Real Good Day

Wandering the streets trying to find a place to catch the match I decided that I needed to at least get a glimpse of the stadium. Camp Nou as it is called is the Largest stadium in Europe and ranks 12th worldwide in terms of max capacity. I had given up trying to get a ticket because of the prices I have been hearing. So I was just walking down the crowded street, feeling the electricity and excitement in the air when I was passed a man who to said to me ticket? Preparing him to give me some absurd number I asked how much? To my surprise it wasn't 600 or 400 Euros as I had heard many times before, he was only asking 200 Euros (which was in the ballpark of what i was originally willing to pay). So after a minute of trying to converse with this man who spoke less English than I did spanish, trying to determine whether he was legit or not I said Yes I will take it, take me to the nearest ATM. and with that I was headed to el classico, a Match up between the two most prolific clubs in spain and possibly the world.


Two things I knew were about to happen. I was going to have one of the greatest experiences of my entire life and that i was gonna have to cheer for the opposite team rather than my own. For those of you who understand football on the world stage you will know why i could spend the night Cheering on Real Madrid especially a certain #7. But for those of you who dont i will explain... no that will take to long, i will sum up. (princess bride anyone?). Football in the world stage is taken very seriously, people eat breathe and live their home club. Cheering for the opposing team gets you mugged beaten or killed, not things on my list to do for this trip. So I tried to learn the chants and cheered when Barcelona scored... all five times. I died a little inside but it was worth it just to be at the game and having the opportunity to see Ronaldo play live. He really was amazing, as was Messi, the superstar for Barcelona. Watching them live was absolutely the coolest. 


The Game


From the opening Kick-off it seemed that Barcelona put the petal to the floor and never let up for a minute. Real seemed to be put on their heels allowing a goal just 9 minutes into the game and then it felt like they never had a chance to recover and get on their game. In the beginning Barcelona had double coverage on Ronaldo but as the game drew on they realized they had taken the wind out of his and the whole teams sails and just concentrated on dominating the midfield. It really was the Messi show, although he did not tally a goal he put on some amazing moves. Barcelona seemed to pick apart the defence of Real Madrid and have their way scoring a total of 5 highlight reel goals.


The atmosphere inside the building was absolutely electric. numerous different chants coming from the crowd along with the whistling, taunting and obscene gestures directed towards the opposing squad and especially Ronaldo. Also can you imagine 99000 people doing the wave? it was ridiculous. Everyone got a coloured piece of plastic to hold up and different sections formed parts of the barcelona colors, soo cool.


The whole experience made me feel two things. Number one was obviously ecstatic, being able to go to a football game of this magnitude to see two great teams and my favorite player play. The second feeling was a little disappointment. mainly of the state of soccer in Canada. all though it is a constantly growing sport with Canadian teams joining the MLS and a new team beginning to form in Edmonton the quality and fandom of the sport is very much lacking. I am a patient man, I see the end goal in sight and I realize that we are working towards soccer being a major sport in Canada. That day is no where near, some experts predict we will have a team that is competitive enough to participate in the 2018 world cup. that would be nice, both for Canadians who love soccer and the furthering of the sport itself. With more money being put into it and superstars (albiet ones at the tail of their career) signing up to play in the MLS North America is slowly moving in the right direction and i look forward to the day where soccer will be the talk of the town and hooliganism runs rampant in the streets. 


I couldn't think of a better way to end off Spain. The road trip is basically done, I start the trek back to Paris tomorrow. I still have an extra day other than my relax stop, i dunno what ill do, maybe find a cathedral or something to see.


No Theme song today, just a suggestion.


Go find something you've always wanted to do and GO DO IT! People who say "someday" often end up saying "wish I would have".


Olé!