Back to Argentina and Buenos Aires
Our goal had been to watch live a premier league football match in Uruguay´s capital Montevideo or Buenos Aires in Argentina. We managed to book an organised trip to a match on Sunday, and so Saturday consisted of two bus rides and a late night ferry ride to get us back to the capital of Argentina. The match was an incredible experience of fanatical south american football fans between one of the ´big five´ clubs Racing Club and a smaller club Lanus. On the way to the match we were warned by our host to shout loudly and cheer when the host team (Racing Club) scored, but look very sad when the opposition scored. We are told every Argentinian supports a football team, and even an hour before the start, the singing of the standing crowds was awesome. We sat away from the standing room only parts of the stadium. The security was intense with the opposition fans confined to a smaller portion of the stadium and separated by high fences and riot police. The rule after every match is that the home fans have to sit and wait fifteen minutes before their gates are opened, to allow the opposition supporters to leave the stadium without incident. Even the field is surrounded by a concrete trench to limit any access onto the field - no different to an elephants enclosure at the zoo. The football was not that impressive being the first game of the season, but to see the passion of the supporters was something to be remembered.
Our goal had been to watch live a premier league football match in Uruguay´s capital Montevideo or Buenos Aires in Argentina. We managed to book an organised trip to a match on Sunday, and so Saturday consisted of two bus rides and a late night ferry ride to get us back to the capital of Argentina. The match was an incredible experience of fanatical south american football fans between one of the ´big five´ clubs Racing Club and a smaller club Lanus. On the way to the match we were warned by our host to shout loudly and cheer when the host team (Racing Club) scored, but look very sad when the opposition scored. We are told every Argentinian supports a football team, and even an hour before the start, the singing of the standing crowds was awesome. We sat away from the standing room only parts of the stadium. The security was intense with the opposition fans confined to a smaller portion of the stadium and separated by high fences and riot police. The rule after every match is that the home fans have to sit and wait fifteen minutes before their gates are opened, to allow the opposition supporters to leave the stadium without incident. Even the field is surrounded by a concrete trench to limit any access onto the field - no different to an elephants enclosure at the zoo. The football was not that impressive being the first game of the season, but to see the passion of the supporters was something to be remembered.