It’s hard enough playing a World Cup qualifier at Estadio Azteca, the mammoth den of Mexican soccer for more than a half-century. History, sound and fervor conspire against visitors, compounding the challenge of beating a world-class national team.
Then there’s the matter of breathing. Depending on where you’re standing in the vast metropolis, Mexico City’s elevation is at least 7,200 feet, some 2,000 higher than Denver.
On Thursday, the U.S. men’s squad will visit Azteca for its 12th of 14 qualifiers in a regional competition that will reward three automatic berths in Qatar in November. To enhance their chances, the second-place Americans are seeking at least a point.
First, though, they’ll seek oxygen.
“I remember thinking in warmups it wasn’t so bad,” former U.S. midfielder Stu Holden said, reflecting on a 2009 visit. “But when I came on the field and sprinted for five minutes, it was like someone had sucked all of the air out of the stadium. I felt my lungs burning.”
Venue settings are part of the gamesmanship in Concacaf, which encompasses North and Central America and the Caribbean. This cycle, the United States and Canada chose the deep cold of St. Paul, Minn., and Edmonton, respectively. Honduras and Panama embraced the heat.
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Mexico’s added advantage is altitude.
“You make those runs forward, and then the recovery run coming back was like, ‘Wow,’ ” former U.S. captain John Harkes said. “You can’t get to the top of your breath. You felt it.”
The United States has never won a qualifier in Mexico, dating from 1949, and has won once in 27 meetings in all competitions there (a 2012 friendly at Azteca). In the past six qualifying cycles, though, there have been three draws and three one-goal decisions.
Altitude is not the primary reason for U.S. futility, but it does contribute. Coach Gregg Berhalter said his players “will be fatigued a little bit, but they’ll be able to get through it.”
There are two approaches to preparing to play at great heights: arrive a week or two early or not until the day before the match.
With players unavailable until a few days before most qualifiers because of club obligations, there is only one option. So the U.S. delegation is training in Houston before flying to Mexico City on Wednesday.
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“The strategy you can apply is to monitor the iron level in the blood and make sure these guys are not deficient before they report to camp,” said Pierre Barrieu, a former U.S. team fitness coach who oversaw preparation before qualifiers in Mexico City and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where the Americans played at altitudes between 3,800 and 5,800 feet.
Barrieu recommended getting hard work out of the way before arriving at altitude and conducting a walk-through rather than a regular practice the day before the game because, he said, “you would do more damage than good.”
U.S. officials did not want to discuss their planning for this game, but Berhalter said: “The important thing is to look at the starting point of where these guys are coming from. If a guy is fully fit and playing every week and has 90 minutes under his belt for considerable weeks, he’ll be fine.”
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Berhalter said he also has relied on experience playing at Azteca in 2005 and receiving feedback from other national teams and MLS teams (in the Concacaf Champions League) that have competed there. His medical and training staff has done the rest.
Air quality in the Valley of Mexico is also a consideration, though it has improved over the years.
“There are little things you can do, but unless you are there at altitude, it’s hard to make a huge dent in it,” Berhalter said. “We’ve been checking the players’ blood and making sure they have the necessary things to compete at that altitude.”
The U.S. team has tried other ways to acclimate. In 2017, with a longer buildup to the Mexico visit, the Americans trained and played a qualifier in suburban Denver and held a friendly in Sandy, Utah (4,450 feet). Twelve years earlier, they trained in Colorado Springs (6,035) and played a friendly in Albuquerque (5,312).
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Mexican players must adjust to altitude, too, but of the 29 players on the current roster, nine are with Liga MX clubs from high-altitude cities. Nine visit Mexico City regularly with their respective lowland clubs, and others have experience playing at altitude.
Mexico’s dominance at Azteca has waned, though. In this qualifying cycle, the team known as “El Tri” needed late goals to defeat Jamaica and Panama, settled for draws with Canada and Costa Rica, and routed last-place Honduras, 3-0.
Until 2001, when Costa Rica beat them, the Mexicans had never lost a qualifier at Azteca.
This cycle, the team has played in an empty or near-empty stadium, the result of penalties for fans using homophobic language. About 40,000 are expected Thursday in a venue that once held more than 110,000 and now accommodates 87,000.
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Only four players on this U.S. squad played in the previous qualifier at Azteca, in 2017: Christian Pulisic, Paul Arriola, Kellyn Acosta and DeAndre Yedlin.
“Just in the same way we prepared for that [Feb. 2] game in Minnesota, from a mental standpoint, this is no different,” defender Walker Zimmerman said. “Yes, this will be challenging. Yes, we are up for that challenge. There’s no doubt in my mind we will go out there with the right mind-set and push through the elements.”
Medical studies and better preparation have helped neutralize the altitude advantage as well. Barrieu also pointed to the mental aspect.
“The science is proven, but considering you can only control so much, how big of a deal do you want to make it?” he said. “One cycle, we really prepared for it, and it was not about altitude. If you can get the players in that state of mind, it’s mission accomplished.”
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Elevation is a bigger deal in La Paz, Bolivia, which, at 12,000 feet, is the highest capital city in the world. Studies show aerobic power at that altitude falls by 25 percent.
Altitude only helps the home team so much. Since sweeping four home qualifiers in group play to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, Bolivia has floundered. This cycle, it’s 4-3-1 at home and 0-6-2 away.
“When we qualified for the World Cup, that wasn’t just because of the altitude,” said retired D.C. United star Jaime Moreno, a former Bolivian national team forward. “That was because we had a really good team. We had good players. It was a combination.”
In 2007, citing player safety and unfair advantages, FIFA banned international matches above 8,200 feet, which also affected Ecuador and Colombia. A year later, amid protests from those countries and their governments, the rule was rescinded.
“It definitely affects you,” Moreno said. “But if you have good players and you prepare the way you are supposed to, no matter how high you go, it will be okay.”
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