Images of Soccer: Playing for Glory

Why are we drawn to soccer? Why is it enjoyable? Its draw and enjoyment may be due, in part, to the fact that we are – as Johan Huizinga said – "homo ludens".

We are beings who play, but who also have fun and feel pleasure in watching others play. Those who watch soccer often become fans of certain shirts and numbers – not to mention teams and players. 

For these reasons and surely others too, people enjoy soccer. This exhibition retrieves moments and personalities of soccer in Mexico. 

It remind us of when the soccer clubs of Asturias and Spain existed; 'Dumbo' López, Horacio Casarín, Enrique Borja, Hugo Sánchez, Pelé, and Maradona played; and Mexico hosted the World Cups of 1970 and 1986.

THE BALL. "They call it by many names: the sphere, the round, the tool, the globe, the ball, the projectile. […] The Brazilians call it gordita, gorduchinha, they call it nena, menina, and they give it names like Maricota, Leonor, or Margarita." Eduardo Galeano.

Enrique Borja – wrote Jomi García Ascot – "[...] turns out to be even for me the most imaginative, daring, reckless, and aesthete forward that Mexican soccer has produced. […] Yes, I know he was clumsy with the ball, as was one of the greatest scorers in history in his time: Isidro Lángara. So what? He scored improbable, outlandish, and sometimes – I still believe – impossible goals."

THE SHIRT. "Sometimes a passion for soccer begins with supporting a shirt, regardless of who wears it. Fans of an epidermal tendency are not captivated by the spirit but by the appearance of their team. Fans of certain stripes and not others." Juan Villoro.

THE TEAM. " […] Eleven men in shorts are the sword of the neighborhood, the city, or the nation. These warriors without weapons or armor exorcise the demons of the crowd [...]." Eduardo Galeano.

THE PLAYER. " […] "He runs, panting, along the edge. On one side await the heavens of glory; on the other, the abysses of ruin. […] Businessmen buy him, sell him, lend him; and he lets himself be carried away in exchange for the promise of more fame and more money." Eduardo Galeano.

"Choosing a team is a way of choosing how Sundays go. […] Other choices are more whimsical, like a crush on a player, an enchanting idol capable of encapsulating childhood illusions." Juan Villoro.

THE GOALKEEPER "[...] they also call him goaltender, netminder, goalie, keeper, or watchman, but he could well be called martyr, scapegoat, penitent or slapstick clown. […] He waits alone, between the three posts, for his execution." Eduardo Galeano.

"Soccer is a game that is thought with the feet to elicit from the crowd the shout that makes them happy, momentarily escaping from this world." Manuel Seyde.

THE FAN. "Rarely does the fan say: 'My club is playing today.' Rather, he says: 'We are playing today.' This 12th player well knows that he is the one who blows the winds of fervor that push the ball when it falls asleep, […] that playing without a crowd is like dancing without music." Eduardo Galeano.

THE COMMENTATOR Ángel Fernández (on the right of the image), "[…] owner of a powerful timbre, turned the most boring game into an epic: 'The ship is sinking… women and childrenfirst'." Juan Villoro.

THE STADIUM. "Have you ever entered an empty stadium? Try it. Stand in the middle of the field and listen. There is nothing less empty than an empty stadium. There is nothing less mute than stands without anyone in them." Eduardo Galeano.

The Azteca is a "[...] stadium made for soccer and only for soccer. It introduced us to a new dimension of this sport, a dimension already known in Wembley, Maracaná, River Plate, Santiago Bernabeu, Liverpool, or Hamburg." Jomi García Ascot.

THE TRIUMPH. "It is often said that in soccer and other sports, what matters is not to win but to compete. Nothing could be further from the truth. What matters is to win." Ramón Xirau.

THE CROWDS "[...] fill the stadiums, excited about something that not only happens on the field. Thanks to the stands, a game is loaded with superstitions, hopes, desires for revenge, colossal complexes, intricate legends." Juan Villoro.

THE WORLD AT THEIR FEET. With this film, the whole world would see the World Cup through the eyes of a child (Everardo Rodríguez as Martín), a fan of the sport, who escapes from his home in Monterrey and whose inventiveness sees him end up in the front row at the matches.

THE IDOL. "Franz Beckenbauer was the young sweeper who had dazzled in England 1966. […] In Mexico 1970, Germany lost the 'match of the century' against Italy and Beckenbauer played with a dislocated shoulder, wearing a bandage like a wounded soldier from the Great War." Juan Villoro.

Edson Arantes, better known as Pelé, "[…] at 17, was world champion and king of soccer. He hadn't yet turned 20 when the Brazilian government declared him a national treasure and prohibited his export." Eduardo Galeano.

"Hugo Sánchez, the Mexican key that opened the door to those impossible paths, had achieved universal fame thanks to television, which showed the art of his goals and the somersaults with which he celebrated them." Eduardo Galeano.

Diego Armando Maradona "[…] is not a fast player, a short-legged bull, but he carries the ball sewn to his foot and has eyes all over his body. His juggling arts light up the field." Eduardo Galeano.

[…]  Fourteen European and six American countries participated, along with Morocco, South Korea, Iran, and Algeria. In Mexico, the wave in the stands was born, which since then has often moved the fans of the world to the rhythm of the rough sea.

Maradona avenged the patriotic pride badly wounded in the Falkland Islands with two left-handed goals: one with his left hand, which he called 'the hand of God,' and the other with his left leg, after knocking the English defense to the ground." 

Eduardo Galeano.

In the 1986 World Cup, during the first round of Group B, Mexico defeated Belgium 2-1 with goals from Fernando Quirarte (23') and Hugo Sánchez (39').