My First Soccer Game

When I told my friend Ryan that I was going to Colombia, he made me promise that I would go to a Soccer game while I was here. I know that he was secretly hoping to make me as big of a soccer fan as he is, and I’m pretty sure he’s on to something.

I went to one of the common Nacional v. Medellin games. Mostly because it was cheap, but also because every time I mentioned wanting to go to a game, this was the one everyone recommended.

I met up with a fellow couchsurfer, and his only directions were “Don’t wear red!”  The Nacioanl colors are green and white, and the Medellin colors are Red and Blue.  Going to the game it was really interesting to see that pretty much all Nacional fans come from the South and Medellin fans come from the North on the metro.  I found that extremely convenient, and since I was coming from the South (Envigado), and wearing white, it also kept me feeling very safe.

One thing I found out was to leave your belt at home, because they are not allowed in the stadium.  My experience was very similar to Dave’s experience at the game earlier this year.  In-fact, our pictures are almost identical.

I did a little studying the night before, (Yes, I know absolutely nothing about soccer.) and found the game really exciting.  We sat on the East side of the field at the edge of the upper deck near the South side.  Nacional scored the first goal at the beginning of the second half, followed extremely quickly by a Medellin goal.  Medellin scored two more and the game ended with a score of 3-1.  There were a few fights on the field at the end of the game between the players, but they quickly stopped.

Now that I think I’m hooked on this game, I just want to know: When is the next game, and how do I tell Ryan that I’m can’t support his favorite soccer team because they are the wrong colors?