Ever been to a futbol game?

Blood, Sweat, Tears, Passion, and Mary J are all part of what? A revolution one might say, but no these are descriptions of the fans that support the CABJ, Club Athletico BOCA Juniors. This is the local soccer team of Buenos Aires. We thought it would be a good experience to see a futbol game in Argentina, and well it sure was an experience.

We bought tickets from our hostel and had to go to the game by ourselves. We thought this would be easy enough. Before we went out the door to the game our hostel people had some words of advice, ¨Dont take a camera, Dont take a phone, Dont take any money that you dont want stolen, Dont wear anything that represents a team outside of the stadium because you might get in a fight, and have fun.¨ We were a little taken a back by the comments but still ready to get there and see the game.

I have to say the actual play of the game was not the experience, it was the fans. We hoped on a local bus to take us to the game, when we got on the bus the entire way to the game people were chanting as loud as they could different chants and such that we of course did not understand. When we got off the bus we followed the crowd down a couple streets to a mass of people. This large clump of people was suppose to be a line. As we pushed our way through the crowd closer to the front we got our first glimpse of the security guards on horses. This was the closest thing Ive ever been involved in to a riot. The crowd pushed forward as the police pushed us back, it was a huge mosh pit. Finally we got to the front of the line where we were patted down for any weapons. Then we went through two more pat downs until we finally got into the stadium. Apparently some of the passionate fans like to bring in weapons.

Once we got in it was a mass of people singing to the beat of a drum. All sorts of different chants and songs, but we still had 2 hours before the start of the game. As we looked around there were 70 or better security guards everywhere with 10 foot high fences with barbwire on top. People kept packing in and packing in the stadium. It was standing room only and we could barely move without being pushed by some excited fan.

During the two hours of waiting a group of fans carried in huge lengths of fabric and hung them from the rafters and connected them to the fence behind the field. This was done by one boy as he climbed throught the barbedwire, above a 20 foot moat, to connect each of 9 banners. One banner was sat right behind us in a roll and we were completely unaware of what was about to happen. With banners hanging every where we thought the whole ordeal seemed a little bit much, but boy were we wrong. As the team was intruduced, like clockwork, the entire side of the stadium turned into a giant Boca flag as the banners rolled over the edge of the stands. The banner that had been placed behind us was unroled over our heads, covering the entire lower level so it filled the space once the flag from the top level had been drawn back in. Needless to say the whole ordeal is very hard to explain, but being a part of it was both unexpected and unforgettable. Throughout the whole thing we were caught between a feeling of extreme excitement and utter terror.

Right now we are wasting time in an internet cafe waiting to catch our 16 hour bus to Mendoza in a few hours. We will catch you all up once we get there but for now, hasta luego.

Rob
Noodle
Stevo