Fútbol with Spaniards 🇪🇸 and Argentinians 🇦🇷
Last weekend I went to watch the UEFA Euro Championship 2024 final at Wunder Garten and Copa América 2024 final (unexpectedly) at Lunas de Buenos Aires. I will discuss both events in detail. Soccer (or football to the world) was my first sport and my first love. It’s been years since I’ve played or watched soccer, probably close to 10 years. However, I want to get back into following the sport and possibly even play again. It’s a good way to stay fit and active. Here’s what happened last Sunday (7/14/24) given that there were two major tournament finals happening at the same time.
UEFA Euro Championship 2024 Final (England x Spain): I learned from the Spanish Embassy that there was going to be a watch party at Wunder Garten at 3:00 PM EDT. I arrived at Wunder Garten at ~3:20 PM EDT and was waiting in a huge line. This was totally unexpected! There were so many people at Wunder Garten that it was over-capacity. Of course the majority of fans were supporting Spain, with a huge contingent of people who are actually Spanish. It was super frustrating to be waiting in line trying to get into Wunder Garten as the game played inside; you heard the lucky fans inside cheering and yelling as you waited outside in a line that seemed totally formidable. They wouldn’t let new people inside the venue unless people inside decided to leave. Fortunately however, I was able to commiserate with my fellow soccer fans and made a connection with two individuals (more to come later about this…). We waited, waited and waited some more. The game went from the first half, to half time, to the latter part of the second half. By this point the game was already 1-1 and tied. The line advanced far enough such that we were close to the entry point after ~1.5 hours. Many people quit the line because it was so long. FINALLY! We were able to go into Wunder Garten. And literally minutes after I was let in, Mikel Oyarzabal scored to make the game 2-1 for Spain. The Spanish fans went CRAZY! It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. At this point it was basically a formality that Spain was going to win. At the end of the game, the fans went absolutely NUTS. I loved the passion and energy and went around trying to shake people’s hands and congratulate them. I will never forget the energy in the beer garden after the end of the game. I’m not Spanish, but I absolutely loved everything about the fans and how passionate they were for the beautiful game!
Copa América 2024 Final (Colombia x Argentina): I knew that the Copa América final was going to be played at 8:00 PM EDT later that same day. I had already missed basically the whole Spain game until the end and thought I might as well go home, relax, and prepare for work the next day. However, I ended up running into the people I met in line trying to get into Wunder Garten and struck up a nice conversation with them. Sometimes in life, due to serendipity, you get lucky breaks if you just show up and talk to people :). All of us lamented the fact that we basically missed the game, but we could make it up with the Copa América Final. I’ll be honest: I had never even heard of the Copa América tournament until recently and didn’t know how big or how prestigious the tournament really was. My new friends were going to watch the final at a place called Lunas de Buenos Aires and there was NO WAY we were going to allow a repeat of what happened when we tried to get into Wunder Garten earlier. We drove to Lunas and waited there a little after 6:00 PM EDT. We were the first ones there and of course my new friends were supporting Argentina. Slowly the Argentinians started to trickle in and a mass of people started building up around the TV outside of Lunas. We ordered drinks and food before it got too crazy, all anticipating the start of the game. The game was supposed to start at 8:00 PM EDT but got delayed to 9:15 PM EDT. It was almost deja vu again; I thought the game would never start, just like I thought I would never get into Wunder Garten earlier that day! Once the game began however, I was surrounded by Argentinian fans (never seen so many Argentinians in my life ever) who only spoke Spanish. They had their own Spanish chants that were just electric. At times, I looked around me and thought to myself: “Wow. Am I still in Washington DC, USA or was I actually in Buenos Aires, Argentina?” The watch experience with the Argentinian fans was so authentic that I didn’t even know what country I was in! The game was frankly very boring. The half-time show with Shakira was ok. Argentina and Columbia both had opportunities to score, but the game was still 0-0 going into extra time. I thought the game might go into penalty kicks given the lack of scoring. I was just hoping someone would score so that I could go home earlier and it was approaching midnight. When Lautaro Martínez scored in 112’, the Argentinans when CRAZY and I was thinking: “Holy sh*t. Argentina just scored and the game is going to be over soon!” One thing that I’ll never forget is that towards the end of the game, we all knew that Argentina was going to win. People were crowding the T.V. and I was saying to my friends, “I don’t know what’s happening right now. I can’t see sh*t.” Another gentleman around us said to me: “Don’t see or think, just FEEL it.” Damn, and he’s right. Sometimes you just have to let your feelings take over and let yourself get lost in the emotions of the situation with nothing holding you back. At the end of the game, the Argentinians went CRAZY. I went around shaking hands with the fans congratulating them. I’ll never forget the one girl with a Argentina flag draped around her shoulders who was actually crying over the victory, unbelievable. Her emotions took over and she was crying tears of joy at the victory. If this was not passion, then I don’t know what is!
By the time I got home, it was already past 1:00 AM EDT. I promptly went to bed and began another week at work the next day. The passion, energy, and spirit of the Spaniards and Argentinians I saw last Sunday was truly unforgettable and watching these two games with them was one of the most unique experiences of my summer. This is good preparation for the World Cup in 2026 when it will also be played in the US. Life is just so awesome when you can do cool things with other people! Around the right group of people, the energy and enthusiasm each individual brings is infectious and very motivating. Until next time…