TIJUANA If this was to be the end of the world, as an evangelical pastor had predicted, then thousands of fans of the Xoloitzcuintles had their last wish granted Saturday afternoon.
Tijuana's professional soccer team beat Irapuato 2-1 in the title match at Estadio Caliente and clinched passage to Mexico's main First Division. Afterward, fans celebrated in the streets, in a massive display rarely seen. Some delirious fans predicted the festivities would last the entire weekend.
"You don't experience this more than once. It's been very intense and we deserve to celebrate 'til dawn, no doubt about it," said 28-year-old office worker Jorge Villegas as he hoisted a beer along with some friends in a Río zone bar. "We may not go to work on Monday."
Even though legions of fans carried flags with the team's red and black colors and motorists leaned on their horns around Agua Caliente Boulevard and in the downtown area, the largest celebration occurred in Paseo de los Héroes in the Río zone.
There, starting around 11:30 a.m., thousands of fans had gathered in the Cuauhtémoc traffic circle to see the game on a giant screen. The city had closed a stretch of the avenue to accommodate them.
Meanwhile, a capacity 16,000 people jammed Caliente Stadium, owned by the city's controversial former mayor, Jorge Hank Rhon, who also is the Xolos' owner.
"The game was very exciting. We all watched it nervously. Now that they are in the First Division I think I will have a problem because I'm a Chivas fan to the bone," said Javier Granados, 30, a car painter, referring to one of Mexico's most popular teams.
He expressed a common sentiment among many local soccer fans that already have an allegiance to other First Division teams and must decide whether they will now back the home team.
"I think it's the new generation who will support the Xolos," Granados concluded.
For others, there was no doubt which team would be most important.
"This is incredible! We're in the First Division!," screamed Luis Aranda, 25, a warehouse worker. "Now we have to back our team. Forget about saying, 'We're for América, or Pumas or Chivas.' Just Xolos. I used to be for Cruz Azul but I've already dropped them."
A celebration of this magnitude is rare in this city. There were similar ones when Mexico's national soccer team beat the United States in 1994 and France in 1998. Those distant triumphs prompted thousands of people to spontaneously leave their homes and workplaces to gather in the Rio zone to rejoice together.
On late Saturday afternoon, many fans sang, danced or played an instrument some just made noise reflecting their joy in this city that has witnessed so much trauma.
Many had painted their faces red and black, the team's color, and sported the team's colors on jerseys, colors which from now on will identify this region.
It was one more paradox in this city. Two decades ago those are the colors that union workers used during a strike that led to the permanent closure of the Agua Caliente racetrack, under the administration of Hank Rhon, who later painted the entire historic building those colors.
By 6:20 p.m. police began to reopen streets around the Río zone, urging fans to move their celebration indoors, to restaurants and bars.
Many fans were reluctant to do so. They wanted to keep celebrating their team's and city's – new status as first-class champions.
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Omar.millan@sandiegored.com
