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Albina Andreeva

Despite Mexico’s win against Germany, fans celebrate on both sides

Published on: June 18, 2018 6:37 PM

 

As final seconds of Mexican-German match ticked down, Moscow braced itself for something epic. The sombrero-wearing guys had been celebrating round the clock for 4 days now – making it look like Nikolskaya (a street within 500 meters from the Kremlin turned unofficial fan-zone) was hosting something in-between a full-on Mexican carnival and a never-ending college frat party. And all of that before their team even had a chance to play. Now, what kind of an epic rant would they go on, we thought, after beating one the top favourites, the German machine?

Well, it turned out, there was nothing to fear. As sombreros poured into the unofficial fan-zone at Nikolskaya street (within 500 metres from the Red Square), Mexicans seemed just normal.

 

They were dancing, singing and drinking just as they had been doing for 4 days before.

 

Apparently, Mexican supporters party as hard as if they’ve just beat a champion every day – at least here in Moscow.

 

 

 

“Vivo Méjico!” – one would hear every now and then, here and there, or just everywhere at the same time. A cry that would be immediately echoed by hundreds of other fans – Russian, Columbian, Polish, even some Germans – who were all cheering for the unexpected winner that night.

 

 

Now, that is a rare pic – a fan drinks beer out of a paper bag – as if the Russian law that prohibits consuming alcohol in public hadn’t been long forgotten by both fans and the police by now.

 

 Some Mexicans even dressed up as booze themselves – as if it was not obvious by then that these Central American guys have a very special relationship with alcohol like many other fans.

That is, by the way, what they passionately admit themselves as you can hear in this chant that just says: “Alcohol! Alcohol, alcohol, alcohol!”

Not they are much different from other fans in that regard. “Germans are here, we are drinking, we get the trophy” – chanted Germans before the match to the motive of the most famous Russian folk song, Kalinka-Malinka.

 

Some of the more exotic-looking caballeros didn’t have that much time to party, though as they would have to stop every 10 seconds to take pics with amazed Russians who finally joined the festivities thanks to the weekend.

 

This guy managed to spell out what many supporters had in mind: “I am looking for a girlfriend” his back reads in Russian.

 

Not sure about a girlfriend, but he surely attracted crowds of locals who lined up to take a selfie with the romantic fan desperate for love.

 

Germans, surprisingly, didn’t shy away from the celebrations.

 

They took pictures, tried on sombreros and hugged Mexicans like some distant cousins they always knew about and now finally got to meet in person.

Some of the current champion’s supporters celebrated no less passionately then the winners.

And there are only two possible explanations for it. Maybe they are still confident to defend their champion status or the newly-arrived German fans were just carried away with the general atmosphere of overwhelming all-uniting joy and revelry. So they tuned in and celebrated being in Russia.

The writer is a traveler, a journalist and a passionate Moscow explorer and guide. She studies International Relations and is opening Russia to the world with the World Cup. She can be reachedt at Instagram and Twitter @formulagerona

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