Copa Libertadores Update

A while back, I wrote a small blog about going to see a Club Nacional game here in Montevideo for the Copa Libertadores.

To update the thread, Nacional is no longer in the competition. Their last game in the tournament was back on April 20th - Nicolás, Fabian, Mari and I went to that game as well. Unfortunately, Nacional tied the game 0 - 0 with Club America from Mexico, and without the win, Nacional didn´t have the points necessary to progress forward in the competition.


As it stands now, the Copa Libertadores is down to the semi-finales. The four teams still battling in the tournement are:

• Peñarol - Uruguay
• Velez Sarfiel - Argentina
• Cerro Porteño - Paraguay
• Santos - Brazil
  

Last night, the first game of the semifinales was played. Santos won against Cerro Porteño 1 - 0.

In about a half hour, the game between Peñarol and Velez will start. As you may remember from my last post on this topic, Copa Libertadores "is the most prestigious club competition in South American football and one of the most watched events in the world, broadcast in 135 nations worldwide". Thus, I am sure the city will be shut down tonight, as basically everyone will be indoors somewhere or other with the game on the tele.

Here, the rivalry between Nacional and Peñarol is huge, as they are the two largest teams within Uruguay. But I have begun to notice, now that the Copa Libertadores is down to the final four, that the animosity between the die hard fans has died down now that its Uruguay vs. the other competing nations. The Nacional fans can sit back and cheer for Uruguay against the competition, instead of cheering directly for Peñarol - the team they have grown to loathe.

The tournament is composed of two games per team pairing - one match played at home and one match played away. Then the points are tallied to see who moves through to the next round. The only oddity to this scheme is that when the points are tallied at the end of the two games, the away teams goals are tallied as double.

One major difference between sporting events here and in the states, is that the game starts at 10 pm - and its here in Montevideo at Estadio Centenario. I notice that things start late here for some reason. I guess the folks just like to stay up and enjoy the night.

Good luck Uruguay as we move forward in this tournament.

Nacional Soccer game 04-07-2011

On the night of the 7th I went to Estado Centenario, the stadium here in Uruguay built for the very first World Cup (that Uruguay won!) to see a match between a local Uruguayan team called Nacional and a Brazilian team called Fluminense. I went with Nicolás, the husband of one of Mari´s friends for this fun filled night. He was very excited to be the first to take me to Estadio Centanario to see a Nacional game. Right now the Copa Libertadores is in full session. Stealing from Wikipedia, it says that this tournement "is the most prestigious club competition in South America football and one of the most watched events in the world, broadcast in 135 nations world wide." Even though the stadium is 82 years old, it is in relatively good shape. We sat in the Amsterdam section, behind the goal post, and had a wonderful view of the field. Nicolás took this photo from his phone. Here, the soccer fans are trained in the arts of old school tradition. Your soccer team isnt a choice, its a lifestyle. Fans here dont mess around. Most likely you were born into soccer family. I on the other hand, am a guest in house with ties to Nacional. Yet, Mari´s best friends family is in allegiance with Peñarol, the other major local team. Heading anywhere in the city, you can see the shirts, flags, stickers, emblems, and the fans of some team nearly everywhere, every single day of the week. They dont mess around here, and its a question thats bound to be asked of you at some point in your travels. What team do you follow? Here is a shot of the fans going wild after Nacional scored a goal, eventually winning the match 2 - 0. I know soccer isnt quite that big back home, but here there are games on the television every day. Be it the Uruguayan league, the Argentina League, the Brazilian League, the European League, the German League, or the Portuguese League (and perhaps more). We have even been following the Uruguayan Sub 17 league (kids below the age of 17). The tournement is taking place in Ecuador, and we have been watching every single game. These youngsters just qualified with a win over Columbia two nights ago, winning 3 - 2. Now, in contrast, I can count on one hand the amount of people that I know that watch the National US mens soccer team. Yet, I have never heard of anyone, ever, including myself, discussing how the US Sub 17 team is doing in their bracket. I cant imagine that anyone has even heard of this team in the US, much less watches them, and yet, I am fairly certain that they exist are are playing games. Nevertheless -here, the Sub 17 games are broadcast and celebrated. I like it. I often get the feeling that Uruguay is like the skinny little kid on the block, fighting for his place amongst the bigger, brasher bullies that think they own the street. Its nice to see a sport taken to the societal extreme. Nicolás was great, and I had a lot of fun with him. He went to school for medicine and is now a doctor. He is currently working while also attending school 2 days a week for his post grad. He is married with a beautiful young daughter (14 months) and has another bun in the oven on the way. He is warm and friendly, and seems to look after me quite well. I look forward to getting to know him much better in the near future.