Up until this point, I have gone only to Uruguay soccer games, meaning the games between the national Uruguayan soccer team that competes for the World Cup and teams from other South American countries. The other side of Uruguayan soccer consists of the many local pro teams that complete for the Uruguayan and then the South American titles. Everyone here is a Uruguay soccer fan, but then after that everyone has a passion for one of the other pro teams as well. There are several teams and the largest rivalries seem to be between Defensor, Penarole and Nacional.
On Sunday, I went to the Penarole v. Nacional soccer game and because it is a game between two large rivals, they call it a “classico”. It would be similar to Ohio State and Michigan playing - this would be our U.S. equivalent of a “classico”. I have to say that this experience was much different than the experience of going to the Uruguay soccer game in many ways. First of all, there are police at the Uruguay games, but there are literally SWAT team members with plastic shields and face guards at this game. There are crazy fans at the Uruguay game, but there are insanely “out there” fans at this game. There are flags and streamers at the Uruguay games, but there are fireworks and smoke bombs at this game. There are cheers and chants at the Uruguay game, but let’s just say that when the 8 year old kid sitting behind us starting rattling off chants with many inappropriate words…I realized we were attending a game of a whole new level.
So today we were Penarole fans. Why Penarole? We went with Penarole fans, and we therefore sat on the Penarole side of the stadium. When you sit on one side of the stadium, it means that there are fences outside the stadium that actually don’t allow you to mingle with the other fans. Even though we were sitting on the Penarole side, we wore as neutral of colors as we could (Penarole is gold and black…go Hawkeyes! and Nacional is red, white and blue). Before and after the game, it is apparently wise not to be associated with one team or another. I won’t get into the full history, but there is some bad blood between these two teams and there is definitely a reason why there are SWAT teams and fences to keep the peace.
To sum up the actual game…both crowds were tireless with their chants, songs, drumming, jumping, and screaming. Literally the heart of the cheering section never stopped jumping and never stopped chanting. Both teams were feisty, picking fights a few times before and during the game. The SWAT team took the field twice, including one time just 3 minutes before the end of the game. For me, however, the height of the craziness happened when a fire broke out in the Nacional stands about halfway through the second half. Literally a quarter of one section was suddenly on fire (about 10-15 rows deep and 20 seats across), and fans had to move safety a short distance away in the stands. While a couple of my friends and I watched in horror, the rest of the fans (both Nacional and Penarole), continued their rival chants, jumping and drumming and the game played on as if nothing was happening. The fire was put out a few minutes later (by the fans…no police or any safety personnel attended to it) and the fans filed back in their seats and continued on, screaming about someone’s mother and someone else’s daughter and about what you are if you are a Penarole fan…as if nothing happened. Later, talking with a Nacional fan, I found that this is typical. Of course.
The game ended in a tie, which maybe was for the best. It was a completely crazy, good experience and one that I definitely will not forget. I have pictures to post eventually, but they were taken on a friend’s camera, so I’ll post them when I receive them. Wow - what a day!
Posted on November 26th, 2007 by katiejocannon
Filed under: Entertainment, Uruguay
Good Lord! Sounds very scary. Reminds me of a certain Potters v Panthers rivalry.