Chilean Football Dream

Contribution by Ruthie Schulder

I was psyched to go see Chile (team colo colo) vs. Brazil (team santos) in Santiago, Chile! For some reason that many of us still quite can't figure out, soccer is just not a very big sport here in the US. International friends from the UK, Australia etc who have shown me how the rest of the world views the sport: through obsessed and drunken lenses.

Jose Manuel (our tour guide, not to be confused with our other tour guide, also Jose Manuel) went up to each of us individually to emphasize his seriousness, and the message became clear: this was no joke, and soccer fans are insane. He warned us not to wear anything that would resemble the color blue, which is Brazil's color. Our tickets did not have assigned seats so we made our way to open sections that were separated by fences topped with barbed wire. There were policemen at the back of each section, just in case. We were told not to get too close to the fence because 'hooligans' were on the other side of it. The game began and there was a lot of jumping, chanting, and screaming, and singing. Chile took the lead which was apparently a huge deal since they had not beat Brazil in 13 years. The announcer came over the loudspeaker to insist that all Brazil fans stay seated until all Chile fans left the stadium, the unspoken meaning being 'don't get too close to a Chile fan right now lest you regret it.'

The game was stressful and extremely exciting, and the energy in the stadium was palpable. Jose Manuel almost shed tears of joy when Chile was up 3-1, proclaiming "I never thought I'd see this day!" Chile won 3-2 and the crowd went absolutely bonkers. Victory!!!

I only wish I had painted my face...