Own-goals are bad everywhere

If you visit a Latin American country, see a fútbol game (that's soccer, for my gringo friends). I went to the game with a few amigas from the escuela and we had a great time. We enthusiastically cheered for the Liga team--mainly because we happened to sit in its fan section and thought that wise. Also, they are my host family's favorite team.

It was a close game for about 60 of the minutes. Then the other team scored a goal by ricocheting the ball off of our defender's leg. After that, Liga fell apart and ended up losing the game 5-1. It turns out Philadelphia isn't the only place dominated by fairweather fans. The Liga fans who didn't leave as soon as the downward spiral became clear chucked bottles and other garbage at the Liga fans as they left the field. They also hurled many vulgar insults in Spanish that I wish I could remember.

The other team's fans, however, were nothing short of ecstatic. They called themselves "Mafia Azul Grande" = Big Blue Mafia, which I thought was great.

Far less glamorous, but no less exciting were the games played in one of Quito's largest parks. Fields were basically large trenches and any big play was accompanied by huge clouds of dust. I kicked back an errant ball and got a huge, surprised smile from a kid who acted like he didn't think a gringa could kick a fútbol.