(Drake Hills, The Tennessean, 07.01.21)

NASHVILLE  — For Rich “El Colonel” Guel, the soccer vibe at Nissan Stadium was different.

The Mexican National Team came to Nashville Wednesday for the first time since September 2018, playing an international friendly against Panama. Thousands of Mexico fans packed the parking lots by 4 p.m. to tailgate ahead of the 8:30 p.m. kickoff and dance to Latin music. Pancho Villa’s Army was the catalyst for the party.

Pancho Villa’s Army is a Mexican National Team supporters group, which features more than 35 battalion chapters across the U.S. and Mexico, including Nashville. 

Guel is the “colonel,” or second in command, of PVA. He is responsible for planning and local chapter memberships. Based in Phoenix, Guel feels Nashville has its own distinct vibe when Mexico comes to play in the Music City. And to Guel, Mexico’s return after three years signals the growth of Latin soccer culture in Nashville.

“It’s different in the fact that it’s Nashville,” Guel said. “I think the fact that Mexico is coming back to Nashville says a lot because they’re gonna come where the fan base is.”

Guel said PVA’s planning for Mexico’s arrival Wednesday began when the friendly was announced May 11, requiring some 100 volunteers to assist in making the flags, acquiring grills for food, inviting Nashville-based Mariachi bands and assigning tickets to members. He said 400 tickets were sold to PVA members.

Local vendors like Murfreeboro’s El Toro’s Bar and Grill, Nolensville’s Tito’s and La Michoacana Ice Cream were present. All for what Guel described as a “family oriented” party.

That party’s core location was Lot D, where Guel and PVA hosted more than 500 Mexican fans and held dancing contests and traditional Concheros performances, in which performers dress in tunics called naguillas and elegant headwear with feathers.

Guel worked closely with Chico Sanchez, who oversees the Nashville and Charlotte PVA chapters, as well as leading La Barra – the Latinx supporters’ group for incoming Major League Soccer club, Charlotte FC.

“Nashville is a family environment,” Sanchez said. “I’ve been to the last five Mexico games that they’ve played and I love them. To me, when you come with PVA, people from different cities – they welcome you. They come with their arms wide open.”

Sanchez said the feeling of Mexico playing in Nashville resembles Atlanta, where Mexico faced Honduras in its previous match June 12. He said PVA believes it has the freedom to fully celebrate the Mexican national team in the two Southern cities, without the limitations for supporters’ flags and other items. 

“But here, it’s more of a soccer culture,” Sanchez said. Similar to Guel, the El Tri vibe in Nashville is a “different feeling,” he said.

“When Mexico comes, we have people coming from Atlanta from (North) Carolina. We have people from Houston that drove out and got here this morning,” Guel said. “They really appreciate the team coming here. They go all out. I get that sense of the fan base really appreciating that Mexico is coming to Nashville.”