Sirens and Lights

So today was the peru-brasil qualifier match for the 2010 World Cup…we bought our tickets last week and I rearranged my work schedule to make sure I’d be able to attend relatively guilt-free. the day turned out to be one of the nicest in Lima so far this spring, with actual blue skies and sun…all signs pointed to a great day.

A bus ride and a few bandanna purchases later, though, we found ourselves in a confused crowd being quickly surrounded by police in riot gear, on horses! They had shut down the gates to enter the stadium through the West entrance and weren’t letting any more people in, with or without legitimate tickets– apparently the section was full, since so many counterfeit tickets were made. Argh. We ended up sprinting for the next gates (the stadium is separated into 4 sections based on orientation- N, S, E, W- and you can’t cross between sections inside the stadium), and managed to slip in just before they slammed those shut, too. Along with 10 others, we spent the next 40 min or so (lovely how that works out to be almost the ENTIRE first half) pleading our case before the guards… after another brief brush with the riot gear, we finally found ourselves clear across the sold-out stadium from our original seats, sitting in the steps in the aisle between seats, arguing with the “evacuation” team until they finally left us alone… Peru scored a goal in the second half, to match the one scored by Brasil in the first (we missed the latter)…

It was great to be part of the crowd even if I’ll probably always be rooting for Brasil when it comes down to it. Concerts, sporting events…. I’m always mildly awed by being in stadiums, with all of the passion and energy that people have visible in this circular sea of frenzied movement. Even though there’s always the risk of it all being channeled into riots or the like, I can’t help but revel a little in the eruption of shared excitement for one single event, like a goal by an underdog team, manifested in synchronized joy: the wave, chanting, flags, confetti, contraband red flares and hugs all around.

Certainly makes up for missing half of the game, though it still really is ridiculous for those who didn’t ultimately make it in with official tickets.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 9:44 pm and is filed under Peru. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.