Buenos Aires - "Put Your Heart into it and We Will Win"

They’re saying “Oh, come on Racing come on, put your heart into it and we will win,” my new friend and football (or as I call it, soccer) tour guide yelled in my ear as we stood cheering for the Racing club players pushing for a goal against their opponents Lanus. Streamers were trickling down from bleachers overhead, smoke rising from fans below and children joining parents in calling obscenity-laced chants in Spanish at opposing fans. The stadium was pulsing with excitement – the heart of Argentinean culture.

A week earlier I had arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a nomad with no connections in South America. After days of wandering from café to park to parilla, I managed to rustle up a friendly face that happened to be a local football journalist and tour guide. Having never gone to a match or even feigned interest in the sport, I decided to give it a chance.

Football is a great and serious love of Argentineans. Hoards of fans sporting team colors, jerseys and team tattoos were walking to the stadium finishing off last drops of Fernet and Coke – the local spirit of choice. Crowds were singing their favorite lyrics, carrying banners and rallying support for their team. This was the Racing stadium, and fans were ready to watch their home team declare victory.

Argentinean football team loyalty is fierce and deeply embedded in each fan. For two hours inside the stadium, I felt a family-like bond with my fellow Racing supporters. The pure enjoyment of the evening was shared by every person young and old watching the game.

It was in that stadium that I finally understood my new neighbors. I fell in love not just with football – or as I still insist on calling it, soccer – but with the culture of Argentina and the passion and comradery I felt. Football, for me, became a symbol of the loyalty and fire found in many Argentineans. Alongside my fellow foreign friend and tour guide, it didn’t matter that we weren’t Argentine by birth – we were home.