While Azteca were enjoying the World Cup, a family was looking for their missing son

With just over three hours until the start of the opening game of the World Cup, this Thursday (11), between Mexico and South Africa, a green crowd was already taking over the surroundings of the Azteca Stadium.

However, amid the festive atmosphere and the shouts of FIFA volunteers for the fans to chant "Mexico! Mexico!" High above, a family displayed a poster with the faces of four men.

Oscar, Gregorio, Javier and Omar appeared as World Cup figures, dressed in the Mexican national team's shirt. Below their identities, the phrase: "Where are our missing? Where are they?"

This is the question that the García family has been asking for more than four months.

"We are here [in Azteca] to continue giving visibility to the faces and names of four of our family members who are missing. My brother, Óscar García Hernández, and his three brothers-in-law: Javier, Gregorio and Omar, who disappeared on February 3 during a family vacation," said Adriana García, a dental surgeon, to CNN Brasil.

In recent weeks, a series of protests took over Mexico City on the eve of the World Cup, including demonstrations by teachers and the "Madres Buscadoras", a collective that seeks to recover the whereabouts of missing Mexican men and women.

Omar García's sister Adriana says the family's demonstration in front of Azteca on Thursday was not part of any larger organized movement.

"But we must respect the manifestations of the 'Madres'. The disappearance of a family member is something indescribable. That's why we decided to shout it out to the whole world, that's why we're here."

Accompanied by Adriana was her mother, Julia Hernández de Jesus, who was holding one of the posters with her son Omar's face.

Relatives with posters of the missing at the door of the Azteca Stadium on the opening day of the World Cup - Bruno Rodrigues/CNN
With her voice breaking, Julia made her appeal as Mexican men and women headed towards the gates of the Azteca Stadium, where hours later the kick-off for the biggest celebration in football, which is the World Cup, would take place.

"We are raising our voice so that my son and his brothers-in-law can be located. Now that there are a lot of people arriving [in Mexico City], we want their faces to be seen. We don't want them to fall into oblivion," added Julia Hernández de Jesús, looking for answers and her son.

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Source: CNN