¡Fútbol!

This past week was fairly standard and unremarkable, except for Sunday, in which I was finally able to make it to my first soccer game in Argentina! Almost everybody in the group had expressed an interest in attending at least one game while we were here in Argentina, especially because there are multiple teams in Córdoba and a good-sized stadium (which very conveniently happens to be located only a 10-15 minute walk from my house). Our accompanying Union professor is also a big soccer fan, so he took on the task of organizing this outing for the whole group and even got Union to foot the bill for the tickets, which was awesome.

View from our seats before the game started.

Another angle of the stadium. Capacity is 57,000.

The match was between Belgrano (from Córdoba) and Colón, a team from Santa Fe. There are multiple teams in Córdoba, but the teams with the biggest followings are Belgrano and Talleres. Talleres is currently playing in the third division, while Belgrano is playing in the top division (Argentina, like most countries, uses a system of promotion and relegation among their divisions) so Belgrano is the top team in Córdoba now. As I mentioned before, the stadium happens to be located only about a 15 minute walk from my house, which is extremely convenient. Most of the rest of the group met downtown to take some crowded buses to the game, but I was able to take a quick stroll down the street to the stadium, which I was grateful for.

We met outside the stadium, got our tickets, and headed in to the stadium to our seats, which were pretty good. The stadium layout is like a shallow bowl, and the seats are set back from the field a little bit, so the views weren't great, but we were still able to see the field just fine. Interestingly, the have separate entrances for the supporters of the different teams, so as to avoid confrontations and clashes between the different fan groups. We got to the stadium pretty early and it was fairly empty, but as game time drew closer, the stadium began to fill up and the atmosphere got a little more rambunctious. People were excited, but nobody was out of control or dangerous or anything, although there were some creative jeers at the other team's fans, often involving those fans' sexuality and/or mothers, as well as some others I couldn't understand. One thing that's different at soccer matches in Latin America and Europe than from mainstream US sporting events is that they love to sing songs. Almost every team has their own song, and Belgrano is no exception, as the fans sang out about their beloved "Pirates".

The enormous banner rolled out by one end of the stadium.

My view once the game had started. You can see the newspaper confetti in the air. 

Among the highlights of the beginning of the game was the throwing of newspaper-confetti onto the field as the game began. I guess that's a tradition or something, but fans had ripped up bits of newspaper and chucked them all up in the air and they floated through the stands down onto the field, where they remained for the entire game. Fans in one end of the stadium also rolled out a massive banner that covered thousands and thousands of people, although they soon rolled it back up, presumably because they actually wanted to watch the game. Once the game started, we were standing for most of the time, especially when something exciting happened or Belgrano had a good chance. Belgrano scored the first goal, which prompted a huge celebration, but Colón tied it up not too long afterward. For most of the second half, it remained 1-1 and it looked like the game would end in a draw, but then Belgrano scored with just a couple minutes go, causing the whole stadium (save for the small section of Colón fans) to erupt in celebration. It was really a phenomenal scene. The game ended a few minutes later and everybody went home happy after an exciting win. I took a video of the crowd a minute after Belgrano scored their last goal, and the crowd was still pretty amped up. Take a look!

A view of the fans!

Game finishing up, sun setting, everything looking nice.

The soccer match was really fun and a great way to get a look at another part of Argentinian culture. Plus, I got to go to a live sporting event for free, which is always good. We've to another normal schedule this week, but almost as soon as classes end on Thursday, we're heading up for a weekend trip to the north of Argentina. We leave Thursday evening and get back late Sunday night, so it seems like we'll get in a solid several days of sight-seeing and fun. The area is supposed to be really beautiful and have some great scenery as well as some great artisan crafts and products, so hopefully it'll be a fun trip! Time's winding down fast here in Argentina, with only a few weeks left to go, so I'm trying to make the most out of what's left. Thanks for reading, and I'll keep everyone updated!