Futbollllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally went to an Estudiantes game.  It....was....awesome.  Sorry all, change of plans, I'm going to stay and live here indefinetely now just so that I can become a socia (club member) and go to all of the games.  Ok, I'm not, but I kind-of really-want to.

The back story is this.  Pedro is a life-long fan of Estudiantes de La Plata.  Estudiantes has an amazing team right now (and have been cursed recently with some amazing bad luck).  They lost the Club World Cup Final in December against Barcelona in double overtime.  All spring they have been playing in two competitions,  the Argentine Torneo Clausura (season-closing tournament) and the Copa Libertadores tournament which determines which western-hemisphere team plays in the Club World Cup.  With the Nations' World Cup happening this June, the other tournaments have compressed their schedules; over the last 111 days Estudiantes has averaged one game every 3.8 days.  They played their furthest game recently in Mexico, at elevation after an 11 hour flight, with games in Argentina four days before and after. 

The Torneo Clausura ended last Sunday with Estudiantes in second place in Argentina, but contending as the only Argentinian team left in the Copa Libertadores.  Last night was the final game of the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals, with Estudiantes playing against Inter from Brazil (Internacional de Porto Allegre).

When we first arrived, going to a soccer (er futbol) game wasn't one of my top priorities.  Later, after I'd been fully brainwashed and indoctrinated from hours upon hours of televised futbol, we discovered that getting me into a game was going to be tough.  To go to an Estudiantes game, you have to be a card-carrying member of the club.  ie. you have to pay around $10 a month in order to have the right to buy a ticket.  Pedro's membership is no longer active, and the only way he could reactivate it would be by paying the four years of back-dues (meh).  I could theoretically become a member in order to go see a game....except that Estudiantes is so popular right now they're not accepting new members (hm).

As the quarter-finals in Quilmes would be the last game of the season before all of the Nations World Cup baloney begins, it became desperate that we FIND A WAY to go to a game.  Santiago bought us tickets, and got me the membership card of the sister of a friend of his.  A girl who looks nothing like me.  Pedro borrowed his Dad's card, and also hoped that security wouldn't notice that he's 50 lbs lighter and 25 years younger than the photo.

Santiago picked us up at 5:45 so that we would get to the stadium, park and get seats before the game at 8.  The drive was fairly uneventful other than an unfortunate collision between Pedro and the mate cup (yes, herbs and boiling water all over), and a few wrong turns trying to find the stadium.

I was extremely nervous walking into the stadium.  We passed umptold number of policeman and went through 3 separate lines of security.  My heart was thumping as I tried to look experienced, nonchalant in my red and white Estudiantes jersey, and also tried to remember NOT to say a word lest my accent give me away.  I was terrified that at any moment someone would ask to see my id and I'd be left outside of the stadium, SO CLOSE!

After making it through the last line of security (in my excitement I accidentally said "gracias" but luckily the ticket-taker did not grab my arm and drag me back), all that was left was to be frisked by the riot police and then I was in!

Quilmes stadium is a loaner while the club is remodelling their own, and it only seats around 30,000 or so.  Since we got in around 6:30 we were able to get some good seats in the Platea section.  We had great views of the whole field as well as of the Tribuna section where there are no seats and everyone is euphorically mashed together.  Santiago and I went outside to get Choripanes (bbq'd italian sausages in a bun), and again I tried to look like a professional as we passed through security one last time.

The rival team entered the field first, and rather than boo, the crowd whistled piercingly.  Estudiantes entered to the sounds of a claxon, fireworks and the crowd chanting "Estudio! Estudio!" Then the crowd began to sing altogether and didn't stop until halftime, only pausing to shout "Hey!" whenever Inter committed a (perceived) foul.  The songs were amazing.  In the Tribuna there was a full-on band playing horns and giant drums, and everyone around them jumped, shook their arms and sang.  Much of what they were singing is not at all PC, yet it was impossible not to get swept up in the enthusiasm.  I wished I could understand the lyrics so that I could sing along too.

In the first half Estudiantes made two goals, putting it in the lead to continue on to the next round (in a previous game Inter had made one goal, so Estudiantes was up by one).  The crowd was ecstatic.  Someone threw their shoes at the Inter goalie; they didn't hit him.  At half time the teams tramped off the field, Inter retreating to the locker-room through an inflateable tunnel so that they wouldn't be hit by projectiles coming from the stands.  Then around 15 more riot policemen joined the 30 or so who were already stationed on the sidelines.  These new policeman tramped out into the field in front of the Tribuna where the Barra Brava (soccer hooligans) hang out.  5 more policeman showed up with dogs that looked eager to chew someone's face off.  Nearby, the 15 year old boys who chase after balls on the sidelines during the game came onto the field to practice their soccer skills.

All of this is completely normal.

In the second half it was apparent that the players of Estudiantes were tired, particularly the defensors, but they managed to control the ball away from Inter for the most part.  Until some fans in the Barra Brava committed an unspeakable act that caused the wrath of the soccer gods to rain down upon their team.  Ok, I'll speak of it.

5 minutes before the end of the game, some idiots in the lower level of the Tribunas started to shoot off a massive amount of fireworks, celebrating the win of a game that was not yet over.  Everyone outside the Barra Brava became silent, shocked with horror.  The entire area of Estudiantes' goal filled with a thick smoke.  This was the moment when Brazil broke away, swept around the distracted defensors and kicked the ball into the smoke filled area.

Gol.  Bringing the score of the game to Estudiantes-2, Inter-1. However in aggregating points for the two game quarter final, a goal by a visiting team is worth two points.  In the next couple of minutes Estudiantes drove three attempts on Inter's goal that were all caught by the goalie.  And so Estudiantes won the game but was eliminated from the competition, 2-3. 

A couple of minutes after the game ended the alternate goalie for the Brazilian team ran up and hit one of the Estudiantes defensors (Desabato), and mayhem erupted on the field.  Several of the Estudiantes players ran after the guy, Chino Benitez threw an amazing flying slide tackle trying to catch him, and the Estudiantes goalie Orion ran all the way across the field to punch the guy just as he was entering the locker room.  What an incredible game :)  Thanks again Santi!