This is Lionel Messi the (since 2009 when he surpassed David Beckham) highest paid soccer player in the world. In 2009 he was making $44,000,000 a year! He is basically the national hero of Argentine and particularly in Rosario, where he was born. While he left (abandoned if you ask the wrong person) Argentina for Barcelona he has won gold medals for the Argentine Olympic team. He’s also only 24th.
Soccer, or fútbol, is HUGE here. Although, it’s really not the same as sports in the states. The level of fan devotion is just incredible. In Rosario there are two teams Newell’s Old Boys (the name is in English because it was founded by an Brit back when England was investing heavily in Argentine infrastructure.) and Rosario Central. They each have a stadium on opposite sides of the city and each has it’s own group of tattoo clad fanatics who show up to every game. Each stadium has it’s own ‘pit’ where the hardcore fans bang drums, set off flares and scream at the top of their lungs. And there are plenty of opportunities to scream because every team has it’s own set of songs that all the fans know and sing when the team is doing well.
And the other team’s fans are just as crazy:
Thank Google images for these gems. Besides boisterous antics, tattoos and religious like devotion to their teams, Argentines are known for rioting after games.
This is from a game in Buenos Aires a few months ago. The team that lost literally starting rioting in the streets! The video states that there have been a number of deaths due to rioting at soccer games in Argentina. Because of this event security at these games has been increased. I went to my first game last week and saw a line of police officers in riot gear waiting along every exit to keep the peace. There are also numerous restrictions when trying to enter the stadium. You pretty much can’t bring anything into the stadium that could be thrown at the players or used to start a fight. I found out that this includes pretty much anything in your pockets. Security took my water bottle, pocket knife and an apple I brought with me. An apple! What was I going to do with an apple?
Remember our Argentine president Cristina Fernandez? She’s known for policies that favor the lower classes in Argentina. One program that she initiated is “Fútbol para todos,” or Football for Everyone in English. This program subsidizes football games so that they are played on public television instead of just cable networks, making it possibly for anyone with a TV to watch soccer pretty much all day.
Aside from going to games or faithfully observing the free tv schedule of local and national soccer games, locals also enjoy playing soccer (believe it or not.) A very common social event in Rosario is to get 10 of your friends together and rent a small field at one of the stadiums and play a friendly game of soccer before having a barbecue. Our group of students recently played against a group of Argentine students at the Newells Old Boy’s stadium. We learned a funny lesson when we one of us tried to enter wearing the opposing teams shirt and was turned away. Apparently, they’re real serious about representing team colors. If you’re wonder, we certainly lost this game.
What about all you back home? Do you like Soccer or other sports? Do any of you play on a team?
Okay, today is day one of finals for me so I need to get back to studying before I find myself watching soccer vids on YouTube all day. Ciao!
Reporting Live from Rosario, Argentina 