I had a first today; I went to a soccer game in a country (more like continent) where soccer=life. Ecuador’s colors are yellow, blue, and red therefore nearly every Ecuadorian was wearing their colors with pride today. I got to the stadium 5 hours in advance and it wasn’t a moment too soon; we barely got seats. Luckily, my friends that got there 6 hours in advance saved us seats. Those 5 hours were full of cheering for Ecuador/against Uruguay, doing the wave (yes all 45,000 of us), and eating all sorts of questionable foods that the vendors kept selling us. Ecuador doesn’t have a mascot but they do have a brand of beer that they LOVE, Pilsner, so there were dozens of people dressed as bottles of beer dancing around the field. It looked more like hopping because it’s hard to dance if you’re a beer bottle. There wasn’t an empty seat in the whole stadium; seeing the sea of yellow was incredible. Everyone wore Ecuador’s uniform and had noise makers, silly hats, and flags.
The moment the two teams finally appeared was wild. Cannons and fireworks went off, confetti and shredded newspapers were tossed, and the whole stadium went nuts. The game flew by, probably because once you’ve survived 5 hours of waiting, 90 minutes is a breeze. The game was very intense, and the two teams were equally matched. Ecuador had more possession but had a hard time finishing; it didn’t help that Uruguay’s defense was like a brick wall. During half time, I had a lapse in judgment and decided to join the thousands of others trying to use the restroom. It was the closest I had come to thinking I was going to get seriously hurt in a while. I got caught in a mob/mosh pit of people rushing to use the 4 toilet stalls before the second half started up. But I survived and I learned my lesson!
Ecuador scored the first goal in the second half and everyone went berserk. People started ripping their shirts off, throwing whatever they had to throw (my friend threw the food we were eating without even realizing it), dumping beer everywhere, and hugging everyone. It ended all ended far too quickly because the Uruguay scored one minute after….wamp wamp. Something very unfortunate happened to a man that had climbed up a 30ft fence in between the field and the stands in order to act as some sort of cheerleader, trying to get the crowd even more riled up. There is a 10ft trench that wraps all around the field with a barb-wired fence so that no one will rush the field. Well, this guy first fell on the barbwire from 30ft and then climbed back up to the top and fell again this time hitting the bottom of the trench, 40ft down. He was carried off in a stretcher; I don’t think he survived the fall.
In the very last minute of the game, Ecuador got a hand ball in the box and Uruguay got a penalty kick and scored, making the final score 1-2. 45,000 people were heartbroken. The chances of Ecuador going to the World Cup in South Africa are not looking good. But despite the man probably dying and the bathroom mosh pit, going to the game was an incredible experience. South Americans LOVE futbol, maybe, just maybe, even more than American’s love football.
The moment the two teams finally appeared was wild. Cannons and fireworks went off, confetti and shredded newspapers were tossed, and the whole stadium went nuts. The game flew by, probably because once you’ve survived 5 hours of waiting, 90 minutes is a breeze. The game was very intense, and the two teams were equally matched. Ecuador had more possession but had a hard time finishing; it didn’t help that Uruguay’s defense was like a brick wall. During half time, I had a lapse in judgment and decided to join the thousands of others trying to use the restroom. It was the closest I had come to thinking I was going to get seriously hurt in a while. I got caught in a mob/mosh pit of people rushing to use the 4 toilet stalls before the second half started up. But I survived and I learned my lesson!
Ecuador scored the first goal in the second half and everyone went berserk. People started ripping their shirts off, throwing whatever they had to throw (my friend threw the food we were eating without even realizing it), dumping beer everywhere, and hugging everyone. It ended all ended far too quickly because the Uruguay scored one minute after….wamp wamp. Something very unfortunate happened to a man that had climbed up a 30ft fence in between the field and the stands in order to act as some sort of cheerleader, trying to get the crowd even more riled up. There is a 10ft trench that wraps all around the field with a barb-wired fence so that no one will rush the field. Well, this guy first fell on the barbwire from 30ft and then climbed back up to the top and fell again this time hitting the bottom of the trench, 40ft down. He was carried off in a stretcher; I don’t think he survived the fall.
In the very last minute of the game, Ecuador got a hand ball in the box and Uruguay got a penalty kick and scored, making the final score 1-2. 45,000 people were heartbroken. The chances of Ecuador going to the World Cup in South Africa are not looking good. But despite the man probably dying and the bathroom mosh pit, going to the game was an incredible experience. South Americans LOVE futbol, maybe, just maybe, even more than American’s love football.
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