Sumario: | In this article, we will use a comparison of Ecuador and Mexico to explore the relation between the configuration of rivalries among soccer teams at the national level and the spatial distribution of power among regions and cities. In the Mexican case, the pattern of rivalries is inseparable from the strong centralism of political and economic power, whereas in the Ecuadorian case, the pattern has to be do, primarily, with an old struggle for economic and political predominance between the cities of Quito and Guayaquil. We p ropose that attention to soccer rivalries reveals how a segment of the population sees, criticizes or restates the position of a city or region in relation to others and in relation to the nation. This attention re veals a c o m m e n t a ry “from below” on the continuous process of nation building.
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