On Monday, April 25, a sextet of soccer fanatics from Durango, who had spent the last four years mindfully saving every penny they earned, bundled themselves and a medium-sized school bus decorated in imitable Mexican style aboard a ship in Altamira, Tamaulipas, arriving in Germany via the Baltic Sea a month later.

After a whirlwind tour of Europe lasting 18 days, they arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, two days before the World Cup’s inaugural game.

The travelers have been posting their adventures on their Facebook page, “Ingue Su Matrushka,” which has garnered over 100,000 followers in a short space of time.  Videos uploaded in the past few days show the bus –  christened “La Bendición” – receiving an rapturous welcome from hundreds of Mexican fans, bedecked out in national colors, in the Moscow sunshine.

Judging from the photographic record of their travels through Europe, the six young men made plenty of friends along the way, acting as great ambassadors for this country and its culture.

However, the vigor of their passion may be put to the test when Mexico face the surgical German team on Sunday. Let’s hope the transcontinental magic bus from dusty Durango provide our boys the extra boost of patriotic mojo needed to wipe the smile from Angela Merkel’s face.