Last night I went to the championship game, the ecuador national team (red) versus barcelona (yellow). There are about 6 teams in the country from different regions. The Barcelona team is from the coast, and the national team is from all over, but mostly the mountains. There are also teams from different cities, like cuenca, quito , etc.
There were 40,000 people in the stadium for this final game. Everyone in some capacity was wearing red (as I was instructed to do.. luckily that red jacket came in handy). In the bleachers there was a section of no more than 200 people sporting yellow ... but mainly it was all corazon. The game began at 7pm, preceded by a kids salsa band and a group of 4 pathetic cheerleaders-dancers. Fireworks were exploding as the announcer welcomed the fans and the players onto the field.. shredded papers were thrown everywhere everyone was ready. Overall both teams were very good . our seats were pretty good and it was easy to watch all the plays (and goals). The difference you always notice with prof soccer is how much space the players give each other on the field.. . all the time everyone is fairly spread out , as opposed to thinking about my games and how often you may have 7 players trying to make something happen in a small section of the field (while the coach yells, spread out, from the sidelines).
The final score was 2 to 0. The same player scored both goals, although I cant recount his name. There was a big ceremony at the end, more fireworks, etc. At this point, the most fun was watching the police chase the kids who rushed the field. There must have been at least 50 policeman with full gear, plastic shields, and a few dogs just in case... vesus 100 eager fans... but still the fans out ran the police
It was all very exciting. my first live professional game. queen´s ¨we are the champions¨ closed out the ceremony, everyone sang along.too bad i didnt know how to take action photos with my camera, so they are all a bit blurry.. but it helps recreate the intoxicating mood. ole.
