¡Gooolll! ¡Es la Bandera de River Plate!

2:47 AM Sunday March 3, 2009
My house

Yesterday, I had a pizza picnic lunch with Liz in the park close to my house before heading to a nearby feria. I ended up buying a wallet made of real Argentine leather to replace the one that was stolen, so at least I have a good souvenir. The rest of the day was spent at our favorite café, Persicco. The waiters know us by this point and I’ve even started to memorize the café soundtrack (you know it’s bad when…).

Today was a very memorable experience as we headed to the River Plate stadium for a game of fútbol (soccer to all you Americans). Besides La Boca Juniors, River Plate is the biggest and most popular team in Argentina, and one of the most well known in South America, so the fans are even more rabid than those at regular fútbol matches.

As we approached the River Plate stadium, security was out in full force, and we went through several rounds of very through body checks. Once we walked past the SWAT team-equivalent force posted against the wall, we stepped out into the stadium and felt that instant pre-game excitement. I couldn’t believe I was really going to see such a major team play fútbol! We got to our section (general admission) quite early and unknowingly took seats in what was soon to become the craziest section in the stadium.

Institutionalized rowdiness. That is the best way I can describe the experience. Apparently, everyone knows these crazy rituals and fully accepted the orders of their fellow CARP (Club Atlético de River Plate) supporters to move this way or hold that banner. Before we knew it, our once-peaceful section was filled with hundreds of men draping dozens of long banner sheets across the whole upper stand, as they constantly pushed us further to the side. Then, they forced us to move up several rows to make a large clearing for the unofficial (maybe official?) band to parade past us, flying their batons inches from my face before beating back down deafeningly on their stretched animal skins.

Sometimes it was easy to forget a fútbol match was going on with all the craziness in the stands. Anywhere a banner could be hung, it was. Dozens of men stood straddling the railing, with only their balance to prevent them from plunging dozens of meters below to the lower sections. The percussion band played without stop the entire game, and everyone sang along to the songs they would play. They really were quite catchy, I’ve still been singing them all day (“Vamos, Vamos, Vamos River Plate” and “Es La Bandera de River Plate” are my favorites). Everyone (men made up the majority of spectators) stood the entire game, jumping up and down and either clapping their hands or waving their arms to the drum beats. Everyone was clad in red, black, and white, and those who weren’t wearing their jerseys were waving them in the air and sporting their River Plate tattoos on their backs or arms. It often got really crazy and people would start pushing, giving off a mosh-pit vibe.

We ended up winning 3-1. The team was awesome to watch, they definitely knew what they were doing. It would be an understatement to say they have really loyal and passionate fans- when the other team scored first on a penalty kick, instead of becoming dispirited, the band played and the fans screamed with twice as much force as before. Though it got pretty crazy at times, I sang along and jumped with the best of them. For AR$30 (US$8.5), I have been converted into a gallina (Argentine slang for aficionado, or fútbol fan; literally translates to chicken).

¡Vamos, Vamos, Vamos River Plate! (Let's Go River Plate!)
Coli

(AN: along with the Carnaval songs, we have the River Plate songs so engrained in our minds that we still constantly sing them among ourselves)