august 11th, 2012

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guys, lets pretend today is yesterday bc it was the eleventh and i completely missed the opportunity to celebrate one of the buggest achievements in mexican football. yesterday, the eleventh of august, marked the third year anniversary in which mexico took home the gold medal for men's football at the 2012 summer olympics in london! i am so proud of my baby boys.

everything was against them because no one really believed in them. it was due to the fact that they were doing terrible, statistically. and that seems to be the mexican strategy. haste guey todo el pinche torneo y despues les ganas a todos ^.^ jaja.

chivas does it too. 

but back to mexico nt. people criticized them at the beginning of the tournament because they tied their first game of the tournament to south korea. no offense to you, sk, but mexico had everything to win. but they couldn't manage it. and people on social media burned the fuck out of them for it. not gonna lie, i was one of those people. i was super bitter that tournament bc they had taken the football god oribe instead of my babies cubo and alan pulido. oribe later wooed me with his skills.

they went on to defeat switzerland and gabon, to advance as first of their group, like their south american counterparts from brazil.

the quarter final was against senegal. we scored two goals on them and we felt like we had this, we were touching the motherfucking skies. until we came crashing down into a bitter reality and senegal managed the draw. and thats the fatal flaw that mexicans have. when they're winning, they slack off bc they think the other team won't catch up. so the game goes into extra time and the baes defeat senegal, mexico and its people celebrate like there is no fucking tomorrow.

the semi final was against japan. highly winnable, or so we thought. but we were proved wrong when the samurai score the first goal. and as gio said, "when they score a goal, they all defend after that." bc they want to keep the advantage. but mexico kept pushing forward. there was still much time left to play and the boys didn't give up. in the end, mexico scored three goals, bidding a good sayonara to the samurai team who were left to dispute the third place slot against south korea.

AND MEXICO MADE IT TO THE FINAL.

when it was known that the final would be against brazil, and that gio wouldn't play due to an injury, the mexican press assumed we would get the silver, which was a guaranteed win. neither team had ever won the gold in their history at the olympics, so whoever won would make history. most people bet on brazil, bc come on...brazil is brazil. still, the boys didn't give up. they wanted the gold and they were going to fight to the very last moment to get it.

the final. august 11, 2012. 

both teams arrived at the stadium. one of the brazil players was trying to psych out diego reyes in the tunnel, but reyes paid no attention to him. the anthems played loud and proud in london. there were a mix of brazilian and mexican fans. but everyone expected the canarinha to win. they were the favorites, and mexico were the underdogs. the first whistle blew and brazil pushes back into their own half of the field, a big mistake, they would later realize. marco fabian pressures one of the brazil players and he passes it to one of his team mates, but javier aquino robs the ball, barely touching it with the tip of his foot. el submarino aquino falls to the ground and barely has time to look up and see that his pass made it to oribe. as hiram mier said, "in the moment that oribe touched the ball, i knew it would be a goal." and oribe shoots, SCORING FOR MEXICO in the first thirty seconds of the game.

that was when i knew we had it. we couldn't lose now.

the game was uneventful for seventy four more minutes. until, during a free kick, ORIBE WAS UNMARKED. completely alone. that was the second mistake of the canarinha. 

and el HERMOSO SCORES THE SECOND GOAL, which martinoli coined el "gol de oro". the golden goal which gave mexico the gold medal. fifteen minutes later, hulk from brazil scores one, and my heart stopped. i thought they would draw and defeat us bc mexico is known as the 'ya merito', 'almost there'. i remember telling my parents, "we're screwed. brazil's winning the medal." and my parents swore that mexico would win.

as the game was nearing its end, with only seconds remaining, oscar had the chance to equalize. he had the chance to take the game into extra time. but his header missed the net and he falls to the ground lamenting himself. 

chuy does a goal kick and the ref blows the final whistle.

the team ran out onto the field, chaton fell to the floor crying, thanking god while his other team mates jumped up and down celebrating. celebrating because they made history.

the brazil players cried.

oribe went to the stands where a fan gave him his mexican hat and flag. i remember this clearly bc i remember thinking: "i wouldnt give him my hat and my flag wtf." but now i know that oribe is a badass and i would give him anything.

they gave the players their medals and the brazil team was so fucking done. then they played the mexican anthem and the brazilians had to stand through all of it when all they wanted was to get out of there. it was quite sad. then they allowed the korean and brazilian teams to leave and mexico did an olympic lap around the field. 

it was one of the happiest moments of my life.

back here in los angeles, everyone celebrated like mexico had won the world cup. and it certainly felt that way. before the wrld cup existed, world champions were classified by winning the summer olympics. so yeah, im taking it like a world cup win.

mexico are current reigning champions and will continue that way until next year, where they might defend their title, and could very well earn their second gold.

but the first will never be forgotten.

august 11th, 2012. it was the day when everything changed.

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