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Published: December 3rd 2008
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I have been waiting for this day for quite sometime. Being an avid football supporter I was looking forward to my first South American football match. And it wasn´t just any match: it was the Ecuadorian version of the "el classico" where equivalents range from Boca v. River to Barcelona v. Madrid. Deportivo Quito and La Liga de Quito have been bitter rivals throughout the history of Ecuadorian football and every year they play this important fixture to determine who has bragging rights on the streets of Quito. Adding more spice to this match was the fact that Deportivo were 3 points clear of La Liga with 3 games to play in this marathon 50 match championship. It has been 40 years since Deportivo raised the trophy above their shoulders so with the title in the balance once again it was always going to be a memorable day.
The venue for this clash was the Stadio Olimpico Atahualpa which occupies the sky at 2850m. Apart from stadiums in Bolivia it is one of the highest professional football stadiums in the world. This would also dictate the way that Ecuadorian football is played which I will touch on later.
My
teacher at my spanish school was kind enough to introduce me to one of her friends, Diego, who was a diehard Deportivo fan. I am pretty sure he had a tattoo somewhere on his body pointing out his allegiances but I didn´t get a peek. My teacher is a crazy Barcelona fan (another Ecuadorian team) so there was no way she would be coming along to the match with me. Diego managed to secure some tickets to the match after sleeping overnight outside the stadium´s ticket office. He wanted to make sure I understood what football meant to him before I came. In other words he wanted to make sure I understood that football is not a game but a way of life. In what little spanish I knew I told him that we had a mutual understanding.
On the morning of the game I met up with Diego and the rest of the fans just around the corner from the stadium. Instantly I was accepted into the crew and would be riding the emotions with everyone for the next few hours. I was duly introduced to Diego´s friends and was involved in some general football banter as we
waited for the rest of the fans to join in the pre game activities. My spanish is improving but I had to listen really hard to understand what was being said. One thing is for sure: even if you can´t speak English you can still translate how much passion everyone has for there team.
One of my new friends told me "Tenemos mejores jugadores, pero La Ligo fanaticos tienen mejorer mujeres": We have the better team but they have the better looking women!! There were alot of women in the core group that was forming and I don´t know if I am wierd or not but a Latino American women who is a crazy football fan somehow turns me on...
Before marching towards the stadium a few Liga fans were moved on there way as they got a bit too close to our ever growing group. The first insults that were sprayed across the street were wolf whistling and calling out "senorita". From my understanding this is because "Liga de Quito" literally translates as the "wife of Quito". A few fans were physically helped along there way but it wasn´t violence, it was passion. I understood.
The
drums signalled our march towards the stadium and after entering under the watchful eye of the riot police we joined the ever growing curva of Deportivo fans on the Eastern side of the ground. It was 9:30 and we still had 2 hours before kickoff. Luckily everyone brought in there weekly recycling and for the next hour everyone ripped and shredded every piece of paper available so we could create a confetti shower when the team ran out onto the pitch. The stadium consisted mainly of concrete steps so everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder which was great for singing as everyone chants as one. The singing was bouyant until kickoff where the intensity was increased and the decibles were raised slightly.
The teams entered the stadium with delirium being shown from both sets of supporters. It was a full house with 35,000 fans and equal amounts being represented by both teams. Both the players and the referee looked to the sky and crossed themselves 4 or 5 times in the holy gesture (whatever was there lucky number really). Religious symbolism is a big part of the game here. On the back of Deportivo´s jersey it reads "Quito la
otra pasion" which roughly translates to "Quito the other passion" in a symbolic religious reference. The first half provided a couple of chances for both teams however both goalkeepers did enough to deal with the threats. 6 yellow cards were shown and bizarrely enough one was for the assistant manager of Deportivo and 2 were for Deportivo substitutes who were on the bench!! I can only imagine what must have been said...
Because of the altitude one thing I noticed is that there is not alot of running off the ball. Even though they live and train at this altitude it still has a difference on there fitness over the course of 90 minutes. The two Deportivo strikers were both "Mark Viduka´esque" and let the little attacking midfielders do most of the running while they held the ball up.
I noticed Diego saying a few prayers before the second half begun and initially I thought that they had ammounted to nothing. Liga looked the better team after the break and in the space of 5 minutes they had a legitimate penalty turned down, hit the crossbar and would have scored if the Deportivo goalkeeper hadn´t made a miraculous
save. The familiar chant continued for the Deportivo fans "AGUNTARE....AGUNTARE" which translates as "I fight" or " I wait". They didn´t have to wait too long as in the 75th minute Deportivo went one up from a corner with inspirational captain Fernando Saritama scoring with a strong header. The scenes in the curva were wild and Diego and his amigos embraced eachother and shed a few tears in the process. They knew just how important this goal was in getting them closer to that elusive title.
7 minutes later Martin Mandra scored the winner and secured the 3 points that almost guaranteed the trophy was in their hands. The captain Saritama was substituted straight after and pumped his fist over the emblem and his heart as the fans chanted ¨Quito Corazon¨. He has left the club twice but has vowed to stay until they win the title. Looks like he will only have to wait until Wednesday.
After the final whistle the team and the fans jointly celebrated this historic victory. A trophy was presented for winning the ¨el classico¨but the real trophy was only days away. A Deportivo player wore a T-shirt that said ¨marido soy¨in reference
Awaiting kickoff
Cruz Loma in the background to La Liga being the ¨wife of Quito¨. Marido soy meant ¨I am the husband¨. One Liga fan ran onto the pitch and somehow evaded all the riot police to land a punch on the Deportivo striker but he was dealt with swiftly. All the Deportivo fans stayed whilst the Liga fans hurled whatever they had in their possession towards the Deportivo fans upon exiting the stadium. I was left breathless and exhausted after a long day in the sun but it was definitely worth it to experience the passion of Ecuadorian football. I thanked Diego and his amigos for accommodating me and wished them the best of luck on Wednesday against Macara. As I left the stadium the chanting continued ¨AGUNTARE.....AGUNTARE.....¨
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Pablo from Sydney
non-member comment
Fantastic football travel blog
Hola, This is a wonderful well-crafted blog, and the descriptions alone need no photos, though they are a bonus. Provides a great feel for the culture of club football in Equador. Will be interesting to see if this energy translates into climbing back up the World Cup qualifying group table and another unlikely qualification. Interested to find out how the overall standard of Equadorian club football and those of other Sth American leagues compares with own fledgling A-League back in Oz. I can relate to Latino American women who love football as an extra turn on! South America is the only continent (not including Antartica) that I haven't been to, and this inspiration now has Equador as part of the travel agenda. Travel well. Hasta la proxima. Pablo (Sydney, Australia)