Vamos Argentina, Vamos! Futból and Football

I`ve been riding an emotional rollercoaster since I posted last, and, thankfully, I´ve reached a content plateau, thawing in the kitchen, reviewing the days events, drinking a mixed hot-chocolate-slash-coffee, and knocking off a chapter here and there of the book I´ve been tearing through since yesterday. More on that later.

First, a quick review of the ups and downs. Up: Hear that tickets to the Argentina vs. Paraguay game are a possibility. Down: Hear tons of false information about how tough they will be to get; don´t get them. A few days pass.

Up: House mother says she can get them.
Down: House mother says she can´t get them.
Up: House mother says she can get them.
Down: .. game day, where are tickets? I gave her my money like 2 days ago.
Up: Tickets arrive.
Down: Walk outside. 40 degrees. Wet. Raining. Windy. Bone-chilling.
Up: Ok, I´m getting tired of this, but you see what I´m getting at. Things were awesome when I got to the game though, and despite the horrendous weather I was more than happy to soak in the atmosphere. The Paraguayan die-hards, decked out in red and white stripes, were opposite the Argentine barra brava, the standing-room only blue-collar section full of waving banners and flags. Both sections were bouncing in unison as they exchanged chants, songs, and taunts. I didn´t understand any of them, except the one where the Paraguayans would give a hearty ¨Paraguay!¨and the Argentines would puncutate it with a quick ¨puto!¨, the rough equivalent of tagging ¨sucks!¨ onto a rival players name after he is announced at a baseball game. The other cheers were more clever, I think, but the intricacies were lost on me.

I doubt anyone is too interested in having me break down the game, but while a couple of questionable calls from the ref negatively effected the game, it was great to see such talented players. Leo Messi created a little bit of magic to tie it up after what was easily one of the most embarrasingly awful goals I have seen a team concede, at any level, in person. I need to see a replay before I assess the blame, but the keeper, Abondonzieri, has been the media whipping-boy lately, I think, and the 12 year boy next to me was yelling colorful profanities at him as he was stretchered off the pitch.

I´ll put up some photos when I upload next, but none of them turned out too great. I did take a couple of cool videos.

I trolled the main street nearby yesterday to try and find a scarf to show my support for the team. I didn´t find any scarves, but I did find a John Grisham book, Playing for Pizza, that I picked up. I wanted something to read at night to help me sleep, but I´ve knocked out 170 pages since yesterday, so it´s not going to give me much benefit in that regard. It is entertaining though, and it deals with a former NFL quarterback banished to the hinterlands of NFL Europe ... the fictional quarterback and I struggled with many of the same problems upon arriving in a foreign country, which makes it extra interesting. Dinner is ready ... peace!