Futból!

We went to go see a soccer game yesterday. The Cocha team, "La Aurora", was playing the Bolivian national team, and for a long time it looked like they were actually going to win! The final score was 2-1 for the Bolivian team, but there was more exciting about it than just the game.

For example, soccer is really really really popular around here, as in most places in Latin America. As we were heading to the game, we passed a number of bars that were playing the game on TV, and most of them had huge crowds gathered around the windows to watch.

There was also a huge mass of people gathered around the entrance to the stadium. Almost like a mini market, there were people there selling everything. Besides the obvious sports apparel and food, there were like temporary restaurants set up with seating and stuff, where everyone would gather around the portable radio to listen to the game. There were a lot of people selling stuff like confetti (ripped up newspapers) and seat cushions (collected from the end of last game). Apparently there are many entrepreneurs around here! It´s not a very good picture, but the man to the left was walking around the stands and taking bets for the game.

Soccer is also really political around here. Recently, FIFA (the world soccer organization) made a rule that says that no games can be played above a certain height. Any that are played don´t count internationally. Since the international games in Bolivia are played in La Paz, which is at 11,500 feet above sea level, this means that either Bolivia can´t host any international games, or they have to move the team´s home to a different city.

I know it sounds like a very arbitrary rule, but the reasoning goes like this: the oxygen is really thin when you get up high like in Cochabamba, and people who aren´t used to it get sick really easily, which includes being short of breath, getting nauseous, lightheaded, or having to throw up. So obviously for traveling soccer players, this is a problem - they need to be at their best in order to play well, but if they just came to the city for like one game, they´ll be at a disadvantage. The rule is to level the playing field a bit and not give so much home field advantage.

But the rule has all the Andean nations, like Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia, all upset - they feel like they´re being discriminated against. A lot of the soccer players from here are all proud of their ability to play with the thinner oxygen, and think everyone else should just suck it up. But more commonly, the people who live in these countries are upset because they can´t watch their favourite sport play in their country. Pretty much all of the fans around here are protesting then (not unusual for Cochabamba), and there were an abundance of signs that said something about the subject. The sign in the picture to the right says "We are united for soccer - We say NO to the altitude ban." Obviously, that´s paraphrased a little.