A "Real" Soccer Game

AJ’s European Tour Wish List:

•          See a European soccer game
•          Go to Greece
•          Ride a horse in Spain

Sevilla and Betis

So, how are we doing?  The real soccer game.  AJ was hoping to see “his team,” Barcelona, play in Barcelona, but the only Barca game that fits our school/work schedule  is Barcelona-v- Real Madrid (think Cubs-Sox, or Cubs-Cards) and tickets,  if you can get them, cost more than 500 EUROS each . . . Even AJ thought that was too much to pay.  However, Sevillanos, like Chicagoans, have two home teams.  Instead of Cubby Blue and Sox Black, we have Sevilla Red and Betis Green.  Like Chicago, the city of Sevilla is neatly divided into the Green and the Red, and like Chicagoans, Sevillanos carry their team loyalty close to their hearts – maybe too close.  Friends tell me they have seen Sevillanos literally have heart attacks over bad plays, and one doctor prescribed abstinence from even radio broadcasts of Betis games.  Of course, Betis (sorry, Juan, but it’s true) is a bit like the Cubs – die hard Betis fans cheer in vain for the green and white clad young men who can never really “get it together.”  Sevilla FC, however, is another story.  An “up and coming” team in the premier league, Sevilla may not rival Barca or Real Madrid, but the fans leave the stadium happier, in general, than Betis fans.  

So, early in October, we booked our seats for a Sevilla FC game.  We had seen the stadium earlier on a trip to the Nervion Mall.  Kid you not, right behind the mall, in fact attached to the Mall’s central courtyard, stands the Sevilla FC stadium.  But just as driving by Wrigley Field reveals little of the ambiance inside, our first views of the Sevilla stadium gave no indication of the passion and thrill we found on entering the gates.  I sprang for the good seats, so we didn’t have to hike the many steps into the arena, but instead found our way to the cement benches quite near the field and the players’ bench.  The curved walls rose around us like the ancient arenas and amphitheaters we had seen in Ronda and Italica and brought to mind those bloodier sports and ceremonies, ancient ancestors of the intense but less deadly battle we would watch that evening.  

"Scarf" worn by Sevilla fans

We arrived quite early – too excited to wait longer at home – and so we watched as the Spaniards I have come to love entered the arena -- girls in their tight, tight jeans and revealing blouses, young men with curling dark hair and shirts just a smidge too small, and the señors and señoras in their dress pants, button down shirts, and even some senoras in straight, knee-length skirts.  But the best part was the gentlemen carrying their Sevilla FC scarves.  These are “souvenir style” knit red and blue bands, not long enough to be real “winter” scarves, but just long enough to drape around one’s neck.  I had seen them in the stadium’s gift shop and wondered at their purpose.  As each gentleman did, in fact, drape the scarf around his shoulders, I smiled at another completely non-American fashion statement.  They carry these scarves to the game, neatly folded, wear them during the game, and then carry them back home, neatly folded until the next game.  Even the very dignified old men wore these scarves, the way a Cubs fan might wear a jersey or a cap, literally showing his colors and completely comfortable with what Americans would consider a fairly effeminate touch.  

Javi Varas:  Goal Keeper

The stadium filled with people and excitement simultaneously.   By far the most passionate fans crowded the goal end of the stadium – a writhing throng of red and black complete with bass drum, fireworks, and megaphones.    As this writhing mass filled the  stadium with the Sevilla FC Anthem  -- ” El Arrebato,” (click here to hear "El Arrebato") the passion and the excitement  moved even the most uninterested socialites, and the scarved senors belted it out,  “Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla! Aqui estabmos contigo Sevilla!” as loudly as their wives and daughters.  Even with all this Spanish passion, I think the most excited fan was the 13 year old beside me.  He watched the warm-ups so intently, I almost expected him to start stretching right there on the bench. When Javi Varas warmed up in the goal, I couldn't keep him is his seat!  As the game began, he shouted and cursed like a Spaniard, and I was interested to find common ground across the ocean.  With all the “terrible calls” and “one-sided refs, we could have been at an Elgin Kickers game!  Sadly (or happily depending on your point of view) AJ’s sense of violation and injustice was shared by the fans in Sevilla.  Given the outrage which met each call against Sevilla, I was quite relieved to find the game ending in Sevilla’s favor and without any bloodshed.  

Riding home through the cool October air, the adrenaline and joy of the game powered our pedaling feet as strains of “Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla” rang out from the streets.  For two amazing and energizing hours, we traded in our “visitor” badges and became part of the crowd.  AJ was right:  the "good seats" were worth the price.