That is a question that I will attempt to answer 10 days from now, when I step into Estadio Azteca, in Mexico City for the first time. When you talk about mythical and intimidating stadium, in North America at least, it does not get any better than Azteca. This venue saw Pelé win the Jules Rimet Trophy against Italy in the 1970 World Cup and saw Diego Maradona execute arguably the most famous goal in the history of goals in the sport of football, the "Hand of God". So if there has ever been a candidate to investigate the presence of a "soul" in a stadium, Azteca is the cream of the crop!
The stadium that is home for Club America and Cruz Azul, of the Mexican First Division (Liga MX), will be the host of the Scotiabank's Concacaf Champions League Finals 1st leg on April 22nd betweent Club America and the Montreal Impact. The cinderella-like run of the club out of Montréal will be in serious jeopardy in front of the arguably most rowdy and intimidating crowd in the world. Having watch and analysed the Impact for a long time, I will attempt to investigate the effects of the famous "home field advantage" on the team and compare them to the positive effects that the game at Stade Olympique , with a sell out crowd of 60 000 I suspect , will have on the bleu-blanc-noir .
So at the end of the final whistle on April 29th, I will dangerously attempt to answer one of the most long overdue question in sports, Is Home Field Advantage actually real? and Does a stadium have a "soul"