River Plate vs. Mexico

Kozi was on Argentinian soil for no more than 5 hours before we put him in a soccer stadium and we all enjoyed the best team in Argentina (currently) River Plate go toe to toe with the best team in Mexico. We sat in the popular section, known for its hooliganism, but we steered clear of any particular craziness. That section spent the entire game on its feet, on each other's shoulders, shouting and throwing bits of newspaper everywhere. The videotron oddly did not show the time or even highlights of the game, it just focused on cute girls in the stadium for an uncomfortably long time. Dad's with RP tattoos held up little sons high above their head. Everyone sang Vamo, vamo, River Plate!

Despite the support Mexico quickly scored and even though RP had more possession time than Mexico they could never convert. It was like this for the entire game. Great ball handling, but nothing except for the cute girls on the videotron blushing at the attention and the guys next to them beaming with pride. By the time the second half was winding down RP had managed to tie it up, but everyone was tired. Kozi explained that if Mexico ties its good for them because it is an away game and through some other witchcraft cooked up by fifa a tie is good for their continental standing. Nevertheless Mexico is getting cocky with a tie. Tempers start to ignite. The RP coach somehow gets evicted from the game. The fans are getting despondent. Hisako asks if its safer for us if they win or loose. Kozi says definitely win, as he eyes the crowd to see if anything nasty is about to happen. Just then two players get into a fight on the field, some guys even jump off the bench and run onto the field. Its looking like a melee. We are looking side to side if its going to spread to the crowd. The pile up on the field is untangled and two players, one from each team are thrown out. Its looking really bad.

But then with this kind of pissed of vigor turned productive a RP players breaks free, passes to another, a quick fake, then another, a shot and goooooooooool! The whole stadium erupts. Its ballistic. People are everywhere shouting, throwing paper, waving flags, hugging each other. Literally 30 second later the whistle is blown and its over. RP runs the field; Mexico in their yellow jerseys just lay on the ground like crushed dandelions. Its fantastic. So many emotions. Everyone spills out of the stadium. They sing something about the polizia. Which maybe is not the best idea, but what the hell! Blah-blah-blah POLIZIA!!