Futból Noche

The stadium is packed with standing room only. Riot police in full gear form a human wall, in addition to iron fences and one section of seats, separting the home fans from the visitors. Children climb high onto the top of the iron fences for a better view. Red Flairs, blue flags, and M-80 fireworks fly in the stands of the home team, Club de Atletico Belgrona de Cordoba. Cordoba scores twice in the first ten minutes against one of the best teams in Argentina, San Lorenzo de Buenos Aires. The fans are going crazy. They must know five different songs, and they sing them each over and over rejoicing in the embarrasment of San Lorenzo. But fortunes change quickly and San Lorenzo ties the game at two. The ref must be local, because all of the fans seem to know him by name, Sr. Puta Madre. Actually, Puta must be a common first name, because they seem to call everyone on San Lorenzo by that. Whistles rain down everytime the fans disapprove. We tie 2-2, but the fans accept this result and we dance and sing in the shoulder to shoulder crowd. As we leave, the scoreboard reads, "Cordoba, el corazon del mi pais!"