Tigres’ Volcán is an old-school stadium with little room between rows and some of the best supporters in the Americas cramming into the seats. Meanwhile, Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA has jaw-dropping views, awe-inspiring size and fans as passionate and loud as the ones across town.
Then there’s Estadio Hidalgo: Pachuca’s home venue sits at a daunting altitude (nearly 8,000 feet above sea level), prompting physical challenges far beyond what MLS teams encounter when visiting clubs the Colorado Rapids or Real Salt Lake. It’s more compact than Estadio BBVA, feeling like fans are on top of you, trying to push on their Tuzos. There is also a long history of soccer, with the state of Hidalgo claiming to host the first soccer match in North America back in the 1800s.
Ask Crew players about recent trips to the Monterrey area and you hear phrases like “great experience,” “beautiful memories” and “cool” – words much easier to deploy after positive results than the typical MLS encounter in a Mexican stadium. Former Pachuca winger Marino Hinestroza joked it was a good thing most of his English-speaking teammates couldn’t understand the profane barbs being tossed at them.
Bad words aside, trips to Mexico have historically proved daunting for MLS teams. But after going down early against Tigres, the Crew trusted their style of play, stayed patient, and eventually found a goal that forced a penalty shootout. Much of the same unfolded against Monterrey, overcoming an early own goal to earn a resounding 3-1 win.
Now, with confidence in their philosophy and style under manager Wilfried Nancy, there’s a sense that the worst may be behind Columbus. They know how to cope with a vibrant crowd in Mexico.
“Going to Tigres and Monterrey, you can’t get a tougher environment than that, but I think the way we bonded together to go down and win those games, you set yourself up for the final and build a lot of confidence from those two games knowing you’ve experienced almost everything you can experience,” midfielder Darlington Nagbe said. “Looking forward to going to Pachuca.”
