Copa America Day 13 - Football Carma

I really have football carma.

I am writing this story from Sierras Hotel in Alta Gracia in the Province of Córdoba. Every guidebook will tell you to visit Alta Gracia if you are in the area.

There are the house where Manuel de Falla chose to spend his last years, the house where a certain Argentine named Ernesto lived for 11 years (Ernesto loved to ride motorcycle around South America), and the old Jesuit residence.

The minibus from Córdoba took about 1 hour and costed me 10 pesos (less than 3 USD)

I started my visit in the Old Jesuit Residence and was fascinated to find out that one of the owners was the Viceroy Santiago de Liniers. He was born in France but served in the Spanish army. His claims to fame was in the battle in 1806 to reclaim Buenos Aires from the English invasion.

After the visit to the Old Jesuit Residence, I walked to the House of Falla. According to my map, I would pass a magnificent English style hotel built in 1908. The name was Sierras Hotel.

I walked past the hotel and saw that it is part of Howard Johnson chain. It has a casino as well as a golf course. It looks luxurious.

Then it hit me. This was the hotel that I have read about in the 2 books written about Scotland at World Cup 1978. It got terrible reviews from the players.

I went in and saw a lot of old photos. I asked the receptionist about World Cup 1978 and Scotland and she had no clue.

I read the hotel brochure and found out the hotel was renovated in 2006 so what I saw now was not what the Scotland team experienced in 1978.

Still I tried to imagine the coach Ally MacLeod, Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish, Joe Jordan, Bruce Rioch, Archie Gemmill, Willi Johnston and others sitting in the bar or walking the ground of the hotel.

I decided to stay for lunch. I wished I had something from Scotland with me to take a photo with the hotel.

Toward the end of my lunch, I got an idea. I asked the waitress to bring me a few things from Scotland. She did and I chose this.

Ally's Tartan Army (Scotland 1978 World Cup song)

We're on the march wi' Ally's Army,

    We're going tae the Argentine,
And we'll really shake them up,
    When we win the World Cup,
'Cos Scotland is the greatest football team,
We're representing Britain,
    And we're gaunny do or die,
England cannae dae it,
    'Cos they didnae qualify!
We're on the march wi' Ally's Army,
    We're going tae the Argentine,
And we'll really shake them up,
    When we win the World Cup,
'Cos Scotland is the greatest football team

from the Sierras Hotel in Alta Gracia, cheers.

PS: Scotland was not alone in having a disaster WC in 1978. Mexico lost all 3 games to Tunisia, Poland and West Germany. The Mexico-West Germany match was in Córdoba and the Mexican team also stayed in the Sierras Hotel. They had a 19 year old player named Hugo Sánchez and the final score was West Germany 6 Mexico 0.