I have never been a professional soccer game, so this was quite an experience. The game started at 9pm, we left at 6pm to get to the stadium. We had to go super early because tickets to go later were more expensive. We ended up getting there 2 hours early, but there was still a lot to see.
90% of the crowd was made up of U de Chile fans. I was routing for both teams (a) because I wanted the Chivas to advance to the finals and (b) I wanted to see this huge crowd celebrate when their team won. 2 hours before the game people were already cheering for their team, I couldn't even imagine how they would react if they scored a goal, let alone win.
I learned a lot of cheers, many made fun of the opposing team. Ricardo taught me all about the stadium (it was used to torture people during the dicatorship, a bit of the original stadium is kept in memory for those tortured, the earthquake in February destroyed part of it so it was under renovation and was especially opened just for this game...).
Finally, a little before 9 the crowd got really pumped. Their team was about to get on the field for stretches and warm-ups. Suddenly, everyone whipped out their contraband flares and lit them in anticipation to welcome the players onto the field. Fireworks went off, chanting got louder; it was incredible, I've never seen anything like it. Here, see for yourself:
Finally, the team came on the field and every went crazy. Ricardo was already starting to lose his voice. When the opposing team came on, everyone boo-ed and directed pretty mean chants towards them.
The game finally started. The crowd cheered the whole time first half. Of course, they were mad when Mexico scored the first goal (which was quite lame, if I do say so myself) but still cheered their team on. Check out the goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJa9VjPgJ4M&feature=related. I was conflicted. I raised my arm in excitement and wanted to cheer my team on when I saw the goal, but I also didn't want to be pummeled by all of these fans around me... I held my excitement in.
During half-time the fans were all bummed and nervous and almost everyone pulled out their cigarettes and began smoking. It was kinda funny, however, I'm tired of all of this second hand smoke...
The second half started and almost right away the Chivas scored another goal. Everyone was furious. The chants changed from excited "yeah we can do it" cheers to somber "it's okay, we still love you, we will always support you" cheers. Those continued for the rest of the game. Everyone kept chain-smoking, and finally the game finished. It was around midnight. We all walked somberly, caught a free bus to the central plaza, and Ricardo took me home via taxi from there. It was a sad night for Chile but I had a really good time.
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