Dozens of Mexican fans used loudspeakers, horns and motorcycles outside Ecuador’s Westin Hotel in Santa Fe from midnight into the early hours, disrupting the visiting squad before their World Cup round of 32 match in Mexico City late Tuesday.
MEXICO CITY — The first sound didn’t come from the stadium. It came from outside the Westin Hotel in Santa Fe, where Mexican supporters turned the early hours into a disturbance designed to follow Ecuador back to their rooms.
From midnight until the early hours of the morning, dozens of fans gathered outside the hotel on loudspeakers, horns and motorcycles. The plan, organized on social media, was to leave the visiting team without a proper night’s rest ahead of Mexico City’s World Cup round of 32 clash late Tuesday.
In Latin American soccer, the tradition of team hotel serenades is nothing new. It began as a rallying cry for the home crowd, but it has increasingly taken on a sharper edge — a psychological tactic aimed at preventing visiting players from sleeping.
For Ecuador, it was one more layer on top of a journey already described as chaotic. The disruption capped a logistical nightmare after Ecuador deliberately planned a last-minute Monday night arrival. a decision intended to reduce the strain of Mexico City’s altitude. The city sits at 2,200 meters (7,300 feet), and the thin air can hit visiting athletes fast.
Sports scientists typically point to two different ways of dealing with it: an extended acclimatization period of at least two weeks. or the “fly-in. fly-out” approach — arriving close to kick-off before acute symptoms set in. That is the route used by teams in the major sports leagues in the United States when they play in Mexico City.
Ecuador, traveling from Columbus, Ohio, did not get the clean version of that plan.
Ecuador’s head coach, Sebastián Beccacece, said their flight was delayed by more than three hours, though he did not specify whether the two-hour time difference between the cities was factored into the calculation.
“A flight delay, then the transfer to the hotel — it ended up being a nine-hour journey; we took three hours longer than scheduled,” Beccacece said. “But the team is doing well and is excited — obviously facing an opponent that posted good results in the group stage.”
The schedule unraveling didn’t stop there. The team landed at Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), 65 kilometers (41 miles) from their hotel. From the airport. the squad had to make the drive to Santa Fe through Mexico City traffic. which was made worse by heavy Monday night rain that paralyzed movement across the capital.
By the time the team’s arrival plans collapsed into horns and engines outside their hotel, the match still sat ahead of them — late Tuesday at Mexico City stadium, with Ecuador set to face Mexico in the round of 32.
World Cup Mexico vs Ecuador Mexican fans hotel serenade Westin Hotel Santa Fe Felipe Ángeles International Airport Sebastián Beccacece Mexico City altitude AIFA
So basically Mexico fans just ruined their sleep? lol soccer getting wild.
Wait I thought it was Mexico City fans only… but they’re saying Mexican fans outside an Ecuador hotel? That seems messed up. Also the altitude thing—like maybe they should’ve just landed earlier?
The article keeps saying “designed” like it’s some master plan but it sounds like drunk dudes with horns. If they really wanted to mess with Ecuador they would’ve done more than noise for a few hours. The flight delay stuff is what I don’t get though, why would that even be the team’s fault?
This is why I hate World Cup culture. Like sure cheer all you want, but waking people up with motorcycles is crazy. They said Ecuador planned a last-minute arrival to deal with altitude?? I feel like that’s backwards, shouldn’t they do it more chill, not rush it and then get surprised. If Mexico wanted home advantage they should’ve just played better, not do the hotel serenade thing.