Mexico Fans Disturb Ecuador's Sleep Ahead of World Cup Match

Mexico football fans did their best to give Ecuador a sleepless night ahead of the teams’ round-of-32 World Cup match in Mexico City.

From midnight until the early hours of the morning, dozens of fans gathered outside the Westin Hotel in Santa Fe, an upscale area on the outskirts of the Mexican capital, using loudspeakers, horns, and motorcycles to disturb the visiting team’s sleep.

Team hotel serenades are a deeply entrenched, highly polarising tradition in Latin American football. While they began as a passionate way for fans to rally behind the home team, they have increasingly evolved into a psychological weapon to rob visiting players of a good night’s sleep.

The Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) said on Tuesday that it filed a formal complaint with organisers after the incident in Mexico City.

“Such conduct stands in stark contrast to the principles of fair play, equity, and unity that a World Cup should embody,” the federation said in a statement.

“The FEF respectfully calls upon the competent authorities to pay greater attention to these events and to adopt the necessary measures to safeguard the safety of our players, coaching staff, and fans.”

The fan ambush, organised on social media, capped off a gruelling logistical nightmare for the Ecuadorian team, who had deliberately planned a last-minute Monday night arrival to mitigate the effects of Mexico City’s 2,200-metre (7,300ft) altitude.

To combat the physiological toll of thin air, sport scientists generally recommend two contrasting approaches: an extended acclimatisation period of at least two weeks, or the “fly-in, fly-out” method – arriving as close to kickoff as possible before acute symptoms set in.

The “fly-in, fly-out” method is used by teams from major US sport leagues when they come to play in Mexico City.

But Ecuador’s journey from Columbus, Ohio, was plagued by delays from the start. Coach Sebastián Beccacece complained that their flight was delayed by more than three hours, though he did not specify whether he had factored in the two-hour time difference between the cities.

“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.”

Additionally, the team landed at the Felipe Ángeles international airport, 65km (40 miles) from their hotel. The squad was forced to navigate the trek to Santa Fe through Mexico City’s notoriously heavy traffic, which was further paralysed on Monday by heavy rain.