Watchlist: ‘América vs América’

The Netflix series that dances between history and the present of the legendary Club América

“En momento como este es cuando dices: ah que bonito es el fútbol, porque es un deporte donde la imaginación justifica los resultados”. Imagination and result. Mysticism and rationalism. Elements seemingly so distant, yet so interpenetrating in the Mexican football universe. In order to watch the Netflix series ‘América vs América’ we need to be aware of this concept, above all we need to be aware that we are not dealing with a simple sports documentary, but with a more complex output.

In fact, this production is a journey into Mexican society and its evolution throughout the 20th century; it’s a magnifying glass on the human anteater of Mexico City, a land of political and economic balances, histrionic entrepreneurs and passionate fans; it’s the set of folkloric biographies and ingenious nicknames: narrative strands that continuously and irretrievably channel into the mythical azulcremas uniform of Club América.

From ‘Canarios’ to ‘Aguilas,’ from minor team to top continental club. Thanks to a convincing dualism between past and present, the Club de Fútbol América’s facets are portrayed in what seems like an Osvaldo Soriano’s romance. Or rather, a soap opera. Yes, because the modern greatness of the ‘Eagles’ owes much, if not everything, to the king of Mexican soap operas and television: Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, a businessman who in the early 1960s picked up the Club from the bottom of the Primera División and changed its history forever.

Jumping between the construction of the monumental Estadio Azteca and contemporary focuses on the turbulent benches of the elegant Santiago Solari and the irascible ‘Piojo’ Herrera, ‘América vs. América’ is a tasty compendium of an exotic and crazy football story, a visual novel that deserves to be part of our Watchlist and to be savored in all its nuances.