Colombians repping Team USA's run

First off, I have to say that being in a Latin American country during the World Cup an experience. Excited onlookers crowding into bars and cafes, huddled around tiny 8 inch TVs in little kiosks, cheering if only for their love of the sport. And this is in a country that didn't even make it into the tourney. I was shocked to see Colombians getting excited over a match between Japan and Cameroon, just because it's World Cup Soccer. 

Today's Colombian paper featured a headline reading: "Al minuto 91, E.U. cumplió sueño Americano" (at 91st minute the U.S. completes an American Dream). I couldn't think of a better way to describe it as I sat in a sports bar anxiously stabbing the remains of an "americano" omelette. Perhaps most suprising were the pack of Colombians supporting the U.S. team around me, sharing my frustration and subsequent joy when Landon Donovan propelled Team USA to victory.

I was a little surprised to see so many Colombians representing the Red White and Blue, but you can attribute that to the good relations between our two countries and the amount of Colombians that have lived in and visited the U.S. It will be interesting to see how many turn up to support against Ghana come Saturday as well as which side they choose in the Argentina/Mexico battle to follow. My prediction is that the less-than-savory sentiment held for Argentines throughout most of Latin America will have many Colombian's rooting against Maradona's squad. As for me, Argentina is like my 2nd team so of course, I'll be there, wearing blue and cheering the Abiceleste on to victory; of course after assuring that our boys make it through to the next round.

El Poderoso de la Montaña

"With a name like that, how can you lose?" proclaimed my buddy Dryan, in refrence to the alias of Deporte Independiente Medellín's soccer team (DIM): "The Mighty Mountain." Being that the owner of Casa del Sol is a DIM fan, when he takes us to games, we sit in the fan section, called the "hincha." The hincha is more than just the a place for the fanaticos, it's an organism.

When the opposing team comes downfield, the hincha is filled with jeers and whistles. When the opposing team has to kick from one of the corners, the hincha hurls water bottles and toilet paper over the fence at the player, only to be blocked by policemen holding their riot shields. Drums bang, trumpets sound, the center of the hincha is in constant song throughout the entire game. And speaking of songs, there are at least 15 different canciones that pump up the fanaticos de la norte. My favorites involve jeers towards the opposing team which were particularly barbed during the Antioquian Clasico against city rivals Nacional: "Todos antioqueños hijos de la tierra, los p*tos de verde son de Bogota" (all Antioqueños are children of the earth, the $#$% in green are from Bogota). Destiny would only pit two city rivals of Red and Green and North and South against each other. Nacional used to be good and has more overall champioships,  however, DIM won the championship in Colombia only a couple months ago.

For me, the Clasico was much more about the crowd and the spectacle, rather than the game. DIM scored 3 minutes into the game, which is pretty rare for soccer. Nacional came back to even the score just before halftime, but DIM scored with 15 minutes left to win the 261st Clasico between the two. Observing the crowd was just as interesting for me, some fans climbed up on top of the backstop, a few were taken away for rowdy behavior and of all the people waving flags from other countries, a colombiano who happened to be waving the old stars and stripes was right in front of me

Though no riots or gas came after the game, as is frequently common with Clasicos in Argentina, the police did a pretty good job of separating the North and South sides with barricades to prevent any potential conflict. The game I saw last night, I paid much more attention to the gameplay. Cali was the opponent, and IMO, a much tougher opponent that Nacional. The first half was frustrating for many in the hincha as there were several shots on goal, but none made in the first 45. Much of this has to do with Aldo Bobadilla, DIM 's best player and consequently, the goalie. "El Paraguayo," is a pretty entertaining player to watch and you can check out some of his highlights here. As good as he is, he gave up a tough shot with 60 minutes into the game, at which point, you could see the fatigue and frustration on the side of DIM.

This is where the Poderoso de la Montaña finally found their rhythm, after several miscommunications on their offensive end. With 15 minutes left in the game, the hincha began to chant:"Vamos vamos poderoso, que esta noche, tenemos que ganar!" (let's go Red, because this night, we have to win). Most amazing to me was that the band and hincha sang on, despite bad calls and a near-score by Cali. This chant persisted to lift up the struggling DIM to tie the score with 6 minutes left in the game. The hincha erupted, celebrating, but still preoccupied with making it to extra time. However, during extra time, Cali committed a penalty inside the scoring area meaning that DIM was entitled to a penalty shot. With two players running misdirection, DIM cleverly shot the ball straight down the middle while Cali was off guard, making one of the smartest shots I've seen in soccer. This time the hincha exploded and strangers in red hugged other strangers in red as DIM squeaked out an impressive victory with little time left. The clapping and singing persisted throughout the stadium, led by their Vallenato victory song: (check this out if not for the song, just to see how awesome their coach's hair is)

Beach Soccer Hooliganry

Rosario is a really spread out city, the hippest parts of which sit on the West bank of the River Parana. This makes getting around via public transit kind of a pain sometimes. After a 35-minute bus ride, we finally arrived at Playa Florida for some beachtime relaxin'. Though this was soon disrupted by a raucous soccer game, which just sprang up, forcing us up onto the sea wall. We weren't the only ones displaced and affected; the boundaries of the makeshift field were simply drawn around families with small children, I saw a sunbathing older woman take a soccer ball to the head and laugh and throw the ball back. Soccer is king in this country and everybody seems to know it.

Watching Argentines play is an interesting lens into their culture. It's more than just a pick up game on a beach, it's about pride (for this reason I also find Argentine soccer a bit annoying with it's over-the-top machismo). Their ball control is incredible, I was talking to my college friends living in BA who had once found themselves facing chubby 12-year olds in a pick up match and outskilled, outhustled and outmatch.

Later on, we headed to Alta Grande for a Muncipal flotilla that was to take place. The "Caravana de Deseos" (Caravan of Desires) involved an assemblance of maybe 100-200 watercrafts who raced down to the flag monument to place hand-written notes in the River Parana of their future desires for 2010. Policemen mounted on jetskis barking orders at Argentine "sailors" that were obviously too drunk to be piloting anything.

Pobrecito Pincha Rata

My adopted Argentine soccer team, La Plata's "Pincha Rata" Estudiantes, made it all the way to the FIFA Club World Cup only to lose to the powerhouse, Barcelona. The veteran journeyman, Juan "la bruja" Veron, finally cashed in on his signature move by booting a long shot to Diaz, who sent it to Bocelli for the go ahead goal. The stunned Barca, whose star-studded payroll is about twenty times greater than Estudiantes', scrambled to tie the score in the 89th minute.



The dagger in the heart came when Argentine superstar Lionel Messi scored for Barca in the 110th minute for an exhilarating finish. For Estudiantes, who won back in the Sixties, beating Barca would have been like a AAA baseball team beating the New York Yankees in the World Series. Even more interesting is the fact that Messi has played far below his abilities while playing for Argentina's national team during the World Cup qualifiers. Living here has really gotten me more up on fútbol fever, it's a shame the club season is over; I guess now the focus is on 2010. Anyone headed to South Africa next summer?