The Mexico men’s soccer national team earned a 1-0 win over Türkiye on Tuesday during a friendly at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, part of the team’s ongoing MEXTOUR ahead of its CONCACAF Gold Cup preparation.
While they were in town, the members of El Tri stayed at the Siena Hotel – catching the attention of fans and later offering them a special chance to interact with them.
Siena Hotel General Manager Anthony Carey spoke with 97.9 The Hill after the fact, sharing that the Mexican football federation rented out the entire hotel for the players, coaches and staff to maximize their comfort and privacy. Carey said his staff are used to handling similar scenarios, having hosted conferences that use the whole hotel and previously being where the Charlotte Hornets stayed when the NBA team did their training camp in Chapel Hill.
But the widespread attention of the Mexican supporters elevated the profile of the Siena’s position and guests. Starting on Monday, a crowd began to gather on the Franklin Street sidewalk to get a glimpse and interact with the players. Carey said all of the Mexico fans were very gracious, heeding the hotel and team’s requests to stay beyond the fence line, and the Mexican players were even more gracious to the supporters.
“The crowd began to grow and grow and grow,” Carey said of Monday night, “and then when [the players] went to their first training at Kenan, the media team with the Mexican national team came to us and said, ‘We’d like to have the fans come on property, if you can build this barrier protecting the pathway to the bus so the athletes that are not wanting to do autographs can get us on the bus and not be swarmed.’
“And they all just signed autographs,” he said, “and spent 30 minutes before going to training [with the fans].”
Mexico player, wearing light green shirts, visit with fans and sign autographs before loading the team bus and heading to training on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Photo via Anthony Carey.)
When the team returned from training, word of mouth had spread — leading to an even bigger contingency of El Tri fans gathering to greet their stars.
“I was like, ‘They are going to be exhausted, I bet they don’t do autographs, that’s why they did it on the way there,’” recalled Carey. “The bus parked, and [the players] went straight out to the fence line. Dinner was being served…they didn’t even go to dinner. They went straight out.
“There were 200 people out front,” he said. “Cars were stopped on Franklin Street, people jumped out of their cars… It just was a madhouse for 30-40 minutes. And they just signed and took pictures, signed and took pictures – it was really awesome, I was just taken aback.”
For the duration of the Mexican national team’s stay, fans waited outside the hotel for a glimpse of the players — including just a couple of hours before kick-off of the game in Kenan Stadium.
From Tuesday evening: this was the scene outside the Siena Hotel just a couple minutes before the Mexico men's national team's departure for its friendly in Kenan Stadium.
— Brighton McConnell (@brmcc.bsky.social) 2025-06-13T15:01:10.746Z
Carey said many of the Mexico fans and visitors he spoke with were complimentary of the Chapel Hill community, describing it as “warm and hospitable” to the fútbol community who traveled to see the two national teams. The game marked the third consecutive summer were the UNC campus hosted international soccer action, as it welcomed Chelsea and Wrexham for a friendly in 2023 and an exhibition between Manchester City and Celtic last year.
As the general manager of a hotel, Carey said he wants to see such events continue in the future — suggesting the women’s soccer national teams may be a good evolution, especially with the U.S. team’s historical ties to Carolina’s collegiate program. The economic support it provides to the business community is clear, he said, and it creates an opportunity to bring in different tourists to the region.
“Take a look at the timing of the event: the university is closed [starting in May], so the hotels and restaurants alter their hours and see an immediate decline of business as soon as graduation weekend is over,” Carey said. “As long as we continue to put on these great events – these soccer matches in the summer – it’s going to boost the economy of the restaurants, the shops, the hotels. It’s so special – and so different from our normal athletic community, that it brings a whole new community to Chapel Hill.”
Some of that community ended up outside of the Siena Hotel’s fence for hours this week — and playing a part in their joy interacting with the players will be something Carey said he’ll cherish.
“Of all my 35 years of being in hospitality, this [visit] will definitely be among the highlights of my career,” he said.
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