Mexico City, July 7 -- For those watching football in Mexico for the first time, the refrain may sound unexpected.
The match is still raging on the field, tackles flying and nerves tightening, but from the stands comes a familiar chorus: "Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores" -- sing, and don't cry.
The melody is "Cielito Lindo," one of Mexico's best-loved folk songs and, over time, one of its most recognizable football anthems.
It belongs not only to stadiums, but also to festivals, weddings, family gatherings, airports and public squares -- almost anywhere people need to feel something together.
Mexicans do not so much learn the song as grow into it, hearing it first from parents and grandparents before carrying it naturally in their own...