It has long since been proven that I am a good luck charm at sporting events. Well...sort of. By "long since" I mean "in the past two years," and by "good luck charm," I mean "sometimes the team wins when I'm there." I believe I have a winning record in overall games attended despite being a student at the University of Michigan during the Rich Rod years, and it's become something of a joke--but really, a solemn truth--with my parents and I that I have some sort of magical Kendra dust (in the words of my father) that I spread, either at games I actually attend or that I leave at the stadium to be activated later on, because that makes sense. Often times teams will win games they are not favored to win while I'm there, so we joke--but really, have a divine understanding that--I am the reason for the win. Well, now Real Betis Balompié has felt the suerte (luck) and the power.
To give a little more background on the Betis/Barcelona match-up, the last time the two played one another, Barca won 5-0. Some guy on the radio in the taxi on the way to the game predicted a 6-0 score in favor of Barcelona. Betis was just not supposed to win this game. But win they did. And not even just by one goal, they won 3-1! That's good in soccer, probably! It was a very exciting time to be at Estadio Benito Villamarín (where Betis plays), to say the least.
The game itself was a tremendous experience. Seeing how passionate everyone is about the sport is really a treat, and being able to take part is even better. For the first half, I sat with some friends at the very very top of the stadium and watched the action. Betis scored their first two goals toward the beginning of the game, so the excitement and positivity was there from the outset. It seemed like Barcelona just wasn't trying very hard, as though they had underestimated Betis and gotten too sure of themselves, something that we've all certainly seen happen in other sports with other teams in games where they are very heavily favored. So soccer isn't all that foreign after all. After the first half, a friend and I went to sit with another section of friends (more than 15 of us bought tickets but we got to the stadium in separate groups so we couldn't all sit together) where we were in front of some rowdy-in-a-good-way lo
cals. They were singing cheers almost every other minute and obviously were very pleased because their team was doing so well. At one point, they draped a Spanish flag over us and told us we were "españolas" for the evening, which was pretty great. Flags, though, are slippery, so it kept falling from our shoulders, and every time it did the guy who gave it to us--the Spanish dopplegänger of Carson Daly--would replace it and tell us, "que no te caiga," meaning "so that it doesn't fall off of you" (roughly).Other interesting discoveries:
- When a goal was scored, "GOOOOAAAAAAL" was mostly yelled by the announcer, not as much by the fans, at least as far as I heard. They mostly just cheered normally or yelled the name of their team when they scored. I yelled "goal" because a) I thought that's what you're supposed to do, b) I'm American and don't know anything about soccer, and c) my mom told me to.
- Unlike the States, they do not sell alcohol in the stadiums. I know what you're thinking: "But why wouldn't you want to sell booze to ravenous screaming fans?" Just one of the many enigmas of Spain.
- Scarves are the thing to have at a soccer game. We have our jerseys and shirseys (t-shirt jerseys), and there are plenty of such articles of clothing at a fútbol game, but you've gotta have the scarf if you're going to be cool. I bought a commemorative one afterward to use as a decoration, because I am not cool and wore an argyle sweater to the game.
- I have way more appreciation for the sport after seeing it in person.
Pictures (from top to bottom): the field, the main Betis cheering section, happy Betis fans after a goal, the view of Sevilla from the top of the stadium.
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