Futbol

I have heard that Europeans love and are passionate about Futbol or more commonly known as Soccer in the States. So I made sure I get to see this in person and watch a live game.

On February 6, Sunday i went with new friends - Danielle, Esteban , Val, .... who I've met through couchsurfing, we went to see a Futbol game - Real Madrid vs Sociedad Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. This stadium's capacity is more than 84,000 and this was where the 1992 World Cup was held.

As I was at the metro train, there were a lot of people especially guys speaking different languages - French, Italian, Spanish. I may not understand all the things that they were saying but I knew it had something to do with Futbol. As soon as the metro train stopped at Santiago Bernabeu station, these guys rushed out of the train and run up the 3 flights of stairs because the game was about to start in 10 minutes. It was like seeing 5 year old boys going wild after opening his gift on Christmas day. These guys were on a mission and want to be there when the game starts. They are very loyal to their team, since they were young their fathers and grandfathers have already influenced them on the team they should cheer for.

The 7 of us ( 5 from US and 2 from Spain) decided to get the cheapest ticket - €35 / $ 48. The 5 of us from the States just wanted to experience a live game in Madrid. The stadium was almost filled up to full capacity, by the looks of it I think there were about 80,000 people there that night because only a very small part of the "nose-bleed"/ cheapest section had empty seats, everywhere else completely full.

The game was good. I don't know much about Futbol / soccer, all I know the guys kicking the ball around towards the goal. For me, The best part of watching the game was not the teams scoring a goal. It was watching the audience's reactions. From raising their arms up when the team scored or if they disagreed with the play. There were people blowing their horns - it was very loud since I was sitting next to an 8 y/o boy who just liked blowing that horn to cheers his team. Most of the time the whole crowd especially if their team scored will jump off their feet, clap and cheer. During the game they are very serious, all eyes focused on the game. It was definitely a great to see on how much they love Futbol. As the game ended Real Madrid = 4 and Real Sociedad = 1.

GGGOOOOLLLL !!!!!
- Kaye