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Un Partido de Futbol

Thomas, a 28-yr-old Swiss guy, is another student at my salsa school and we went to a partido de futbol the night before last. It was a champions' league match between America, one of the Cali teams, and Medellin.
The stadium was just five blocks from the Academia de Baile. Nearing the stadium was a police vehicle that was built like a tank. Lots of police, some dressed like robocop. At the front of the ticket line was a cop on a horse keeping people from cutting in. Everyone was in red America jerseys except Thomas and me. I was wearing my Dream divers shirt from Indonesia, the fabric of which is literally falling apart in several places. I left my dive computer at the hotel and even my inner money pouch, carrying only 38,000 pesos, including 15,000 for the ticket. (2,300 = one dollar).
I said buenas noches and como esta to the cop. He replied muy bien y muchas gracias. I wouldn't want his job. the people here are usually very polite and warm and he was no exception. I got my ticket and we found seats, which were just unmarked spots on the concrete. The pitch was beautiful and green, contrasting with 15,000 red jerseys. The scoreboard looked like the screen inside an air conditioner that hadn't been cleaned in ten years and probably hasn't been used for at least that long. It had several ragged holes in it. The hardcore followers were situated behind the downwind goal and took up that whole end. The pitifully small yet ardent Medellin followers had taken up there position at the opposite end in one corner, separated from america fans only by twenty or thirty meters and a row of robocops. During the match the robocops had to go into the Medellin mob to stop a fight and carry out the loser. As the match wore on, the cops pushed them into a smaller and smaller bunch to get them furthur away from the hail of coins from the America fans. There were four robocops with large transparent shields stationed at each corner and when a player had a corner kick, if it was a corner near unfriendly fans, they faced the crowd and raised their shields over their heads to protect the kicker from coins aimed at him.
A troupe of what appeared to be very sexy girls entertained the fans on the other side of the pitch for most of the game, where the seats are more expensive. They never even looked our way.
Both teams fielded teams with many black players, and there were some black America fans, too, but every time Medellin's number 3, who was particularly dark, touched the ball, there came a chorus of ooh ooh ooh monkey sounds. Many of these jeerers were at least halfway to black themselves but apparently this irony eluded them.
The favorite epithet was hijo de puta, and when they screamed it, they believed it. When the referee made a bad call or an America player screwed up, every man and boy (there were few women) stood up and screamed and shook their fists. Medellin and America had drawn in Medellin but there is always pressure to win at home and I didn't want to see firsthand what this emotional crowd was capable of when really pissed off. Fortunately, America scored late in the second half and held the lead. The Medellin fans had been escorted out under protection a minute before.
Back out on the street after the game, we saw crowds of young men apparently trying to break into two different shops that had barred windows. We went to a bar to wait out the rush and relax.

By stevens on Feb 24, 2005, 11:33 in Friendly Talkzone.

kernow62 says on Feb 24, 2005, 14:20:

Sounds like any other footy match to me. At least they don't piss on the away fans.

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stevens says on Feb 24, 2005, 15:34:

Footy? So you're Australian, I take it. It was a very new and interesting experience for this Yank. Now to find a bullfight....

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kernow62 says on Feb 24, 2005, 21:37:

Oooh that hurt, almost as bad as when I get called "American". You sure know how to hurt a guy. :-)

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stevens says on Feb 25, 2005, 18:15:

Sorry dude, I thought it was only Aussies who said uni, the barbie, footie, etc.
You Brits need to learn to chill and not get so uptight about being taken for Aussies, who are in general a much more relaxed and unassuming bunch.

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kernow62 says on Feb 25, 2005, 18:52:

Did you see the smiley face after my post? That means I wasn't really too offended. Geez you French guys sure got it in for us Brits.

I agree though, Aussies are much more laid back, until you call one of them a Pom or a Kiwi.

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stevens says on Feb 26, 2005, 12:42:

Damn I hate apologizing, but I owe you one. You seem pretty laid back for a Brit. Actually I have friends from Oz and England ( and Ireland and Wales). You're all alright in my book. Have a nice day.
Signed
One uptight Yank :-)

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kernow62 says on Feb 26, 2005, 13:41:

You should go to Cornwall, in West Britain if you want to see laid back, nothing ever gets done. We get to things dreckly.

By the way there are loads of Stevens in Cornwall especially in St. Ives where ever other person seems to be called Stevens.

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Antonio_4 says on Feb 26, 2005, 13:58:

Cheers stevens From a football junky...
Thanks for sharing this experience here man. We need more futbol threats here!!! hehe
When i visit Colombia i hope to visit a match too. I hope Medellin goes thru the group fase in the Copa Libertadores so i can visit them.
Its too bad they dont show the footage in Europe. The South American football atmoshpere is one of the best.

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kernow62 says on Feb 26, 2005, 16:28:

Oh yeah, I forgot to say what a good post Stevens. Well done, I too would like to see more football threads on this forum.

That said, Colombia plays around with the ball too much in my opinion. They are great to watch, beautiful passing, but they always seem to have trouble finishing, always making one too many beautiful passes. Very poetic, artful football, but sticking in the back of the net is what counts. That is why Brazil is special, they play a beautiful game but can finish.

I wish I could afford to watch English football here in the US but it costs some seriously big dollars to subscribe.

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stevens says on Feb 27, 2005, 10:02:

Kernow You know your stuff. Even my unpracticed eye picked up on the finishing problem, and my Swiss friend confirmed it for me. By the way, my name is Steve (officially Steven) and my middle and last initials are n and s, but I come from a long line of preachers and missionaries that came from England (on my father's side).
And now I have to fess up to something. When people guess that I'm English (rather than American) I love it. I, too, have seen too many loud and ignorant oafs from the States. Actually, that used to describe me pretty well, but Japan has taken off the rough edges.
Dreckly? That's a new one on me, but I get your drift. Thanks for the new word.
I hope Medellin winns, too because I'll be there in a few weeks.

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