The Slatest

Watch Mexican Soccer Team Honor Frida the Rescue Dog in Emotional Ceremony

Mexican rescue dog Frida is acknowledged for its job looking for victims of the last earthquake before the start of the World Cup 2018 qualifier football match Mexico vs Trinidad & Tobago at the Alfonso Lastras stadium in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, on October 6, 2017.

YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images

Mexico may have beaten Trinidad and Tobago in a World Cup qualifying match on Friday night but it’s clear that the star of the night was rescue dog Frida, who became famous across the country and around the world for her assistance in the earthquake relief efforts. Before the game, the Mexican team celebrated first responders in an emotional pre-match ceremony that included a moment of silence, the national anthem, and fists raised in solidarity.

Mexican players handed shirts to representatives of the rescue workers, Red Cross, and armed forces, but the crowd really went wild when Frida walked onto the pitch, wearing her now-signature protective goggles, boots, and vest. The crowd broke out into chanting, “olé, olé, olé, olé, Frida, Frida.”

The Mexican team’s Twitter account later sent out a photo of Frida “enjoying the match,” which Mexico won 3-1. The seven-year-old Labrador that is owned by the Mexican Navy has become a national celebrity and emerged as a symbol of the rescue workers who worked around the clock to save lives and recover bodies after the September 19 magnitude 7.1 earthquake that killed at least 369 people.