I went to the most modern stadium in South America last night to see the first game of Copa America 2011, Argentina vs Bolivia.
Estadio Unico in La Plata is impressive, for South American standard. It is located in the southwest part of the city and was just reopened in February this year after major renovations, including a roof to cover all spectators and the installation of seats in all sections of the stadium.
My ticket was for the north side behind one goal. I got there early and found out it was the side of the home fans. But there were no seats, only terraces. I was ready for standing and jumping and mixing with the tough Argentine passionate fans.
But all around me, I saw mostly families and young couples. No sign of the rough fans.
One family was 3 or 4 fathers dressed in costumes and about 10 kids with drums. I decided to stand next to them.
One father, Batman, spoke to me. He said 'look around you, these are rich people. the tickets are too expensive (80 pesos or 40 usd) for most people. you will not see the hooligans here'
well he was wrong. after the opening ceremony, the two teams came out to warm-up (it was the coldest night of the year according to the TV news and kick-off was 21.45). The rough fans arrived. Some were with Independiente, some with Tigre, etc...
The only 2 good things were: the groups were small in number and there were a lot of policemen around. Batman and Robin kept looking over their shoulders and they were worried.
I tried to take photo of the Tigre group but one of them told me NO.
Just before kick-off, there was a lull in the singing and I heard a waterfall. I looked to my right and saw a waterfall in the next section. May be those seats were cheaper.
Many Argentines expected a big victory against Bolivia. With the best player in the world Lionel Messi and a supporting cast of stars, the expectations were high.
Once the game started, we all saw right away Bolivia was not a bad team. Everytime, Bolivia attacked, Argentina defense seemed to be in a panic. Argentina tried to push most of the play through Messi but he did not seemed to be comfortable. Halftime was 0-0.
Right after the second half started, Bolivia scored off a corner. A backheel by Rojas and the Argentine goalie Romero could not stop the ball from just barely crossed the line. Bolivia then had a great chance to go up 2 on a 1 on 1 but Romero dived to touch the ball away from Martins of Bolivia.
WIth less than 15 minutes to go, Maradona´s son in law, a substitute, scored on a sublime volley. Final score 1-1 and the Argentine fans left quietly while the Bolivians celebrated.
The next morning, I met Tim (an Ipswich Town fan) from England in my hostel. We both agreed Argentina may be better without Messi. He is great with Barca because of the supporting cast there but with Argentina, he never lived up to expectations.
My cousins Khoi texted me later ´may be it is the product of Barca style. Messi gets more space there because everyone is in constant movement with and without the ball. Not sure Tevez, Lavezzi, and company do that like Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, and Villa´
Everywhere I went in La Plata, I tried to ask people ´what happened?´and most answered 'Messi was a disappointment'
I cannot wait until next Wednesday when Colombia plays Argentina. Early today, Colombia beat Costa Rica 1-0.
In September 1993, Colombia came to Buenos Aires to play a qualification game for WC USA 1994. Colombia won 5-0 and the Argentine fans gave the Colombia team a standing ovation because they played la nuetra.
Will history repeats?
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