Azteca Stadium is the hope for the economy of hundreds of families

Mexico City – Azteca Stadium is home to Mexican national team fans and hundreds of people who depend on what they can sell at a soccer match to support their families.

Five hours before Thursday’s game between El Tree and the United States kicks off, stalls of Mexican food, clothing, sweets, drinks and snacks begin popping up near the historic building that was the scene of the two-time World Cup.

Even people dedicated to reselling tickets were noticed on one of the main roads to the stadium.

“Tickets, tickets,” a man shouted at motorists stuck in turbulent traffic.

It was supposed to be nearly impossible to resell game tickets due to a new system called “Fan ID” where fans can only buy their tickets through a digital portal after providing their personal details and photos.

“I’ve already seen you, Jiro, you’d better take care of yourself.” The seller yelled at this reporter when he realized it had been videotaped.

In one of the stadium’s huge parking lots, an expert man preparing tacos began filling the environment with a delicious aroma.

“We’ve got steak, tinga, chicken, chorizo, everything,” said the man, flipping the chicken with a spoon on a huge burnt grill.

In the courtyard, a man was selling giant Mexican flags, hoping to sell 20 of them for 150 pesos ($8) so that at the end of the day he could take 3,000 thousand pesos ($160). ).

“It was very difficult because of the pandemic, it’s good that there are really games again, we really needed them,” he said.