At the Football

South Americans are mad about football. Their support for their teams is legendary. The problem with legends is that they can become exaggerated with time, as people try and continuously amaze. So today we wandered down to the Estadio George Capwell to investigate. Our findings:

Transport:
- Taxi to and from the game (no seat belts). We were specifically warned not to walk outside of the stadium.

Buying tickets:
- All tickets for the day had been sold, but mostly to scalpers. We ended up buying three on the street for $15 ea, even though they had a printed face-value of $10. We bought the more expensive tickets to avoid being with the 'brava bravas' (ultras). These guys are not the Yellow Fever.

Security:
- Tight. Lots of cops, riot police, mounted police, a helicopter etc.
- We all got a pat-down before entering. They confiscated our water bottles - not sure why as they don't make great projectiles. Some guy near us got ejected for throwing coins at an opposition substitute though, so they've found something that works.

Atmosphere:
- Passionate - ref had to be the bravest man in the ground. Every call against home team Emelec accompanied by howls and whistles.
- We were in the family zone so reasonably calm. The brava brava opposite could be heard chanting the entire game.
- No away fans - they might have been banned from attending.

Play:
- Highly individualistic. Pretty much every player tries to beat their man.
- Every player has great touch but too many misplaced passes. Unsurprising as passing is probably neglected at training each week.

Overall:
- Awesome, raw experience as it's still lacking that gentrification which has taken over every Western sporting event.
- The legendary passion is true, but stories of wanton violence (at least in the stadium itself) seem exaggerated. The key ingredients are there though; those cops were not for show.

Pics: (1) Eyob and I at the waterfront; (2) The game! (3) An inflatable tunnel extending onto the pitch for the players to walk throughRead more