2010 turned out to be a year pricelessly rich in experiences. From January to November (with a short break in June to return home and see my parents) I got to spend most of my time in Malaysia, but also Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and China, ten months pricelessly rich in experiences, I repeat, BUT, equally poor in visiting stadiums and watching games “live”. How poor? “One single match in ten months” poor. Told you. POOR.
Selangor-Kelantan, at the vast Shah Alam stadium
Early December, having “de-latinamerican-ized” myself for a year, I felt South America was not just calling, but SCREAMING my name again (postponing yet once again staying in Greece, settling down, looking for a job, going back to having a “normal” life). So, like that, feeling an urge to visit countries I hadn't been to before, I found myself spending five months in Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, visiting places, making friends, and of course, watching football...
In two weeks from today I will be back to Colombia, and early April I will be back to Ecuador too, so in THIS post I have the... “luxury” to skip commenting on the 13 games I watched in those two countries in 2011, including my first Copa Libertadores ones, in Quito, LDU's triumphs over Peñarol and Godoy Cruz (years before I started making a living writing Copa Libertadores match previews). I don't have plans to return to Venezuela though, at least not in the near future, so, there you go, writing about the two games I watched at Valencia and Caracas, I have something embarrassing to admit. At Valencia, I missed all four goals(!!!!), and at Caracas I spent ridiculously little time paying attention at what (lethally boring) was going on within the four lines(...).
At Valencia, watching (supposedly) Carabobo host Estudiantes de Mérida, I missed all four goals for the simple (better put, “embarrassing”) reason that my attention was constantly “abducted” by the dozens of... models who paraded at the stands, girls who looked like they were about to compete in that year's “Miss Venezuela” beauty contest, and were just taking a break from their preparations, allowing us, “common mortals”, take a close glimpse of them. Put in a nutshell, the girls had nothing to do with any beauty contest, but looked gorgeous, read my lips, virtually, I say “g o r g e o u s”, so, shame on me, guilty as charged, shoot me, I missed all four goals (and didn't exactly mind).
Carabobo and Mérida players, listening to the national anthem (I was too much of a chicken to take photos of the REAL “stars” of the game, the sexy female fans)
At Caracas, Real Esppor and Deportivo Lara didn't offer any goals (and hardly any real threats to the two goalkeepers), which made me feel more free to spend my time at the stadium the way I really wanted(...). “Drooling over more gorgeous women, for sure”, I can easily imagine you think. Actually, no(!)...
Some time ago, parts of Venezuela had been hit by a natural disaster, many people had lost their homes, and the government was in the middle of trying to find a permanent solution to all those families' emergency housing situation. Until then, people had to live SOMEWHERE, so, the Caracas authorities had arranged for many families to find temporary refuge at “Brigido Iriarte”, the stadium that Real Esppor call home.
Where exactly? In between the two tiers, on both sides (Iriarte has stands only on the two “big” sides, not behind the goalposts). So, there I was, watching the game, more like... PRETENDING to be watching the game, while a few meters behind me, a mother was cooking, a father was watching something on TV lying down in bed, and kids were playing at a corner of the same bed. All there was between us, the fans, and the families living there, was a curtain, or a piece of sheet, used as a curtain. Some families had it pulled down, so you couldn't see what was going on inside their “home”, other families had it pulled up, not really(?) minding the few (either way) fans who were there to watch a football game, and after the final whistle they would be going back to their... real homes, unlike the ones those unfortunate families had to call “home”, lacking a better alternative.
Fans, curtains, “homes” hidden behind curtains
They had space for a bed, toilet facilities, cooking facilities, and basically, protection from the rain and other elements of nature. If once a week they had to put up with a few football fans for a couple of hours, I guess that was the least of their worries...
What an experience... The more I think about it today, the more... surreal it feels...
While in Venezuela, I didn't miss the chance to attend a game of the king of sports in the country, which is no other than baseball. There was a game at Maracay when I was there, I knew how BIG baseball was/is in Venezuela, so, that was an opportunity not to be missed. Was it THAT worthy as I expected it? I'm leaning towards “yes”. The atmosphere was “warm”, the stands were practically full, the fans were “participating actively”, so... despite the fact that I'm not a die-hard baseball fan, I consider the bolívares fuertes I gave for the ticket, money well-spent.
Beautiful January baseball night at Maracay
Oh... Did I mention that the stands had even more “models” than the ones I had seen at Valencia's football stadium? Minor detail (rrright) that played its role in my enjoying the late afternoon/early night that much...
In the end of that trip, late April, just before returning to Greece, I spent a week at Miami as well, where I watched an NBA play-off game between the Heat and the Sixers, my first (and only, until now) NBA game, the cherry on top of yet another dreamy trip.
Obviously, I got one of the cheapest tickets
34 to 49
34 Selangor-Kelantan 1-1, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2010, July 10
35 Carabobo-Estudiantes de Mérida 3-1, Valencia, Venezuela, 2011, January 23
36 Real Esppor-Deportivo Lara 0-0, Caracas, Venezuela, 2011, January 30
37 Cúcuta Deportivo-Millonarios 0-1, Cúcuta, Colombia, 2011, February 13
38 Santa Fe-Atlético Nacional 0-0, Bogotá, Colombia, 2011, February 27
39 Millonarios-Boyacá Chicó 3-1, Bogotá, Colombia, 2011, March 5
40 Deportivo Cali-Itagüí 1-0, Cali, Colombia, 2011, March 6
41 Brasil U17-Chile U17 2-1, Ibarra, Ecuador, 2011, March 16
42 LDU Quito-Peñarol 5-0, Quito, Ecuador, 2011, March 17
43 Deportivo Quito-Imbabura 3-2, Quito, Ecuador, 2011, March 19
44 Universidad Católica-Grecia 2-0, Quito, Ecuador, 2011, March 20
45 Deportivo Cuenca-LDU Quito 0-2, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011, March 23
46 Emelec-Manta 2-1, Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2011, March 27
47 Manta-LDU Loja 2-0, Manta, Ecuador, 2011, April 2
48 Barcelona-Independiente 1-1, Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2011, April 10
49 LDU Quito-Godoy Cruz 2-0, Quito, Ecuador, 2011, April 12
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