Festa de Juan Gomper

Although Barcelona and Tennessee are thousands of miles apart, the two places share a lot of similarities. People in both places, for example, hold a particular sport more important above all else in their lives -- save perhaps religion. In Tennessee, it's football (particularly of the SEC variety), and in Barcelona it's futbol. And the people here are crazy about their futbo! Every day the newpaper displays pages of articles detailing such minutia as what Ronaldinho (a star player for FC Barcelona) has named his child or where the players met for dinner the night before and every facet of the previous day's game become fodder for op-eds.
Spain, like every other country in Europe, divides it's soccer leagues into tiers. The top tier teams include powerhouses such as Barcelona, Madrid (home to David Beckham and Ronaldo), and Betis. Below the top league is an intermediate-level league and lastly a bottom-level league. Teams that play particularly poorly over the course of a season can be "relegated" to the next league down, and a team that plays very well may be promoted to the next highest tier. It's as if a very good minor league baseball team (e.g., the Nashville Sounds) could be called up to the majors while the Kansas City Royals (current win percentage: .331) could be dropped down to AAA ball. In Spain the top league is called La Liga; in England it's the Premier League; France has the Ligue 1; Italy the Serie A; and Germany the Bundesliga. Every year the top teams from each country's first tier compete against each other in the UEFA Cup. Apart from this competition, however, many leagues coordinate cup matches between their champion and another country's champion. For example, Italy's and Spain's league champions play for the Copa de Juan Gamper.
This is where Rashmi and I found ourselves last night. Barelona, who was last season's La Liga champion played against Italy's Juventus, the Serie A champ from Turin. The experience was all a little bit surreal, as 82,000 screaming, singing, airhorn-blowing fans packed the stadium for the game. It was loud! Even before the announcer called the names of the players, Rashmi and I had to yell to hear each other. And that was before the volleys of indoor fireworks. In the midst of all of the bedlam, the crowd was amazing coordinated, singing songs and shouts throughout the game in perfect unison. Rashmi said she felt like she was at a political rally rather than a sports game. I don't think I've ever seen anything that can compare to last night . . . other than Rocky Top.
Once the game began, it was immediately apparent how skilled these players are. They can dribble with a soccer ball at their feet like Alan Iverson with a basketball. They are unbelievably skilled, precise, and creative, but above all else fast. Ronaldinho, Barcelona's big star from Brazil, was the most fun to watch, and although he didn't play much (the coach took him out of the game before halftime) he was constantly creating opportunities for his teammates with deft passes and drives. Barcelona dominated the first half of play, as the ball remained in their possession in their opponent's half for most of the game, but the scoreboard told a different story. Barca's player missed some easy scoring opportunities and Juventus's keeper made some unbelievable saves. Juventus, on the other hand, was the beneficiary of a fortuitous break. A questionable foul call in the box let Alessandro del Piero notch the game's first score with a penalty kick. The crowd made sure to let the referee know what they thought about him after the call: "Hijo de puta! . . . [five claps] . . . Hijo de puta! . . . [five claps] . . ." and so on. Even the 7-year-old sitting behind us knew the words to the chant.
After half-time, Barcelona turned the tide. Some new substitutes, particularly Leo Messi from Argentina, aggressively pushed the pace of play, leading to two successive Barca goals about ten minutes into the new period. The first goal came from Messi's through-pass behind the defense to Iniesta, who easily pushed the ball past Juventus's poorly positioned keeper. The second goal was an impressive drive through the middle of Juventus's defense. With Barca ahead 2-1 and less than 10 minutes left, the game looked safely won, but just then the referee called another foul on Barca in the box. Although the second foul was clearly warranted, the chant again revived. Juventus's Trezegeut, a forward from France, burried the penalty kick, leaving the game tied as the final whistle blew.
The game was decided by penalty kicks, where unfortunately Barcelona did not succeed. They missed two consecutive kicks as Juventus's players did not miss a one. The Italians scored all of their goal on penalty kicks last night, and one could guess that Barcelona had a sour taste in their mouths after losing a game they had played so well. The crowd poured out of the stadium into the street, but rather than a dejected scene there was a veritable block party everywhere. Finding a cab was certainly an issue, though, as we walked down the Avenguda Diagonal for an hour and a half waiting for a taxi. Thankfully, we found one . . . at 1:30 am. I don't think I'd ever been so glad to see a bed after I got to the hotel.