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FAN: Francisco Casttaneda, 18, backs his favorite team in the Mexico vs. Angola World Cup soccer game Friday in Mesa. BRIAN DRAKE
For the Tribune |
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| Soccer symbolizes struggle
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| By Art Martori, Tribune |
| June 17, 2006 |
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Shouts and cheers in Spanish filled Restaurant Sinaloa in Mesa on Friday as Francisco Casttaneda sat elbow-to-elbow at a table full of soccer fans who took a break from work to watch a World Cup match between Mexico and Angola. |
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For many Mexican immigrants living in Arizona, Friday afternoon was like Super Bowl Sunday — only bigger.
Restaurants, bars and homes across the East Valley were packed with people who came out to root for their favorite soccer team.
Casttaneda said the atmosphere reminded him of life in his native country, to which he hoped to someday return.
“I think about walking down the street to the game with a Mexican flag in my hand,” he said in Spanish.
The 18-year-old immigrant from Colima, Mexico, said the popular soccer tournament symbolizes his community’s struggle to gain recognition. The World Cup began last week and will continue into July.
“It represents hope — I hope we win the World Cup,” Casttaneda said in Spanish. “It also represents the Mexican community triumphing over the world.”
The showdown between Mexico and Angola ended in a scoreless tie, yet the match symbolized victory for many Mexican immigrants.
Santos Ortiz, president of the Mesa chapter of Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras, an immigration reform group with branches throughout the Valley, said immigrants view the Mexican team’s players as champions for their cause.
“I think for this community, it represents a courageous force,” Ortiz said in Spanish. “A force that many people want to feel is representing them. They want to feel that their hopes are being represented.”
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates as many as 12 million undocumented immigrants live in the U.S. Nearly 450,000 of them reside in Arizona.
Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras helped organize a political march earlier this year that drew more than 100,000 people to downtown Phoenix to protest U.S. immigration laws. Ortiz said World Cup soccer has the same unifying effect for many Spanish-speakers.
“I believe soccer can unite lots of people,” he said. “The sport connects thousands, millions, of people in minutes.”
Claudia López said she sees World Cup soccer as more than just a sporting event. To the 34-year-old waitress from Sinaloa, Mexico, a win for her home country’s team is like a victory for all undocumented residents in the East Valley.
“It’s something that we hope for until the end, something for the community,” she said in Spanish. “It’s like a competition to beat other countries.” Ortiz said it’s even bigger than the NFL’s big game.
“I believe that soccer brings out a passion in this community more than any other sport,” he said. “This game will reach 10 times more people than the Super Bowl.” |
| Contact Art Martori by email, or phone (480) 898-6514 |
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