Ignacio Villanueva Aguirre arrived at the contest with a box full of tickets. Twenty years of Club América matches, one by one, kept with a devotion that few things in life deserve. It was 2001, Televisa was celebrating the 35th anniversary of Estadio Azteca and was looking for the most loyal fan. Nachito, as everyone knows him, had no competition.
The prize was as grand as the gesture: Club América had 120 kilos of bronze cast in his likeness and placed the statue in the stands on May 30, 2001. Eleven hours for the body, four for the face. Since then, metal Nachito has seen it all: renovations, clásicos, the pandemic. During COVID, when the stadium was empty, his figure went viral as the only spectator still there.
But the flesh-and-blood Nachito met a different fate. Upon returning from five years of studying in the United States, the new management did not honor the agreement for the exclusive box seat they had promised him for life. His statue will see the 2026 World Cup. He will watch from outside.
