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Some weekends don’t feel real until they’re over.

This was one of them.

Thursday through Saturday, I lived inside what I can only describe as three of the best days of my soccer career to date — a full operational weekend that took me from a sold-out concert stage to the press box of one of the greatest stadiums in the world, with a full matchday preparation in between.

Here’s how it went.

Thursday: MexTour Live featuring Ana Bárbara — AT&T Performing Arts Center

The weekend started not with a whistle, but with a microphone.

For the second consecutive year, I served as Press Officer for MexTour Live — this time featuring the iconic Ana Bárbara, the always-entertaining hosts of Bueno, Malo y Feo, and an unforgettable appearance by Mexico and Colombia legends at the stunning AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas.

Concert media operations move differently than match operations. The energy is louder, the timelines are tighter, and the coordination between press, artist management, security, and production happens in a compressed window that leaves very little margin. Red carpet logistics, credential distribution, photographer coordination, and artist-media flow all have to work simultaneously — and they all run through the Press Officer.

Year two in this role felt more fluent. I knew the rhythms of this production, the relationships, and the specific demands of bilingual concert media operations at this level. My volunteers showed up ready and made the night look effortless. Media operations only look seamless when everyone behind the scenes is working.

The concert was everything. Ana Bárbara was everything. And as the night wrapped and the venue cleared, I was already thinking about what came next.

Saturday: Mexico vs. Colombia — AT&T Stadium

Then came the main event.

72,000 fans. Two World Cup-bound national teams. A FIFA World Cup 2026 host venue that was about to remind everyone exactly why Dallas is one of the great soccer cities in North America.

As AVPO for the match, I helped direct all on-site press operations — credentialing, press conference logistics, mixed zone coordination, photographer field access, and press box management — from the moment the media gates opened through the final whistle and post-match closeout.

AT&T Stadium on a day like this is a different kind of energy. Walking through those corridors knowing what this venue is about to mean for the 2026 World Cup, with 72,000 people filling every level — it never gets old. And it never stops feeling like a privilege.

Working alongside Gabe Gabor and Zac Emmons — after months of Gold Cup preparation side by side — made this one feel like a full-circle moment. All those planning calls, all those logistics conversations, and there we were, together in person for one of the best matches Dallas has hosted in years. Irene Gutiérrez, you were missed — but we held it down.

And then, late in the match, it happened.

El Rey.

If you’ve never heard 72,000 people sing El Rey together inside a stadium, I don’t have the words to explain it. It doesn’t just fill the air — it fills you. It’s the sound of a sport that crosses every border, every language, every generation. And in that moment, standing inside one of the great venues in the world, doing the work I love — I felt it completely.

What this weekend meant

From concert stage to press box to mixed zone — this weekend asked everything of me professionally, and I gave it everything I had.

The friendships forged in these environments are unlike anything else. The energy of this sport — in two languages, across two countries, inside a stadium that will host the World Cup — is something I will never take for granted.

I’m grateful beyond words. And I’m so excited for what’s next.