Los Duendes del Copal — Spirits of the Pitch

I, Pancho Villa, ride out of the dust to tell you of the Duendes del Copal, those forest spirits who dance in the stadium’s shadows. They are small, but their mischief is mighty. When the ball hung in the thin air of the Azteca, it was their invisible hands that guided Cuauhtémoc Blanco’s strike. As the scent of sacred resin drifts through the stands, know that these spirits are the twelfth man, ensuring the pulse of Mexico never falters under the bright lights.