I’ve been an ardent FC Barcelona fan since
the 2010 World Cup. And now I have the wild opportunity to watch them play
their national arch enemy, Real Madrid in the battle for Copa del Rey (the
Spanish Cup). I fly to Barcelona right after class on Tuesday night, and crash
with Kellogg friends who are studying there. I spend the day wandering around
and buying up Barca gear for the game. Though our seats are in the nose bleed
section, we have Real Madrid fans sitting behind us in a cage. Typical of many
soccer games, fans of the opposing team usually have to sit in a separate
section so as not to ensue violence, and you can’t buy alcohol in the stadium.
It was quite amusing to hear the Barca and Madrid fans hurl sweet expletives at
each other, I only wish I knew what they were saying. I had been waiting for the day that I could
see Messi ( the futbol wonder) score a goal live. Today was my lucky day, I got
to see him score twice, which a consider a captivating experience. Whenever he
scores a goal, he usually comes out of nowhere, zips past a few of the opposing
players and hurls the ball into the net, as if it were magic. Even though the
game was tied, Barca still advanced to the next round since they had beat Real
Madrid last week.
Again, I have to comment on Span’s
infrastructure issues. I don’t understand how the city can shut down the metro
at midnight when there are 100,000 fans in Camp Nou that need to get home. The
game ended at 11:45 and there was no way we could make the metro. We run to the
station, just miss the last train, then we try to find a bus, wait for 30
minutes, then start walking. After about a mile of walking we were able to hail
a taxi. Come on Spain.. don’t you want an answer to your 20+% unemployment
rate? Well here is one solution; the night shift. Can you imagine there being
no subways after a Yankees game in the Bronx?! That would be a logistical
nightmare..similar to what I experienced that night at Camp Nou.
Barca Barca Barca! I will never forget this
night!
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