mexico with my parents. And my mom mentioned what we did. And my uncle was just like, it was a handball on the U.S. It was a handball on the U.S. I'm like, calm down, dude, calm down. And so I was, you know, yes, it was. But at the time, the U.S. had suffered the same thing against Germany. And so I was like, dude, the same thing happened to the Americans. You don't see me crying? Calm down. And so it's just, that was the first time I honestly, got, you know, from my, from my, my cousins and stuff. And so from then on, I just, I didn't care for, for, for, for the Mexican team. Did your mom ever forgive you? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. No, like I said, they're casuals, you know, in other families. It's really, really, you know, like, like my uncles. It's really passionate with my mom. She, she, she wanted them to win. But she was a pessimist at heart. So she's like, they're going to lose. Whatever. I don't care. Do you think you would have chosen to root for the U.S. if your family was more, you know, more passionate about El-Tree, your immediate family, your mother and mother.

No. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. They would have had me, you know, going to games. I would have fallen in love with El-Rri. Because, like I said with baseball, I remember when I was young, younger, the superstar was Fernando Valenzuela. He was like the big star.

And I remember, Valenzuela, Valenzuela, Valenzuela. I wanted to, you know, watch him over like the Astros. But eventually I fell in love with the Astros. And so that happened. No, but I guarantee you, if my father or my mother had, you know, watched El Tris and just loved them, I would have followed them. I know I would have. Yeah, it makes sense.

I hate to admit that. I hate to admit that, but I've got to be honest. Yeah. There's absolutely no shame in admitting that. So have you been to Azteca or Columbus? Have you seen them face off in person in any way? No. I will tell you, the last game before the 2010 World Cup, they had a game here in Houston.

It was Angola against Mexico. And so I went to go with my father. And like I said, my father, you know, not a big sports fan, but it got to him. And so when Mexico scored, he went crazy. I've never seen, my father's been the baseball games. He's been to all kinds of things. He'd just be like, oh, that's nice. Home run.

Oh, good. When Mexico scored, he started cheering. And I was like, wow, the thing is, is I felt nothing. I want to reiterate, I'm a proud. Mexican-American. I love being Latino. I wouldn't change it for the world. So I'm agrioso, but I cannot stand as three. I just don't care for them. I went to that game to see maybe I'll feel something. I felt nothing. Like, oh, it's a good team. I hope they do well. But, yeah, so I felt nothing, honestly. Yeah. So it sounds like this doesn't apply to you,

but can you talk about the ways that identity as a Mexican, as someone of Mexican descent is tied up with rooting altry for other people? You know, it's clearly not that way for you. Maybe it's that way for your dad. There's just something to, you know, someone that looks like you cheering for them. It's natural, you know. Like if I find out like another sport I love is mixed market.

martial arts. When I found out that, you know, some Mexicans were coming up, oh, I hope he does well. And I cheer for them. And I absolutely I'll cheer for them. It's, you know, it's something to that. But it's, it's not as simple as that because there's a big difference between being like Mexican and being Mexican American. And, and, you know, I think that's something that's going to, Mexico as did he, is. going to have to deal with in the coming years. I've told you this rivalry is about to get so complicated for a lot of people. It's been complicated for me, but it's about to get a lot less complicated, and it's about to get complicated for everyone else. Because on El Tris side, like, they never play in Mexico anymore. They don't. So like a working class family in Mexico,

El Dree might as well be Barcelona. They're never going to see them. Almost never. Because they play almost other games in the U.S. You know, and then to have players that they're recruiting that are Mexican Americans, you know, maybe I'm wrong, but it's going to be tough. It really is, especially for Native Mexicans in Mexico. It's going to get tricky, you know.

It really is. And for Mexican-Americans that go for El-Ré, if what we think is going to happen and some of these Mexican-American prospects make it to the U.S., well, you know, you're not going to be cheering for, you know, some small-town guy from Pennsylvania. You're going to be cheering for a Latino or cheering against a Latino from Los Angeles, you know. And it's one thing to have like Omar Gonzalez or some, you know, a defender, but to have the star player of the team be Latino, it's going to be really tricky. And for over here on the U.S., I mean, let's be real. Some Americans are, you know, to have Latinos representing the United States, it's going to rustle some feathers.

And I've told you this, Bells, I've told you this. Yeah. I really think, you know, come the World Cup, 2026, just look at the youth rosters for the youth clubs, you know, for the U.S., the 17s, the 20s. Yeah. It's Latinos. They're all over. The high-end prospects are Latino. It's true.

I would say a lot of the best players on the 17s and 20s. are Latino. One other thing, though, those, I want to say because, like, I have a cousin. All we do is talk sports, sports, sports. The one thing I refuse to talk to him about is soccer because he's El-Dri on the United States. Like when Zuzzi scored that goal the next day at work, because we worked together at the time. I was like, whoa, thanks to USA. I'm like, so what did you think about that, man? You know, that was pretty cool, huh? And he looked at me. he's like, it's not a World Cup unless Mexico's in it. And he turned and walked away.

I'm like, you ungrateful bastard, get out of here. You know, it's, you know. But a coworker asked me, you know, oh, why don't you just cheer for Mexico? And I told them, my experience day to day here in Houston, I don't just deal with Mexicans, you know, other Latinos. My best friend growing up was white. some of my closest friends as co-workers like the story I told you were from Africa from Iran from the Middle East Pakistan I have all kinds of you know diversity in my life that's my life I would like that to be represented in the soccer team I root for

you know and that's what I love about the U.S. I don't know if it's univision or telehealth They call the U.S. team El Echipo de Tos, everyone's team. And that's something that I just love. I really do. For a while there, you were responding to some of my tweets about, let's say, Richie Mendes. I mean, Richie, sorry, you were responding to some of my tweets about, like, Richie LaDazma or Alex

Mendes with this gif of a wrestler, of a professional wrestler. Can you explain that, who that is and why that's significant? Okay. So Eddie Guerrero is, you know, I'm obviously a pro wrestling fan. Eddie Guerrero was a Mexican-American wrestler, and he was hard-cores liked him, just like, you know, hardcore wrestling fans knew about him, but as far as the masses, it was, you know, the bigger guys, Hulk Hogan or whatever. But I don't know how, but Eddie Guerrero broke through and he just became a fan favorite for everyone to the point where he actually became a world champion here in the United, in WWE, the biggest wrestling company in the world based here in the United States.

And he was a small guy. He was like 5'7. But there was just the charisma about him that people just fell in love with him. He became a world champion, became up. huge star. And he was honestly the first national star. There were other Latino stars, but regional in New York, Florida, I guess, had a couple. But Eddie Guerrero was the first one to break through nationally.

And he opened the door for other luchadores. One that people will tell you is Ray Mysterio. He's popular. Eddie Guerrero was before Ray. Eddie broke through, broke it for everyone. And now, thankfully, there are so many popular luchadores from Mexico and Mexican Americans that are able to make a good living here in the United States because of Eddie. And, you know, deep down, I'm hoping there's that one guy who's just going to break through

and just become a huge star here in the States. and, you know, we'll see. We shall see. Does the USMNT suffer in the eyes of Mexican Americans because of the president that has been elected by the people of the United States and his immigration policies? Yeah, we feel alienated. We feel marginalized.

I think it does. I'll tell you, the qualifying for the World Cup was, so difficult for me because literally qualifying started with that election. I think it was the next day actually that Mexico and USA played. It was such a weird time. You know, that's right. You know, but I think like I said, to see a player break through, you know, and I don't think it even has to be Mexican-American. I'll tell you that right now. Even if he's like from, you know, Colombian-American, uh, whatever the case may be, you see someone that speaks Spanish, that, you know,

it's, I think that that would just help out the team so much. And honestly for me, like I told you, this past year has been the most rewarding for me as a fan. and it's because I started following the youth team. I'll never forget the night of Trinidad, you know, everyone has their story about that night. I remember, I forget who it was, Brian something. He tweeted out an article, The Missing Years Generation, where he pretty much talked about the youth.

And I remember reading that article, like, oh, my God. everyone should have seen this coming. And that made me start paying attention to the youth teams. I'm like, well, you know, I really don't care to follow the national team. I'll check out the youth teams. And to my utter shock, it was filled with Latino prospects. I'm like, I have no idea about this. And so watching this or whatever, you know, I'll tell you, the under 20 World Cup from this

summer or June, I loved it. It was so much fun to watch the way that team played to see a couple of, you know, not just, you know, Latino stars, but everyone coming together. One of my favorite things was to watch the chemistry between Paxton Pomacall and Alex Mendez on the qualifying at the World Cup, the way they just compliment each other so well, I think. I love that. Yeah, me too. you know, it just, it was so rewarding. It really was. And, you know, it gives me hope.

It really does. I know everyone's pessimistic, but I honestly feel good. And, you know, yeah. What has been your experience with L Tree fans? You talked a little bit about your uncles being upset at you. But, like, do you have any other stories about that? Yeah. So, I mean, not the specific stories, but just,

Like, you know, like I said with my cousin, I'll talk to him for hours about the rockets. I'll talk to him for hours about the Astros. I'll talk to him for hours about, you know, sports. But when it comes to, even like Barcelona, we'll talk about that, this or that. The moment someone mentions USA or El-Dri, it's like, you know, oil and water. You know, I stopped trying. I really, I just can't do it. I can't do it.

And, you know, the game I mentioned to you when I went to see Mexico, I remember I couldn't find my father and my brother. I was looking for them in the parking lot. I turn around and I hate to say this, but I see a guy dressed up as Osama bin Laden. This was in 2010. And I looked, I'm like, oh, no. And he's just dancing or whatever. and I just turned around and walked away. I got to get out of here.

Whatever. You know, apparently my cousins told me he's had bad experiences with U.S. fans. It goes both ways. But that was my personal experience, you know, and I just walked away or whatever. Like I said, the night that I went to Seattle 3 played, I just felt nothing. You know, I really didn't. As far as the flags and everyone coming together, that made me feel good for fellow Mexicans. But that shirt, I can't stand that shirt.

So, you know. So last question. You've mentioned to me the idea of pocho. Is that a bad word? Yeah. It is. I mean, it's pretty much the difference between like a Mexican and a Mexican-American. You know, my cousin, he speaks Spanish a lot well.

tell you this, Bells. So, you know about Spanglish, right? Like when Spanish and English are mixed up. I understand the idea. Yeah. Especially for, you know, first generation Americans. If we struggle, you know, with Spanish, we'll mix in some English to save ourselves. Now, I consider myself of, you know, fluent speaker. Maybe every fourth or fifth sentence when I'm speaking Spanish, I'll mix in a little bit of Spanish, you know, which isn't too very vague. But if you go to Mexico, they will like that. Just recognize, no, no, no, no.

Tuarez de lo calado. You know, I'll tell your story. I went to visit my cousin in Mexico. And I was looking for a punk rock record. And she told me about this one store that was solid. You know, you'll find what you're looking for here. And so right before I leave, you know, to check out what I want to buy, she tells me, listen, don't speak English.

If you speak English, they're going to know you're from, you're American, and they'll try to rip you off. So just speak Spanish. So I talk to the guy, I'm like, hey, you know, you got this, whatever, the breeders, whatever, yeah, this. All of a sudden, my cousin taps me on the shoulder, and I'm like, get my so, what's up? And she whispers, she whispers, did you speak English? I'm like, no, I've been speaking Spanish. Why? Everyone is staring at you.

I'm like, oh, God. Because I, you know, it was obvious to them that, you know, my Spanish wasn't up to par. And, and, you know, that's one thing. Me and Jay, actually, we messaged each other. There was a prospect, and I'm not going to mention his name, but there's one prospect that everyone's freaking out about, oh, you might be the switch to Mexico. So there's an interview that the young man made with Unirisione, Telemundo.

I can't remember which one. But the point is the guy couldn't even make it through one sentence before that spanglish just started coming out. And I remember thinking, if he switches over, they will crucify him. because, you know, it's like the famous movie, Selena. You know about the Tejano scene that passed away here in Texas, right? The movie came out and there's a famous scene where they're telling her, the father's telling her, you need to speak Spanish properly, you know, and he talks about how we have to be as Mexican as the Mexicans

and as Americans as Americans. We have to speak Spanish perfectly. We have to speak English perfectly. It's exhausting. Is that something a lot of people don't realize when we have this hand-wringing about dual nationals, that there's actually obstacles on both sides? No, absolutely not. They don't recognize that.

And who knows? Maybe I'm completely full of it. But I'll tell you a story. Have you heard of Oscar de la Jolla, the boxer? Yes. He was a famous boxer grew up in L.A., I think, L.A. Now, he did represent the U.S. and the Olympics. But the guy's heart was Mexico.

He was Mexico la Madares. He sang mariachi songs. It was true. He was not a poser. He really had Mexico in his heart. And at the time of his rise, there was another boxer who was a Mexican legend. It was Julio Cesar Chavez. And so as Chavez was going down, De La Jolla was rising up.

Well, I don't know why he would do this, but De La Jolla decided to box Chavez. And De La Jolla Jolla brutalized Chavez. Just destroyed him. And the Mexican fans never forgave him for what he did. To the point that I remember, during the dual national, things, I asked my father. I went up to him and I was like, hey, dad, I got a question for you. So Chavez, when he lost, if another, if the guy that had ended his career was a Mexican, would people have hated him? And he'd have been like, no, a passing of the torch. You know,

he died in his sword. That's the way Chavez would have wanted to go down, fighting. And I asked him, so why did they, why did they never forgive Delahoya? And within half a second, my father just yells at because he wasn't Mexican. And that's one thing that Delaware went through where, you know, they never, they never forgave him. They never accepted him. It's something he fought through through his whole career, you know. And, you know, maybe I'm full of it, you know, like I said,

but, you know, that's one thing, especially for these young guys that grew up, like I said, in academies here the U.S. You know, El Tris, man. It's like playing for the Yankees, you know. Just because you wear that uniform doesn't mean you're a New York Yankee, you know. Like Stanton, John Carlo Stanton, he was a big free agent for the Yankees.

He struck out his first game. They started booing him. He's not a Yankee. You just, you know. Right. We'll see. It's something, you know, that, that, that, it's something that, it's something that, El Tris going to have to deal with.

It's, like I said, this is about to get complicated for both sides, for both sides. And not for me, man, because, you know, I'm looking forward to some of these guys coming up. And, you know, this rivalry is just going to get bonkers. I mean, I picture a guy like Alex Mendez or Richel dezma scoring a goal at Azteca. It's just like, oh, man, it's just going to be. So, I don't know. We'll see. Yeah, I mean, that's a dream sequence for me.

My cousin, the one that I talked to you about, I remember him telling me, you know, the Charlie Davies goal, he told me for about half a second, I cheered. And I was, wait a minute, no, no, no. And it's like, and I told him, so there's a chance. He's like, no, there's no chance. But I'm like, if he were to see a Mexican-American just throw a bang or a 20-year-old. 20, 25-yard banger. Absolutely. You would see some guys just switch over or whatever.

It's about to get confusing or complicated for a lot of people. It really is. And I'm looking forward to it so much. Well, Beto, thank you so much for your time. Okay. Well, Bells, much thanks for having me in your program. Much of gracias. With much of gusto.

Much of that. There you go. There you go.